WAKSC Cali Open/ World Championships KB Competition

If you didn't know, last weekend I got to compete in my second kettlebell competition. But honestly, I don't know how you wouldn't have known cause i was talking about it nonstop. Like,  an obnoxious amount. (No regrets, but i know that I was talking about it a lot).

I competed in long cycle (for the first time with double bells) and snatch. All 12 kg bells. 

Training was with my badass and super amazing coach Brittany (@kbfitbritt) at Kor Strength and Conditioning (@mykorstrength). Literally couldn't have done it without them. If you're wanting to get into KB Sport, definitely shoot Britt a message cause she's awesome. 

So my goals this time around were: 

Long Cycle - Finishing the full 10 mins, over 70 reps 

Snatch - over 200 reps 

Long Cycle: 

Set: Finished with 75 reps! Had a few ugly reps but I found a pretty decent rhythm throughout the set and I was able to push myself the last minute! 

Long Cycle takes a pretty good amount of cardio & I feel pretty solid on my cardio. Definitely was feeling fatigue in that last couple of minutes (longest I had gone with 2x12kg was 8 mins) but my thought process is, if I can convince myself to run for 2 hours, I can convince myself to keep lifting for however more minutes ! :) 

Long Cycle was also great because I had Britt there the whole time coaching me through it, and even though I definitely zone out during my sets, I definitely appreciated having her there reminding me to keep my form and head straight throughout the set.

Results: 
Rank 1, Overall 2 

Snatch: 

Set: finished with a whopping 229 reps!!!!!! 

Absolutely destroyed my goal and I was/am SO proud of myself! It was the best  set of kettlebell lifting that i have ever had. I went in with a goal, and i was absolutely determined to beat that goal. I pushed myself really hard and I felt really strong throughout the set. I was wayyy more nervous for this set than I was for the Long Cycle set because I had set such high expectations for myself. But with my training, and the support of my team (if you watch the video you can hear them, mostly marian ( <3 @marianjhart) dan (@musclehipster) and JJ) cheering and yelling throughout the set) I hit and exceeded my goal. shout out to JJ for filming this set (@jjsavestheday) 

one of the best parts of that video is after the set... the counter couldn't keep up with me, so I thought I had hit 212... but then he came up and showed me the official count which was the 229 and you can see my eyes double in size.

So proud of that set. 

Rank 1, Overall 1. 

(beat second place by about 50 reps!) 

Overall, this was SUCH a fun weekend. 

Beyond my own sets, my team did awesome and I got to watch my friends hit their goals and lift crazy weights and I love it. I love getting to see people be successful in their sets. One of the best parts of kettlebell sport is how supportive everyone is and everyone is rooting for each other. It is such a cool environment to be in. AND I got to meet SO MANY cool people that I have been following on IG and I got to see SO MANY badass people lift. I got the opportunity to see some of the best lifters in the world compete which was so cool and so inspiring. Legitimately gets me so excited to keep pushing myself to get better for the next one.

If you have questions about Kettlebell Sport, leave'em in the comments below! Or send me a message on instagram and/or facebook page!  If you want to start training for something you're excited about and need some guidance... send me a message or check out my program packages! 

HOW TO: get out of a exercise routine rut

one of the biggest issues people come across when doing exercise is that they get bored. 

they get into the same routine, same workout circuit, same weights, etc., and then get tired of doing the workouts and stop making progress and stop enjoying the workouts... and then stop going to the gym and gotta start the whole process all over again. which sucks. 

but there is a way to keep enjoying your fitness routine... and it's so simple. it just takes a little bit of branching out. and that's usually why people don't think about doing it, cause honestly, changing your workout routine is a little bit intimidating. but here are some tips that may help you get started: 

• take classes at your gym

  • this doesn't have to be a forever commitment... but you can get lots of great new ideas from a trying out a new class. most gyms have so many classes you can try out, and at all hours, so you can fit it into your regular schedule and learn new exercises with guidance.

• grab a new piece of equipment

  • if you're always using just the machines or just dumbbells or whatever... pick up something new. use the TRX straps, kettlebells,or go for some bodyweight movements.changing the type of equipment can add a lot of fun to your workouts!

• change your circuit

  • if you're going one exercise at a time all the way through and then the next and next, with the same rests and reps... change it up- do some supersets, do a circuit, do an AMRAP, something to adjust the circuit.

• create new workout goals

  • figuring out some big scale goals or some mini goals that you can work to. having something to work to is always a great way to get more excited about your workouts and also can help you to figure out how to re-structure your workouts in order to achieve your goals

• use an app to get some new workout/workout routines

  • bodybuilding.com or sparkpeople or youtube workouts and there are a number of apps and websites  have full workout programs all at your disposal. 

• get a trainer

  • getting a trainer can help you do a lot of things! it can help you figure out more specific goals to work to, you can learn a bunch of new exercises and full routines, and you can get an entire new program laid out for you and you don't even have to think about it. (one of the many joys of having a trainer!) if you are in the market for a trainer... i am available for online and in person training!

you can catch me on instagram or facebook or send me an email at tiffnessfitness@gmail.com for any of your fitness questions, program building, or if you just wanna say hi! :) 

my first half marathon!

my first half marathon... and my very first race! yeah, i went for it straight out the gate. 

i signed up for a half marathon because i had been running a lot, and running further and further with no real goals... just running to run. which was a lot of fun, but having something to work to is more fun! so i was looking into races and i saw an ad for the Title 9 Mermaid Run. And it was on sale. And it was months out. So why not!? so i signed up for it! 

here's how i trained for it: 

i signed up for it at the beginning of November. At that point I had gotten up to about 9.5 miles. So from that point, my plan was to increase my mileage by about 10% each week. And throughout November I kept up with that, mostly. I was running just over 10 miles by the beginning of December. 

But December was a rough month. I was sick on and off throughout the entire month which really threw off my training schedule for the race. By the end of December, I still hadn't broke 10 miles. It was a tough month of training. 

So come January, I had to fit in A LOT of runs that I was planning on spreading out a lot further apart.January had my first 11 mile run, the next week was 12 mile run, then the 13.1 mile run, which put me 3 weeks out from the race. Let me tell you, those runs were not fun. It was a lot, and it was really tough on my body and honestly, it wasn't a lot of recovery time so my body was exhausted AF. My first half marathon run through was at a 2:13:36 and most of it felt pretty terrible. All of run times had gotten much slower than they had been in November, which was pretty frustrating, but i figured just finishing the half marathon race would be success enough. 

But I did make myself have a goal of a sub- 2 hour half marathon. which meant cutting off 13 and a half minutes off my first run through.

I figured I could definitely beat the original time because my outside training load would be significantly lighter than it was during the other weeks, but cutting 13 mins off was a long shot. i had to cut off over a minute each mile for it to be possible. 

the weeks leading up to the race i tapered off my runs. 10 miles 3 weeks out, 8 miles 2 weeks out, and not much the week of. 

the week of the race, Monday was fairly average workout wise and after that everything was really, really light. the farthest i ran the week of the race was 3 miles. and i did only one HIIT run session for 25 mins, and that was on Wednesday (my last real workout [minus kettlebell sport] of the week). I rested Thursday (minus KB sport) and Friday. 

Then on Saturday it was race day!

the days leading up to the race I was drinking over 150 oz of water every day. 

the day before the race, i ate a lot of fruits and easy tasty carbs. all of the foods I knew my body could process easily so i wouldn't feel terrible while running. so dinner was hashbrowns, canadian bacon, and eggs. 

Race day: 

woke up early AF, drank a cup of coffee, and headed out to the race site! on the way i snacked on welch's fruit snacks, which is basically the only thing i eat before/during runs. 

got there and sipped on water and had a really nice extended warm up. i was ready to go pretty early on so I had to keep on moving to keep warm. 

FINALLY the race started and once i got going, i basically kept the same pace throughout the entire race. it was suuuper convenient because there was race pacers. basically holding signs saying what the pace they were going for were at. i ended up chilling with the 2:00 hour pace guy for about 85% of the race. after mile 10 or so i broke off and went a little further ahead and tried to push my pace just a little bit. 

tbh, i don't think really hit a full on wall during the race, but i did definitely feel my knees and ankles getting progressively more ache-y. 

anyway, the last couple of miles i was just focused on one foot in front of the other and the third best moment was seeing that 12 mile marker, second best was the 13 mile marker, and obviously the best moment of the race was finishing it! and finishing it under 2 hours!!! (the timer said the 1:58:54 and the chip timer clocked me in at 1:58:47!) 

as soon as i finished it i got water and basically collapsed on the ground chugging water. my knees and ankles were shot. it was rough. but i was outrageously proud of myself. and once i had a minute of sitting colt and i walked around so my muscles didn't get too tight. 

the worst part was the MILE long walk back to the parking lot that had my car. that was tough. my legs were not having it. 

but overall...  it was a really great time. the race was better than any of my runs that i had done in training and i was able to maintain a really great speed throughout. and i will definitely do another race in the future... but probably not a half marathon again. not for a while at least. my body took a beating during this training cycle. and the recovery time was honestly longer than i would like it to be, especially because i am training for more than one event. plus it would be fun to push my pace on a shorter distance. and then it would also save A LOT of time to do shorter runs cause training for long distance races just takes long time. :) 

also, shout out to Title 9 & Mermaid Series for putting on a great race. Now, I don't have anything to compare to, but everything went super smoothly and started right on time and the route was super easy to follow and it was really great. definitely had zero stress on the part of the actual race day because of it. so much appreciation to them! cause let's be real, i can find a whole lot to be anxious about, so it was a miracle and a half that i didn't have any of that on race day (minus just general pre-competition jitters)

so there's my thoughts on my first race. definitely not my last race. but man do i need some time to rest up from this one. my legs, hips, knees, and ankles are definitely still really, really tight from the race and i think it'll end up being a few days before i'm back at 100% but i am really, really proud of myself for doing this race and for hitting my goals! 

also, shout out to Title 9 & Mermaid Series for putting on a great race. Now, I don't have anything to compare to, but everything went super smoothly and started right on time and the route was super easy to follow and it was really great. definitely had zero stress on the part of the actual race day because of it. so much appreciation to them! cause let's be real, i can find a whole lot to be anxious about, so it was a miracle and a half that i didn't have any of that on race day (minus just general pre-competition jitters)

if you're looking to train for a race or for anything else... contact me so we can work on a program for you! check out my instagram or my facebook or just drop me an email! 

if you have any questions about my training or anything else... just leave a comment! :)