Crossfit and 5k

I truly believe Crossfit has improved my running.  Since Reach the Beach, I’ve gone for 1 maybe 2 runs, aside from any running that may be incorporated into the workout that day in Crossfit.

Instead of running, I’ve been WODing…4-5 times a week, and I love it. 

(taken from our Crossfit facebook page)  That's me in front in case you couldn’t tell.

So then 4th of July rolls around and I register for a local 5k that is 5 min from my house and a bunch of people from Crossfit are running as well!

The 4th turned out to be a pretty warm day.  Brian was running too and we decided just to take it easy and see how it goes.  The heat usually doesn’t bode well for me.

A few minutes after we started I see that we’re keeping a fairly fast pace (for me) and I’m worried about crapping out later.

Let’s just say I was shocked that we maintained a good pace the whole time!  We stopped twice at each of the water stations, but just kept trucking…and I ended up with a new PR!!

28:26!!!!  My previous 5k PR was a couple years ago at 29:10, and since then I usually hover around 30 minutes.  I can NOT believe I maintained that pace in that heat!  I was so pumped!!

Some of my fellow crossfitters after the race!

Looking forward to more races :) 

So yeah Crossfit is awesome, I love it. 

I love being able to see the results each week…especially the lifting.  I’m really loving the Olympic lifts as well as the power lifts.  I guess its in my genes…my dad used to be a competitive power lifter.  I have photos I need to scan in…they are awesome from his lifting days back in the 70’s/80’s!

We recently started a Fran cycle at Crossfit.  We tested our Fran time, and from there we are going to do lots of workouts focused on improving those skills, and then re-test in about 6 weeks!

Fran is a well known benchmark workout…every crossfitter wants to know their “Fran time”. 

(me, Post Fran…loving me new Lulu top!!)

Its a quick workout, 21 reps, 15 reps, then 9 reps of thrusters (65lb for women) and pull-ups. 

Since this is supposed to be a quicker workout we found our maximum 1 rep thruster (which is a front squat with the bar, and as you stand up you “thrust” the bar up overhead)…. and then used 50% of our 1 rep max. 

The point is, you don't want to use such a heavy weight that it slows you down too much.  Our coach didn’t want anyone over the 6-8 min mark.

I used a 45lb bar, and body rows.  We didn’t use band assisted pull-ups this time…if you couldn’t do unassisted pull-ups you did ring rows or body rows.

My time was 5:52. 

Looking forward to testing it again!

And even thought I can’t really do unassisted pull-ups for a workout yet…  I did get THREE kipping pull-ups in a row!!  Booya! 

I guess that I’m just excited that in just over 7 months of Crossfit, I am able to see myself improving.  It’s definitely motivation to keep on going!

So there’s my little fitness update for you :)

What keeps you motivated??

Warrior Dash

I feel like I have SO much to catch up on… from finishing up my thoughts on Reach the Beach, the delicious food I ate on Martha’s Vineyard…even so far back as the rest of my trip to Wine Country back in the fall (yeah I just recently realized I never got around to that either…sorry).

So lets begin and maybe I can get a few posts up this week! 

A few weeks ago I participated in my very first obstacle race: Warrior Dash!

It was totally last minute, I really didn’t prepare much (aside from regular Crossfitting…which was actually fantastic training!), and I was REALLY nervous once we got there.

Luckily I had a partner in crime who was also talked into signing up.

There we are nice and clean before it began.  I wore old crappy clothes that I didn’t care if I had to toss out…which I did.  Those are thin cotton leggings from either Target or Old Navy, and it pays to keep old running sneakers!

I’m also really glad I wore the tall socks.  It was hot at first, but I didn’t have any scrapes or marks on my legs afterwards.

We were supposed to start in the 1:30pm heat but we managed to get in with the 1pm group with my cousin and his friend!  I was seriously NERVOUS! 

It was a 5k with 12 (?) obstacles.  I decided just to stick with my friend instead of go for any sort of time, so we did a lot of walking, and it was actually not nearly as bad as I had thought.  I kind of want to try it again and actually run the whole thing and see what I can get for a time!  I felt great the whole time.

Some photo’s from the race…

MUD. 

After you finish you can get hosed down with fire hoses and we were so ready for that we forgot to take a muddy picture afterwards!!  Damn!  Thankfully the race camera’s caught them!

I was nervous about the walls where I’d have to hoist myself up with a rope but turns out that wasn’t a problem (yay Crossfit!).  The scariest obstacle was the last wall which was completely vertical (the others before that had slight inclines), and it was also the tallest.

It’s actually the wall behind the fire here…

I went over the top of that one nice and slow, and then it was fine.  I’m actually surprised more people don’t get injured at these things…especially if you were trying to go fast…that was a tall wall and narrow…not much room for footing!  

Post hose down with my cousin Pat:

Shoes go here:

My only gripe with this race is that for the roughly $80 registration the least they could do is give you some food tickets…even a water ticket!  See you get 1 free beer…but only the Miller Lite, not the other better beers they had, then you can purchase tickets ($1 = 1 ticket) for food afterwards.

Honestly they can keep the t-shirt and novelty Viking hat…can I please have some water. 

Aside from the fun picture above, I’m sure the hat will end up in the trash.  It was hot, I was starving, and when you’re wet/dirty/hot its kind of annoying to have to deal with getting tickets in an area NOT near the food, come back, get food…etc.  It just would of been nice to get a water bottle and a snack.  So we left shortly after.    

Ok complaints aside, I still had a BLAST and want to do another one of these obstacle races!!

Have you ever done one of these??  This KIND of makes me want to do Tough Mudder…kind of.  I know it’s like 10x harder than this but this gave me the boost in confidence to know I could at least try it!  Ever get down and dirty crawling through mud??

10K by the Sea

Sunday I ran my best 10k yet!!

This was a last minute decision when Tina emailed me about running the Cohasset Road Race by the Sea. I figured a 6-mile run would be good for my training, and I was free, so why not?!

(photo from Tina)

In typical Bridget fashion I was running late….Cohasset is a lot farther off the highway than I had thought. I barely had time to park, use the porta-potty, and get to the starting line. I didn’t even have time to pick up my number!! So sadly I didn’t get officially timed, but I used my Garmin and it matched up with the clock at the finish line so I’m confident in my time.

It was a fairly small race (less than 15oo people), so I easily found Tina, Patricia, and Patricia’s friend Ro at the start. Patricia is also on the RTB team in case you forgot!

Well, I’m not as fast as those girls so they easily left me in their dust ;) I didn’t mind, I was not about to try and keep up at their pace! I’ve only done a handful of 3 – 5 mile runs in the past couple months, so I wasn’t exactly trained (but I do believe Crossfit helped me greatly!).

According to my Garmin (the race was over 6.1 miles actually…grrr), I ran 6.27 miles in 1:02:20! Average pace of 9:57. FOR ME…that is GREAT! Considering I’ve only ever ran a sub 30min 5k ONCE, I was not expecting this…because the course was actually very hilly!!  My only other 2 10k’s were around 1:10, so I shaved off almost 10minutes! 

I’ve decided I like rolling hills (did I really just say that??). There were lots of hills, but none were too long and they all had a downhill afterwards…which is where I made up some speed :)

Plus the course was beautiful…some of the houses I saw were insane.

The race was very organized as well and had water stops at each mile!

After the race I found the girls + Tina’s husband Mal and we headed to the Red Lion for some food and drinks.

(photo from Tina)

I was planning to get a beer, but their selection was less than stellar so I stuck to water and food.

Lobster Bisque And split a flatbread with Artichoke, Spicy Aioli, Arugula, and Mozzarella.

Mmmm that flatbread was goooooood.

Fun time with fun ladies…and Mal! We had a blast talking Crossfit as we all do it except for Patricia’s friend Ro….but I think she’s convinced now ;)

In other fitness updates….I did handstand push-ups!!!  Like numerous handstand push-ups!!  If you’re just starting you put 1 or 2 small ABMATs under your head so you don’t have to go all the way down, but STILL!  I was psyched!  Luckily handstands came back to me easily as I used to do gymnastics back in the day.

(p.s. that is an ABMAT.  Source)

I also climbed a rope…not all the way to the top, but over half way…crazy.  That is definitely something I never thought I’d be able to do. 

So yes, I’m still loving Crossfit. 

This post started with a post about dinners, and then the 10k but it was getting crazy long…so 2 posts done tonight!  Holler!  Dinners to come.

Monday is done folks.

Catalyst in Kendall Sq + Tufts 1ok

Monday was one of those days where I had a very “balanced blogger” type of day! 

Note: big delicious dinners always go down easier after you burn a bunch of calories earlier that day ;)

Now I know this isn’t often possible, and I wouldn’t say I had a “great” time running that 10k…but it sure worked up my appetite!

Last year I ran the Tufts 10k for the first time, and at that time it was longest I had ever run before!  My friend and I trained, and come race day I felt awesome!  I took it easy, but felt great the whole time and it was at that moment I realized I could handle a half marathon if I wanted to!  Which I did about 7 months later!

This year…not so much.  I didn’t really train, no one came to watch me or run with me (thank goodness I had Elizabeth in the beginning!), and well…it was hot as balls!! 

(we were already sweating before the race began…not a good sign)

We would have a heat wave on Columbus Day wouldn’t we.  So I took it easy, ran slow, stopped for water at every chance…to drink and to pour over myself.  H.O.T.  I was feeling OK until halfway through, then the heat was getting to me,I just didn’t feel so hot (pun intended), but luckily I did NOT eat a sticky bun prior to this race, so all I needed were some walking breaks…and walk I did! 

(at least with this crappy iphone photo you can’t tell JUST how sweaty I really am) 

I walked more in this race than any other…hell this felt harder than my half-marathon!  But I did finish!  :)  Grabbed my WARM water and PowerAde (ew), pretzels, Luna bar, and dole fruit cup and headed to a shady spot on the lawn to cool down and stretch before heading home.

My time was 1:15:26, which is actually better than I was expecting considering all the walking I did…but the last thing I was looking for was a good time.  I even forgot to stop my Garmin when I crossed the finish line haha!

All this sweating however worked in my favor when I arrived for a beautiful blogger dinner that evening at the new Kendal Square restaurant: Catalyst.

It’s amazing what a shower and some make-up can do!

(had to take advantage of shorts weather! Navy lace top: F21, tan shorts: J. Crew, heels: Libby Edelman from Lord & Taylor)

It was a beautiful summery evening, and I immediately noticed their great outdoor space!  I bet they get a great after-work crowd…but it was a holiday this night so it was on the quiet side…which was actually nice for a change.

The restaurant has a gorgeous large space!  It appears as though they fitted out part of an office building! 

There were many different stunning glass light fixtures throughout the restaurant.

And a fabulous bar area and lounge with an awesome fire place

Our table was right in front of the open kitchen.  I love being able to see the chefs at work!    

My company for the evening were these lovely ladies: Elizabeth, Emily, Megan, Daisy, Shannon, and Bianca! 

We sat down and perused the menu, but it didn’t matter…little did we know we were about to taste almost everything they had to offer!

First the bread basket, which included a deliciously salty focaccia!  Mmm that bread was addicting!!

Creamy butter drizzled with olive oil…oh yes, they did.

Then the wait staff started bringing seemingly endless plates of almost every appetizer on the menu.  A few of each for the 7 of us to share!

Grilled scallions with a (walnut?) pesto.  These were a favorite of the group!  Such a great flavor. 

Crispy Quail, Black Mission Fig, Gastique, Mizuna, Autumn Berry Jam  
there wasn’t much meat to eat, since we were sharing, but the meat+greens+accompaniments were delicious.

Chicken Liver Mousse, Pickled Onions, Country Bread, Herb Salad
Not a big fan of liver, but I gave it a try with the grilled bread and mustard!  Pretty good!  I probably wouldn’t order it but glad I tried it.

Seared Spice Crusted Hiramasa, Orange-Yuzu Syrup, Cucumber Radish Salad
This was a rare/raw very mild/fatty fish, and I thought it was really good with the syrup and the orange slices!  I was surprised how much I liked this!  Very light and refreshing.

Farmer’s Market Vegetable Salad, Peppercress, Crispy Onion  
Basically pickled veggies!  I LOVE pickled veggies so this was a favorite!
 

Next course was soup! 
Jerusalem "Sunchoke" Artichoke Soup, Lobster, Curry Oil, Creme Fraiche  
We had it with no lobster (I believe someone had an allergy), and I actually had no idea there was curry oil on it until now!  I didn’t taste curry at all (Thank god! I hate curry) but thought the soup was comforting and delicious.  Creamy, but not heavy, and a strong artichoke flavor…so you really need to like artichokes for this.  I bed the lobster would pair very well with it!

Pasta course was next and by FAR my favorites of the night!!  I want to go back right now just for some of these delicious bites!

Garganelli, Chicken Oysters, Bacon, Black Truffle Butter  
Garganelli, being the pasta shape, had a great firm texture…a really fun alternative to a ziti or penne! 

Chicken oysters!! 
Wondering what those are??  I was for a second too, but then I remembered!!!  My dad used to always dig out the oyster from the bottom of the chicken or turkey if we roasted one at home!  He always said it was the most tender bite of meat in the whole bird :)  I can’t believe I almost forgot…I haven’t heard their name in so long.  This dish brought back great memories :)

By the way…DELIICOUS!  The bacon and truffle butter made for a decadent taste. 

This next pasta might tie with the chicken oyster pasta as my favorite dish of the night…

Georgia Candy Roaster Squash Tortellini, Braised Escarole, Parmesan  
Seriously, nothing beats a good homemade pasta!  These little purses of dough were filled with such a pure and naturally sweet tasting squash puree!  They just melt in your mouth.  The braised escarole had quite the butter bath, but in a totally yummy way :)  And who doesn’t love cute little carrot balls! 

Last pasta:

Mushroom Ravioli, Hen of the Woods Mushrooms

I’m really REALLY glad I’ve gotten over my mushroom “issues” because man they are flavorful!  I’m still not keen on biting into a big chunk, but the flavor they impart is incomparable. 

We were all starting to get filled up fast at this point, and a couple people passed on these (more mushroom issues haha), so long story short I got to take home the extra…score!! 

It was now that we realized there could be a number of main courses coming our way and we were already borderline full…so to save room for dessert we asked the chef to pair down the rest of the entrées. 

We tried 2:

Chilled pork tenderloin with warm spices, honey, an apple and cilantro salad, and an apple puree.
Don’t let “chilled” turn you away, it was more room temp.  Plus all the flavors and textures were amazing!  The apple and cilantro were so great together.  I really loved this dish.

I could hardly even muster a bite of the fish, but of course I did :)

Lemon Sole, Roasted Baby Fennel, Creamed Leeks, Lobster, Vermouth Butter
Or at least picked out a lobster chunk from underneath!  Crispy light fish, and I loved the fennel with this one. 

We were all highly anticipating dessert, and were shocked when instead of sharing, we each got an individual plate of 4 different tastes!

Butterscotch and Passion Fruit Pudding, Warm Pound Cake Croutons  

If you go here, GET THIS!! OMG!! I don't think it would be something I would order just from reading the description but it’s incredible!!!  Reminds me of my family’s butterscotch pie!  I must try to make this one at home!! 

This was a coconut cake, with creamsicle ice cream in the middle, and  chocolate shell!

pear tart.  Simple, soft, not to sweet…this was my #2

Finally, a cantaloupe sorbet with hazelnut brittle  

Thank you so much to Chef William Kovel and everyone at Catalyst for a gorgeous and delicious dinner, and a big thanks to Elizabeth for putting this together!!

Full Disclosure: the meal was complimentary, however all opinions expressed are my own.