Weekend of Challenges

This past weekend was a once in a lifetime type of weekend - some of you might think I am slightly crazy for what I was up to this past weekend, some of you might just chalk it up to me being me, and some of you might be somewhat taken back by the amount of activity that I was able to endure this past weekend.

Let's recap the events and performances:  I wanted to compete in several things this past weekend, and instead of choosing one or the other - i did all of them.  First up Saturday morning 9am- MCRD Boot Camp Challenge.  I train full time at CF Invictus and I absolutely love it there - super lucky to have such a great group to be on this journey with,.  Anyways, we had a contingency out there on the course and a few weeks before I decided I wanted to take part in this event.

It was a super fun 3 mile course that we did as a 3 person team.   I knew Joerg and Matt (from CF Invictus) were interested in doing this event as well, so I figured we'd make a great team.  It was a blast, we went out there in a super hot day and were able to complete the course in 21:40 which was good for a 2nd place finish among the 3 person teams :)

Shortly after this event finished Joerg and I headed to CF Invictus to get ready for the OPT Big Dawg Challenge.  I am a big fan of OPT - I have learned a lot from his training methodology, website and from the trickle down effect since it is one of CJs mentor.

When I heard about this event I was super excited about it - I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  We didn't find out what the workout was going to be until that morning - I LOVE the element of surprise and it really speaks volumes to the efficiency of Crossfit training that no matter what comes out in the workout I look forward to attacking it and doing my best on it!  

When I saw the workout that morning I was excited about it and started to strategize in my head where I would push and how I would approach it.

For the full workout and the results check out the Invictus blog from last week - link below

http://www.crossfitinvictus.com/blog/2010/09/saturday-september-25-2010/

The event started at 11:30 and I was in one of the later heats which gave me a chance to recover, fuel and warm up accordingly after the Boot Camp Challenge.  I was able to watch some of the earlier heats and see how they were performing and modified my approach slightly.  On the Snatch portion I chose a weight I knew I could do and utilized the rest of the time to do as many burpees as possible.  I went into a trance during the burpees - it was an outer body experience, it was quite something and hard to describe.  I went into this zone that I pushed through some fatigue and was able to keep a consistent pace and rhythym going throughout. 

I knew I had 3 minutes of rest coming to me after which I knew I'd fully recover before getting on the rower for phase 2 of the workout.  At that point it was about maximizing my reps at the stations.    I pushed and pushed and pushed everything I had in me - I felt pretty good about it, and when I found out I finished 2nd I was somewhat surprised.  I thought I had done well, but wasn't expecting to have done that well - I was STOKED!!!!  To finish ahead of guru OPT (CF Games champion 2007) will be something memorable!

One would think this is a lot to do in one weekend already - but I did not rest there, i had one more event to compete in.   I signed up to do the AIDS 10K Run in Balboa park on Sunday morning.  I have been wanting to do this event in the past and haven't been able to.

I was looking forward to running this event, my friend Christopher Walden has done this event in the past and we were going to line up together and see who is fastest.  I know I'd have to run really fast in order to have a chance - he's fast.  Just this past year he ran a 3:13 Rock N Roll Marathon that qualified him for Boston Marathon!!!  What was incredible about his accomplishment is that he never ran more than 7 miles and no more that 3 x week, which speaks volumes to the type of training that he's been doing.  (Oh yeah - he's been coming to track workouts regularly all year long)  Interesting what a little speed work can do....

We lined up at the start and it was a beautiful day - super warm, Heidi (accupuncturist) came out with Koda to cheer us on, Joerg with Jackie (his awesome dog) and a few other friends and people we knew.  Before you know it the gun went off.  I hung with Chris for about the first mile and kept him within sight the entire race, but could not keep up with him.   My legs were feeling tight and so was my upper body - i did my best to stay relaxed and kept a good pace throughout.

All in all, i finished the race in 39:37 - my goal was to come in under 40 minutes, i was super pleased with this time which comes out to 6:22 per mile.  8th place overall and 4th in my age group.   My entire body was feeling wrecked after though, i could feel the soreness coming on, the adrenaline of the competing wearing down, and knowing I'd have to take some rest this week to let my body recover.

It was a great weekend - i love competing, not for the sake of winning, but for the sake of being active, sharing great experiences with friends and pushing my body to the limits.  I know this past weekend I pushed my body beyond what I thought was possible.  My goals were not to win or place in my age group - it was to do my best in all the events, and mission accomplished here.   I feel super lucky that I was able to share in these experiences with friends over the weekend, and been recovering all week from it - but it was totally worth it.  I haven't worked out since the weekend, but been honoring my body and the rest its been asking for as i get ready to do the Mission Bay Triathlon this weekend :)

The Three Laws of Performance

I absolutely love to travel - it gives me an opportunity to read.  I've gotten to be a huge nerd in the past few years in regards to learning and reading.  I don't always remember having such a huge passion/drive for reading but nowadays I am always reading 2-3 books at a time.

I went to Houston this past weekend to coach a Crossfit Endurance certification, which went really well.  I took 3 books with me, normal right???  Probably not so, but that's how I roll!

First on the agenda was "The Three Laws of Performance"  a book that was recommended to me by some friends that I have done Landmark courses with.  I've been reading this book since the spring, and only tid bits here and there whenever I have felt inspired to get into it.  I was on my last chapter - I knew I was going to finish it and I was looking forward to it.

The book itself was really easy to read, although I stopped several times so that I could think about some of the questions posed and how they impacted me, my life and the situations in my present.  One of the main reasons I love reading is because it makes me think - in a productive sense, it stimulates my brain and makes me question things that are going on in my life and how I look at the world.  It helps me see different perspectives and learn from others.

Here are the three laws of performance:

1.  How people perform correlates to how situations occur to them.
2.  How a situation occurs arises in language
3. Future-based language transforms how situations occur to people

Its hard to sum up in a few sentences what these sentences mean to me, and all the impact they've had in my life, and I probably won't know immediately either..,. What I can say is that they made a lot of sense when reading in the context of the book - I would highly recommend anyone looking for a good book to pick this up and reading it.  Personally, I know that by adding this to my reading material its kept me thinking how situations occur to other people. 

I really enjoyed the leadership corrollaries, milestones on the road to mastery and commitments they explained in the book - this really resonated it and the question that really hit home:  Who or What is leading your life?


What is it that I want to create for my future?  I want a future that is going to inspire action, and addresses the concerns of those involved, I want it to be vibrant and compelling!!!!

From Crossfit Invictus Blog

A Simple Salad with Ground Turkey
Written by Nuno Costa
You may not know this about me, but I love to cook! I feel blessed to have the opportunity to cook a majority of my own meals, so I know first hand what goes into my body.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to plan and prepare your own meals. Whenever someone talks to me about getting in shape, improving their overall health or training towards a specific goal, one of the first questions out of my mouth is usually in regards to their current eating habits.

One thing I learned from my dad last year was that I don’t just have to get people to change the way they eat, but also have to get them to change the way they think about food. When introducing the concept of “real foods” to people – most react with: I can’t have this, or that, etc…. Needless to say, if this is their first impression they are not going to be all that open to changing and making the necessary adjustments. Typically people resent being told they can’t have something, so I usually preface it with all the wonderful things they can have, and invite them to think about all the wonderful nutrients they are providing their body by eating real foods

Read the rest of the post here

Hot N Dry 2010

Another great weekend in Palm Springs!  This is my 3rd year attending Hot N Dry and its one of the weekends I really look forward to all year long.

Just like in the past 2 years, this year's event did not dissapoint.  It was fantastic to see faces from the past years and to meet new people.  Its one of those weekends that people get together and really enjoy each others company. 

I've been clean and sober for 2 years and almost 9 months, which in itself is an incredible accomplishment.  I can't imagine where I'd be if I had continued on the path of destruction that I was on 6 years ago. 

I have so much to be grateful for, weekends like this one make me realize that it wouldn't be possible if I weren't clean and sober.  Since I stopped drinking and using drugs my life has really unfolded beyond my imagination.   All the promises have come true and then some...

I realize that I am one of the luckiest people in the world.  If I hadn't found the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous and the fellowship it's highly improbable I'd be where I am at today.

Hot n Dry is a sober roundup of fellowship, fun and recovery hosted by Southern California's gay men of Alcoholics Anonymous.  Its a very special weekend, where close to 1,000 men come together for a common purpose: a stronger connection to, and deeper bond with, our tradition of fun and support.

I pre-registered for next  years event already,  I am already looking forward to it.  This years event was at the Riviera Resort which was super nice.  The past 2 I attended were at the Hilton in Palm Springs and this was a whole other level of service!  It was worth every penny.  We got there on Thursday afternoon and were by the pool most of the day Friday & Saturday mingling and meeting folks from everywhere. 

The meetings in the evenings are incredible, a huge ballroom filled and the energy is amazing.  The people that put on this event always go above and beyond to put on a show, and they sure lived up to it this year.  The entertainment is always top notch and this year was no different. 

Aside from the socializing, entertainment, great venue, I am grateful to share this experience with my friends and to have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. 

When it's cloudy I....

It's been almost 2 weeks since I have been back from my trip to Europe. It was an awesome experience to go where I went, see what I saw, do what I did and meet all the different people I met. It's taken me awhile to get adjusted to San Diego living and I have to say that my mindset is not all here yet.

Not really sure where it is though - it's definitely not in Europe and it doesn't feel lost, it still feels a little bit like its lacking direction.

I have no reason to complaint really - I set my own hours in terms of when I want to train people, I am able to travel with what I do and go to different cities and coach people from everywhere, yet something is still calling my name and I don't quite know what it is.

I have been meditating regularly which is a habit I'd like to continue, although the past few days I have been inconsistent I was able to make this into a daily morning routine when I was in Portugal. I tried doing it at night, but it didn't work so well.

I finished reading the book "Being Nobody, Going Nowhere" which really spoke to me about where I am spiritually and where I want to be. I don't feel as if anything in particular is missing or as if anything is wrong, and I don't even know how to quite describe what it is that I am going through - i just know that things haven't quite fallen into place and rather than trying to figure it out and rush to conclusions I am allowing things to be.

I have spoken to several people about some of the challenges I have had re-adjusting to life here in San Diego and have heard similar stories - sometimes it takes a few months to really get back into the lifestyle and way of being here. I hear it, and it makes sense, but my habit has always been to rush through things - so to allow things to be uncertain is a bit different, but something that I have gotten much better at in the past few years.

It's a cloudy Tuesday here in San Diego - weather not all that pleasant, and from the forecast it looks like it's going to be this way all week. Luckily I am going to a big sober retreat in Palm Springs this weekend - this should be a lot of fun, I have been the past 2 years and have had a fantastic time!!!!!

When you are in a cloudy mood what do you do to snap out of it?

When you are lacking motivation where do you turn to?

When you are searching for direction where do you go?

What inspires you?

What lets you know that you are on the right track?

Makeover

This blog is going to be constantly evolving, and I have a few ideas in mind in regards to the direction I'd like it to go - for now I am super happy to share the mission & vision and want to enroll as many people in it as possible :)