Chia, Crossfit, and the Beginning of Training


I'm back from Cancun! It was AHHH-MAZING!!! It was pretty sunny the entire time we were there and sooo relaxing. Hearing the waves all the time, being under the sun, on a beach with my honey and mojitos in hand...great times with great friends.


We had to restock the kitchen on Sunday so we made trips to Sprouts for their chicken sausages (my absolute favorite!), Costco for chicken breasts and huge bags of spinach and broccoli and some fruit, and King Soopers to wrap up the loose ends. We found some cute little baby cucumbers at Costco and bought some Ball jars from KS so we can get our pickle on!


Regular-ish spears, Basil, Jalapeno, Extra Garlic, & Whole Pickles

We might have gone a little overboard and made five different kinds....all a shot in the dark since we've only attempted pickled okra. I think they'll be delicious, with the exception of the jalapeno one which promises to be extremely spicy (for my tastes anyway).

On Monday I began my five month slog to ultra marathon success! Things have already gotten interesting. I tried to wake up at 5 AM Monday to get my run in before the heat and thunderstorms rolled in but I just could not get myself out of bed! I decided to go home at lunch and run then instead. It was still pretty warm out, and I misjudged the distance and got 2.75 miles in.

After work, I went to Anchor for the WOD: Strength skill was the Snatch Balance, and the workout was 50 weighted step-ups for time. We warmed up pretty extensively, starting with a 400m run...which was perfect to bring my mileage to three for the day! I got through the workout and then we did a lagniappe of 20 burpees. Ugh. I claim false advertisement on that wod because I had no idea we would be tacking on 20 of anything after putting our equipment away! Nonetheless, I went home feeling pretty upbeat and energetic about my first training day, and my first day back at crossfit after an almost two week hiatus (not to mention a long hiatus from running).

Yesterday I managed to actually wake up at 5AM, throw my things on and wobble downstairs. Not an exaggeration. I wobbled. I was sore from the first time back at crossfit and the first run in a while. Anyone who crossfits knows that if you take even a tiny break from the workouts, the first week back feels like the first time starting out (soreness wise). It was suuuuch a sloooow run, but I got the three miles done.


At least I got to see a pretty sunrise.

I skipped crossfit last night and just foam rolled...after sitting on the lacrosse ball off and on all day at work. I went to KS to pick up some zukes to noodle for dinner (seriously, try this if you haven't done it. It's a better substitute for pasta than spaghetti squash in my opinion, and a hell of a lot faster to cook) and grabbed a $10 one lb bag of chia seeds. Interestingly, the one pound bag of seeds is about half the price of an actual chia pet kit.

Yep.

As in - what you used to beg your parents to buy you as a kid.

So I'm sure most people have heard of the 'fad' of eating chia seeds that seems to have gained a ton of speed after the book Born to Run came out. If you aren't familiar with the book, I highly, HIGHLY recommend it. Excellent read.

Anyway, the book brings up the topic of the Tarahumaras eating chia to help support them on their incredibly long runs. I devoured the book back in 2011 when it first came out. It helped ignite the desire to run far and it created a curiosity about these chia seeds. I wanted to wait it out though, to see if it was just a passing fad with no merit. Here we are two years later and the chia seeds are still a hot topic, especially with ultra runners.

I'm a big fan Matt Frazier's website NoMeatAthlete.com and while I was on there the other day reading an article about changing your breathing patten while you run (which I have been trying), I clicked a few other articles and came across this one: http://www.nomeatathlete.com/tarahumara-pinole-chia-recipes/.

His website has yet to steer me wrong, so I bought a bag to try myself. In fact, I'm sipping on chia fresca as I type this. It's a drink made with water, lemon and lime juice, agave, and a tbsp of chia soaked in there for five minutes. I can only describe it as a less sugary lemonade with tiny versions of what you get as the bubbles in bubble tea. I think it's delicious.

I'm going to try making them into an energy gel for my runs instead of using the sugary commercial gels. Since I have tomorrow off of work, I think I will also attempt to make paleo chia energy bars. I'll let you know how that goes.

Paleo Cookie Dough with Chia Seeds. SOOO good!

I'm also interested in trying to make pinole, which is chia seeds and cornmeal. I want to substitute the cornmeal with almond flour and see how that turns out.

Moving away from the chia talk now.

I have been pondering ways to keep crossfit in my weekly routine while still keeping my training as a priority. I asked a friend and he told me he didn't think it was a great idea to continue with crossfit, and to make sure I don't do anything to jeopardize my end goal. I'm on board with that. Mostly. Since it wasn't really the answer I wanted, I decided to poll the ultra running list serve to see if there was anyone who has made both work for them.

I found a few that claim it is possible. In fact, one member has been extremely helpful with sharing information about how he's made it work for him. I'm combing through his training log that he sent me, available for anyone at SeeHugoRun.com.

I'm going to find a way!

Also, I just bought a Ninja Master Food Prep Processor to whip up smoothies and salsa, guac, you name it! Gimme your delicious recipes!!!

"Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own; sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction." Quote from William James, found in Scott Jurek's book Eat & Run

"An ultrarunner's mind is what matters more than anything. Racing ultras requires absolute confidence tempered with intense humility." Eat & Run 
**I'm currently working on changing my mentality.


My training plan as it stands.

Article about breathing when running from No Meat Athlete: http://www.nomeatathlete.com/breathing-when-running/


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