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

CrossFit chicks are HOT!

As you may have noticed, I feel very strongly about the idea of "Beauty In Strength". In fact, I hope to tattoo that exact phrase somewhere on my body in the near future. I believe the media has done a great job of convincing women they need to be either stick-thin or proud of their curves. Women are rarely encouraged to be proud of their muscles, which is exactly what I'm trying to promote. I'm not talking about the bulky muscles of a female bodybuilder on steroids; I'm talking about the defined arms and developed legs that occur when women learns to squat and do pullups. Sure, your jeans may fit a little tight in the legs, but YOU CAN SQUAT!!! Forget about the purely aesthetic approach to fitness, and think about the physiological and psychological benefits.... I'll continue this later....

Check out this article from the CrossFit Journal.

http://www.rhsportfit.com/CFJ_hayes_chicks.pdf

Stolen from another strong chick's blog: http://ltpagogo.blogspot.com/

Upcoming FUN!

Friday April 30th BBQ Fundraiser at the gym! More details coming soon!

Saturday May 8th Mother's Day Team Challenge Start forming your 4 person teams now. You must have at least one mom on your team. Cost is $40.00 per team with all money raised going to our competitors heading to regionals in Calgary at the end of the month. There will be 2 workouts, one in the morning (out on the Langford Lake trail) and one in the afternoon (at the gym). The workouts will be suitable for all ages and abilities, so bring your family and friends!

May 27 - 30 Canada Regionals CVI is sending 8 athletes - Tyson Takasaki, competing in the men's division; Duncan Maffia, competing in the master's division (if we can teach him how to do double unders in the next month!); and our affiliate team: Robyn Horner, Regina Robinson, Alex Piller, Troy Robinson, Jay Jordan, and Brendan Robinson. You guys can help our athletes train for the games by giving it all you've got during the WODs - the more competition and intensity we have during our training, the more prepared we'll be!

Me at my Grandma's house doing some abs.... no big deal!

BC sectionals wrap-up

Wow, coming home after the BC sectionals I was WIRED! I'm pretty sure everyone in our group is sick of listening to my giggles! Our athletes did AWESOME!!! And we had a ton of fun doing it! Tyson finished 3rd overall and Calvin finished 15th - both of them earning a spot at Regionals in May whoop whoop! I definitely regret not competing, it was such a cool atmosphere to be in. CrossFit competitions aren't like most sporting events 'cause your fellow competitors are also cheering you on! We'll definitely have to send a bigger group next year. I'm super stoked for Calgary!!!

BC sectionals top 3 men and women

Alicia Connors WOD #4 rippin' it up

Having a GREAT time during the lifting!

Tyson Back Squat WOD #1

Ladies, this one's for you

I came across this article on the CrossFit Football site and thought it was excellent. You have no idea how many times I've had this conversation!

10 Reasons Heavy Weights Don't Bulk Up Females

http://www.elitefts.com/documents/female_athletes.htm

CrossFit Vancouver Island group shot at the BC sectionals March 27 & 28

BC Sectionals Day 1 Recap

Talk about amazing competition atmosphere! The BC sectionals are being held at Quest University, located in the mountains above Squamish. The view from the gym is incredible! Nothing like clean, fresh mountain air to prepare the body for competition.

Competitors opened the competition with the CrossFit Football Total: a combined score of their best of 3 attempts in the power clean, back squat, bench press, and deadlift. Cayle ended up tying for 2nd place with a total of 1465 pounds!!!!! Tyson placed 6th with a total of 1415 pounds, Calvin placed 31st with 1125 pounds, and Mike was 41st with a total of 1040 pounds. (Unfortunately, Marty came down with the flu Friday night and spent the day in bed)

The second WOD was AMRAP in 5 minutes of: 7 box jumps (24/20") 7 burpees 7 KB swings (55/35#). Tyson placed 9th overall, Calvin placed 21st overall, Mike placed 40th overall, and Cayle placed 53rd overall (his legs were a little fatigued after the lifting! - "Coming out of the burpees, my legs felt like I was jumping in sand").

Competitors finished the day with a 2k erg. All competitors' pace boats were on a projection screen in the gym so the athletes and spectators knew how they were doing against the others in their heat. Tyson placed 5th overall with 6:51.5, Calvin placed 8th overall with 6:54.5, Mike placed 27th overall with 7:06.7, and Cayle placed 35th with 7:13.1.

As for the ladies, Alicia Connors (from CrossFit Taranis) finished the day in 2nd place!!! If you think I lift heavy, you should have seen the numbers these girls were pushing/pulling! Unbelievable!!! The girls are fighting hard for the top 3 spots, and tomorrow's WOD will be a battle to the end.

Highlight of my day? Finding out TYSON IS IN FIRST PLACE OVERALL AT THE END OF DAY 1!!!!! (or maybe it was watching the coug hit on Tyson.... it's a toss up!) I can't explain how excited and proud I am! Tomorrow's WOD will determine which 15 men and 15 women qualify for Regionals (it's also Mike's strongest event). I gotta say, judging has been a blast, but I can't wait to compete in Calgary!

BC Sectionals coming up!

A group of us from CVI are heading to Squamish this weekend to compete/spectate/judge at the CrossFit Games BC Sectionals. Competitors will compete in 4 events - 3 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday. The top 15 men and top 15 women will continue on to compete at the Regionals in Calgary at the end of May. Check out the Games website http://games2010.crossfit.com/ for a complete list of workouts. If you see these guys at the gym - Mike, Cayle, Tyson, Marty, and Calvin - make sure you wish them good luck!

Site of the CrossFit Games BC Sectionals in Squamish

Mmmm mmmm good!

Paleo Pancakes

Ingredients:

Eggs

Vanilla protein powder

Coconut flour, almond meal, ground flax, or something similar

Blueberries, cinnamon, shredded coconut, cocoa powder ***optional

Directions:

For one pancake:

Combine 1/3 scoop protein powder (~7-10g protein), 2 Tbsp coconut flour/almond meal/ground flax, and 1 egg. Whisk until you have a pancake-batter like consistency. Heat a small non-stick frying pan (or use coconut oil) and pour mixture into pan. Let cook until the top is firm to the touch. Remove from pan, top with berries or your topping of choice, and enjoy! I also like almond butter and bananas.... deeeelish!

How to deal with overtraining

Check out this awesome blog post from Mark's Daily Apple

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-deal-with-overtraining/

I especially like this section:

Don’t try to be an elite hybrid marathoner/powerlifter/metcon superhero.

Most performance-oriented people will have to choose between running mega miles each week and hitting heavy compound lifts. You can’t do Stronglifts, drink a gallon of milk, and go run a half marathon. I mean, you physically can and I want you to be fit enough to do so, but training that way would be so entirely counterproductive as to be absurd. Your running would suffer, your lifts would be weak and unimpressive, and you’d probably injure yourself. You’d be way overstimulated, cortisol would flow like desiccated gluten through a leaky gut, and you wouldn’t know whether to burn fat or burn sugar. Lift heavy and run the occasional long distance event? That’s fine. It’s what being Primally fit is all about. But it’s the regular training of both that will confuse your body and mess you up in the long run.

Sound familiar anyone?

Paleo Spaghetti! Yummm!

My new favourite post-WOD meal....

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash
Organic tomato pasta sauce (I like Simply Organic)
Ground turkey or bison, or turkey pepperoni

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees celcius. Cut the spaghetti squash lengthwise and place cut-side down on a baking sheet. Cook for ~45 minutes until squash is soft when you poke it with a fork. While the squash is cooking, fry the ground turkey/bison until cooked. When squash is done, scrape the insides into a dish. It should come apart like spaghetti noodles. Add pasta sauce and protein source, mix and enjoy!

Clean It Up

January 1st - the day we promise to better ourselves in some way. Here's a list of my new year's resolutions:

1. Eat paleo - meaning no grains, no legumes, no dairy, no sugar (with the exception of chocolate, but I'll try and limit myself to organic dark chocolate that is 70% or more cocoa... hey, everyone has a weakness! Gotta get through studying somehow...)


2. Go green - try to keep school notes & assignments on my computer, use reusable plastic food containers (no more plastic bags), stop drinking bottled water


3. Rest more - take at least 3 days of rest from training every 12 weeks to prevent overuse injuries & soreness

Dylan, Dustin, myself & Gerard from CrossFit FX TX in Allen, TX. I had the opportunity to work out at their box over the holidays. Thanks guys!