What… happened… (ugh). I was on vacation for 9 days and came straight home to a 3 day CrossFit competition that we have been using as a source of motivation for our workouts since January. Suddenly they are both over and I feel like I got hit by a truck.

The team worked hard this weekend but ended up 9th of 27. You had to finish top 3 to go to California and we wanted one of those 3 spots We fought for it but other teams did better. Simple as that. What made the weekend great is that we still remembered to enjoy ourselves and celebrate our victories. And now whoever wants it has a new source of motivation for the upcoming year.

Team highlights:

1. Rob and Rich who both have told me they hate rowing cranked out their 750 meter rows at around 1:40/500m pace and then did 21 handstand pushups a piece. I knew Rob was good at rowing but had never seen Rich go quite that fast. I knew Rich was great at handstand pushups but didn’t know Rob was right there with him. Very fun to watch.

2. Getting to do a workout in a 21-15-9 rep scheme with only heavy dead lifts and box jumps. No push ups. No Olympic lifts. Just two simple things in one of my favorite formats. Awesome.

3. Being in 13th place and finding out 30 seconds before the last event on Saturday that we had to be in 10th to move on to Sunday. Leah did more chest to bar pull ups than most guys could ever hope for (like 30 at a time or so). MJ did around 200 of 250 double-unders with only 1 break. Johanna absolutely crushed both the kettle bell swings and the overhead squats maintaining incredible form. (Soooo jealous!) And the result was that we stole that last spot at the last minute!

4. Watching Leah do muscle ups faster and better than nearly any female in any region around the world. I’m pretty sure on a fresh day she could crank out about 10 or 11 unbroken in under a minute.

5. Climbing our way back to 9th place in the Southwest region was something for our team to be proud of. Great job team!!!

6. Sitting in the stands with the 50 or so people from MBS who drove all the way across town to sit in 90 degree weather and support us and our fearless and amazing leaders from the individual competition, Dan, Sean, and of course Pat who walked away with 1st place in the region and will go to California to compete for the $250,000 grand prize and title of The Fittest Man on Earth!

Dear MBS Team,
I have not forgotten you. I’ll be ready.
-Karen

Day 5
7:00am – Breakfast buffet in the lovely Tabacon Resort’s restaurant. Checked out and headed for the Cloud Forrest.

9:00am – Took a boat ride across Lake Arenal with a great views of the volcano and surrounding jungles. Had the boat to ourselves. Driver stayed along the shore helping us look for birds. Private comfortable taxi ride with a man and his 10 year old son Marconi through the countryside to Monteverde.

12:00pm – Lunch at our Hotel Sapo Dorado. PB&J with homemade peanut butter. Nap.

2:00pm – Tour in the Selvatura National Forest of a large butterfly habitat, a reptile area with mostly local poisonous snakes and frogs, and a hummingbird garden with dozens of different types large and tiny.

5:20pm – Night walk looking for nocturnal animals and sleeping birds. Saw a sloth and an opossum, a toucan and other birds, bugs, bats, a salamander, taranchulas, and a white owl. Funnel web spider shot juice out of its butt at Todd. Ten year old girl that kept scaring the animals away got hers when a cricket got stuck in her jacket. Not sure who was jumping more, her or her dad.

8:00pm Dinner at an outdoor restaurant built around the top of a huge fig tree called The Treehouse Restaurant. Todd had pizza and I had a half avocado stuffed with shrimp nuts and raisins and a bowl of onion soup as a break from beans and rice.

Day 4
6:00am You can see the volcano from our room!

8:45am Todd ate for the first time in more than 24 hours. Feels much better. Nice breakfast buffet at Tabacon’s restaurant. Walked down to the hot springs and saw howler monkeys playing in the trees on the way back.

2:30pm Guides picked us up at 9:00 and drove us to town. Took a “jungle limo” up the side of the mountain. Put on some climbing gear and hiked and rappelled down a series of waterfalls including one that is 210 feet! Really funny guide. Beautiful. A blast. And we got SOAKED.

6:30pm At the last minute we signed up for a 3:00 hike to the base of Arenal Volcano. Soooo great. Saw two baby pit vipers. A drop of venom could kill you and babies will hit you with all they have! Guide also found a taranchula and another spider with a web so strong its being studied by Nasa. You can pluck it like a violin string. He showed how a soldier ant can hold a tree branch by it’s jaws. We watched birds for awhile. Then we saw the full height of the volcano with clear skies which is very rare during rainy season. The view up there is spectacular. Volcano, jungle, hillsides, and Lake Arenal. Stunning sunset on the short drive back. Great trip.

9:45pm Dinner at Lava Lounge downtown and then headed to Tabacon Hot Springs. Amazing area built up around part of the river that runs hot. Waterfalls everywhere gushing hot water.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

7:00am Todd’s ulcer is acting up. 🙁

9:00am Breakfast on the porch overlooking the garden. Walked the grounds again and checked out the huge suites up on the hillside while Todd rested in the room. Beautiful morning. Tried to stay an extra night but it didn’t work out with the other hotels.

12:00pm Todd feels pretty sick so I decided we should not to do the raft trip out. He stayed in our amazing bungalow and tried to rest more while I went with our new friends on the canopy tour. Saw bullet ants (poisonous, over an inch long, bite feels like being shot)!

1:30pm Left our paradise at Pacuare Lodge. Crossed the river in a rough made cable “car”. Locals grab ropes hanging down from a tiny metal bench you sit on, run down the hill, and throw it so it skids across the cable to the other side. Saw a gigantic dead boa constrictor. Yikes.

4:00pm Four-wheeled out with the locals and our guide Antonio for about 45 minutes. Really rough on Todd’s stomach. 1 hour in a van to pick up our luggage. 3 more hours to the volcano.

7:00pm Really beautiful drive. Went by fast except when stuck behind huge trucks trying to get by each other around tight corners on a narrow road. Checked in to Tabacon Resort by Arenal volcano. Showered, ordered room service, and relaxed in our room.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

5:30am Up at 4:30 to head to the river.

8:30am 90 minute drive. Traditional Costa Rica breakfast of rice and beans and eggs at a restaurant high in the jungle overlooking the hillsides.

10:00am Another 90 minute drive to the put in. Can’t bring luggage. They store it in a warehouse and bring it to you the next day. Can only take what fits in a small bag on the raft.

12:30pm An hour or so of easy class II and III rapids today through gorgeous jungle. Short break to swim at a waterfall by the river. Arrive Pacuare Jungle Lodge.

2:00pm Only people here are the couple we rafted with, a few staff, and us. Unbelievable paradise in the middle of nowhere. Small 3 course gourmet lunch over looking the river.

5:30pm Walked the beautiful grounds taking pictures of flowers and wildlife. Hiked to a waterfall. Long overdue 2 hour nap in our amazing bungalow during the rain. No electricity in the rooms! Lit with candles! Gorgeous rooms though. Very comfortable.

6:00pm Walked the dimly lit path through the jungle checking out the fireflies along the way. Sitting in the bar by the river drinking margaritas and looking at pictures. Our guide Antonio is the nicest guy ever.

5:45am next day. Incredible gourmet dinner last night. Total blast chatting with our guide and the honeymoon couple. One too many margaritas. Ouch.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

4:00 The Super Shuttle picked us up at 3:30. Yawn.

7:10 They just announced a flight delay due to mechanical issues. We only have a one hour layover in Houston. Hope we make our connection.

10:30 Pilot made up some time. Watched I Am Number Four on our new iPads. Landed in Houston just a bit late.

11:45 Just reached the gate in time. Boarded. Flight delay due to mechanical issues. Someone broke the toilet.

2:00 Slept through parts of Iron Man 2.

2:30 Made it to San Jose but can’t get off the plane. Mechanical issues with the jetway. Don’t care at all. Happy to be away.

4:00 Hotel El Rodeo has really nice rooms. Beautiful. it’s pouring rain. Time to hit the mall!

5:30 Visited very cute baby puppies and a kitty at the pet store. I have a weakness for hot churros and we found a place that dips and stuffs them. Split one covered in white chocolate and nuts and stuffed with dulce de leche. Mmmm. Also bought a ring and Todd a new iPhone case for $8.

9:00 Dinner back at El Rodeo steakhouse. 100 pushups 100 back extensions while Todd was in the shower. Good thing he showered quick. The firm bed is exactly 24″ high and I was starting to get ideas about jumping on it.

With only one day left before we leave for our trip I am pretty much ready to go. At the last minute I decided to hit one more CrossFit workout before we leave. Today was “Murph” named after Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., who was killed in Afghanistan June 28th, 2005. Perfect workout for Memorial Day and perfect beat down before the trip. I usually run the Bolder Boulder on Memorial Day but decided to skip it this year to save a little time. Last year’s Bolder Boulder time: . First ever attempt at Murph: 46:00. That definitely doesn’t break any records. As always the push ups killed me. But I’m determined to eventually turn those into a strength.

“Murph”
For time:
Run 1 mile
100 Pullups
200 Pushups
300 Squats
Run 1 mile
Time: 46:00

Yesterday we went shopping for 8 hours straight. What a marathon. All we needed was luggage and a few T-shirts for our upcoming trip to Costa Rica. 8… hours… straight. Don’t get me wrong. I love to shop. We had a blast and got what we needed. But I don’t think you should do anything for that long without a break except sleep.

Tell that to my new tenant. He’s an ultramarathon runner. Double marathons, 100 mile races, 24 hours races, multi day events. He aspires to complete the 1000 mile challenge in Silverton where you have 18 days to complete the same 1 mile loop 1000 times at nearly 10,000 feet in altitude.

For one thing, I can barely keep track of what round I’m on in a 5 rounds for time Crossfit workout. I’m trying to imagine what I would do with 1000 rounds for time. It would probably include profanity. Also I have a hard time imagining what it would be like to run around in circles for 18 days. Even a 5k would get monotonous. 3 loops down 9997 to go… 18 days of running at altitude? I wonder how many ambulances they have in Silverton.

Anyway, the next time I’m feeling bored in a 20 minute workout that is "rounds for time" I will remember that relatively speaking it was almost over when it started.

Sadly I lost a pair of sunglasses somewhere in the outlet mall that had been a gift from Todd  🙁 But that prompted us both to get new pairs. We finally bought a pair that Todd spotted at an Oakley store in Hawaii almost 6 years ago and that I had tried on dozens of times since. Thanks, Todd!

Interesting twist on last night’s workout. The timed workout was one heavy power clean every 30 seconds for 10 minutes. I guess we aren’t really used to having that much time to rest. Two of the guys challenged each other to hold a plank during the rest periods. On the next set a few more people joined in. Then a few more. By the 4th or 5th set the whole class was doing it. Not sure what caused it. The competiveness or the natural tendency to try to think of creative ways to make workouts harder. It sounded like it would be hard but In the end wasn’t even really that difficult. We wondered if we should have done pushups or burpees or something harder. Never know how hard something will be until you try and it is always good to constantly be challenging yourself to do more than you thought you could. Great class. Very inspiring. I’ll post a photo if I can get my hands on one.