another New Mexico 70.3 distance triathlon

Looks like there won't be a 2013 Elephant Man triathlon or a 2013 Damit Man triathlon. Those two triathlons will be replaced by the Jornada del Muerto and the ChupaCabra Challenge, both being held on September 29th. The Jornada del Muerto is a long course triathlon which means its a 70.3 distance triathlon. The ChupaCabra Challenge is a sprint distance triathlon. Both triathlons will be on a very difficult course and can be guaranteed to be a suffer fest!

The Jornada del Muerto and the ChupaCabra Challenge are both part of the Chasing 3 open water series. The chasing 3 open water series is awesome. The NM open water series has done more in a couple years to promote multisport than any other group has in the 8 years I've been doing triathlons. The NM open water series offers tens of thousands of dollars in awards to the age group winners.

So far all of the other races that have become part of the chasing 3 NM open water series have ended up not being in the South West Challenge Series. If this continues there won't be anymore New Mexico open water triathlon races in the SWCS. If all the quality triathlons leave the SWCS I doubt the series will continue to be in existence. That makes me sad. The SWCS is the oldest and largest multisport series in the world. I've enjoyed the SWCS immensely.

I copied this from an email the race director sent me:
The Jornada del Muerto is New Mexicos 2nd long course triathlon! This race takes its name from the Jornada del Muerto, and should be as tough as the original, but not as death defying. With a bike turn around at New Mexico's SpacePort America this race will be an interesting combination of the past and our future.

Then at 8 am we start the ChupaCabra Challenge! Our newest sprint course. This beautiful hilly course will take you to places on the lake you have never been. The view from the east side of the lake is nothing short of amazing.

Saturday CrossFit competition class

At the CrossFit gym I recently started working out at they have workout competitions on Saturdays. I'd avoided going to one of the Saturday classes because.... well... so far I suck at CrossFit, and no one wants to be teamed up with the slow guy in the class. Because of a couple of unexpected mandatory 16 hour shifts and the Christmas holiday this week I was only able to hit 2 CrossFit workouts. 2 workouts is not enough to build fitness as quickly as I'd like. So yesterday I forced myself to attend the Saturday class. I'm glad I did. Everyone was just as friendly and accepting as they always are. Everyone encouraged each other, there wasn't a single person who was judgmental. It was the perfect workout environment.

There were 5 stations, at each station we'd row for a minute, then do a minute of strength training such as pull ups, burpees, wall balls, atlas stones, or kettle bell swings, then rest a minute. We did each station 2 times. The teams encouraged each team member and even encouraged the other teams. The competition fueled me to push even harder than I usually do. By the end of the workout I was BEYOND exhausted, and I had  blast! I'll be attending the Saturday classes fom now on for sure. What an amazing way to start the weekend!

The Missile Man duathlon

After almost a year without training at all I've decided to jump into the 2013 triathlon season head first. On Feb 2nd I'll be competing in the The Missile Man duathlon at White Sands Missile Range New Mexico. It's a 4.3 mile run, 15.5 mile bike, and another run 3.2 miles. The Missile Man will be my 83rd multisport race and 19th duathlon.

My current weight is 244 pounds. I'm a Clydesdale with room to spare right now.

week 1 of Zia CrossFit

Last week I completed my first full week of doing CrossFit workouts at Zia CrossFit. CrossFit is even better than I had hoped for. What I enjoy the most about CrossFit thus far is how friendly and encouraging the other members are. I've never done a workout like CrossFit before, the workouts are intense, challenging, and very enjoyable. Every workout is designed by CrossFit certified coaches and they're there with us during each workout to ensure we get the best workout possible while ensuring we're doing the exercises safely. Its like having my own personal trainer.

Since I haven't done most of these exercises in years I have been using lighter weights than is suggested for men. Even with the lighter weights I was still finishing the prescribed workouts last in the clas. There are 3 or 4 ladies in the class I outweigh by well over a 100 pounds and they are smoking me! How can they so strong being so tiny? I'm amazed.

By Friday I was prepared to attend my 5th day of CrossFit in a row, but I realized I needed a day off. My body was FATIGUED! I'm thoroughly enjoying CrossFit so far, but I realize I have a LONG ways to go before I get back into shape, especially CrossFit shape.

MY FIRST CROSSFIT WORKOUT

On Monday I did my 1st CrossFit workout. After a thorough warm up we did:
Clean + Front Squat 7 x 1+2
then
3 rounds for time
6 Snatch Balance @ 95/65 (click here for video)
9 Overhead Squats @95/65 (Click here for video)
12 Hand Release Pushups

On Tuesday my wife and I did our 1st workout together. She did her 1st two rounds faster than I did. She's a poor winner, she keeps rubbing it in every minute or so.
3 Rounds for time
10 KB/DB Swings @53/35
10 Squats with KB/DB in Rack position on right
Farmer’s walk down and back in rack position on right side
10 Swings
10 Squats with KB/DB in Rack position on left
Farmer’s walk down and back in rack position on left side

Very intense! I'm very sore and I'm hooked. I signed up with Zia CrossFit last night. I'm looking forward to many more suffer-fests like these to come.

personalized crossfit training

I'd been reading a lot about training techniques for endurance athletes. Many pro endurance athletes have started doing some light Olympic lifting to supplement their regular training.  Olympic training builds strength, power, explosiveness, and decreases muscle fatigue and damage in long training sessions. There are some common misconception about Olympic lifters, like they are all big, fat, and muscle bound. Turns out Olympic lifters are some of the leanest athletes in any sport and they have a vertical leap higher than all but basketball players and volleyball players. I decided I wanted to try to suplament my triathlon training with some Olympic lifting so I joined a CrossFit gym. I'm very excited about it.

There's a lot of training in CrossFit that I've never done. Things like Olympic lifting, gymnastics, and kettle bells. These exercises are foreign to me so I decided to get a few days of personal training with one of the coaches, Will O'Connel at Zia CrossFit before I tried a CrossFit workout. I was really impressed with the training I received. I feel ready to try CrossFit to supplement my multi sport training. My 1st day will be Monday. I'll let you know what I think.

Crossfit Santa Fe and Zia Crossfit

Triathlon training is not working for me right now. I'll build a perfect triathlon program for me that fits my fitness and schedule, and then I never end up doing anything! In the mean time I just keep getting more out of shape and unhealthy. A buddy of mine told me about crossfit. I seems intense and fun so I've decided to try it.

Turns out there are 2 crossfit gyms in my area, Crossfit Santa Fe, and Zia Crossfit. I went to each to decide which one my wife and I would go to.

Cossfit Santa Fe is located inside Undisputed, a mixed martial arts gym. A HUGE benefit to this gym is that if I purchased a gym membership for Santa Fe Crossfit I could attend all the jiu-jitsu, boxing, and cardio kick boxing classes for free. They have a ton of crossfit, grappling, boxing, and cardio kickboxing classes available everyday. It seems like they have a class starting just about every hour all day everyday of the week! They offered to help me with my diet and nutrition for free. Another big plus is that they have kids jui-jitsu classes available for my 5 & 7 year olds. The gym is owned by a guy who is a serious stud of a mixed martial artist. He was on The Ultimate Fighter a few years ago. The down side is Santa Fe Crossfit would cost $200 a month per adult membership, $90 per child, and we'd have to sign a contract for 3, 6, or 12 months. If I wanted to get a membership for my wife and myself for crossfit and get two of my kids into grappling it would end up costing us $580 a month. Or $400 a month for just for my wife and I. They also charge a one time $70 fee per member upon signing up. Don't get me wrong, for all they offer it's well worth it, but there's no way my wife and I could afford that until my wife graduates from college and we get 2 incomes for our family again. A big negative for us is that they don't have day care and don't allow children to hang out there while the parents workout, which would make training there virtually impossible for my wife and I.
On 4/5/14 I received a response from Heather at Santa Fe CrossFit concerning the prices at their facility. She said they offer a %50 discount on every other member in a family if one member is paying full price. That option wasn't offered to us when we visited their facility. I'm not sure if it was just oversight or if wasn't offered at the time. But I wanted to share this so anyone reading my blog can make a fully informed decision. There was also a change in Zia CF's prices, I updated those prices in red below. Both places offers a law enforcement and first responders discount.

Zia Crossfit has a much larger facility and more equipment. They don't have any martial arts training at their facility but The Santa Fe Brazilian Jui-jitsu academy offers a HUGE discount to any Zia Crossfit athletes. Zia Crossfit only offers 3 classes a day but the classes are at times that fit my wife and my schedules perfectly. The classes are 5:30-6:30 am, noon to 1 pm, and 5:30-6:30 pm. Zia Crossfit unlimited gym membership with no contract is only $120 a moth, or $240 a month for my wife and I both, there's start up fees. If your wiling to sign a contract the monthly dues go down significantly. The owners of Zia Crossfit are willing to build a free custom training program for any of their athletes who want to concentrate on a specific aspect of their training, such as strength, or endurance. Their gym is kid friendly, so we can bring our babies there when we train.

The updated prices Zia CrossFit as of early 2013 are:
2 times/week: $135/month (days can be combined)
Unlimited: $180/month (month to month, no contract required)
Unlimited: $150/month (6 month contract required)
Unlimited: $165/month (3 month contract required)
Members of Santa Fe Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: $110/month
10 Class Punch Card $200
Drop-in Fee: $25

My wife and I have decided to try out Zia crossfit because of the lower cost, the kid friendly environment, and no contracts. My wife and I start training at Zia Crossfit on Monday I'll let you know how it goes, I predict pain!