Goodbye CVI, Hello CrossFit Taranis!

I just found out that tonight was my last night coaching at CVI. I regret not having the chance to say goodbye to everyone.... If you're a CVI member and reading this, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all the best with your training and encourage you to keep challenging yourself to achieve a higher level of fitness. You'll all be missed!!!

With that said, I'm VERY excited to announce that I'll be coaching at CrossFit Taranis in the new year. The coaches and members are AMAZING and I'm excited to learn from them as well as pass on my own knowledge. Not to mention that their facility is totally pimped out! If you're interested in what Taranis has to offer, check out their website www.crossfitvic.com and send me an email at alexpiller@hotmail.com.

That's all for now.

-Al

Pilsner, DCon, Lulu and Sully at the CrossFit Taranis Winter Challenge

Recap: CrossFit Taranis Winter Challenge

Wow - What an AWESOME weekend!!! Shout out to the CrossFit Taranis crew who put months of time and effort into planning this event. It paid off guys, I don't think you could have done a single thing better. I especially enjoyed the creative team competition programming. YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!!

As for my performance, I finished 8th overall out of 27 women. There were some big names/OUTSTANDING female competitors registered for the event. Going into the competition my goal was not to place on the podium, but instead to give it my all and push myself until I had nothing left in the tank. I'm truly pleased with my results. I almost cried at the end of my last 2 WODS 'cause I was completely physically and emotionally drained. Perfect - I accomplished my goal!

Individual Event 1: Within a 10 minute time period, perform 1 set of max pullups. In the remaining time establish a 1 RM squat clean.

Results: 24 pullups (my one disappointing score of the weekend) + 150 lb squat clean - a 10 lb PR! (tied for 13th place overall)

Individual Event 2: 3 rounds of 15 wall ball (14 lb) + 10 burpees

Results: 3:45 (10th place overall)

Individual Event 3: AMRAP in 20 minutes of 20 backwards skips + 20 squats + 20 double unders + 200 meter run

Results: 9 complete rounds + 20 reps (9th place overall)

Individual Event 4: 5 rounds of 9 deadlifts + 6 power cleans + 3 squat clean to overhead (95 lb)

Results: 6:38 (8th place overall)

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CAME OUT TO CHEER FOR ME!!!!! Your support meant so much! I wouldn't have been able to push that hard if it wasn't for your constant screaming to keep going. I can't tell you enough how good it feels to have a group of people cheering for you. It's an amaaaazing feeling!

Photo courtesy of Nicole Landry whose facebook profile I robbed

September has arrived....

Well, tanning season is officially over! I have to admit that saying good-bye to summer is always hard for me. I love the heat, the long days, and my relaxed schedule during the summer. The start of September means classes, studying, rain, and the loss of bronze-coloured skin. All very sad....

One thing I AM excited for is the CrossFit Taranis Winter Challenge!!! I stopped by as a spectator at last year's event and immediately kicked myself for not competing. It was such a well-organized event, with CrossFitters travelling from all over to compete. This is a great opportunity to compete locally and give yourself something to train for and set goals to accomplish along the way.

My 3 month goals:

1. Master the muscle-up!!!!!
2. Complete one endurance WOD per week to improve my running capacity
3. 10 consecutive ring dips
4. 5 nose-to-floor handstand pushups
5. Finish top 5 at the Winter Challenge

The face of determination!

Love this!

Learn to love what you've got!

2010 CrossFit Games - Team Event 1 Recap

Event 1

2 rounds for time of:

70 thrusters (155/105)

50 chest-to-bar pull-ups

100 meter buddy carry

(12-minute time cap)

I LOVED this workout! The buddy carry made it so much fun! It was done with 2 men and 2 women, with 1 person working at a time (except during the buddy carry). The 12-minute time cap was tight, so our team goal was to finish. We did it! Our time was 11:57. We were tied for 26th place with CrossFit Taranis (there were 68 teams competing).

Me doing chest-to-bar pullups during event 1

Robyn rocked the 105 lb thrusters like it was nobody's business,
after stating that thrusters were, in fact, her weakness

Post-event group hug - we were ecstatic!

Long overdue!

My last post was almost 2 months ago.... I guess that's what happens when you're taking summer classes, training for the Games, coaching, and your boyfriend FINALLY moves back home after being gone for 8 months!

Looking back at the goals I set for myself almost 2 months ago, I'm happy to report that I've accomplished all of them! I finally did my first muscle-up, though I'm not very consistent and it's definitely ugly! I managed to figure out the kipping ring dip (I did 9+7+8 during the 2nd team event at regionals, beating my goal of 5 or more each round), and I'm working out the kinks of my kipping knees-to-elbows right now. Lastly, our team finished 4th overall at regionals!!!

So now we're back to training for the 2010 CrossFit Games!!! In 3 weeks we'll be in California watching and competing against the fittest men and women in the world. It's going to be one hell of a weekend!!!!!

CVI members at the Canadian Regionals (missing Jay)

My Short-term Goals

I haven't updated my goals since January, but I've been training for the Affiliate Cup at the end of the month and my short-term goals have become very specific. Here's what I'm hoping to accomplish by the end of May:

1. Get my first muscle-up!!! I'm so so so close, just gotta work at it every day....
2. Master the kipping ring dip
3. Place top 10 in the team competition at Regionals and qualify for the 2010 CrossFit Games

I'm really excited to see how our athletes do at Regionals, competing against the best CrossFitters in Canada. Most of our athletes follow my weekly workouts (for the most part), so it will be a testament to the quality of my programming and skills as a coach. Let's hope they make me look good!

Photo by Paul Sedillo from SICFIT.com