Crossfit my Heart and Hope to Die

Time for another Training Review Divas,


If you have been following the blog, you know that I put the call out for training suggestions and not 5 minutes after I did that, a got a note about CROSSFIT.  The comment was, "You have to try this if only to get your butt kicked".  It certainly got my attention so in the interests of journalistic research, I put my 'butt' on the line.  Read on for the result and the review!


Crossfit Aurora is an affiliate of the well-known franchise company CrossFit.  In looking at their webiste, I learned that this system of training finds its origins in first responders and military organizations.  Their main goal can be outlined easily by the first line on their site:


"CrossFit is the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide."


Whoa!  I wish I had read that before I went to the class.  Needless to say, I was intimidated.  I arrived for the 5:00 PM class quite early hoping to acclimatize as well as check out the instructors and participants.  

My first impression

As I enter, I am reminded of my son's Tae Kwon Do studio from years ago.  If any of you have been to a dojo, you know of what I speak.  It is, in a word, rudimentary.  A barebones warehouse setting in which there will be no crap accepted.  I am greeted by Ashley who showed me around, gave me a waiver to sign and introduced me to some of my fellow cross fitters.


I already feel better.  There is nothing like a fellow sister to put me at ease.  I met Edd who led our group and slowly others started to trickle in.  I queried Edd about his qualifications and how long he has been involved.  More on that later. . . now on to the guts (literally) of the workout.


We started with a 10 minute warm-up on an small oval track.  There was about 15 people and one of my tri-gals informed me that this was typical for a Friday night. I think what struck me initially was the huge number of women in the class and the gym in general.  Impressive that that many ladies are gravitating to this style of training.  The warm up was adequate although I needed extra demonstrations as the 'moves' were a bit technical and I assumed tailor-made for the exercises we were about to do.

The general concept of CrossFit is that each day, a set grouping of exercises is documented on the board.  This gym opened early in the morning and every class does the exact same circuit throughout the day.  Our names were put up on the board along with everyone else that day.  Yikes!  I just kept wondering "Why?"


We started with some core exercises.  A lovely choice of 50 v-sits, 50 banana rolls (my words) or 50 rack back bends.  I tried all three and was told my form was not great but to keep with it.  Hmm. . .I would have liked some alternative for my poor form but that is not part of their philosophy.  


From the website: "The CrossFit program is designed for universal scalability making it the perfect application for any committed individual regardless of experience. We’ve used our same routines for elderly individuals with heart disease and cage fighters one month out from televised bouts. We scale load and intensity; we don’t change programs. I guess my instructor missed that memo.  


The main part of this day consisted of 20 pull ups, 30 kettle swings and 40 double skips


Sound simple?  That's what I thought.  Of course, we did that 5 times through!  It took our group a while to get organized with equipment.  I wasn't sure where I should set up and would have liked a bit more direction and leadership from the instructors.


Fortunately, one of the regulars showed me how to adapt "the program".  I managed well enough and got into a nice rhythm by the time I got to the last round.  A few times, as I paused to catch my breath between anaerobic efforts, I was told to not stand around and get going.  For my personal temperament, I don't need to be pushed.  I have endured some epic training and even this week had a mini breakthrough in the pool going faster on a broken 1500 than ever in my 20+ years in the water.  I know myself and as a masters athlete, I have to pick my days and/or battles.  


I finished the circuit and approached the board and one of the instructors asked, "What was your time?"  At this point, I didn't realize we were being timed.  I guess I should have known when, right before we started the main part, Edd yells out, "On your marks, go!"  All the times are compiled so you can compare yourself to the others.  You can log onto the website and register your details.  Edd said that each workout is repeated on a 8 - 10 week cycle.  A nice way to see progress.

If you read my post on drop-in classes, I hope you remember one my suggestions is to check out the qualifications of the instructor.  I took my own advice and looked into, what I like to call, 'the letters after the name'.  According to the instructor bios on the website, most of the instructors are certified through some type of personal training organization. The two main ones mentioned are the Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology and the National Academy of Sports Medicine.  Both are reputable and have online courses that trainers can take to get certified and re-certify.

After the class, with the glow

The class that I did would be considered intermediate and this was clear to me when the 6:00 class showed up and owner, Brett Gamble, led them through the fundamentals of CrossFit.  If I decide to go back, I will check this out and get some tips from Brett himself.  I also think that the fundamentals class is important to get into the 'culture' of the gym.


I can't deny that I got a great workout and yes, my butt kicked.  I am not sure this is something that I would include on a regular basis.  I think that for beginners or for athletes that don't need a ton of motivation, you may want to look elsewhere.  For those that love a military style of workout, this is definitely something you should check out.


As for my time: 27:58  Apparently, pretty good! 


Note:  I received no compensation for the class or for for this post.

Friday Quickie

Hello Divas,

I hope I got your attention with the title but don't get all excited, I just wanted to make sure you read up!!

I am on my way to a Crossfit class this afternoon and will be posting a revue next week.  I also wanted to share a great little 4 minute uTube piece from some pro Triathletes (you may recognize someone from a previous interview - see January 26) and their answers to some interesting questions. . . .

Enjoy!  Ask A Pro

Perfectly Imperfect

Hello Readers!!

I have had a week to consider topics and listen in on some conversations; not in a stalker way but more anthropologically.  I have come to an interesting realization:  we all seem to be striving for perfection.

I know what you are thinking, "Really, you are just getting that now?  How long have been a sister?"  I guess it all started many years ago when I trained regularly with this righteous group of Divas.  It was actually where the group TriDiva came from (you know who you are!).  I was in the showers (I had some of my best chats under that water :) and a lady asked me, "why do you do this tri-thing?".  As usual, I had my witty response, "Well, for weight-loss, of course!"  A chorus of laughter ensued from my sister divas as anyone who trains knows that the more you train and focus on a goal, the less important are the 'ego' driven motivations.  Our definition of perfection shifts to personal bests, rankings in our age-group, beating that one gal and maybe, eventually, to that elusive, higher plane goal of having the 'perfect race'.

But actually, this perfection thing seems to seep into all parts of our lives.  Here is what I heard this past week:

"I wish my hair was naturally straight."
"I wish mine was curly."
"I wish I had a flat stomach"
"I wish I had no hips"

Wow!  Is it possible that we are perfect the way we are?  I know, I know. . . you have heard that from your Mom, or some caring mentor, or your bff but what if it is actually true?  As a mother of a daughter, I am acutely aware of how my attitudes affect her and her friends.  I always tried to be a role model for her and by that I mean an authentic role model.  One that maybe struggled with her perfection or perceived imperfection but carried on.  I got a great reminder from my daughter this week when she sent me:

And then this,

'Nuf Said. . . .Cheers :)

Training Malaise

Happy Monday,

I seem to continually revisit motivation on Mondays. . . As you know I use Mondays to re-focus my efforts but after some much needed feedback from my last post, I get the sense some of you are sagging in your excitement to "get after it".

It is perfectly normal for your energy and motivation level to surge and wane.  How can we maintain our interest and intensity especially when we have big 2012 goals? (Ironman maybe, a marathon, a dress?)  Sometimes, I resort to downright silly tricks to keep myself engaged.  These include:

Break it up!  Take your big goal and divide into smaller more manageable parts.  Perhaps something monthly, weekly, daily.  If you are training for a fall marathon, have you planned some 10 km races along the way so you can monitor your progress?

Get Social!  Find a sister and ask her to join you in mutual suffering.  I have done lots of training with someone else even when I was not registered in my buddies' race.  I derived great satisfaction from supporting a fellow tri-gal but here is the secret. . . ."you gotta ask!"  Perhaps the race you have signed up for has a social media component so you can chat online with other participants.  If you are in a smaller centre, get online and research the participant lists.

Do the Warm-Up!  When I (or my kids) start refusing to go to the pool, the track or the spin class, I make a deal with them (or myself).  DO THE WARM UP!  I show up and do the warm up and allow myself the option to leave after the warm up.  I can honestly say that over the almost two decades of racing and training, I can count on one hand (yes, less than 5) the number of times I have left.

Get on the Couch!  Yes, ON the couch. . .Find some inspirational movies to watch.  Make a Diva evening out of it.  Some of my favourites include:  Rudy, Any Given Sunday ("the inches speech"), Invictus, Moneyball ("I hate losing more than I love winning"), new to my list A Big Year, and finally an amazing podcast (I mean, amazing) from the CBC show DNTO What Drives you to Compete This is an interview with the olympian Clara Hughes.  AMAZING!!!

I think the point here is be nice to yourself.  If you had a Diva friend who needed some motivation, what would you say?   Would you be uber-hard on her?  Would you be compassionate, listen and gently guide her back to what she really wants?  If you do have a big goal this year, have you taken the time to write why you are in the hunt?  This reflection could come in handy when you need a push.

Keep on Tri-ing :)

February Update

Happy Wednesday Readers,

I am again struck by the lonely nature of blogging.  I feel as though I am at the top of some mountain yelling "Are you out there?"(add the echo. . . ).  It is so apparent that on the day I proclaimed that we would have an open forum to 'meet', I completely forgot!!!!

Since it is February, I have decided not to beat myself up (love is the theme this month, isn't it?) but to take today to give you a few reminders on what is coming up and how you can chime (or yodel) in.

Conversation with a Triathlete   This is a monthly interview with a sister that is out there training, racing and/or being a rock star.  She may be in contention at World championships (see last month) or brand new to the sport.  I am looking for suggestions of someone you know personally or who you think would make a great post.


Q and A  I am still fielding questions about triathlon or multi-sport so fire away!  I will do my best to research an answer or maybe just make one up.

Training Review Do you know of a trainer/gym/workout that you want to try but haven't got around to it in 2012.  As I used to say to my soccer coach "Put me in!!!"  I am travelling around checking our everything from boxing to cross fit.  Wow!  The things I do for my readers!

Tri-Jargon Do you want to sound cool at your next race or session with that pesky tri-group?  Send me the terms that you just don't get and I will do my best to explain and/or satirize this silly multi-sport vocabulary.


Okay, I have given you several avenues with which to communicate.  If you don't want to post directly to the network please feel free to send me an email (mathdva@gmail.com).  I am also on twitter @mathdva.  So have at it!  I hope to hear from you soon. . .

Paula Findlay - A True Canadian Success Story

In researching this triathlete, I struggled with which headline to use, which newspaper clipping, which image from the world wide web.  This gal certainly gets a lot of press!  I would never want to downplay Paula's accomplishments but I can't help remembering her as an age group swimmer when she was in the lanes with my kid.  Who knew she would go on to be in medal contention for the games in London this summer?  Well, I soon found out interviewing Paula that she knew. . . .

I first met Paula on deck at a swim meet many years ago as I worked along side her mother, Sheila.  I was struck by the tight family unit Sheila has been able to create and it certainly explains why Paula is so grounded.  Paula has a sister and brother who are consistently on the race course somewhere cheering on their older sibling.

As you read my 'virtual' conversation with Paula, you will note I used similar questions as last month.  This is to underline the common experience we all share in this crazy sport.  I hope you enjoy getting to know Paula.  My comments are in italics.

TDN:  What brought you to the sport of triathlon?

Paula:  I started swimming with the Edmonton Keyano Swim Club at age 11, and joined the Edmonton Thunder track club in high school after having some success at local running races. I was coached by Glen Playfair on the track, who was also a triathlon coach, so he encouraged me to get a bike and try a triathlon. My first race was in 2006 at the University of Alberta sprint triathlon (pictured above with Mom, Dad and brother Colin), and I qualified for Junior Worlds my first year. Having this early success encouraged me to stick with the sport.

TDN:  Which, of the three disciplines, would you consider your strength?

Paula:  Although I started as a swimmer, I would consider running my strength. It comes the most naturally to me and it's usually where the race is won.

TDN:  What is your routine when you are training (mileage, frequency and intensity)?

Paula:  As we approach race season the intensity and volume of our training goes up significantly. A typical week will have 6 swims between 5-6km, 5 rides and 5 runs. Some of these are quality workouts and others are used for recovery. We also do a lot of strength, core work and yoga to stay healthy and help with recovery. On average we are training 25-30 hours per week.

TDN:  What do you think about before the race?  And during the race?

Paula:  I get extremely nervous before big races, and sometimes question why I even do the sport! I know it's going to hurt and I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well. To get over my nerves I remind myself how hard I've worked and how great it feels to have a successful result. Ladies - that positive self-talk is so important!  Winning races makes it all worth it! When the race starts the nerves disappear and I'm thinking about what's going on around me and how my body is feeling. ITU racing requires 2 hours of complete mental focus and reacting to unpredictable situations, which makes it go by super fast.

TDN:  What was your favourite race so far?  Why?

Paula:  My favorite race is probably Madrid in 2011. (See the video:  Madrid ITU) came together perfectly for me, I had a great swim and was out of the water with the leaders, the bike felt awesome and I was able to win a few of the primes, and my run felt smooth and fast. It's one of the most challenging courses on the ITU circuit because of the heat and hilly bike course, but I really loved it and it suited my strengths well.

TDN:   What has been the high point of your triathlon career so far?  And the low point?

Paula:  The high point of my career was my win at the 2010 London World Championship Series race. (See the video:  London WCS 2010 ) was my first WCS win and was a huge shock to everyone, including myself. My low point would have to be the end of my 2011 season. Watching myself slide from #1 to #6 in the world  because of a hip injury was pretty devastating.

TDN:  What advice would you give a fellow 'sister' with big goals in triathlon?

Paula:  I've discovered over the few years that I've been racing at an elite level how important it is to take recovery days, and to stay on top of things like physio treatment, massage, stretching and yoga. These are things that I would often neglected when I was in school and was always short on time, but they are just as important as the tough workouts. Staying injury free is my priority this year, and these small details cannot be overlooked.

TDN:  What has been your biggest obstacle in achieving your selection to the Olympic team?  How did you overcome it?

Paula:  To be honest I didn't face any major obstacles with my selection to the Olympic team because I didn't think I even had a chance of making the team until late last season. I've wanted to compete in the Olympic games since I started the sport, however I thought that 2016 was a more realistic goal for me. I was never chasing points of trying to get a spot for 2012, things just came together surprisingly quickly and I'm very honoured and excited to be going to London in August.

TDN:  How do your celebrate your successes?

Paula:  In the doping control room! haha, I'm only partly kidding. In every single ITU race I've done I've been rushed off to doping control right after the awards, where it usually takes at least 2 hours for me to pee. I get super dehydrated when I race so I end up sitting in doping chugging litres of water with an upset belly. It's the worst! I usually get a chance to talk to my mom right after the race which is always nice. When I finally make it out, we'll usually go out for a team dinner before packing up and traveling home the next day. There's not much time to celebrate successes because the next race is always right around the corner. Although I do find it very motivating and easier to train hard after coming off a successful result.



Wow!  I can't decide what impresses me more: Paula's composure under pressure or the generous offer of her time for this interview.  Thank you Paula for a unique look into your tri-life.  I have included a last image of Paula with a few of her former swim buddies (sisters, of course!).  

Check out Paula on her blog at paulafindlay.blogspot.com or on twitter @paulafindlay

Phases and other Musing from the TriDiva desk

Happy Monday,

Again, as I have mentioned many times, I love Mondays!!!  It is the continual opportunity to renew, recommit, refocus, re-whatever.

I have been tossing around some ideas lately and this post may not have much logic to it but as Lesley Gore put it "It's my party. . . ."

Phases - a novel thought and one that most women do not pause to consider often enough.  As I saunter down my path, I find myself thinking more about how much women are in a hurry.  Grow up, get schooled, get married (or not), get a career, get fit, get fast, get kids (or not), and on and on.  When do we get to take stock, celebrate, change focus or even just breathe!  Are we acknowledging our phases?  Are we learning from each phase of our lives?

Ok, Ok maybe a bit heavy for Monday morning but what about our tri-life?  Does it have phases?  I know that since I started training and racing, I have definitely moved through phases.

My first phase was probably called Belief - can I really do this?  Each race, each new distance during this chapter was a new frontier to conquer.  It was exciting and let's face it, a new PB every time I hit the start line was so motivating!  That lasted a good long time as I kept trying new road races, cycling events, triathlons, relays, swim meets and so on.


At some point, Goals took over as the next phase forcing me to look to making teams and not just showing up for the party.  Top 10 in my age group, national age group member, Boston qualifier. . . .all of these I put in my bag of experience as they forced me to go where no Diva (well this Diva, anyway) had gone before (can you hear the Star Trek theme?).  I learned a lot about myself (the good and the not-so-good).  One of the most important things I learned was I can't do this tri-thing or life, for that matter, in isolation.  I hired a coach, I found a training group and when I couldn't find what I needed, I created it.  It was a busy time. . .full of travel and discovery.


I have landed now in Acceptance which is new for me (kinda like Mondays!).  I don't know what this new phase will bring but all my racing and training has brought me to this place.  I raced over the weekend for the first time in almost 2 years.  It was a blast!  Not because it was fast or because of my placing but for the coffee afterwards and the great stories that came from my posse.  I don't have anything else to prove and all I want to do is lift others up through my experience.


Thank you Divas for sharing this journey with me and I hope you come along as I open up this new box. . . .