Ancient History

My Athletic History

I have been an athlete for most of my life. I did my first 1 mile fun run at age 6, and my first 5k runs at age 8. I played soccer for 10 years. I was on the summer swim team for I think 8 years. I got a black belt in Taekwondo at age 12. I continued running road races, mainly 5k and 10ks until age 16. At 16, I went off to MIT and became a rower in a Division I program for four years. It was there that I was first introduced to the weight room, where I learned that I could deadlift, back squat, and bench press a respectable amount of weight.

Rowing was the first sport where I got close to an elite level. The summer of 2007 I was invited to the U.S. Junior National Team Selection Camp, after qualifying with a good time on a 2k erg test. I didn't make it onto the team, but it meant that I was in the top 50 or so U19 rowers in the country. Two years later I placed 10th at the 2009 C.R.A.S.H.-B. Sprints World Indoor Rowing Championships.

I started becoming a cyclist the summer after freshman year at MIT. My boyfriend Jose (who is now my husband) was spending his summer cycling across the US, and my Dad was becoming an endurance cyclist (more recently he finished RAAM in 2014). So it was pretty much inevitable that I would become interested in cycling as well. I started cycling that summer, and my interest grew over the years as it become a primary mode of transportation. Jose and I biked across the US together in the summer of 2008 with an organization called Bike and Build, and in 2010 I started racing in the Bay Area. I quickly rose from Cat 4 to Cat 2, so that I was racing against professional cyclists in many races. To be honest I was never that great on the road, but my abilities as a sprinter and time trialist served me well on the velodrome. I competed at Nationals and placed 3rd in the Team Pursuit and 6th in the Individual Pursuit.

Cycling is what introduced me to Crossfit. One of my teammates owned a Crossfit affiliate, and our coach started doing a Crossfit-based winter strength training program. I did the program for 2 winters, and then in 2012 I decided I was done with bike racing for the time being and joined the Crossfit gym full time. By that time, the gym had changed ownership, so I was working out at NorCal Crossfit in Mountain View. That June, I injured my back doing a clean and jerk and stopped working out for a while.

Fast forwarding a little, I got pregnant and had my daughter. When she was 6 months old, I finally resumed working out, this time doing bootcamp tabata workouts. I continued doing bootcamp through my second pregnancy until my son was 3 months old, at which point I joined Crossfit Cedar Park, where I've been working out for the past 5 months.

So What's My Point?

So, after that rather long-winded history of my athletic career, what's my point? There are two big things that I've learned since working out at Crossfit Cedar Park, and I'm hoping that these revelations can help me become an elite athlete. The first is that mobility and stretching is extremely important. I'd been told in various ways over the years that you should stretch before workouts - no, after workouts - no, stretching is bad for you, etc. I knew that stretching could help improve and maintain flexibility. What I didn't know is that mobility and stretching exercises can significantly aid recovery. I don't know why it took so many years for me to learn this and experience it myself, but now I know that I will be significantly less sore and less tight if I do appropriate "mobi" after my workouts.

The second big thing I've learned is that nutrition is important. Okay, so I'll be honest, I kind of knew that already. But the thing is, I've never quite put the whole picture together before. Over the years, I've learned a lot about nutrition and various ways of counting calories and macros. I already knew that you've only got 30-45 minutes to have some carbs after a workout before the glycogen window closes and recovery is slowed. I already knew how to fuel for and during extended duration workouts. I already knew that eating before a workout was important. What I didn't realize is that the quality of the food and the ratios of macros that you eat can be extremely important, especially if you're trying to reach a very high level of fitness. It sounds stupid when I say it, but it's true, I was in denial about how my poor eating habits have been affecting my physical performance for so many years.

I have been eating less than ideal foods my entire life. Growing up, I ate reasonably well, but we ate a lot of carbs. I love bread and cereal. I love chocolate and desserts. I was a vegetarian for about 10 years, until 2012 - but I was a vegetarian who hated vegetables. So I ate mostly grains, dairy, sugar, etc. Not a lot of vegetables, not a lot of fruit. While pregnant, it was even worse, because I was nauseous for nearly half of each pregnancy, and also constantly hungry - so I really only ate quick to prepare foods that sounded appealing. I always managed to eat about the right amount, since my hunger and fullness mechanisms function quite well and I'm good at listening to them, so for the most part my weight stays stable. Unfortunately, I have held onto some weight gained during my first pregnancy, so to become a competitive athlete I should probably lose 20-30 pounds.

Now that I have a little more time, I'm gradually making my diet better. I'm working to make my meals conform to the Zone plan (40-30-30 carbs-protein-fat), and I'm trying to improve the quality of the foods I eat by eating more whole foods (fruits and vegetables). I'm excited to see what the future may bring. After all, if I was able to accomplish all that I did eating poor quality foods, what will I be able to accomplish if I'm eating well?