Surprise 2nd Place Medal

So I ran my first "official" 10K on Sunday, December 13, 2008. It was for the Say No to Drugs Race hosted by Narconon. Earlier in the week, I did a training Time Trial for 60 mins and wound up running over 7 miles for a PR of an average 7.87 minute mile. So I was hopeful.

But I cheated on the Zone. Two days before race, I had sugar. Bad. The night before, I had yogurt...more sugar. Bad.

Then I slept 3 hours because I had the good fortune to do a radio show for KROQ at 6am! That's cool. I'll sleep 3 hours for that anytime.

But as soon as the gun went off, I knew I was in trouble. People were passing me left, right and center, and I just couldn't catch my breath. I had never been in a race with a chip tied to my shoe, so when I rounded the first split, they yelled out 13:10...or so I thought. Certainly I wasn't doing a 6:40 min mile, so that must mean I was doing a 13:10 min mile. I felt so defeated! I was huffing and puffing and yet I was clearly sucking!

But I kept running...hoping and running. When I passed the second split, I don't remember what was said--seems like 27: something. Either way, I felt like I sucked, and like a dope I introverted.

But I kept running as hard as I could.

When I crossed the finish line, my boyfriend was there taking pictures. I told him I thought I'd averaged about an 11 minute mile, a personal worst, and could we just go home now?

So we did. Later that eve, I started to come down with a cold. Whatever.

So imagine my surprise when Monday evening I went to check the race stats. Not only did I NOT average an 11 minute mile, I averaged an 8:22 minute mile--which while not a PR, I thought was decent. And lo and behold, I actually placed 2nd in my age category of 40-44!!!! WOW!! This is like one of the coolest things to happen to me--ever!

Okay, so I'm glad I'm not OLDER, as I wouldn't have placed in that category--but hey, I'll take what I can get, right?

MY FIRST MEDAL!!

Pictures to follow...and my medal's coming in the mail! :O)

Fight Gone Bad....Later

So Crossfit Monrovia had a Fight Gone Bad Competition last Saturday. Most anyone who visits my blog would know what this is.

Here I am doing push-presses--obviously a few rounds in, as is evident from the pain etched on my face. Damn, this was hard!

My score was a respectable 197--not bad for a first timer! Anyway, here's a photo from that.

Water4Gas Water-Fuel Holiday Rally!

You're invited to Our First Annual Water4Gas Holiday Rally!

When: Saturday, December 13, 2008

Time: 12pm to 3pm

Place: 6331 Woodley Avenue, Woodley Park, Van Nuys, CA

Directions: WOODLEY PARK Just off of the 405 fwy. Located between Burbank Blvd & Victory on the west side in front of the golf course, at the entrance to the Model Air Field. Follow the flying model airplanes down the road branching off Woodley nearest Burbank Blvd.

Bring: Family and Friends!

It's permitted and desirable to bring your own water-hybrid car and to show it off.

Come see multiple cars that are using water to create hydrogen fuel! These cars have a minimum average mpg increase of 35%. Additionally, their smog emissions are virtually zero as a result of having Water4Gas technology in place.

This is a great opportunity to see for yourself this amazing technology in action. Bring your friends and family for an enjoyable afternoon learning about something that can truly help our planet.

Call me at my office at 909-581-9744 if you have questions about what we do.
Call my cell at 818-726-5214 if you get lost.

Shannon

Christine PR on my Birthday!

Today is my 44th Birthday.

Whoopee! Today I went to Crossfit. On Fridays we do "Happy Hour" wherein we get to pick the workout we want to do. I picked "Christine". I've done it many times; it's always a challenge.

Christine
3 rounds for time
500m row
12 deadlifts at 1/3 bodyweight
21 box jumps

So today I looked at the board at the other's times, and I figured, "if I do this in under 18 minutes, I'll be happy". I did the first round in under 5 minutes. It was then I got the idea that I would shoot to do this in under 15 minutes, and I did!

I did the workout standardly with a time of 14:28. Only 3 more women are ahead of me on the board. And I just found out this is a 2:30 improvement over my previous best!

Very cool.

Humility

OK. So humility isn't a quality I possess much of, and I can admit I could use a bit of it now and again. I just get so excited about whatever I'm excited about, that sometimes I want too much too soon.

Case in point.

Today I realize that the reason the Crossfit Monrovia that I go to is so damned good, is because of the leadership there. Both Eric and Vanessa are absolutely excellent trainers--indeed the best. They both take their roles seriously and in my opinion, deliver world class coaching.

I do want to open a Crossfit, but the key word here is as Eric says, "when I've earned it."

I realize that I have a lot to learn and experience before I am ready, as I would want to offer anyone who stepped through my doors nothing less than what I get now--the best!

However, I am NOT of the notion that everything in life has to take "a long time". I do believe that we KNOW things, far more than we're allowed to believe, than anything can be learned, and with great enough focus, it can be mastered in years, not decades.

Ultimately I believe that if we persist, we will get better. Otherwise, why do it?

I can and will do this...when I am ready and the time is right! And when I do, I hope to do it with grace and humility and with the blessing of those who have trained me. That's when it would mean the most!

Another Half Marathon--Almost

So today I set out to run another half marathon. I ran my first in NC about 5 weeks ago. It took me about 140 mins or a 10.77 min mile. What can I say? It was my first ever attempt.

I plotted out a 13 mile course along Big Tujunga Canyon Road--a beautiful stretch of two lane road on just the other side of the mountain range from which I live (pictures to come). It is breathtakingly beautiful, but it really is in the middle of nowhere. I figured I may have to run the last mile in the dark--which with crazy drivers, very narrow roads and the minor threat of mountain lions--made me a little nervous.

After an hour of running, I hadn't hit the 6.5 mark to turn around, and I wasn't really sure how far I still had to go to reach my target. Realizing I didn't really want to run in the pitch black along this very narrow stretch of highway, I figured I'd just turn around. So I did.

When I got back, I drove out to where I had turned around. Dang! I was so close. I ran 5.9 miles--just .6 short of my target. No biggie. As it was I did arrive just as the sky turned black. I'll do it again later.

But the good news is my time did increase. I averaged 9.83 mins/mile for a total of 116 mins exactly.

And although tired upon completion, I didn't bonk, and if the sun was still out, I'm sure I could've run another 5-6 miles!

No More Ms. Wimpy!

Today at Crossfit we did Helen. Helen was the first workout I ever did at Crossfit, so it holds a place in my heart.

3Rounds for Time
400M Sprint
21 Kettle Bell Swings
12 Pullups

So I did the first one in 15 something. As usual, it was a good hard workout.

Then Eric, the main cheese at Crossfit Monrovia surprised us. He introduced a "part two". He had us do the whole thing over again and challenged us to beat our time.

I did the second one in 15 something, but I DID beat my time.

The sucky part is this. During the 400 M sprint, I was WAY out in the lead of the ENTIRE CLASS! Had I been able to maintain my pace, I would've kicked some royal ass! But I rested after the run and lost all my gains by the time I finished the first round of kettle bell swings. DAMN!

After class, Eric spoke to us about how we shouldn't have been able to come anywhere close to our 1st time on the 2nd round if we had given it our all. He spoke about not taking breaks, stopping to get water, etc. After all, the whole workout only lasts 15 or so minutes--come on!

I realized he was right. This is anaerobic exercise. It is short bursts at very high intensity. Taking rests defeats the purpose of Crossfit, so I resolve to push harder.

I really want to challenge myself to get through all of our workouts with no breaks.

I know I can do it!