Moving on...

First, I apologize for my ridiculously long absence. To summarize the last 5 months of my life...

Corey and I were married October 11th.

Finished up the last section of the national boards and I'm left until Dec 26th to find out the results.
Finished up clinic the last week in November.

Packed all of our belongings (after I gave the majority of my wardrobe and random belongings to Goodwill) plus myself, Corey, two dogs (one 90lb dane mix and one 55lb husky mix) plus a ferret in cage in our hand-me-down 96' minivan and left Seneca Falls.

Went to my in-laws in St. Lawrence county of the actual upstate NY for Thanksgiving.

Graduated Dec. 6th.

Spent more time at the in-laws.

Arrived in Ohio yesterday where we will stay until just after Christmas.

From there....Asheville, NC!

I also have the idea of saving this blogspot for my personal rantings and am mentally in the process of contemplating starting a new blog to update you on family events. Now that I am a married woman and all. haha

If there are any followers of this blog still around look for additional updates and the new blog by the first of the year.

In the meantime above you will find a few wedding photos and a couple from Seneca Falls. One is of the trail which Corey and I walked many times from our place on Lower Lake Rd up to take the tunnel under the Rt 89 to school and/or clinic. The other is the view we had across the street of Lake Cayuga. I can't take credit for that photo either as I stole it from my neighbor Julie's facebook page. Thankfully someone remembered to take some great photos of the beautiful place I called home for just over 3 years.

Oh and I almost forgot...

Here is something I took from one of the blogs I like to visit www.modernforager.com

Here are ten things to remember as you embark on your health journey.
1. Junk food doesn’t exist; there is junk and there is food.
2. Similarly, real food has no nutrition label. Food products have nutrition labels.
3. If a label tells you how healthful the product inside is, it’s probably not. Don’t be deceived by marketing.
4. Sugar is detrimental to your body in more ways than you can count.
5. Organic/natural junk is still junk. Thirty grams of sugar from honey is not more healthful than 30g of sugar from other sources.
6. If you are wondering if you should eat more vegetables, the answer is yes. I don’t care how many you eat, you should probably eat more.
7. Similarly, you should probably sleep more. Turn off the TV and go to bed. Given the quality of most TV programming, you aren’t going to miss anything of importance.
8. Don’t let “I can’t afford organic” keep you from eating enough produce. Organic vegetables are best. However, eating conventional is better than not eating produce at all.
9. You’re human and you will eat something too sugary and too carby. Don’t stress; just get back on the wagon.
10. And finally: health is a lifelong journey, not a quick-fix. Find something you can stick with.

Anybody have any to add?

Happy Holiday!

A little creativity & no excuses...

This image was copied from the Crossfit Santa Cruz website (http://www.crossfitsantacruz.com/) where I saw a new idea for those interested in training, but without adequate resources be it time or funding. I can buy lack of time to go to a gym, but there is no excuse for not enough time around the house to work-out. Anyone who has trained with me can tell you that it takes less than four minutes of any perceivably simple unweighted exercise to leave you sore for days. Plus there is no longer the excuse of lack of funds to purchase any fancy equipment, as it's not needed. There are endless variations of work-outs to do utilizing only your body weight, but with just a little creativity you can add some variety with inexpensive home-made equipment.

Body-weight exercises: squats, pistols (one-legged squats), push-ups, handstand holds with progression to handstand push-ups, bear crawl, burpees, lunges, planks hold both side/front, jumping squats, vertical jumps, jump for distance, etc.

Equipment made easy...

In this photo is a 5 gallon water jug filled with water which is being used for overhead press. I am not aware of the weight of the jug, but that can obviously be altered. Filling milk cartons with water or sand would also work. Note the proper overhead position of the ear being visualized from the side perspective and fully extended shoulder with emphasis on presses all the way through towards the ceiling. This full range allows for proper lateral rotation of the scapula which is often lost due to under use as people age. You would probably be surprised how many twenty-somethings who appear young and healthy struggle to achieve this full range of motion. Try it yourself. Can you get your arms fully extended behind your ears while reaching up for the sky like the guy in this photo? If not, you're setting yourself up for a number of potential injuries in the future. The lack of a full range of motion leads to altered movements within the shoulder girdle (or any joint complex) which can be the cause of that famous "arthritis" term you hear many of your parents and grandparents complain of. Other than "arthritis" you are also at higher risk for damage in the event of trauma to the area if there is already disguised instability.

Other great and inexpensive equipment includes a jump rope, home-made medicine balls by filling old/cheap walmart brand basketball or soccer balls with sand. Just cut about a two inch slit in the top, break the bladder and fill with dry sand. Ensure the sand is DRY before putting it into the ball. Either dry the sand in the over on baking sheets or put it on baking sheets out in the sun and funnel bit by bit. Finish up by duct taping it shut covering the ball in all directions. Athletic tape also works well over the duct tape to prevent the ball from slipping. One you've made a med ball it is great to utilize for deadlifts, cleans, overhead press, med ball toss, wall balls, front squats, thrusters, even overhead squats. Even if the weight isn't as heavy as you may use in a gym, the awkward shape makes it more challenging. (See www.crossfit.com for video examples of above mentioned exercises.)

More great ideas to come.

Work-out of the day: "Jeremy" 21-15-9 65lb overhead squats and burpees time: 8:57

100lb Overhead Squat!

The overhead squat is the ultimate core exercise, the heart of the snatch, and peerless in developing effective athletic movement.
This functional gem trains for efficient transfer of energy from large to small body parts � the essence of sport movement. For this reason it is an indispensable tool for developing speed and power.
The overhead squat also demands and develops functional flexibility, and similarly develops the squat by amplifying and cruelly punishing faults in squat posture, movement, and stability.
The overhead squat is to midline control, stability, and balance what the clean and snatch are to power � unsurpassed.
- From The Overhead Squat CrossFit Journal Issue 36

I know I'm way behind in posting anything. However, I just wanted to post last night's workout.

The WOD was:

Overhead squat 1-1-1-1-1 reps

Front squat 1-1-1-1-1 reps

Back squat 1-1-1-1-1 reps
Try to increase the load on each of the fifteen sets.

Results:

Overhead squat 65-70-75-85-90-95-100 (10lb p.r.!)-105F

Front squat: 105-110-115-120-125F (120 is my present p.r.)

Back squat: 125-135-140-145-150(another 10lb p.r.!)-155F

More updates later. And maybe one of these days I'll use my digital camera to post some of my own pics.

Arizona Family Life

I wanted to share a few stories from my week in Arizona with Jen and her family. First, I can't express enough how great it was to spend some quality time with Jen for literally the first time since high school. We see each other a couple times per year at most if we are lucky enough to be in Ohio visiting family at the same time. However, during those few hours we spend trying to catch up sharing stories of recent tales & plans for the future or laughing over old memories I always say good-bye with so much left unsaid. So, to be able to share a week with Jen and her family was greatly appreciated and rare.

One afternoon I had the opportunity to go back to 3rd grade and sit in on Jen's 3rd grade classroom. Although Jen (Mrs. Morgan) had told her class how we knew each other we still got the, "Are you sisters?" comment that we've received periodically since we were in grade school together. It was crazy to sit and observe these young children holding back the excitement that builds as summer vacation approaches and try to remember what Jen and I were like as 3rd graders, as we were in the same 3rd grade class back in Brimfield, OH. I wish I would have counted how many times I heard Mrs. Morgan say, "Now boys & girls...", "Boy and girls lets think about what kind of choices we're making." "Boys & girls please put away your personal choices and get out..." Why is it never "Girls & boys??" haha

The Mrs. Morgan role and mother role is surely hard for Jen to turn off. I didn't point this out to her until my last evening there, but every time during the week that I would just mention, "I'm going to stop in the restroom." or "I'm going to go outside and walk while I make a phone call." Jen would always reply, "That's fine." At the beginning of the week I didn't quite understand where the response was stemming from. However, my first hour of 3rd grade quickly revealed my answer. Anytime one of her students asked permission to do something Mrs. Morgan often replies, "That's fine." Obviously, if it's fine. Except there was one boy who approached Jen just after lunch and recess who asked to go to the bathroom with which his reply was something along the lines of, "You had your whole lunch and recess time to make personal choices and use the restroom. Please wait until 1:00 and then you can go." Wow. I forgot what it was like to ask permission to perform the most everyday and necessary tasks of life.

I don't intend to make Jen out to be some sort of strict teacher, as she surely is not. In fact, it is quite apparent just how fond her students and classroom moms are of her. I was there during teacher appreciation week and Jen brought home a new gift every night! Including a gift from each student on the last day each with a clever little note attached. For example, the box of tea bags which Jen sent home with me had a tag attached that said, "Thanks for being such a great TEAcher!" Clever little 3rd graders.

So, the last night there as we all shared some delicious Coldstone ice cream (Seneca Falls isn't blessed with such divine ice cream establishments) and I mentioned I was going inside to use the restroom Jen gave me the, "That's fine" response. So, I had to confront her with the fact that she had been saying that to me all week. We laughed about it and I also told her, "I keep wondering if you're going to refuse my request or tell me to wait until a certain time."

That same night at Coldstone: Evidently the last time the Morgan family was there for ice cream was for a special birthday celebration of the company during which everyone's ice cream came with a birthday candle. Well, Andrew didn't forget and requested a candle. While his parents tried to explain why his didn't come with a candle this time, the workers must have overheard as Andrew ended up with a candle in his ice cream. (Obviously they don't have children of their own.) Kyle and I are mid conversation after our ice cream was long gone and Andrew was still working on finishing his while Jen changed Emily's rather smelly diaper. Kyle made a comment to Andrew not to lick the candle too much and our conversation continued. The next thing I know Andrew is leaning over me and spitting something solid into my empty ice cream dish. It was a piece of candle. I was caught off guard and Kyle remarks, "Andrew, I told you not to eat the candle." It wasn't a big deal. Kyle and I kind of laughed a little over it as Andrew continued to spit out candle residue. A few moments later Andrew remarks, "Daddy, I don't want to die." Me, not having much motherly instinct, failed to initially connect why he had a sudden concern of death. Yet, Kyle quickly assured Andrew as Andrew ran over to his side biting his bottom lip that eating the wax would not hurt him and that he would have to eat a very large amount of candle wax to cause harm. About this time Jen and Emily came back to the table and Kyle explained to Jen what happened. Meanwhile Andrew continued to stand there with the most concerned look I've ever seen from a 3 year old, and then he states, "I don't want to go down there" as he points to the ground. All the adults exchange looks not really knowing what to say. Needless to say it was an eye-opening evening into the world of a 3 year olds understanding of death. Thankfully, candle wax from Coldstone wasn't detrimental to Andew's world.

Attached are photos from the evening that which I stole from Jen's blogpage.

Getting in the Groove

Well, my bags are STILL not unpacked from AZ, but I've had a busy two weeks back in overcast central NY. Clinic is in full blast and going well. It works out well that my head clinician is a runner himself and so I am frequently called up from the basement, "Shanna, we need an athlete to treat an athlete". Sometimes I am annoyed for my other classmates, but it works out well in my favor seeing how athletes are most frequently the most compliant and proactive patients.

I'm busy in the gym a few early mornings and almost every evening presently challenging 13 trainees 2-5x/wk with CrossFit style workouts. Training and watching people progress through work-outs and learn new skills has become a real passion of mine. This week many worked on the clean and had some great success with this fairly complex skill when done properly. I keep forgetting to bring my camera to the gym for some action shots.

My own work-outs have been going well. I have been sticking to the work-outs on the main page (www.crossfit.com) and adding in some running drills and strides a few times per week while I'm out walking the dogs at the park. With the exception of one treadmill tabata interval I have not been successful with having enough time or adequate recovery to start adding in the workouts from the crossfit endurance page. Sleep is my biggest obstacle. Last semester I was great at falling asleep by 10 or midnight at the latest, but now I'm still wide awake after midnight. Jen claimed that the adjustment from AZ to home was the easy part, but my body seems to still think it's 9PM when it's midnight! Perhaps leaving the gym around 9 for a late dinner is less than helpful. So, excuses, excuses but I'm slowly working into the run specific work. I'm running a local 5k on Sunday to get an idea of where my running presently is so that will surely be a good motivator to get running!

My last 2 weeks of work-outs:
Saturday May 11th at the certification:
4 rounds for time of
400m run
50 air squats
time: 11:29

Sunday May 12th
running drills work
walked desert trails for ~hr. Can't imagine running here mid-day!

Monday May 12th after flying back on a red-eye with minimal sleep
Subbed 60 ring dips and 90 full range pull-ups (pulling to chest) for 30 muscle-ups
broke them up into multiple rounds! This is the first time I've done pull-ups in at least 2 weeks!
Hmm..failed to record exact time, but I remember it took at least 40 minutes.

Tuesday May 13th
Overhead Squats 7 sets of 3 all at 75 pounds. Still quite fatigued, but I'll take it. Probably should have moved up in weight as I didn't fail on any of the sets, but still getting back into moving weight again.
Running drills and strides

Wednesday May 14th
Deadlift 7 sets of 1
175, 175, 175, 175, 175, 180, 185
Running drills and a couple short strides

Thursday May 15th (Happy Birthday Kathy!!)
"Cindy" Max rounds in 20 minutes of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups (chest to floor), 15 air squats
15 rounds + 1 pull-up!
Blister ripped on my hand with 5 minutes to go. It was a quick rip b/c I didn't even noticed until I saw blood on the tile during my push-ups (ick!). I disinfected the pull-up bar and floor after.
My work-out journal says that I did 20 rounds of this work-out last summer when I had only been crossfitting for a couple months. However, now that I'm more experienced I surely question my full range of motion with chest to ground on push-ups and full hanging extension with pull-ups. I know my squat depth has improved since as well. Oh well, I'll get back there again this time with correct full-range form! It always humors me in the gym to watch these big meat-head type guys hang from the bar and do like 3-5 pull-ups only lowering their heads like 2-3 inches below the bar. When I start training new people a lot of the guys are always shocked at much harder simple movements can be when executed through a full range. It's no surprise why most of my patients can't even fully raise their arms over their head!

Friday May 16th
"Michael" 3 rounds of 800m run, 50 back extensions, 50 GHD sit-ups reach to floor for time:
27:55
800s were done on treadmill and an average of 20 seconds slower when I did this one last fall this time starting at 3:18 and cutting down to 3:10 last round. However, the rate of the other components increased as I wasn't far off my old P.R. (26:27) and would have come extremely close had the treadmill not been turned off going into my last round. (The gym was about to close.)

Saturday May 17th
Active Rest Day
Running drills and 30seconds-2 min strides with tempo trainer for pacing

Snatch practice with single rep loads of: 38, 42, 45, 50, 55, 60F, 60, 65F, 65F, 65! It was ugly. I'm getting it over head easily, but slow to drop under the weight. I've struggled to get over 60 lbs for months now! I need to start working on snatch drills to get more comfortable dropping under faster. Snatching is by far my favorite lift. Probably because it requires just pure explosiveness to move the weight from the ground to overhead in one quick movement. But on an off day it's extremely frustrating when I continuously fail at a weight I've hit in the past. Regardless I'll take a new snatch PR on a "rest day"!

Sunday May 18th
Max rounds in 20 minutes of
15 65lb clean and jerk (did power cleans)
400m run (ran on treadmill started at 90secs and cut down to 87)
4 rounds + 1 C&J
Finished 2 rounds in 10 minutes so I picked it up a bit the last 1/2. The 4th was done in 19:35 and then I did a death jog back into the weight room to attempt some C&Js. I can't wait to be able to have the bar right next to the treadmill OR better yet outside so I don't have to run on a treadmill! Then, again the walk b/w rooms gives me a few seconds to catch my breath

Monday May 19th
For time:
75 push-ups (4:50)
50 65lb sumo deadlift high-pulls(SDLHPs) (12:55)
50 ring dips (32:07...this part KILLED my time never able to get more than 1 at a time!)
30 10lb weighted pull-ups (40:12)
25 handstand push-ups (kipping style against a wall)
Total time: 50:07 ugh!

Running drills and a couple strides

Tuesday May 20th
25 burpees
1000m row
50 burpees
750m row
75 burpees
500m row
for time: 27:39

Wednesday May 21st
CrossFit Main page rest day
Tabata treadmill set the treadmill at 12% grade and a pace 30 seconds slower than present 10k time ( I have NO idea but figured safe to say 7 min pace) so I set it at 8.0 or 7:30 pace.
Tabata interval is simply a 4 minute interval with 8 parts being 30 seconds each. For the first 20 seconds you run or perform squats or any activity you choose, rest the remaining 10 seconds (jump off the sides of the treadmill & try to breathe or feel your legs near the end) and start the next interval at the start of the next 30 seconds. Sounds simple enough but tabatas are bruttle. Brain says the treadmill pace is perfect if you feel like you want to stop after the first 2 minutes. I thought I was being conservative but I was ready to stop after 4 rounds. At the end of 6 I accidently hit the emergency stop button located on the handles as I was exitting the belt. (Corey claims this was intentional, obviously he hasn't attempted this work-out yet) That rest period probably approached 30-40 seconds by the time I got the belt back up to speed. I did a 9th interval to try and compensate, but it surely wasn't the same as I was hurting more after the 6th than the 9th. I'll maintain this pace for my next attempt to ensure I can finish!

Thursday May 22nd
5 rounds of 3 rep deadlifts immediately followed by max reps of handstand push-ups. Full recovery between rounds (3-5 minutes) and record deadlift loads and reps.
Round Deadlift weight Handstand push-up reps (kipping up from tripod against wall)
1) 3x175 9
2) 3x175 7
3) 3x175 8
4) 3x175 10
5) 3x180 12


Friday May 23
Gym closed early for long holiday weekend. So, we went to the local playground and modified greatly.
3 rounds of
50 25lb one arm dumbbell swings (25 each arm)
25 GHD syle sit-ups on wooden playset bench
25 back extensions off wooden bench
25 knees to elbows (there's a pull-up bar there!)
Time: 28:39


Note: Demonstration of all mentioned exercises can be viewed at http://www.blogger.com/www.crossfit.com/cf-info/excercise.html

CrossFit Running/Endurance Cert Day 2

The video can also be found at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1109961304770876897&hl=en
Compare day one's video to the second and you can see that everyone's form improved! Everyone has changed over to striking ball of foot allowing decreased ground time. In fact, when we analyzed the video frame by frame everyone had reduced the time they spent on the ground. The goal is to spend more time in the air than on the ground or at the very least equal time in both phases. I went from 6 frames on the ground and 5 frames in the air on day one to 5 frames on the ground and 5 in the air. There are still flaws as expected after changing technique and performing only a day of drills. The major issues are reaching out in front of general center of mass (GCM) and not pulling enough.
To critique myself, (wearing hat and pink tank top at 35 seconds and 2:11 into the film) I am not reaching as much and am now landing closer to under my GCM. Problems include not pulling or leaning/"falling" enough. The lack of pull is also described as having a "lazy pull". This refers to the point in stride in which the focus is to pull the foot off the ground and towards the butt rather than pushing off the ground as many are taught. If the video is paused you can see that the pull of my foot towards my butt is quite lax. It should be noted that a lower pull is typical with slower running and may explain why mine ended up this way. I was putting forth much concentration to not reach forward that I was not moving rather slow. One of my biggest obstacles is to learn to have that slight forward lean or fall (not from the torso though...maintain solid core) and allow gravity to bring me forward. I spent many years as a heel-striker with extremely upright running posture to the point that some photos appear to have a backwards lean. (I'll see if I can find any of these photos to post.) Talk about wasting energy!

Here's a slow-motion where you can see excellent running mechanics and get an idea for what a proper pull looks like at fast speeds.

Check out the CrossFit Endurance site for excellent work-outs and info regarding endurance training. http://www.crossfitendurance.com
Here is an interesting aricle posted on the CrossFit Endurance site today: http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/features/health_doping_slowtwitch2.html

Crossfit Running and Endurance Cert

If the video doesn't work you may have better luck viewing it at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7975567075741588431&hl=en
Here is the initial video at the first day of the cert this past weekend. You can spot me in the white tank and black shorts about 38 seconds into the video and then the slow motion version at around 2:10. Most people can be seen heel striking during their stride. The big misnomer within the running world especially with distance running is that this is the acceptable way to run far. However, this form of running would never be possible without the cushioning protection provided by shoes. Take your shoes off and run across a grassy field. Do you heel strike? Probably not. And believe it or not human beings had already been running for hundreds and thousands of years prior to the explosion of Nike or your choice of athletic equipment. Think about many of the African countries where runners train for years and years without shoes and more than likely less injuries than runners of industrialized worlds. Why? Proper mechanics allowing for proper distribution of forces. Heel striking or striking with a stride that reaches out in front of your GCM (general center of mass) causes injuries for two main reasons: 1) stopping a movement. In slow motion it is easy to identify that the runner is essentially breaking with every step by striking with the heel or striking in front of the GCM. 2)Creating leverage. Since the breaks are unintentionally being put on with every stride this causes energy to be placed in the opposite direction of the direction the athlete is trying to move. These two issues are the main reasons for a multitude of common running injuries including shin splints, plantar fasciitis, stress fractures, achilles tendon problems, IT Band syndrome, etc. I switched over to striking on the ball of my foot during the summer of 2006, but have been struggling with injuries (mainly plantar fasciitis with periodic shin or gastroc/soleus pain) because I was reaching out in front of my GCM and not relaxed enough in the lower leg to take advantage of the elastic recoil of our muscles rather than absorbing all of that ground reaction force through my joints.

Google any video of Haile Gebreselassie to watch him land on the ball of his foot under his GCM, his heel grazes the ground due to his relaxed lower leg and he has a slight forward lean (not from the hips but from the ankles) to allow a gravity assist to propel himself forward.
Stay tuned for the second video of the certification weekend and more thoughts on running technique.