Day 3 Recap/Wodapalooza Reflection

Day 3 was just as crazy as days 1 and 2, if not maybe a bit crazier! Two WODs remained and my body was TIRED. I’ve never done a competition for more than 2 days, and this weekend was definitely an opportunity to learn how to fuel and recover properly. Here’s a recap of the last 2 workouts!

Splits & Jumps:

This workout was a burner: 10-8-6-4-2 of burpee box jump overs (24”) and dumbbell split snatches (50#) with a time cap of 7 minutes. Split snatches are weird, but I managed to get through them and finished the workout 2^nd in my heat which was super cool! It was a great way to start the last day of Wodapalooza.

2k15 Chipper:

I was nervous going into this WOD because it would be the longest workout of the weekend and the last. My body was exhausted at this point and I just wasn’t quite sure how I was going to muster the energy to get it done, haha. I guess knowing it was the last workout I’d be doing in Miami gave me the push I needed! 

15 minute cap

60 alternating pistols

30 cleans (105)

20 hand release push ups/ring pull-ups

20 jerks (105)

10 rope climbs (15’)

10 thrusters (105)

At the start of this whole journey, way back in October, I qualified in 85^th place out of 100 girls. About 300 girls had attempted to qualify. After this weekend, I ended up in 47^th!! NUTS!

It’s my own habit to never look at the leaderboard when I compete until after the event is over and all scores are in.  My gym family back home even knows not to tell me anything when it comes to standings because it just causes me unnecessary stress and all I want to do is have fun, haha.  Well since I never checked the leaderboard this weekend, you can imagine my surprise when I found out I was able to train and improve over the course of the last few months to perform better than other girls who beat me in the qualifiers! Pretty cool!

This entire weekend was definitely one of the best experiences of my life. The journey to get to Miami was filled with lots of growing, learning, and improving and then competing at this event was such an honor. I met so many people, made new friends, and learned so much about myself. I hope to remember everything about this trip and truly let it sink in.

Pictures!

50 lb dumbbell snatches were no joke! They were actually supposed to be 60 lbs, but for one reason or another, when I got out there, all the dumbbells were 50 lbs. I wasn't complaining!

I went to cool down on the Assault Bike after Splits & Jumps and guess who hops onto the bike next to me?! SHELIA BARDEN!! I tried to be cool... tried. I turned around and gave my husband "the look" so he could snap a few pictures of us biking together :) She is one of the coolest athletes I was able to meet this weekend. 

Another favorite athlete is this girl right here: Margaux Alvarez! I went to introduce myself to her and she actually said, "Oh Tiffany! Tiffany Christmas!" HAHA! NBD... :) I explained that I had talked to her friend/my old CFD coach Kirsten about how nervous I was for this competition and she was so awesome and told me if I needed anything or needed to talk to anyone about the weekend's events, to go find her. A really awesome person and amazing athlete. 

These dudes! Some central valley folk out here in Miami! Ruben and Q were really cool and it was awesome to finally meet both of them versus insta-stalking! They are both awesome guys and great athletes who did really well. It was cool to have some other central valley people out in Miami!

This was after our last workout of the entire weekend, the 2k15 Chipper! We're so happy because the suffering could now stop and the copious amounts of junk food and alcohol could start. These girls were in my heat and as the weekend progressed, we got a chance to really get to know each other. I need to start finding them all on Facebook and Instagram!! It was so awesome meeting people from all over the country.

This is another gal from my division, Adair Hunt (she goes by her middle name too!). She's from Louisianna and we spent some time just talking about our journey to get to Florida. We shared a lot of the same background in how we qualified and just how we were so happy to even be in Miami working out- no expectations, just fun. 

If you follow GRID, you know this chick- Taylor Stallings! After taking a few snap shots for us, my husband said, "Now do something stupid! Make a face!" ...and this is what we came up with haha. She is a crazy strong athlete!

Melissa and I finally relaxing and taking in the amazing scenery. I am SO happy to have met this girl right here. We became each other's partner in crime over the weekend and supported each other through every workout. And even when we started drifting apart in our heat times (better athletes go later- she went later!), we still had each other's backs in warm-ups, trips to the bathroom (lots of them), and during workouts. She is definitely a new friend of mine :) 

The crew after it was all said and done!! With my name thingie! I couldn't have done it without these boys right here. And especially not without my husband/coach. He has gone through SO much of my shi* these last few months- hysterical meltdowns, whining, the whole lot. But he always stuck by me, supported me, encouraged me, and kept telling me I could do this. That I was good enough. That I deserved to be at this event. I really couldn't do this without him. 

...and a really cool shot by a fancy photographer at Wodapalooza that I found on Instagram! I'm hoping to find more of these over the next few weeks! What a cool picture!

Incredible and special thanks to:

Nutrishop South Valley - supporting my journey, keeping me fueled/recovered while training

XEndurance - helping me recover in Miami 

Zombie Wraps - wrist support!!

21-15-9 Gear - throwing a bomb ass party and fundraising money for this trip

Horizon S&C - for everything in my training

My gym family - for watching all of my workouts no matter what time it was on the west coast

Family and Friends - for helping me raise money 

My husband/coach: Michael Craddock - for everything. My number 1 supporter of life and this crazy workout thing :) 

Day 2 Recap

Day 2 is a wrap! One more day to go and surprisingly, my body is doing not that bad! This was a big worry for me because in the past, I have felt like absolute shi* after just one day of competition. I really focused on taking in a TON of calories this weekend, making good food choices, and making sure I rested- out of the sun- and slept when I could.

I've been lucky enough to hang out with the XEnduance booth who (along with Nutrishop, of course!) has kept me fueled and focused on recovering properly. Along with them, I was also lucky enough to have the NutriForce PTs work on me... my quads were on FIRE after the 5K yesterday and the stuff we did today did NOT help. So cool to get that sort of treatment... I literally was chatting it up with Chyno Cho as we both got worked on, haha!! XE and NutriForce didn't have to offer help like that and I can't say enough good things about those folks... just good and gracious people.

Today was LOOOONG, but here's a short recap of each event today!

SIT-SHOOT-SWIM
If you don't already know- I didn't know how to swim before qualifying for this competition. I literally learned to swim FOR this event. So you can imagine the type of build up there was for this event.

(14 minute cap)

60 second L-Sit

45 Wall Balls (14# to 11'...yes, 11')

300m swim

45 Wall Balls

60 second L-Sit

The L-Sit went as planned. The wall balls did NOT. 11 feet is really different and I had a harder time adjusting. After I finished the wall balls, I headed toward the water and had to take a moment, say a small prayer, and off I went...The water wasn't cold, but not warm either. I free styled for a little, but that water was WAY more salty that I was prepared for! I flipped to my back and started back stroking. Went off course a little, but luckily had a nice lifeguard on a paddle board tell me what direction to go in! I was able to get around the first buoy and headed off toward the second one, but didn't quite make it. The entire time I was just trying to tell myself to stay calm and "just keep swimming" ha! After all was said and done, I FLIPPING SWAM IN THE OCEAN!!! This is something I NEVER EVER EVER EVER thought I would EVER do! I was scared, but I haven't been this proud of something in a long time. It took courage and I did it!! There were so many times that I thought I was just out of my league with this whole event, but I sacked up and did it!! :)

COMPLEX
The complex was kind of a bummer for me because I don't think what I did was what I was capable of doing. For a lot of different reasons, I only was able to finish the complex at 160#, and I'll just take that as a learning experience :) It was tough!!!

DOUBLE SHUTTLE
This was harder than it was in practice, haha! My DU's decided to betray me a little bit today and I tripped up more times than I'd like to admit. But in the end- I was so happy to cross that finish line AT the buzzer. I finished just in the nick of time!

TRL
I was just tired at this point- I had 0 time to rest because this WOD started immediately after Double Shuttle (If you had finished earlier than the 3 minute cap, you had rest time, but I didn't). I walked up to my toes to bar, hit sets of 5 (sadly) and chipped away until I finished 40. Hopped on the rower (sadly) and rowed until I hit 30 calls. The last part was an overhead walking lunge at 105# which I surprisingly felt strong at so I tried to book it, but because I was too slow on the other movements, I didn't get much time left.

Today was another amazing day of working out, meeting so many wonderful people, and taking in the atmosphere. I stopped for a moment this evening to just take the moment in and started to get a little teary eyed (I'm a sap!)- To be a part of something like this is quite the experience and I wanted to appreciate every single moment.

Tomorrow is the last day. Two more REALLY tough workouts, 2 days worth of fatigue in this body, but I'm going all out and just trying my very best! We'll see how it all turns out!



Pictures from today:

The set up before "Sit-Shoot-Swim"... a really beautiful view!

Getting ready to start! Can you tell I'm nervous?!

After the swim- I did it!!! OCEAN SWIM!!

The crew wearing our awesome Nutrishop South Valley shirts (minus Ryan- he hates me and didn't bring his shirt)

This right here is Ricklynn Long- a fellow flexible dieter and awesome weightlifter/CrossFit athlete! I had to take a picture with her- she's SOOOO nice!

If you're in the CrossFit community, you know who this is... Chyna Cho was such a great person to talk to. Being as elite and famous as she is, she still took the time to ask me my name, where I was from, and talked to me about the workouts.. really cool person. 

This is also another one you might easily recognize! I was waiting to get worked on while Elijah Muhammad was having his turn on the table. He actually started talking to ME versus the other way around haha. He made an even bigger fan out of me- had a real conversation about training, competition, the event, everything. Real cool :)

Some pictures taken by my friend Abby! So happy I have proof I did this workout!

And my favorite...

Day 1 Recap

Day 1 is in the books! I'm finally back "home" with a full belly, tired muscles, and a body that just wants to sleep, haha!

We checked in for WOD 1 and the way they have it set up is that you have to check in at the athlete village with an "athlete liaison" who escorts you to your next event and to your judge. Fancy, haha! So we are walking up to the rig with our liaison, confirm with the emcee that our name is being pronounced correctly, and all of a sudden are sent out to meet our judge.

Jorge was really nice- and GENEROUS, haha. The WOD wasn't too bad, but they started so damn fast! I walked out to my lane, and thought I'd try and take the moment in! Hell, I had a NAME THINGY!! It was OFFICIAL! Anyway, 3-2-1 go, and I'm off. I finished with 10 reps to go to finish the WOD within the time cap (video on my Instagram!). Of all the times I've tried that workout, that was the farthest I got to finishing, so I was happy. I was happy just to get the first one done, haha!

WOD 2 was 50 calories on the Assault Bike for time with a 3 minute time cap. I got 37... it wasn't so good hahaha. My legs were so tired, and right at the 3 minute mark (or whenever you got 50 cal), we went right into a 5k obstacle course. I have no idea what my time was, but it was SO fun. I started off a bit slow, but my legs were JELLO coming off the bike. After all of the obstacles (we ran 1.5 miles there, did obstacles, ran back), I was able to pass a few gals and sprint to the finish so I was happy :)

Now I'm just in bed, quads are still on fire so hopefully the crazy amount of food and supplements I've taken today help with tomorrow...and Sunday haha. Anyway, here are some pictures from today- more coming tomorrow!! WHAT A DAY!!

This is where we were for the athlete briefing this morning. 6 divisions and over 1000 athletes at this event!!

This is Melissa Murphy from CF Crowntown. She's an AMAZING athlete and I'm so pumped I've met a new friend in this journey! 

Right before heading out onto the floor before WOD 1. Look at how crazy it looks behind me!! Still so beside myself just being here as an athlete!

My supports: Craddock and Ryan getting selfies...

After WOD 1, resting with the hubcap

If there was one elite athlete I could choose to meet, it would be this one!! It was so cool to meet Sheila Barden today. She's one of my favorites because she's amazing and ALWAYS ALWAYS looks like she's having so much fun which is what this is all about!

Part of the obstacle course with the BEST BACKDROP EVER!! We had to carry these jugs of water and walk across these logs. If we fell off at any point, we had to start ALL over again... luckily I didn't have to start over! AMAZING view. 

Day 1: HEAT TIMES (when to watch)

Heat times just came out!

Click the link for all of the heats for Day 1. Below are my heats, so here's when to watch and see if you can find me among the crazy athletes!

WOD 1: 21-15-9

Heat 5

Begins at 12:56pm (EST)

WOD 2-3: Drag Race & 5K OC Run

Heat 2

Begins at 6:00pm (EST)

Athlete Check-In

I'm all checked in! I got my athlete bag and have already seen a few athletes I've always wanted to meet in person!!

I passed by Margaux Alvarez before checking in, who was on her phone, and ALMOST said hi... almost... before the weekend is over, I'm planning to talk to her, I swear.  My old CF Davis coach Kirsten Pedri is great friends with Margaux and told me to say hi and give her a hug for her, but I also don't want to be a complete creep, so I'll have to play that one by ear.

I've also seen Nicole Capurso, who was the original catalyst for my flexible dieting. Would love to talk to her too, but she looked busy as well. I have the rest of the weekend to track some of these athletes down, so we'll see how it goes :)

My athlete gear is INSANE. I actually get to be one of those athletes who lays out all their stuff on their bed the night before, take a picture, and tells everyone all about it on social media! HA! NEVER WOULD HAVE THOUGHT!!!

NANOS?! REEBOK SHORTS?! So cool!!! And check out my name badge that I get to wear all weekend:

MY NAME IS ON IT!! LIKE IT WAS MEANT FOR ME!! WHAT?! The other side says, "ATHLETE" and makes me feel all official, haha. 

Needless to say, I am so pumped for the weekend. I sound like a dork. But my nerves are slowly FINALLY turning into excitement!! 

Time to eat, rest, and imagine myself having fun... Life is good.

Wodapalooza Event Schedule

Well- today is travel day! Hubcap (new word for husband I picked up the other day)/Coach and I were up at 3:30am today to get to the airport for our 6:59am flight from Fresno to Dallas then Dallas to Miami...Feeling tired already but I'm hoping it all helps me get to bed early tonight to adjust to the time change.

I received an athlete email last night with schedules so I thought I'd share. 

Womens Rx Division:

Top portion is Friday, middle is Saturday, and last section is Sunday. They ended up adding a 9th WOD on Sunday (2k15 Chipper) so yay me haha. I have no idea what it is, but I'll let you know when I find out. 

I'm getting more anxious/excited as it all becomes more real. The email also included things I never in my life thought I'd have to be aware of...

I knew this event was going to be live streamed, but this makes me laugh nervously. I guess don't be shocked if the one time a camera pans over to me and you catch me picking a wedgie!

...yeah...we get gear...But don't worry, I'm still allowed to wear my sponsor...

1. I never thought I'd be cool enough to get gear.

2. I never thought I'd have a sponsor to worry about wearing.

Qualifying for this competition was unreal to begin with and everything that has followed has already made this experience one to sear into my brain. While other athletes might think this is just another walk in the park, I'm over here thinking, "I get to be in an athlete village with some of the hugest names in CrossFit! WHAT!!" 

With all the craziness that will be this weekend, my goal is to remember- truly experience- what this feeling is. I may never get it again, so I want to be sure I let it all sink in. Work outs will come and go, but this experience... 😊

Click the link at the top of the main page (full website) to watch the live stream and follow @thewodapalooza on Instagram for updates! They're also on Facebook as The Wodapalooza Fitness Festival.

Okay that's all for now!  

"Are you getting excited?!"

This is probably the number one question being asked right now. With less than a week until Wodapalooza my answers have more or less been, "Um... Yes?" (I'm Ron Burgundy?)

I've already attempted a few WODs and each time so far, I'm left feeling a tiny bit discouraged. This morning I tried out WOD 4:

I used the pool ladder for paralettes, had to use a 15 lb. slam ball from the globo-gym I was at, and planned to just swim laps in the pool. 

It really wasn't too bad. Of course I was still a bit discouraged because I didn't finish the swim within the time cap, but I had to keep reminding myself that I JUST LEARNED HOW TO SWIM. 

It's kind of embarrassing- sort of like being an adult and not knowing how to ride a bike. But yep, that was me. The only reason I learned how to swim was because I had qualified for this competition.

Anyway, I didn't finish the swim within the time cap, but at the end, though discouraged, felt okay. I never stopped, my feet never touched the bottom of the absurdly shallow 3ft pool, and I was only 25m off of being done. Going into this event is what is scaring me the most out of all of them. The swim is something I've never had to do before and it'll be in open water (bay water, but still open!). If I come out of this alive, I will have accomplished something I never thought I'd do EVER. Which is pretty cool. 

So when I get asked if I'm getting excited, my answer will be hesitant... but deep down, I know that this experience is going to be CRAZY EXCITING. I can't wait to share it!

WODs Are In!

Below are the cool little Instagram thingies that Wodapalooza posted for each WOD. Keep in mind these pictures display what the Elite division must do- I'm in the Rx division which means some movements or weights are scaled down. I've included what's different...

Rx: Chest to Bar Pull-Ups, Kipping HSPUs, Snatch (135/90)

Nothing is different

Rx: L-Sit at 6", Wall Balls (20#/12' and 14#/11')

Rx: Men 235/255/275 and Women 160/170/180

Rx: OH Walking Lunges (150/105)

Rx: (30"/24") (80/60)

Rx: 60 pistols, cleans, jerks, thrusters (150/105), 20 HR push ups into ring pull up

#doyourbestandhaveagoodtime

Well, here I go writing another blog that I will inevitably stop writing on in a few months, but hey, it'll be fun while it lasts.

I've decided to start up another blog with my impending doom upon me (Wodapalooza) to keep my close friends and family up to date on my journey through this whole "fitness" thing.

Wodapalooza is a fitness festival held in Miami, FL and each year, they have athletes from all over the world come to compete in, well, ... exercise. In the fall, Wodapalooza released 6 qualifying workouts for athletes to complete. Check out the video below, it explains everything about the qualifiers in 1:28 min which would take me forever to do...

Wodapalooza Qualifier Promo 2015

Anyway, somehow I squeaked in and qualified for this crazy event which is set to happen January 16th-18th. I'm starting to feel like I have to pee my pants...maybe a little bit more.

I'm hungry. More details to follow soon!