My CrossFit Family

Here's a photo of some of friends from CrossFit! Corlyn is an amazing badass with the best legs ever! Vanessa is an ultra fantastic amazing Coach, Carl is the CrossFit Endurance Guru, Summer is an ultramarathon goddess, Michael is WAY strong and fast and pushes me to excel, Kellie is my best cheerleader and a coach in the making extraordinaire, and Donna is one of the most badass women I have ever known! These people inspire me to reach for great heights. Thanks to all of you.

Suck Fest

Okay. WTF is going on?

If there's one thing I've been acutely aware of lately it is the importance of the MIND in anything I do.

When I want something "so bad I can taste it" or "desire to be the best, period", I reap great rewards in this physical CrossFit arena, b/c I am willing to push past the pain to get there.

But what the heck happened to me today? I came in almost dead last in today's WOD. I failed at 30 Standard Burpees and had to resort to the knees, when I was able to do 80 standard push-ups just last week. Lazy. Lazy. Lazy is about all I can say.

I KNOW I need to push harder than I've ever pushed to get to the next level. I KNOW I have it in me, but it's as if I am holding myself back out of some stupid fear.

Am I afraid of the pain?
Am I afraid I might actually excel?
Am I afraid if I do it well, it will be expected of me and I might let myself down if I can't live up to that standard?

When I saw Pablo fight on Saturday, I saw a WARRIOR. I saw someone who wanted it BAD!!!

I need to adopt that mindset, b/c this sucky baby wimpy approach has no place in my universe. I need to re-find the fire breather within that I was getting a glimpse of not too long ago.

Let's do it!

80 Pushups--Well I'll be damned!

Yesterday I did the Maltz Challenge (scaled)

400m run
50 pull ups (standard)
200 meter farmer’s walk with 45lb DBs (40lbs)
50 dips (on a BAT)
100 push ups (80 standard, 20 from the knees at failure)
50 knees to elbows (attempts, but all almost touched the knees!)
100 situps
400m run

My time 42:24 ish

I wasn't thrilled with my results, and today it hit me. WTF! Shannon, you just did 80 pushups to standard, and only resorted to "from the knees" at failure. I did 80 pushups to standard! Whoooo! Wow! Holy cow!

Funny what we take for granted, but I still recall my first Murph, in which NOT ONE pushup was to standard, and I even failed from the knees having to do my last 15 as half-dip knee pushups.

Amazing.

This stuff really works! (Duh.) And even though I "know" that, I am still continually amazed by my progress!

Life is good.

My First Marathon

Wow. What can I say? This was one of the most amazing experiences ever. Although I did not train specifically for this race, I instinctively knew "I was ready."

I took the entire week off beforehand and rested. I did NOTHING to exercise, at all. I ate very healthy and I visualized myself doing well.

I had several people question my readiness, but like I said, I just sort of knew it would all be okay, so I listened to my inner voice and didn't give in.

I ran with a bladder filled with a 4:1 carb to protein beverage, which I learned about in the Paleo Diet. I kid you not, for the first 19 to 20 miles, it was as if I had wings. It was actually EASY. I actually hit the 13 mile mark right around the 2 hour mark, which was my goal. I forced myself not to run too quickly in the beginning, and I focused on attempting a 9:15pace, pose technique, lifting my knees and keeping steady.

Life was good. I was high on life and at several points during the race was overcome with emotion--resulting in out loud cheers of "Whooooooo! We're alive!" At one point, I even broke out in a mini-cry (lasting all of maybe 2 seconds), as I was just so overcome with joy at doing something I had always wanted to do.

I thought of my Dad (who passed away about 5 years ago) and how proud he'd be of me. I thought of my Mom, whom I love so much, and how proud she is of me and I of her. I thought of my boyfriend Dan, whom I love so very much. I thought of my roommate Lisa, whose courage to go after most anything propelled me to this very place, so I ran for her too.

It was beautiful.

About mile 19-ish though, the pain set in. First, I got stomach cramps, and had to stop for diarrhea. After that, the stomach seemed okay, but then it seemed like every muscle in my body, actually every bone in my body, was just aching.

My knees (of which there isn't much cartilage to play with anyway) were screaming with pain, my hips hurt, my calves were tight, and I just ached.

I tried to keep my spirits up, but it became increasingly harder. My pace slowed to about 10:30, then 11:15, and at times to 12:30. I tried like hell to speed up, but the old body just didn't want to play anymore.

So I kept going anyway. It was slow, but sure. And at no time, ever during the race, did I walk. I refused.

When I crossed the finish line, Dan was there taking pictures and cheering me on as always. I finished in 4:21:24. Not quite what I hoped for, but not bad considering my lack of training.

I went home, took a hot bath, had some breakfast and slept.

Today I'm stiff, but good, and I am damned happy to be alive.

I can't wait to do it again!

Runner Details Race Results Split Times
Bib: 972
Name: Shannon Franklin
Gender: F
Age: 44
Hometown: Tujunga, CA

Overall: 503 out of 1486
Women: 100 out of 501
F 40-44: 18 out of 88
Age/Grade: 56.79% Place: 302
Finish: 4:21:24 Pace: 9:59
Tag Time: 4:21:24
Gun Time: 4:25:17

10 Km: 59:34 Pace: 9:36
10.75: 1:43:56 Pace: 9:41
16.15: 2:33:04 Pace: 9:29
21.6: 3:29:50 Pace: 9:43

Love Affair with Olympic Lifting?

Never ever in my wildest dreams would I have ever guessed that I would develop a "love affair" with Olympic Weightlifting.

I love learning this! It is so interesting. Each movement is so complex, yet is such a workout in and of itself.

Tonight in O-lifting class, we practiced the Burgener Warm-Up over and over for the Snatch.

Cool. I understand what a Snatch is now. I even did a few at a whopping 40 lbs.

This is fun. I love a new challenge.

Intensity (or Lack Thereof)

Last week we did a WOD of AMRAP in 30 minutes of dumbbell squat thrusters and a 400 m run. The standard was 25lb dumbbells, I did it with 20lb weights.

However, one thing I did right, was I was INTENSE! I went to that workout with a fire, and I worked extremely hard. I was breathing very heavy the entire time, and at the end of the 7th round, with about 30 seconds to go, admittedly, I dropped the weights and dropped to the ground to rest.

I know it took me at least a full minute or two, breathing like I'd just escaped a fire, before I was finally able to calm down.

Now THAT was intensity!

The next day, it was like I was on fire! I had so much energy, I was blown away.

Intensity is Force X Distance (or Work) divided by time. The more work you do in the least amount of time, the more intensity you will create.

I realized this morning that I do the WOD's at an intensity way less than I am capable of. Pushing myself harder is my next goal. Currently I'll work fairly hard, but I rest way too often and for too long. I need to be prepared to work my ass off as fast as possible!

The goodies come from the intensity. I want more goodies.

Very Cool Weightlifting Video

Bucket List

So I just registered for the Pasadena Marathon, and I realized that I have been steadily knocking things off of my bucket list, since I found CrossFit in July of 2008.

I've always wanted to run a marathon, so I figured what they hey! Let's do it. This will be my first!

I'm also running the Mt. Wilson Trail race, which will be a beast!

Eventually, I'd like to compete in some triathlons, some more adventure races and even an Ironman.

I love pushing the body further than I think I can make it go. It's so rewarding.

Life is good.