2014 Holiday Edition: The Year's Highlights

2014 was a year of typical daily life, but filled with lots of kiddie shenanigans. The kids are at a great age where it doesn't matter where we are or what we do, they can find fun and laughter in just about anything with their wild imaginations. (Something we can learn from them!) It is good since we didn't really go much anywhere or do much anything! =) The consistency of routine helped make life manageable between juggling our work loads, Connie's intensive PT/rehab, and the kids' schedules. We still have our challenges, especially with time management, but it was a great year where being routine was monumental in slowing down the hectic feel of life with kids and allowed for all of us to have both, individual and family growth.

Liam transitioned from being a toddler to a little boy. He said good-bye to his toddler days, moving out of his crib and into a big-boy bed. Growing up is hard to do at times, and he had to part ways with the binkie. Preschool turned out to be an easy transition, despite his initial hesitation. The hustle and bustle of all the kids at school can be overwhelming, but luckily Liam has an independent nature like his parents, and he does not mind doing his own thing. Just like dad, Liam loves any kind of motorized vehicle as they bonded watching motorcycle races at Laguna Seca and checking out mini-motos.

Emilia has always had a natural big sis tendency towards Liam, but this year, she realized he makes a great partner in crime. The two combined have become the "Double Trouble", scheming up imaginary adventures to share together. They fight as hard and as much as they play wild together. In fact, the parental units are thinking of sending them to jujitsu so they learn to "wrestle out" their arguments. Emilia is a veteran at school now, showing Liam the ropes. She loves going to school and has a group of close girl friends. She loves princesses, as do the rest of her gal pals, but we also project our influences, so she and Liam are fans of Ninja Warrior, especially Kacy Cantazaro. They play obstacle games and run races together, and many times Emilia will do them in her princess dresses.

Connie, 2014 was a year of recovery, with a main focus on ACL rehab with a goal of running the Spartan Beast around the 1 year post-ACL surgery mark. Obsessive personality is a positive attribute in this area as it fueled the discipline needed to consistently do physical therapy rehab on top of strength and endurance training. Life was defined only by 3 aspects - juggling time with kids & Ryan, work, and multitude of gym memberships. Knee has recovered, but the injury left imbalances that indirectly causes other minor injuries. All in all though, improvements are made. Maybe 2015 will be the injury-free year!

Ryan maintains being the rock of the family - helping Liam, Emilia, or Connie with whatever comes up. There is always a list of home improvement projects to do, with priorities that jump up due to circumstances, like setting up obstacles for Connie to practice on pre-race and hopefully not injure anything else, or when the raccoons came to terrorize the backyard... Ryan was set on a mission to deter them (in a safe way) from hanging around - setting up motion sensing automatic sprinkler and metal tree guards to prevent them climbing up. There were nights he would go on stake-outs for raccoons and try to scare them off. Ryan is non-stop in keeping our home organized and our lives organized. This year he manages to fit rock climbing in regularly, and we are slowly making it a new family routine.

2014 was consistent busy-ness that helped to form good foundation of solid habits for all of us. One of the traits of highly successful people is that they develop good habits - make their beds, clean up right away, make lists/plans for their day/week/month/year and work on it regularly, becoming a habit of progress. Working out became like brushing one's teeth... just do it without thinking. The kids naturally gravitate towards organization and clean up.. as much as kids can. =) All in all, we are very grateful for the year we have had in 2014. We sympathize with friends and family that we have seen go through hardships this year and those that will be continuing hardships. Keep pushing forward, one step, one day at a time.

Wishing you happiness and laughter all the days in 2015!

The Snatch

My latest obsession. The Snatch. I am finally starting to get the feel for the Snatch, after 3+ months of the coach correcting every aspect of my form as I re-learn how to do the Snatch in the real Olympic weight-lifting technique versus the crossfit one. I hit my newest Snatch PR this Wednesday, at 31Kg (68#)! Another small milestone, coach says it is time for me to get weight-lifting shoes! Yes!

Here's a great video of women olympic weightlifters snatching. They are in the 69+Kg (152#) bodyweight category.



It's pretty amazing. Olympic weight-lifting is definitely physical, but also very much a mental game. I spend a bit of time just staring at the bar (especially if it is heavy) trying to get myself to focus before doing the lift. I go over aspects of the form and then try to back off over-thinking it cause my brain thinks slower than the entire movement.

Knuckles down. Hook grip. Lats engaged in pulling bar close. Core tight. Initial lift off ground, butt up, legs straighten as bar goes up to knees. As bar reaches knees, bend knees as gluts and hamstring generate power to drive the bar up. As bar travels upward, posterior chain finishes it with a "shrug" or a "pull" as the weight travels up, lifter drops down below the bar, usually in a squat, and "catches" it at the top of the bar movement. For the catch, think of not just holding the bar, but pushing the bar upwards.

This video below shows the Snatch that I learned in Crossfit. The "Jump and Shrug" technique. WRONG. Pause at the 8 and 9 second mark, and you'll see that the bar travels out/away from the lifter at chest level. Notice how the lifter also has to arch his back to "shrug" the barbell up.



This below is the Olympic weight-lifting Snatch technique that uses a "pull". Pause at 14 through 18 second mark, and you'll see that the bar actually gets pulled towards the body until the body is upright, and then the bar travels directly upward. Notice how as the lifter "pulls" his back remains in an upright fashion.



What I"ve learned is that using the "Jump and Shrug" technique, it loses some of the momentum because the lifter will have to bring the bar back above him/her because it has traveled horizontally away. Also, the lifter uses more of a hip thrust to generate the power to throw the bar out and up, and tends to arch the back more.. which means putting back into a hyper-extension, while the shoulders end up having to pull the bar back into alignment. The Oly method keeps the bar horizontal movement as minimal as possible and uses the pull from the entire posterior chain - hammies, gluts, back/lats to generate movement of the bar upward and close. Ideally, the arm/shoulder muscles are used to guide the bar versus doing the actually pulling of the bar.

Comparison of Bad Versus Good Snatch



Seriously. Weightlifting is so much more fun that I thought!

Update: I noticed the comments on the comparison video. The Snatch technique is taught mainstream by two camps, Crossfit and Olympic Weight-lifting. I have learned both now, and Oly lifting is the sure way to go if you don't want to hurt yourself. Guy on the right is the Oly way. Guy on the left is the Crossfit way.

2014 Summer Update : The Parents

So... continuation of the 2014 Summer Update edition.

Ryan Updates :

Ryan has been extremely busy with juggling home projects, work projects, maintaining everything, and taking care of the kiddies. The home project list is long as he continues to fix and create a great home and environment for us and the kiddies. Depending on near future events or plans, some projects get reshuffled to the top of the priority list.

Such as when the fires came through a few months ago. Re-assessment on fire safety led to the removal of the big pine tree close to the house. Pines are notorious fire hazards, and since this is a high fire hazard season, removal makes sense.



The deck is unofficially done! So.. that means it's not done done, but done enough so that we get to use it and enjoy it. We needed the deck to be safe and functional as we hosted a baby shower for a friend and Emilia and Liam's UnBirthday Party earlier in the year.

Here's how the deck looks populated with party people.

It can hold quite a few people. =)

The avocados were harvested around May this year and, as expected, it was the lowest yielding crop on the records. Other growers around here are also yielding 30% from their norm. With so much going on and a poor avocado season, we ended up not having the yearly AvocadoFest.. for a 3rd year in a row.

We usually save one tree from being harvested so that we can pick and eat for the remainder of the season. However, the end of the season is near and we had to pick off our last remaining avocado tree.



The last of our avos for the season...

Not only is the deck done, but also grass area under the deck. The kids and I love the under-the-deck area especially since it provides shade and has a relaxed feel hanging out on the lawn. I use it a lot for exercising on, and the kids like going bare feet in it and playing lawn games.

Ryan has a grand plan for the overall development of this place. Even I don't know what it is! But this here is the foundation of something I know the kids and I will like. I cannot wait for this area to be built up. I am pretty sure once the grand plan is done, we'll be staying home even more often than we do now!

In the meantime, we're using this area as a makeshift Spartan spear throw training area and the kids use this area like a dirt box (not at the same time.. since that wouldn't be safe.) I'm even contemplating setting up a temporary gladiator jousting arena.





And the kids area has gotten a few upgrades.. a climbing structure, a bench, and a newly cut pine table/boxjump/etc.

Mr. Bunny makes a frequent appearance too. It lives in back of the workshop.

So, you remember the Spartan Race we were suppose to do back in January? Well, that never happened since I had knee surgery. The Spartan Sprint (3+ mile race) was postponed to the next available Spartan Race in our area. Well, that is the Spartan Beast (12+ miles, 25 obstacle) course this coming September. At the time we did the transfer, it was still a good year away. I had hoped we would ease into the Spartan Race series with the Sprint, but the ultimate goal.. my goal for the past 3 years, has always been the Beast. So.. in 3 months time, Ryan and I will be running the Beast. Crunch time!

So, in Ryan's free time (which is none), he has been building obstacles to help with our (really it's more for me) training. He has built mens/womens slosh pipes, a rope climb, bucket carry, rock carry, and spear throw. All according to Spartan guidelines.




(Notice our different techniques to get up that rope.)

Connie Updates :

Obsessive compulsiveness is still ever present and any free time is spent on training. Focus is still getting the knee back to 100% and myself back to pre-injury condition. Currently the knee is at 85-90%. Goal is to get my knee (and mind) functioning confidently to run long distance and to handle jumping. Training has slowly increased as the months passed, and now am at a good point of doing cross-training regiment, 6 days/week, which include physical therapy exercises, Pilates, Olympic weight-lifting, rock climbing, trail or hill running, and HIIT (High-Intensity-Interval-Training) with plyometrics.

Yes. Olympic-weightlifting! I am part of a barbell club now and get Oly weight-lifting training from a 20+ year USAW National coach. Turns out MOST EVERYTHING I learned about weight-lifting from Crossfit was WRONG. Back to re-learning the basics and already seeing the benefits. (Roger, if you are reading this, you HAVE to come down and have a one-on-one session with my coach!)

Doing some "cleaning" on a weekend. =)



My form still needs work. The barbell still travels a little horizontal versus straight up vertical, but it's slowly coming along. Oly lifting has helped tremendously in posture, recognizing left/right side imbalances, and has allowed the knee to strengthen faster and regain a wider range of motion.

I also completed the 2 month Paleo challenge back in February through April and successfully decreased body fat by 3.7%. Since then I have maintained a modified Paleo, focusing on more veggie/fruit intake and varying my protein intake to incorporate a little of non-Paleo plant-based protein (non-GMO soy and chia seeds) for protein variety. I have happily steadied to a 17% body fat and back in the "athletic" category.

Other than working out as much as I can and experimenting with healthy food recipes, I have also been hosting a "Mama's Workout" group Sunday mornings where the neighborhood mamas and kids come over and the moms get a workout while the kids have a play date (multitasking!Score!).

It's been going pretty well that we've even had a few friends and acquaintances, Spartan dads, join for a Spartan Obstacle Training workout session. With the current run of American Ninja Warrior Season 6 on TV along with Spartan Race prep, there is an excitement of discussing new obstacles and obstacle strategies and developing a "wish list" of obstacles in our yard. I cannot wait to see what more obstacles Ryan will build in our home training playground! Stay tuned!

Here's our "Devil Steps" obstacle (yes.. it's just an open staircase):

Pretty much the yard has become a playground for both the adults and the kiddies. Lots of fun for all of us.