Weekend update

Kettlebell weekend was awesome! It started with an unexpected surprise -- I got to have coffee with Tracy Reifkind! We met in San Jose and being with was like reading her blog -- I came away inspired and focused and really really happy. Tracy, who is nothing but consistent in her message and her actions, brought a simple snack she had prepared at home: fuji apples, persimmons, kiwi, and date rolls. I felt so cared for. (And I'll post pictures once I load them from my camera. Tracy, who is nothing if not on top of things, already has a picture of us on her blog!)

Time with my sister, brother in law, and my niece (age 6) and nephew (age 3) -- priceless. The kids are beyond excited about Christmas and that's infectious and fun. My brother in law is passionate about caring for your body by eating smart and right, so we had some great talks. And my sister? If only we lived closer, like next door or in the same house.

So on to the certification. It was held at the CrossFit HQ in Soquel, which was super exciting to me, because I've watched tons of CF videos and to be where they're shot was really cool. The weekend was led by Jeff Martone, who was a great instructor -- patient, humble, and crazy knowledgeable. He was assisted by Eva T., a skiing and a CrossFit legend. She was also patient, humble, and crazy knowledgeable.

There were 13 students in the cert -- 9 men, and 4 women. People traveled from Australia (a couple who run The Original Bootcamp), Portland (a CrossFit affiliate), Chicago, and San Diego to attend. There were some crazy strong MMA and CrossFit guys. One of the women was 6 months pregnant with her first baby, and she glowed with health and strength. It was fun to be part of such a strong, committed group of people and we had a lot of fun together.

So what did I learn? First of all, I learned that I know a lot about teaching basic kettlebell moves. That may not sound like much to learn, but it was huge for me, because I don't have other trainers to bounce ideas off of like I would if I worked in a gym. So to discover that I really DO know something was great. But beyond that, I learned how to use and teach the high tension kettlebell moves. In particular, I learned to love the Turkish Get Up, both as a whole body exercise, and as a movement that could help enhance my shoulder stability. And finally, I learned to not be afraid of the snatch, another whole body move that I've avoided (until now!).

On Sunday we did a practical test and I passed, so I am now CrossFit Kettlebell Certified -- hooray!

Yesterday I got my long run in and got to visit with a friend. Stacy is searching for her lost motivation, and we met for a run/walk. By the time we were done, we'd covered almost 6 miles, so I decided to go home the long way. Stats for the outing:

11 miles
1939 calories (and I didn't try to make this up -- hooray!)
1 hour, 55 minutes
2928 ascent (we did some hill repeats)
2906 descent (what goes up must come down)

Today is super busy -- back to back clients, lunch with some of my favorite people (mother in law and sister in law), another client, them into the mom swing of things. Have a great day, friends!