WODS for Warriors: Nov. 16, 2013

Marathons, Triathlons and now I can add another thing to my list...CROSSFIT!!!! I started crossfit in June, because I decided I need a change and something different for a little bit. Am I done with Ironmans? No but just wanted to take a break for a few years and that's how all this crazy crossfit stuff came into play.
As soon as I tried crossfit back in June I fell in love with another sport. I have always enjoyed lifting weights but this brought it to a whole new level. And of course I can't do anything without just jumping right  in and going big =) So 4 months in I signed up for my first crossfit competition WODS for Warriors

Wow what an experience this was and I have sooo much to learn, but I glad I got my feet wet and did this competition.  This competition consisted of 3 WODs. This was how my day panned out.

WOD 1 - NATE
8 toes to rings (TTR)
8 handstand push ups (HSPU)
8 keddlebell swings 53lbs (KB)
Had to do as many rounds as you could in 10 mins.

My NATE score: 133
5 total rounds (120)+13 reps in my 6th round

I was feeling pretty excited and really wasn't nervous at all. I just wanted to do well for my first competition. I knew in this workout the HSPU would be the hardest part of more. My shoulders fatigue quickly on HSPU. Early on in the workout I started to get a little frustrated because a few times, the judge gave me no rep (that means I didn't do the move to standards and it didn't count) on some of my KB swings. Of course as well as I started to get tired I started struggling on my HSPUs as well and was getting no rep on those as well. All I could do was keep pushing and not give up and give it all I had and that I did. Given the no reps I got I still did better then any of the previous times I had done training this WOD. So overall I was happy until I saw that I was in 6th place after the first workout. Me being a competitive person I just would have liked to finish higher, but I was able to take a lot of things away from the first workout to improve on. I had to clear my head fast though and get ready for the second workout.

Waiting to go in for the first workout.

Doing the TTR

KB swings

WOD 2 - D.T.
5 rounds for time
    12 deadlifts
      9 hanging power cleans
      6 push jerks
all with 95 lbs

My D.T. time: 8:06

With only 1 workout done and in 6th place I knew this was going to be best workout out so I had to refocus fast and get ready for it.With me being in lane 7 I felt I had a slight advantage, because I could see all the girls I was up against and kind of keep track if I was ahead of them, on pace with them or behind them. I had a plan of attack for this workout and I knew I had to stick with it and I would be fine. I did just that and I had my best D.T. time I finished in 6:08 and finished 2nd in the workout!!! I was really happy with my performance in this WOD but I also gave it 150%  and I couldn't be anymore happier about it. With the second place finish in this WOD it brought me up to 3rd place!!! Oh and I didn't get a no rep =)

deadlift

push jerk

 After this is seriously the way I felt after the workout and I still had another one to go =(

exhausted

The one thing I was happy about though is that I had almost a 4 hour break before I was going to have to do the last WOD. So I took time to relax and try to recover as much as I could, because I was dreading the last WOD.

WOD 3 - BRIAN
2 rounds for time
    5 rope climbs 15' ascent
  25 backsquats with 115lbs

My BRIAN time: 7:49

I was feeling ready to get this last and final workout over with. Only really learn how to climb the rope efficiently a few weeks prior I was nervous and I just wanted to make it though and try to keep my 3rd place finish. I knew if I could make it through the rope climbs I would be fine on the backsquats. So on 3-2-1 I started climbing =) I made it through the first 3 ok and then I started to struggle but I wasn't going to let my self fall and have to try to climb again without going to the top and I made it through the first five now it was time to get my squat on and with breeze I got through my squats and then it was back to the ROPE. UGH!
All I can say is I struggle but I managed to get all 5 in again in the first try and then it was to do my best again to backsquat my way to stay in 3rd.  I did exactly that!!! I finished third!!! That is the good news, the bad news I was in a 3 way tie and so told us we had to do another workout to break the tie =(

I wasn't giving up!!!

backsquats

I gave it all I had and I really thought I was going to die right there and ended up in a 3 way tie

TIE BREAKER - FRAN
15 Thursters/pull-ups
12 Thursters/pull-ups
  9 Thursters/pull-ups
the order we finished would determine 3rd, 4th and 5th place
they left off the set of 21 reps thank God!!!

When I first heard this I was not happy at all my first competition and I did 3 WODs, I just wanted to be done and go home. =) Thanks to Autumn for getting my head back in the game I was ready to take on FRAN. All I can say is I gave it all I had and I was very very happy with myself and how I did in FRAN. I ended up losing 3rd place by 3 reps. Bummed yes I was but heck 4th place in my first competition I was excited about that. I could not have asked for a better day!!!

Getting ready to start FRAN

Pull ups

I took a lot away from this day. And I will never forget it and I can't Thanks Autumn enough for being by my side that day and coaching me through it all. And I can't thanks my husband enough for all he lets me do and supports me in it all! I still have a lot to learn but I am ready to take on the next challenge.

Thanks Autumn for all your help

A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever! 
-Mary Lou Retton

WOD = workout of the day

Age Group Sprint Nationals - Aug. 11, 2013

This is one race I would like to forget. With everything you do though, you can't have a prefect race and you have to learn from your mistakes. Also this is the time where I also found crossfit about a month before and just started spending more time in the gym then training for my race. When that happens you can't always expect a good race then when you don't prepare properly.
I remember this day clearly and the morning started early with setting up my transition and then have to wait a long time before my age group entered the water. As the wetsuits start to get zipped up and we are on deck waiting to get in the water, the race comes to a stop from letting people start. All the athletes in the water are allowed to continue on racing but they are not allowing anyone to start. As all the athletes are clear of the water coast guard boats, jet skis and paddle boards start combing the water. Come to find out they are missing someone and so they started looking in the water for the person. After 45 mins of looking they find out this athlete never entered the water but went over the timing mat that started his chip. Most importantly he is ok and safe, but thanks dude for never telling anyone and prolonging the race for us that haven't started yet. By this time a lot of the athletes are done racing or finishing up. Now almost an hour later then the planed start we are finally in the water and swimming! With the lack of swimming I did in my training I expected to struggle a little bit but not as bad as I did. I just hoped I was with the middle of the pack when I got out of the water.
SWIM: 17:51
Out of the water I was towards the end of the middle of the pack not where I wanted to be. Now I was going to have to fight harder on the bike to gain on the people in my age group. The course was hilly but nothing I thought I wasn't ready for. What I wasn't ready for was the wind =( It seemed ever direction you turned it was a headwind, but I kept pushing. With the bike being so short it's hard to gain time on it when it is your best leg. I did what I could but I knew my swim didn't help me at all.
BIKE: 37:57
When it was time for the run it started to drizzle and actually felt nice! I was hoping I could continue to try to chip away at people on the run, but my legs where not letting me. It seemed as I was running the people I past on the bike start passing me back on the run. Well I guess I went out to hard on the bike =( All I could do was continue to try to push and hope that I could still maybe fall as an alternate for Worlds. With about .2 left I had my eye on a girl in front of me and I did all I could to pass her and I did!!! I was happy about that but then but then learned I still didn't finish high enough to earn a spot on the World Team. I didn't even earn a spot as an alternate like I did last year.
RUN: 25:31
With that being said I was bummed and not happy about my performance. I know where I went wrong in my training and my racing and I can learn from it. Next year I'm coming back and I'll be ready.
TOTAL: 1:25:05

Finish Line 

I also got to meet an amazing Triathlete that I look up to. This was the highlight of my whole weekend 

Nashville Music City Sprint Triathlon July 28, 2013

Trying to play a little catch up so I will keep this one short and sweet.
Wow!! What a weekend this race was for me. With taking the year off from Ironmans I thought I would try to do some short distant racing which is not my favorite.
This was also the first time I have done this race but I enjoyed every min of it. The swim was cold and I was glad I decided to wear my wetsuit. Not only for the temp. but also give that extra little bit faster of a swim. =) Then it was off on the bike. The bike was enjoyable for me like also I found my rhythm and away I went. Since this race was a time trail start in the water and you didn't start with people in your age group I had no idea where I was in the race. With that being said I just kept pedaling away on the bike. Then came the ran and this is usually when I always fall behind in the race. Yes I am a runner but I am not your fastest. This run was a challenging one too. I went into the run not knowing a lot about it and as I started running, I started noticing it was hill after hill. UGH!! With this being said I kept telling myself it's only 3 miles and you keep going as hard as you can. I continued to push. This would be one of the reasons I hate short distant races, because it's not a slow steady pace that you are aiming for. You have to push your self faster and doing everything faster because it's so short, and I kept doing that!! I had an amazing race and was proud of my time and couldn't have asked for a better day.
The day did get better though!!! Without knowing where everyone else was in my age group to my surprise I finished FIRST!!! It was nice to have my parents there to cheer me on and see my first place finish!!!

Swim: 7:50
T1: 3:00
Bike: 44:12
T2: 1:49
Run: 25:53
Total: 1:22:42

Grandma's Marathon

Wow! It's been awhile since I have posted anything about races. So it's time to go back a few months to where I did grandma's marathon back in June. To start though I decided to take a year off from doing Ironmans and to focus spending more time with my husband =) With that being said I still am doing races and learning how to enjoy life outside of Ironman training. First thing I have realized is how much down time I have now. With that being said I did decide to sign up for Grandma's Marathon to get another state out of the way. This marathon would make state number 11!
Grandma's marathon is a point to point run along a lake and it was also a straight shot with really no turns. So 26.2 along one road made for a long run haha. The morning was cold somewhere in the 50's and extremely foggy. I have never ran in fog like that before and it was actually pretty neat. You could only see about a half mile in front of you. With the little training I did for this race those because I was dealing with an injury, I was really hoping to just finish. The race started out good I told myself I was going to run/walk the race like I did an Ironman Florida. I ran 4 mins. and walked 1 min and it was working out great. Right away though in the race my foot was hurting a lot, but it didn't stop me. I tried to focus on 4 mins at a time. Around mile 6 a guy noticed I was doing a run/walk and asked me about it. After talking to him for a while he decided to join me in the run/walk. At this point even though it was early on in the race still it was nice to have someone to talk to to help take my mind off the pain. He really helped me get through every mile with the pain I was in.
I believe it was around mile 20 I heard someone yell "Tracey" I looked over and there was Jordan (he was running it to) hunched over. I ran over to him and asked what was wrong. To keep things simple his calf's cramped up on him and he could barely walk. I was about about him finishing so I put all my focus on him and walked the rest of the race with him. We even at times had to stop. With it been so cold out and every now and then it started to drizzle I found something to wrap myself in to stay warm and continued to walk with Jordan. That was the longest 6 miles of my life =) We both made it to the finish line and Jordan's drive to still finish was amazing since he was barely able to walk. Most of all I am proud of him with never letting himself quit as we past every drop out zone they had. With that being said neither of us had our best race but we finished and have another state under our belt!