Sarah Too

Starting round 2.

Honestly? I am totally procrastinating right now. I should be working on my presentation for the University of Iowa Running Symposium. Instead, I'll let you all know what I learned from my very first CrossFit competition experience.

This past Saturday, the Mister and I gathered together two teams of athletes from our gym for a friendly CrossFit throwdown in Iowa City. As it worked out, the Mister and I would be competing as individuals. I didn't plan to participate in the individual women's event, it just kind of worked out that way, and I was anxious to see just how I would fare. Looking at the workouts for the individual events, I was not even sure I would be able to complete either one. Here's what was on tap:

Workout #1:
3 Rounds of:
300 m row
8 ground-to-overhead (100#)
35 doubleunders
Time cap: 10 minutes

Workout #2:
50 pullups
50 burpees
Time cap: 8 minutes

Finals:
2 minutes to complete: 10-20-30-40 m suicides and as many reps as possible of 100# deadlift
1 minute rest
2 minutes to complete: 10-20-30-40 m suicides and AMRAP of 100# front squat
1 minute rest
2 minutes to complete: 10-20-30-40 m suicides and AMRAP of 100# shoulder-to-overhead

[A lot of that gibberish above may mean nothing to may of you. Just know that all of it was heavy, lung-sucking hard work.]

The scores from Workouts 1 and 2 were combined to determine which females advanced to the finals. Well, that is if there had been enough women to warrant whittling the field down to 12. As it was, there were only 8 females, including myself, competing in the women's event. NONE of us completed the first workout. I made it through only 2 rounds in 12 minutes. The doubleunders (i.e., whipping the rope under your feet twice per jump) are what did me in, plus sucking wind on the 100# ground-to-overhead lift with the barbell. Going into the first workout, I wasn't even sure if I could lift 100# over my head 8 times in a row, so I viewed it all as a success.

For the second workout, half of the women's field completed the workout in the time allotted. I missed finishing by 10 burpees. Boo. SO CLOSE. At least with that workout I knew I could do everything, it was just a matter of how quickly. Guess I need to work on my cardio some more! (Don't we all...)

So, I made it to the women's finals by default. By the end of a very long day, filled with a lot of waiting (and cheering for my Mister and our teams in their events), only 5 women were still around to compete in the finals. I did not officially "place" in the top 3, but I participated, worked harder than I have in any daily workout, and landed in the top 5. Not bad for a first effort at competing.

I absolutely loved the experience. Our teams performed awesomely and many of our athletes posted personal records lifting more, and jumping higher and faster than ever before. The atmosphere at CrossFit events is unparalleled. Where else can you commiserate with your fellow competitors as well as cheer each other through that last rep? Last, I felt such a sense of accomplishment because I exceeded my own expectations of what I thought I could do.

I keep thinking back to where I was and what I was doing in 2011 and I see how quickly I have gone so far. This competition was a moment in which I could focus on what I achieved rather than grumble about how far I have to go. Even when I think I am treading water, and going no where, I need to remember that the effort of keeping my head above water is success in and of itself. And with that, I look toward another Whole30 experience. We start tomorrow and hopefully, I learned some tricks since last year's Whole30 to get me through this one!

Sleepy kitties.

If you paid attention to the posts I made on here since about July, then you know my world changed radically in 2011. I got married, I quit my job (and so did Jacob), we moved to Iowa, we both changed careers, and we started our own business.

The question asked the most of me about life here in Iowa is "So what are your days and hours like?" Below is my attempt to capture the ebb and flow of our lives as gym owners...

When we arrived in Iowa, we set a goal of opening within 10 days. We had so much to accomplish in the gym space. The walls were bright red and deep black because the place used to be a bar. We managed to coat the place in 20 gallons of paint within 5 days. The floors were a mess -- old carpet glue stuck your feet to the floor. We had fleas. My legs itched for weeks. I still have scars where the fleas devoured whole portions of my ankles. Despite the pounds of weights and equipment we needed to install and put into place, we accomplished our ambitious goal. During that initial 10 days, we awoke early, went balls-to-the-wall working on the gym space, unpacking boxes at the house, registering vehicles, setting up bank accounts, and all the other bureaucratic B.S. that comes with moving.

During the first 3 weeks or so of the gym being open, both Jacob and I would wake up early and be at the gym for the morning block of classes. We alternated who coached each hour-long session. Some days we filled all the morning classes, other days, we bided our time until the next athlete walked through the door. We would also stay at the gym between classes as a lot of curious foot traffic stopped in to see what replaced the old bar. That foot traffic petered off after a while as word-of-mouth spread from our active member athletes. We again alternated who coached at the noon and evening block of classes. These were long days.

These days, Jacob and I alternated who takes the entire block of morning classes. For example, Jacob has the morning block on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this week. I have Tuesday and Thursday. So today, Jacob will take on the noon and evening classes. We are both at the gym, generally, in the evenings as the 4:30 PM class is usually pretty large and we sometimes get beginners/first-timers. And we are both in the gym on Saturdays. This schedule works out nicely for us, as we each get a chance to sleep in, and have afternoons off. It definitely helps recharge our batteries.

In between shifts, I nap, read, run errands, do housework, write emails, make phone calls, update the bookkeeping, watch movies, or pet the kitties. Sometimes, Jacob and I will drive up to Iowa City for an item or two that we can't get here in Muscatine. In the evenings, we're pretty beat and we just want to wind down with food, a shower, and some reading or part of a movie. I'm pretty much lights out by 10 PM.

On weekends, we enjoy the fact that after noon on Saturday, our time is our own. We'll watch football at my in-laws, or go for a hike, or nap, or read. We go to church. We sleep in. Sometimes, one of us takes a weekend trip (me to see Amanda, or NYC; Jacob to see his Grandma or a friend). It's a quiet life and a good life. I'm sure as time goes by it will be an even busier life. For now, it is more than busy enough -- externally and internally (in my head) -- as our gym grows and as we settle further into our new lives.

What a love about my days now is that every day is productive. I don't feel like I wasted time at my desk mindlessly cruising the internet, procrastinating, or avoiding the work on my desk. I don't have pointless, meaningless meetings. I don't feel like I am going to "work". Some will say I am crazy for throwing away a stable job, or the years I put into my undergraduate and graduate degrees. I say I wouldn't be the coach or business woman I am today without those experiences. And I certainly wouldn't know what I do and don't want without those experiences. There is no road map or manual for life, so all I can do is follow my heart. And I am pretty effing happy where my heart led me.