Saturday, February 25, 2012

Third Installment of Crossfit

Here are some pictures from the third and final WNY Hammerhead Fitness Competition, which took place at Crossfit Dewitt.

The first workout contained:
overhead carries at 105 pounds

25 pound plate push

Bar-hopping burpees

The second workout was rowing, 105lb push jerks, and 105lb front squats.

I managed to win the first workout and then come in last place in the second workout. Oops. (Front squats are no match for kayaker legs!) But I did hang on for third place overall in the series.

Best of all, I won a shiny new kettlebell from Hammerhead Fitness!! Should I paint it pink?

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

She lives!

Wow, 2 and a half months must be the longest blogging hiatus I've taken since I started writing in 2007. But I'm back in business! The past two months were a whirlwind with Thanksgiving, finishing my fall semester, moving, getting a kitty, Christmas, a visit from Mickle, taking a winter class, starting my winter job, starting my spring semester.... and of course lots of fun training!

I'm going to play catch-up through photos, because pictures are always more fun. Here goes!

I came home to an early birthday present in early December. There was a tiny grey ball of fluff curled up on my bed.





I love this picture because of how huge Matt looks next to the tiny kitty!



I named him Mikko. Those who know me well know what I've always said: There are only three things I want out of life: a cuddly little grey kitten, true love, and unparalleled adventure. Looks like I'm doing alright.

After spending a wonderful Christmas with my family,
(here I am peeling potatoes for Christmas dinner with Matt)

I was paid a last-minute visit by none other than Miss Mickle! The theme of the trip's inception was Winter Wonderland, but unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate. This winter, by the way, has been downright awful. We've had one big snow, and that's basically it. It's been warm-- even in the 40's sometimes. I hate it. But Mickle and I combatted the balmy temperatures by trekking up to the top of Bristol Mountain, and skiing the nordic trails there.





Later that day, we headed to Powdermill Park, where I work as a ski instructor. By the way, I'm going to put in a plug for Powdermill right now. It's an amazing place, and it's been operating forever. The park has one of NY State's last surviving rope-tows. The hill is pretty small, but still steep enough to be perfect for beginners. We teach skiing and snowboarding- mostly to young kids, but adults are welcome too. It's extremely affordable, and best of all, we have 1 snow gun there, meaning that we've had snow on the hill all winter! Powdermills Park= incredible resource. If you or your kids don't know how to downhill ski or snowboard yet, it's the perfect place to learn.

After Mickle left, it was time to start my spring semester at Geneseo. I'm no fan of school, but I will admit that English literature is a perfect major for someone who loves to read as much as I do.

I've been competing in the Hammerhead Fitness Western NY Fitness Challenge: it's a 3- part series that takes place every two weeks, at Crossfit Rochester, Crossfit Buffalo, and Crossfit DeWitt. We've finished the first two already, and the third takes place this weekend. By the way, most of the pictures below were taken by Ted Gough, who is not only an impressive athlete but also a phenomenal photographer! You can see more of his work here.

The competition at CF Rochester included overhead squats:


Chest-to-bar pull-ups:


And EZ-button ring push-ups


The competition at CF Buffalo included cleans (my form here is atrocious, I need to work on making them pretty!)


Rope-climbs


Double-unders


And Handstand Push-ups


Unfortunately I got really sick after the first competition and haven't been able to shake the cough/cold/sinus infection/flu/ for the past two and a half weeks. But I think I might be finally on the road to recovery.

Life has been busy! I was fortunate enough to get out and paddle twice last week. Hopefully I'll have pictures soon. Winter paddling sucks, but it's epic at the same time. Since I've been in California for the past 4 winters, I actually haven't winter paddled in a long time. In high school, however, it was the only way to get in shape for US Team Trials (which are always held in April) if I had any hope of a decent showing.

Olympic Trials take place in 72 days, and although upstate New York is not the ideal place to train for them, I'm making it work!