Crossfit Southern California Regionals 2011

I’ve been super blessed to have had the opportunity to compete at the CF Games the past 2 years and am now going back for a 3^rd.  Before I came to Invictus I competed on the CF SoCal team where we finished 6^th in 2009 and last year I was part of the Invictus team that finished 4^th in the worldwide competition.  

275#s x 45 reps was heavy...

 

Leading up to regionals there were a few uncertainties about who was going to be on the team and what role each athlete was going to have in the workouts.   I think it really played to our favor to be the last weekend that regionals was held because we were able to see what the top competitive times were and see where we stacked up to the rest of the world.  It also brought us closer together as a team which really benefited in our chemistry.

In our training we never did the actual workouts, but we did each of the segments and had a good idea of what we might be capable of doing.  We knew we had the potential to do really well,  but at the end of the day we still have to go out and execute the strategy which is exactly what we did and then some.

I couldn’t be more proud of my teammates – it was amazing to see them in action, during the workouts that I was not performing although I was a little bit anxious and nervous for my teammates I was super confident of their abilities and knew we’d be competitive in each of the workouts.  When we did as well as we did, I wouldn’t say it was surprising or shocking it just felt like we did what we were supposed to do, not in the sense of crushing the workouts, but in the execution of the game plan.

I am a little biased, but I would most definitely say that we have the best coach in the world and we knew exactly what we were supposed to do on game day and that takes all the thinking out of it and just allows us to do what we are supposed to do.

We couldn’t do what we did if it wasn’t for our amazing community – having the Sea of Green there this past weekend gave us additional motivation to do our best, we can’t thank you all enough for your continued support.   As athletes competing everything is pretty well organized for us too, which is beyond what anyone can ask for – from all the meals being prepared, to having an ice bath ready for us post workouts, to hotel arrangements it makes it super easy for us to focus on the competition and not have to worry about all the additional details – thank you to everyone that helped!

Another big reason why we were successful is the support of our acupuncturist extraordinaire – Heidi Fearon.  Having her there for a majority of the weekend was a huge blessing – she was able to work with us each day making sure that we were physically prepared, taped, stretched and mentally dialed in as well. 

All in all, regionals was an amazing experience – it was almost surreal,  I have had to ask myself a few times – did we really just do that?  It was an awesome competition and now that we’ve qualified for the games in July it’s time to take it up a notch and get things dialed in the next 5 weeks or so to do it again and bring it to another level and show the world what we are capable of as a team.

Invictus finishes #1 in Southern California - good times were had!!!

Nutrition & such

With the Crossfit Games right around the corner I am getting super excited about competing at Regionals.   Here in Southern California our regionals is the weekend of June 17th-19th, and at that point all the other regions will have gone already.  In order to qualify for the games in July our team must finish top 3 out of 30, which will be no easy task.


Check out the workouts that we will be doing - http://games.crossfit.com/content/regional-workouts

Leading up to the games I get seriously committed about my nutrition and here are a few things that are a stable in keeping me on top of my game.

If you haven't tried this nut butter, get ready for it to rock your world.  Not only is it amazing, but your body will thank you for it!  "2 tablespoons of NuttZo PF provides 75% of your daily value of Omega 3 ALAs.  No sugar or hydrogenated oils added.  Most importantly, the taste is amazing and it will have you coming back for more."

I have found this to be the best recovery drink out there.  I have used it almost religiously for all my competitions for the past year an half - from 5k races, to 1/2 marathons, triathlons, CF Games, Gay Games, you name it - I always rely on Genr8 post workout to fuel my body.  I especially like the Tropical Flavor and will typically always have a tub of it available.  I like that I don't feel bloated when I drink it and it's sugar free :)

 

With the level of training that I have been doing for the past 6 months or so I have found that I have also been eating lots more, so one thing I looked for awhile back was a good source of protein which is what I found in Stronger, Faster, Healthier.  I found it to mix really well with most things and have been using the natural flavor for awhile now.  I find that I ended up eating somewhere between 3-5 meals per day and on the most part I eat only real foods, but in a pinch for time and convenience I lean on SFH whey protein which I think is the best out in the market.  Their fish oil is pretty amazing as well, all the flavors!!!




Speaking of fish oil, that is one thing that I must have in the house at all times.  At Invictus we carry Barlean's which I really like.  After using the Kirkland brand that I got from Costco I decided to try this since it had a higher EPA/DHA - which means I would have to take less of it,  doesn't that sound ideal?  I started using the liquid form and before I knew it the fish burps went away - you know what I am talking about?  If you are getting them, it's probably because you are taking a low grade fish oil that's coated with a bunch of stuff that is unknown - switch to a high grade fish oil like Barlean's, SFH or maybe even Carlson's which I also really like. 

The last recommendation I have is what my accupuncturist extraordinaire Heidi Fearon recommended to me awhile ago.  It's a calcium/magnesium supplement, which she has found at times athletes are deficient.   These are two major minerals that can help keep the body running at its best!  "You experience the tensing (calcium) and relaxing (magnesium) interaction of these two elements each time your heart beats, when you feel your pulse, and every time you breathe."  I found this to be a nice supplement to keep me healthy.  I have taken the natural flavor and am now on the raspberry flavor which I think has a nice zest to it.

All in all there's not one thing that I would say keeps me healthy, its always a combination of things, but these are top of my list.  What have you found that works really well for you?