Stage Racing!

Redlands

Prologue

March 31, 2011

This first day of the Redlands Stage Race was the Prologue which is a 3.1 mile uphill climb according to the race bible. We had Bec, Mary, Devon, and myself just off of the San Dimas Stage race last weekend. Emily met us in LA and Amy came out from Boulder.

The Uphill TT was a gradual uphill with a power hill then a nice grade past some orange trees. Then you take a right hand turn to a big hill to the top. Emily and I talked about it and divided the hill up in our minds into thirds. A steep climb that you had to redline a bit, a quieter left turn to a final 200 meters to the top.  How it actually played out was a bit different.

Before the race, we found our spot right in the middle of the parking lot and set up camp with the Webcor car and SportVelo tent. John, our mechanic, had everything in order which is super awesome as we could focus on just warming up and staying hydrated.

I was third of our team to go and once I rolled off the starting platform I tried to keep an eye on the girl who started 30 seconds in front of me. The hard part here was to hold a fast pace but not go over and flood the legs for the climb. I think I gained a couple seconds when we turned onto the actually hill section. Then my focus turned to keeping my breathing steady and trying not to blow up.

Our host house mom, Cid, was at the top of the steepest part and her encouragement kept me pushing as hard as I could. The last little bit to the top I got close to my 30-second target but was caught like I was standing still by a Colavita racer. She would end up 4^th so I don’t feel too bad about that.

I met up with Bec at the top and we rode down to the team base to cool down then ride home.  Overall I think it was a good start and almost like a warm up for tomorrow’s 72 mile Road Race.
Haley

Happy St. Patricks day!

First one to answer the above trivia question in the comments section gets a DCF T-shirt!

Todays workout was:

"Angie"

100 pullups

100 pushups

100 situps

100 squats

Saturday Awesomeness!

Todays workout
4 rounds of:
7 power cleans
7 front squats
7 push press
7 back squats
400m run

Victor after a great workout!
Good job also Pierre, Paul, Lloyd, Arun, Ramsey.

Saturday's Time Trial

Here is a picture from the Saturday Time trial in the rain. Teammate Jane and I did the 2 person team event. We won! but we were the only 2 person team :)
I am on the left of the picture. We are mid-change where one person takes the lead while the other drops back into the draft.

This weekends sessions

This weekend's sessions will be at:
SATURDAY 10AM
SUNDAY 9AM

Haley is racing bikes Saturday morning hence the time change.

http://www.scaledup.com/beattheclock/schedule.html
http://blocg.wordpress.com/

Good workout guys on Friday and Saturday!

Here are two good videos of the clean/jerk:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEv13kNSHZk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP-eRlIvfF8&feature=fvwrel

In the first video they were using the Split Jerk and in the second: the Squat Jerk. For the squat jerk the bar doesn't have to travel quite as high as it would for the split jerk. But if your overhead squat/shoulder flexibility isn't there yet then the Squat Jerk would be harder. I think the Split Jerk is more fun but they are both good moves to have in your repertoire.

On another note:
Haley finished "Training Camp" of the last 4 days with about 5000ft of climbing a day and 18 hours over the 4 days. Tired legs! But the training will pay off with the early season stage races coming up.

Old La Honda off Portola Valley Rd:

Cherry Pie Criterium

Sunday was the Cherry Pie Criterium bike race up in Napa.
I raced the Women's 1/2 field with my teammates from Webcor/Alto Velo. A Criterium is a shorter bike race of 45 minutes or so on a loop course. This one was one mile in length and had a big hill that you went up, made a 180 at the top and then came down again.
The race started off fast, made a sharp right hand turn into a sweeping left with orange cones placed a little too close on the right hand side. A little S-turn then back to the hill.
 A couple laps in I was getting ready to make a move on the top of the hill since you could get a gap on the downhill and maybe get a break from the pack. Right at the top of the hill I was leading and got out of the saddle to go. However, I swung the turn too wide, effectively cutting off the whole field. They were not too happy about that and I think the whole first 1/3 yelled "F*** You" and gave me the finger. Roadies are a bit more vocal than Cyclocrossers. I reined in my attack as I felt bad about my mistake. I think this was actually the bigger mistake as I rode conservatively and timidly the rest of the race.
Lessons I learned: get over mistakes, don't take mean comments personally in racing, continue to race aggressively/confidently even if stuff happens.
Some pics at the start:

I am on the left of the picture above. Teammates: Holly in the middle and Andi on the right. Andi won us a cherry pie to share! Thanks Andi!

Saturdays workout

Pierre getting some height on the Kettlebell.
The workout:
3 rounds of
50 Box jumps
40 Kettlebell swings 24kg
30 situps
400 m run

Narayan was the winner of the January Challenge! (2 minutes max box jumps)
The February challenge is up. The "Illinois Drill". Best time wins a Defiance CrossFit T-shirt!
http://www.brianmac.co.uk/illinois.htm

Thursday/Motor Unit Recruitment

Blurry photo above of Adil doing the workout:

8 Rounds of:
10 Kettlebell swings (24kg)
10 lunges (holding the Kettlebell at chest)
11 clapping pushups

The clapping pushups seemed to be the hardest part of the workout which was understandable. Some people were curious to know why we were doing clapping pushups versus regular pushups recently. Its because I am experimenting with you guys! :)

Training with movements that use high contraction speeds (explosive movements) recruit more of the motor units of your muscle to contract. A motor unit consists of a nerve cell and the muscle fibers it innervates. Muscles generate force through motor unit recruitment (and frequency of firing which is also dependent on recruitment). So clapping pushups are a faster way to get your upper body/chest muscles stronger. Also why we do box jumps for our legs.
Haley

Trixie #2

Another pic of gym dog Trixie (Natalie's cute bulldog). We had an earlier picture of her on October 8th post.

Yesterday's strength component of the workout was 4 sets of single Deadlifts at 95%-105% of max. It was awesome to see lots of people increasing their heavy strength. (Lloyd, Eric, Natalie, Simona, Chris to name some of evening crew who had an average of 30 lbs DL increase).

January Challenge

The January Challenge this month was 2 minutes max reps of box jumps. So far Narayan is the leader! However he did get some battle wounds on the last rep:

why we workout

Hi everyone,
Here is a picture Ryan just sent of one of his buddies all loaded up with gear. It made me think of the best reason to workout, go to the gym, eat right, etc. Our bodies are tools and should be kept in good functional shape. You should be ready to handle any physical situation that comes your way. So next time I throw a 45# vest on you while you are doing burpees, you can thank Ryan :)

Workout for Friday December 31st

Workout for Friday December 31st

After a good warmup run or row:

Back Squat 3-3-3-3-3

(so 5 rounds of 3 reps of a heavy back squat)

OR

400 walking lunges

Workout for Thursday December 30th

Workout for Thursday December 30th

Warm up:
Row or run 1500m
Stretch

Using a 45# barbell with enough weight on it to make each round challenging. (start with 95#men/65#women and go up/down from there). Try to complete each round in 2 minutes. Rest is the remainder of the two minutes.

10 rounds of:

6x Dead-Lift

6x Bent rows

6x Hanging power Cleans

6x Front Squats

6x Push Presses

then Core/Abs:

3 x (25 situps/25 crunches/ 25 flutterkicks)

The pic above is from the CrossFit main site. That puppy is so cute I had to repost. If anyone has any questions email me at haley@defiancecrossfit.com

Haley

Workout for Wednesday December 29th

Workout for Wednesday December 29th

Warm up: Run 15 minutes or more
then:

Leg Blasters!

 3 Rounds of:

20 squats

20 lunges

20 jumping lunges

20 jump squats

60 seconds rest in between rounds

Then ABS/Core:

4 Rounds of:

20 situps

20 crunches

20 flutterkicks

20 medball twists

Planks: 20 sec left/20 center/20 right

Workout for Tuesday December 28th

Workout for Tuesday December 28th

Run 1600m
50 Sit-ups
50 Back Extensions
Run 800m
25 Sit-ups
25 Back Extensions
Run 400m
15 Sit-ups
15 Back Extensions

Post time to comments

Workout for Monday December 27th

Workout for Monday December 27th:

100 Dumbell Thrusters (with 2 burpees on the minute)

- Try 2 45# Dumbells to start
- These should be hard and challenging!
- A Thruster in case you forgot is a full squat (holding the dumbells at your shoulders) to a full press overhead. See video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNTW7B09VJg
- Post time and thoughts to "Comments"

Workout for Sunday, Dec. 26th

Workout for Sunday, Dec. 26th:

Three rounds for time of:

Run 400 meters

21 Kettlebell swings at 24lbs. (or 55 pound dumbbell swing)

12 Pull-ups

Post times to 'Comments'.

If you don't have a kettlebell or Dumbell use something heavy like a rock in a sack/bag. If this doesn't work, substitute situps (full good ones) for the KB swings and substitute Push ups for the pullups. 

Merry Christmas!

Hi Everyone!
Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays from Defiance CrossFit!
Here is an update to what is happening:
1. The gym is closed Dec. 27 through 31st to get the roof leak fixed.

2. Haley is in Boulder, Colorado until the 1st visiting family and getting some good trail runs at altitude. She is running a 5k on January 2nd if anyone wants to join her:
http://www.brazenracing.com/newyearrun.html

3. Ryan is doing well and says hello to everyone. He is working out about twice a day and doing some other stuff :)

Photos from Bend!

Hi Guys, Here are some photos from the Cyclocross Nationals race up in Bend Oregon last week. The course got muddy but it was perfect for CX racing! My best finish was 6th in the Singlespeed race. Next year is in Wisconsin in January. Brrr!

Above: a photo of the course. There were some big mud sections.

Above: Haley on the first lap looking clean.

One of the run ups.

Cyclocross this weekend

This coming weekend is the Bay Area Super Prestige Series race #5
http://www.bayareacx.com/page/show/220033-race-5-cccp-cyclocross-coyote-point-san-mateo

Hopefully we can get Ethan and Josh to race ;-) Haley will be racing the Singlespeed division before heading up to Bend OR on the 6th for Cyclocross Nationals.

Here is a pic from last week. No its not Haley! ha ha!

Ryans workout

Ryan's workout yesterday consisted of rounds of a 3 Kettlebell drag, burpees, 30 meter target shoot. Maybe we should try that at the gym tomorrow! ha ha!

CX Districts

I raced the CA/NV Cyclocross District championships on Saturday in Reno. 5th place in the Women's A's.

I am in the green Webcor outfit. On my left is eventual winner Katerina Nash who rides for the Luna Chix team. 

I am in the far left of the photo with the blue down jacket on. Checking out that Bear Jersey! (Winners of CA District championships get a cool bear jersey). Someday....

November 17

Todays workout:
4 rounds
25 m walking lunge with 45# overhead
30 box jumps
20 wall ball
10 handstand pushups

Crazy 88's

Good Saturday workout this morning!
Arun's test workout was an awesome fully body workout:

"Crazy 88's"
4 rounds:
22 Kettlebell swings (16kg)
22 Thrusters (75#)
22 Burpees
22 Wallballs (20kg)