Self Created Type A

To put it lightly, I'm goal oriented. I'm learning to manage my time in a way that allows me to do everything I want in my life...and yet still feel like I'm at summer camp everyday!

I'm going to give you all a little background, because I want to make sure you all know that I am not inherently type A.
I was homeschooled my entire life. I was given the freedom to create my own schedule and choose where I put my focus. Largely, this was very unstructured. I didn't have very much direction and I cut some big corners. I started kayaking full-time and that was my first exposure to having a very structured day. I kept paddling but aside from working a little bit on top of training, my days were laid back. The most I was doing at once was taking an EMT course, working, and training. This was totally OKAY, because the amount of training I was doing was draining and rest was important.

Over the past year things have changed. I've taken on more and more responsibility and expanded in ways I didn't think were possible.

Inherently, I'm creative, laid back, and would love being off doing random projects and having great adventures. However, I've created goals that thoroughly inspire me and I realize to make them happen its going to take some structure.


I LOVE MY CALENDAR.

I didn't get one until last fall. Now, I don't know how I survived without it.

Why I love my calendar?
-I teach crossfit at two lovely locations, teaching a total of 8 classes a week.
-I have private clients.
-I work at lululemon La Jolla and lululemon San Diego.
-I just started a six month leadership program w/ Landmark Education.
-I workout 5-8 times a week and I am committed to staying on top of my nutrition.
-I have incredible friends who I love spending time with!!
-I enjoy my hobbies: blogging, reading the lululemon library, and learning Spanish.

I scheduled time for grocery shopping.
I schedule time to nap.
I schedule time to play on facebook.

I also started being responsible for my finances. I've always "handled" my finances, however, now I'm setting myself up to get ahead and be inspired by my finances.
With that, I started tracking exactly what I am spending money on. Just being aware of what my daily expenses are has helped me save money! Its personally inspiring...but my closet and Luon collection is mad at me.

I know all you artsy free adventurers are feeling a bit queasy reading this.

However, taking on a few type A qualities has given me quite a bit of freedom.
Taking on some type "A" qualities has made being type "B" easier.

I don't think anyone who knows me now would ever know me as a free-spirited punk rocker teen who just wanted to write songs and hangout with friends all the time. I couldn't run for more than 10 mins without getting bored.

I think I'm going to call myself a "self created type A". I like that.

When I'm retired I will be "re-created type B".

August 24th 2009

REST DAY.

I tried to workout. But it didn't work out.

I will not eat or drink...

milk
froyo
legumes/peanuts
bread
pancakes
cheese
wine
chocolate


I will eat:

fruit
veggies
nuts
fish
steak
chicken
shrimpies
olive oil
avocados


I may need to start a garden.

lulufit and Crosslemon?

I competed at the Crossfit Games this year and was beyond surprised at the amount of people wearing lululemon. It took me about 3 minutes to realize I would have my work cut out for me if I tried to converse with everyone wearing lululemon to gather vital product feedback for our designers. At one point I thought I should ask if some of the other competitors also worked at lululemon. The amount of neon run shorts was overbearing during the final woodchipper wod.

Being a staff member of lululemon I don't take for granted that almost my entire wardrobe is lululemon down to my lacy luluthong. I also don't take for granted how much lululemon is transforming from "yoga inspired" to "crossfit-wear". It makes total sense.

Crossfit is about not specializing in a sport; its about being the best all around athlete. We're yoga inspired and yet the quality, durability, and four-way stretch is completely versatile and in demand by all disciplines. My Astro Crops withstand chalk, oly bars, and rope burns, while still flattering my disadvantaged squat butt.

Even though John Wellbourne, creator of Crossfit Football, thinks our men's pants "Are so tight that you can tell what religion I am" I'm convinced we have something to offer in that department as well. I can't help but believe that the Kung Fu Pants have the best protection and durability for Deadlift shin scuffs. And although most crossfitters end up shirtless before the workout even starts, our anti-stink vent techs are perfect for the crossfitter who may not be 100% confident in his 6 pack yet.

Believe me, there is more to come on this subject. What truly makes it Crosslulu is the community connection which I will touch on later this week. But now I must get my beauty sleep before I teach the squat clean tomorrow morning. :-)

the art of Crossfit

Most people are fully involved in the life of Crossfit; the culture, the community, the fun of it, and the suck of it. All vital aspects of Crossfit, the life of Crossfit.

What is easily overlooked is the art of Crossfit.

The art is what most coaches, gym owners, and elite level Crossfitters are striving to master. Not to say that a weekend warrior or casual Crossfitter doesn't care, but they're usually enveloped in the life and experience of it, it can be consuming.

The art is the technique, the programming, the skill work, the business growth, and harnessing and understanding the mental discipline in a way that can actually be taught.

I live the life of Crossfit, but I'm fascinated by the art.
I'm inspired by the efficiency of the invisible vertical lines you make when you're functionally moving a heavy object from ground to overhead. I'm also impressed by the patience it takes to practice a skill over and over again, section by section until putting the entire motion together (a muscle up).

This morning I'm going to touch on the mental art.

Some people call it "mental toughness". I hate that. Mental toughness sounds like you're going to 'force something' or 'dig through the struggle'. Excuse me for sounding like a yogi, but how you execute a wod is exactly where you're supposed to be at that time, it doesn't mean anything about your past or your future. There is no woulda, coulda, shoulda, in Crossfit. Your time is your time and your ROM is your ROM.
I don't mean that you shouldn't attempt things that you haven't done before, or that you shouldn't struggle through a WOD, or try to get your fastest time. I mean, there is a certain mental ease and experience when you're living the moment. As soon as you try to get a certain time, or try to have a specific result you're living somewhere else. When you're in the moment, or the zone (mental zone not insulin zone, nerds!), everything is slower, you're moving fast but you're not in a rush, you feel all your muscles firing and burning but it doesn't hurt.

Can that be taught? If it can, how do you teach that?

I've met people who think you either have it or you don't. And if you don't "have it" you're dubbed a head case.

I know it can be taught because I've experienced being a complete head case.

I was a head case when I was 13 and not nearly in shape enough to be kayaking with the people I trained with. I was also a head case when I couldn't break 2 mins for a 500 meter kayak race for 3 years.

When I was 13 I had no endurance, I couldn't take any pain, and I really had no idea how to train or mentally withstand training. I would go out for a jog and as soon as I started to breathe a little heavy I would walk. It was pretty simple how I overcame the "out of shape mental barrier". I kept training. I set goals and I kept training. I put myself in different training groups to hold me accountable and kept training. Finally one year, all of a sudden I was in shape and I could keep up with everyone.

After I had become a full-time athlete I encountered another mental barrier. I expected myself to be better than I was. Pretty simple right? Because I never fullfilled the expectation I set on myself, my energy was manifested as frustration, anger, and impatience, which then became the cause of why I never met my goals.

When I finally accepted where I was in my performance it allowed some room for growth. All of a sudden I wasn't frustrated by my past of not achieving and I wasn't living in the future trying to get a specific result, I was actually focusing on what I was working on at that moment and going through the process of learning.

The fun actually came back.

I had a lot more energy. I started grunting a lot more in practice because I let myself dig so much deeper. I was committed to being great, but I was unattached at the same time.

You can do everything humanly possible to be great at what you do, and you don't have to be attached to what you're striving to accomplish. Does that make sense?

Being upset, or frustrated (you know, the guy that curses or throws the weight around in the gym all pissed off he hasn't gotten a PR in a year?) does absolutely nothing, and you actually have a choice about it.

Let it go.

Please remind me of that next time I practice muscle ups. :-)

Challenge me.

Yesterday:

Swim/Run

This morning:

Spin/Crossfit.

This evening:

Tired/Hungry

the life of yoga

My mom took me to my first yoga class when I was 12 or 13 years old.

It was Bikram yoga.

Being the athletic 12 years I was, I was able to force myself into a pretty good Ustrasana (Camel).

My grandmother taught yoga on the Upper East Side of Manhattan back in the 1960's. My mom tells me she used to do yoga on the living room floor. I never got to see that. My Grandmother had arthritis, osteoporisis, and a knee replacements. However, when she was asked to do yoga, while immobile in a chair, she would scrunch her face up in a ball and then burst open into a pretty mean Simhasana (Lion Pose), sticking her tongue out all wild and rolling her eyes.

My Grandmother was 92 last December, or at least thats how old she is belived to be. Apparently they didn't keep track of age as well back in those days.
Knowing that it was uncertain how long my grandmother would have left my brothers and I went and visited her in Edmonds, WA last fall.

I had the privilege and honor of asking her questions and hearing her words of wisdom. I asked her about yoga.
"Do the sun salutations everyday", she said in her shaky voice.
My aunt, who was there too, said "Grandma thinks yoga is like praying", my grandmother nodded and agreed. I found that interesting considering my grandmother was very Catholic and attended church every Sunday until she couldn't walk anymore.
She also said "Patience." and "it doesn't matter what anyone thinks, I love you."

After my trip to Edmonds last fall I made a goal to go through Yoga Teacher Training the fall of 2010, to deepen my level of practice and to honor my grandmother.

My grandmother died yesterday morning peacefully at home.

My aunt has been taking care of my grandmother for as long as I can remember, which I appreciate more than anything. She has been her caretaker, her best friend, her daughter, her student...and she has shared everything she has learned from my grandmother with her family.

I miss her. I've had her with me in my yoga practice since my visit with her last fall and I will always have her with me during my practice, doing sun salutations right by my side. I have her jokes, her faith, her unconditional love, her fierce Independence, and wisdom.

She always said we can visit in my dreams so I will see her in Savasana.

the life in "life and art"

My mom placing top 3 at a Lake Placid Kayak Regatta.


My mom is a musician, a pianist. She has been playing the piano since she was four years old. In my view and most of the world's view, she's a master at music, even though in her eyes she's probably not.


I remember being 12 years old; profoundly jealous of her having a "one true passion". My mother, was lucky enough to have discovered that ONE thing she could spend all her life doing, passionately. What were the chances?

As a home-schooled 12 year old I was distracted and inattentive. I had interest in everything but passion for nothing, which was the cause of many unfinished projects. I wanted to work with animals one day, be a reporter the next. I was a rock-star, a clothing designer, a florist, and a teacher. I took karate, kayaked, and rock-climbed.

When I was 13 I went to my first National Championships for kayaking; I loved the energy but competed horribly. At 14 I spent a month interning for my Aunt, a Flower shop owner in Edmonds Washington, my first exposure to a true entrepreneur. I played my first gig when I was 15; playing guitar and singing my own compositions at an Italian restaurant. But still no true passion.

I was always athletic, but never passionate about one sport specifically. Finally, I just decided to keep paddling even if I wasn't passionate about it. I kept paddling everyday for 8 years. I ended up being pretty good.

I loved training for races, but I still couldn't embrace "kayaking" as my one true passion. I asked myself "could I keep paddling passionately for the rest of my life?". I cringed at the thought and it even made me a little depressed, "absolutely not".

Kayaking got really painful for me. I didn't progress the way I should, it became more about selection, politics, and qualifying for teams than anything else. I still did okay, but no miracles.

After I reviewed the Landmark Forum I realized I could choose what I could be passionate about, and create it.
I knew for sure I didn't want to keep kayaking until I was 90 years old. However, there was still something there for me in the dimension of sports.

The Olympic movement inspired me. The Olympic movement is about communities coming together, through adversity, and on some level or another, reaching a new spiritual plain through sports and making miracles happen.

I was passionate about that, for sure.

My last year of kayaking I fully embraced it all and loved each moment. I also raced 500m in 1:57 seconds, which was a personal best for me. Even after I didn't qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games, I let myself continue to love it and love what I was part of, knowing that I would be moving on from kayaking after that.

I retired from kayaking about 15 months ago. Outwardly it may look like my career has changed, but it really hasn't. My sport has changed and I'm making a little more money now -laugh- but I still share athletic possibility everyday. Its my job, my career, my passion, my hobby, my talent, and my gift. I never got to be a World Champion Kayaker (top 12 at World Champs had to do) and I may never be the best Crossfitter (I may try though), I'm definitely not the best yogi or swimmer, I'm a decent runner, and a pretty sad dancer. But I get to share athletics with all of my communities; my family, my friends, my guests, my future boyfriends, my one-day children, my original crossfit crew, my lululemons, and anyone else I meet along the way. That I can passionately do for the rest of my life, in many shapes and forms.

Athletics is my life; my spirit, my body, my family, and my community. Its the context that connects it all.


My brother representing USA at Junior World Championships.

the life and art of lululemon

My one year working for lululemon is coming up later this month.
I find it exciting. It doesn't feel like a year, but looking back, I see how much of developed and how much more knowledge I have than I did when I began. Its as simple as realizing how much I didn't know then, and knowing now how much I still don't know!

I had the chance to help open the La Jolla Store, and now I will still be there AND I get to help develop and grow the Downtown Showroom. I feel honored.

Not only do you get to wear Astro Crops and French Terry to work, get to practice handstands between helping guests, and re-stock the store in funny accents, but you learn how to run the store and business. Each of us, especially those who have been here since the beginning, can walk around the store and really take ownership of it. Now, I get to pass that on and train other people to become great educators.

Its fun. I love our community. I love the integration of lululemon with the Crossfit Community. It feels like I'm in the right place, in all dimensions of my life. Everything is connected even if its unrelated.

Make sure you stop by the new showroom this weekend on G between 7th and 8th. And stop by for our first free crossfit class on Sunday at 10am.

Crossfit Games looking back...

I arrived with my team, Crossfit Socal, on the Thursday afternoon before the Games. I was relaxed and excited to have a weekend away from work (lululemon athletica) and do a fun wod with my teammates. I was not thinking, however, about how we would rank against all the other affiliates.

I competed on the US National Kayak Team at World Championships and Pan American Championships for eight years; I retired a year ago. I know what its like to sit in a corner with headphones on, feeling the pressure of competition weigh on your shoulders before an event. A few months ago I was reintroduced to that feeling at the Crossfit Games Qualifiers in Southern California when I was trying out for the individual event. I left the Qualifiers placing 15Th, feeling crushed, and having no fun.

The Affiliate cup felt entirely different. I did not count down the days leading up to the Games, or do any extra superstitious preparation. I did SoCal’s daily WODs and went to our team practices, which were usually followed by cheat meals. It was a blast.

Our first event was the Stadium WOD, we were around 30Th place after the morning heats. I was happy with my performance and proud beyond belief of my teammates. I got all my deadlifts unbroken which was cool, but I was more proud of my teammate Emily who powered her 108lb body through 30 135lb deadlifts, after just recently recovering from a back injury. She’s little, but lionhearted.


The hill run was next for us. I was the first leg of our relay. We had a false start before my heat which made me laugh and mellowed me out, but got my energy pumping. I pulled us into 2Nd place after the first leg, the hill was tough but we had prepared by running Tecolote Canyon in San Diego.
Emily ran next and charged the downhill pulling us into 1st, our support team from SoCal was going crazy and our teammates not in the run event were screaming “lean forward, drive with your toes”. Adam and Seth went third and fourth holding us in 2nd place with 1st place a few strides away. On the fifth lap, we didn’t spread out, we charged up the hill as a team. We passed the first team at the very top of the hill and let loose downward passing the finish line 1st, setting the fastest time of the morning, 11:32. Somehow having “fun” had gotten us competitive with the top affiliates, and SoCal was announced in 10Th place after the first two events.

Before our last event, the Overhead Squat/Pull-Up WOD, we each planned our weight attempts for overhead squat and decided who was going first. We all had our “safety” weights for OH Squat and we had a “Push Goal”. We talked about staying relaxed and focused during the event, because adrenaline was not going to help an OH Squat PR.
Emily went first and was the only one of us who got her push goal weight on the first try (85lbs a PR for her). Nuno, Erwin, and I all missed our “safety” weight and had to re-group after the initial frustration.
On my second attempt I got 135lb, which was a huge relief, so I went on to pull-ups leaving the squat rack to the big boys. After 10 minutes of multiple attempts Erwin and Nuno finally got their “safety” weights. With 8 minutes to go and a few pull-up sets done, Erwin got 255lbs beautifully (which he thought was 245lbs, luckily we didn’t say anything).
I attempted 145lb and missed it on the third rep, I walked away and finished my third set of pull-ups. Nuno went on to try 185lbs- he missed again. While Nuno went to pull-ups I made a second attempt at 145lbs. My first two reps were solid; my last rep I went below parallel and got stuck for what felt like 30 seconds (in reality it was probably about 1 ½ seconds). I dug in deep and imagined ripping the bar apart and pushed out into full extension. I made my push goal.
Nuno went back at minute 19 for one last attempt at 185lbs. He got two reps full depth and made a fourth and fifth attempt going too shallow to count, the fifth attempt he went deep, wavering wildly at the bottom he stood up and finished within the last 10 seconds of the time allotted. We all screamed. We didn’t know how we ranked, or what our score was, we only knew we did our absolute best. We walked away with huge smiles on our face and a score of 926, tying us in second place for that event.


On Sunday we were announced as tying for 6Th place (technically 7Th). Part of me was heartbroken missing the final by 1 point, but mostly, I was glowing with pride for my team placing in the top 10 out of 98 teams.
It was hard watching the final, not because we didn’t have a shot at winning the Affiliate Cup, but because it would have been another opportunity to compete as a team.
The Crossfit Games was stress free. I had fun with my affiliate, I was inspired by the athletes, and I was introduced to competing a different way. We never took ourselves too seriously and I realize how committed I am to competing like that, no matter how “elite” my team or I get. They are “Games”, right?

Back to training outside.

I raced kayaks on the US National team for eight years. I retired a little over a year ago. I don't miss the intensity at which I trained, the time it took, and all the stressful politics of qualifying for World Championship Teams.

I miss working with a team and striving for a miracle. I miss being in elite shape and feeling like a super hero. I miss traveling and competing in Europe.
I miss being around hundreds of athletes who have been doing the same thing you have all year, only difference is they're on the opposite side of the world.

I also miss training outside; in the water.

I love crossfit and its been incredible to have the opportunity to compete on the affiliate cup team at the Crossfit Games and place so high (7th place out of 98 teams). Something that occurred to me at the crossfit games was that all my training has been primarily indoors. I was beginning to feel stale.
I started incorporating an open water swim once a week in La Jolla Cove.

I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did. Something about being in the water swimming with 50 other people, and having to deal with rip currents and high waves made me feel invigorated. Friday afternoons turned into my favorite time of the week.

Fridays at the cove 530pm...wetsuits optional. :-)