EVOLVE

First Newsletter...

2017-05-17T12:37:00.001-07:00

I wrote this about a month ago and sent it to my semi private clients - just thought it would be worth sharing and see who can benefit from it. Just a newsletter that I plan to send out weekly...

This is the first of hopefully many more to come…

I thought I would pass along some information I have found useful in regards to Health and Fitness.

First I would like to share something I heard on a Podcast recently. It’s 4 habits that will contribute to someone’s wellbeing - they call it Fundamentals, I wish I remembered where I heard it, but I don’t. But here they are:

1. Work out 30 minutes a day for 5 days a week

2. Consume 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily

3. No smoking

4. Maintain a healthy body weight.

If you can do these things consistently you will be setting yourself up for success when it comes to your Health and Fitness. My guess is the 2nd one might be the hardest one to attain so i thought I would share something that I have done the past few months that I feel has helped me get there. I’ve purchased Suja Organic Mighty Greens from Costco and consume a tall glass first thing in the morning. I still try to get some fruits/veggies with every meal - this just helps assure I go above and beyond.

Lifestyle -

I read this story on our blog and was blown away and super inspired. I am sure we could all relate to Adam and his story - take 5 minutes to read it and would love to hear how it applies to your life.

https://www.crossfitinvictus.com/blog/we-are-all-somewhere/

Nutrition-

I know we are all busy and food prep can be challenging, especially when you are first learning to do so. If you need extra help here just ask me, I am happy to help anyway I can.

One thing I do when I travel a lot for work is order meals to be made for me. I know this isn’t a great long term plan but it certainly helps me stay on track in the short term. There are many food services out there, and people that are willing to cook for you if you ask around. I have at least 3 that I can refer you to, so if you need it please just ask.

I know food is a critical component of my health and making sure it sustains me with staying on track with everything that I have going on.

I think that about does it for not - you can look for the weekly newsletter on Thursdays going forward - please fee free to forward it to anyone you think would benefit from it.

“Life is not a spectator sport. It’s better to be in the arena, getting stomped by the bull than to be up in the stands, or out in the parking lot.” The War of Art, Steven Pressfield

Latin America

2014-10-12T20:38:00.000-07:00

It's been a whirlwind of a week, but if I don't start this now, I will keep putting it off. Awhile back I decided it would be great to move to Brasil for a year - well, I have finally done it. When I say I have moved to Brasil, I mean my new home base is there. With my job, I have the opportunity to travel almost every weekend so I get to see different parts of the world.

Slowly but surely, everything fell into place where I could finally pick up and move. This marks the end of my first official week in Latin America/South America/Central America. I left San Diego on October 1st and worked a level 1 seminar for CFHQ in Rio De Janeiro that following weekend before finally heading to Florianopolis where I now call home base for the next 365 days give or take a few :)

I spent 3 days there - Monday-Wednesday before coming to Panama City, Panama this weekend to work another level 1 seminar. Panama City has been amazing - I had the opportunity to see the Panama Canal on Friday and for some reason that really impressed me. I arrived Thursday evening and was well taken care of by Adriana right away as we went out to a great steak dinner.

Friday we got to explore the city a little bit and I even had a chance to do a workout for a competition I am doing in January - Wodapalooza. We needed to find a pull up bar where I could do not just regular pull ups, chest to bar pull ups but also bar muscle ups. It was fun doing a competitive workout at a brand new gym which came a long with a few challenges. Halfway through I ripped my hand and the gym owner was kind enough to let me use his gymnastic wraps so I could complete the workout. I very much appreciated this as I did not want to have to do the workout again!

The people in Panama have been so kind. I was able to find an AA meeting to go to Friday night, which was perfect - someone from the group came and met me at the hotel I am staying and we were able to walk to the meeting. I hadn't had a chance to go to one since I had left the US, so I was glad I was able to find one here. We went to dinner after the meeting for fellowship and already I feel like I have people i know and care about me here :) Great to find AA community wherever I travel to.

Panama City, Panama

The seminar went great - participants were eager to learn and it was a fun weekend working with Adriana and Austin. I hadn't worked with Austin in a long time and I learned a lot from him. This was the first time I delivered 2 of the theory lectures on the same weekend #alwaysimproving
This job continues to challenge me on a weekly basis - there is something I am constantly working on improving to make the seminars go well!!!! I remember when I took my level 1 back in August of 2008 and what an impact it had on me, and now just a little bit more than 6 years later I have an opportunity to make a difference in people's lives every weekend.

This huge change in my life hasn't come without its own set of challenges - from figuring out what to do about a phone while in SA, to getting wifi figured out, transportation, food, you name it. I was lucky enough to have a great living situation with the owner of CF Florianopolis walking distance to his box which allowed me to train there this past week I was there :)

Along with all the changes, I managed to get a stomach bug tuesday night - very pleasant, NOT!!!! I was in some serious pain that night and the following day and its slowly been going away this past weekend. As I get ready to return to Florianopolis tomorrow my goal is to get a few things this week there - a wifi card so I can use my laptop anywhere I want, look into getting a cell phone and see if I can get more consistent with eating 4 meals a day which is where I operate best. Not sure what I will do about transportation yet, but there's time for all that...

From a client....

2011-12-28T08:28:00.000-08:00

Good morning Crossfit Coaches,

It's Mirelle from the 6AM crew and I just wanted to take some time out to wish you all a safe and happy holiday!

When I started Crossfit this past June I was broken...literally. I had a jacked up left ankle I could barely flex. My right knee was a mess and I was on the verge of a stress fracture. Just getting out of bed was a chore. I had just completed the San Diego Rock n Roll Marathon, which I was strongly advised not to do. But I've never been one to listen when someone tells me I can't do something. After that run, I felt defeated. I finished it, but knew it would probably would be my last run.

Last Saturday I did Team In Training's famous Train Run. We hopped on a train to Oceanside and ran back to our vehicles parked in Solana Beach...16 miles away. I did this same run in April, which is where I jacked up my left ankle. It was the run that started my downward spiral so I felt I needed to do it again.

When I finished the run I felt as good at mile 16 as I did at mile 1. AND, I ran it...the entire thing...over an hour faster than I did in April. Granted I was broken in April, but I never thought I would ever be able to run around the block, let alone to do that run again. It's the BEST xmas present I could have asked for so I wanted to thank all of you for helping me get there.

It means a lot to me to feel this great running again. Running is pretty much the only stress reliever I had available to me. Without running my only other option was alcoholism, and I'm not even a big drinker! I also run for the leukemia society. For years I've been running in memory or in honor of complete strangers. This year a friend/co-worker was diagnosed with the disease so I decided I would try for one more marathon...even if I had to walk the damn thing. For years she's supported me in my efforts. I couldn't tell her I wasn't going to do one for her. She's been going through chemo since Sept and I learned yesterday the chemo didn't work. Her only chance for survival is a bone marrow transplant. The operation is scheduled a few days before my marathon. It means everything to me to be able to run this one for her, and it means a lot to her that I am running.

Since all my long runs fall on Saturdays, this Saturday I'll be doing my 18 miler. I'm one my own for this one as my running group is taking the day off, but I still expect to run it strong. I'll be running this one for Carmen...my first Crossfit partner. She's the main reason I didn't quit Crossfit because I really hated it for the first few months.

Next Saturday, New Year's Eve, is my 20 miler. I can't think of a better way of ending this year! Currently I'm back to where I was when I thought I was fit. I can't wait to see how much better I can be in 2012. Thanks again!

Oh, and Crossfit has also helped me out in the workplace! Two days ago I was punched in the arm by some crook, for no reason. Next thing I knew I was holding the jackass up in the air by the back of his shirt (he was only like 125 pounds) as I "walked" him over to a holding cell. When I threw him in the cell, I apparently threw him in so hard my partner went flying in with him. I did feel bad about that.

Anyway, enjoy your holidays and I'll be in the gym Monday morning!

From Conversations with God

2011-12-14T13:28:00.000-08:00

This was too good not to post - I receive a daily email and really wanted to share this

On this day of your life, Nuno, I believe God wants you to know...

...that taking better care of yourself is not merely a matter

of good health, it is a measure of spiritual evolution.

Some people take better care of their car than they do

of their body. Most people, in fact, pay little attention

to their body until something goes wrong. Yet why

create that kind of situation?

Look at what you are eating. How much and how

often do you exercise? When was your last check-up?

Are you treating your physical vehicle as if it is Divine?

Good for you if you are. If you aren't...why not?

Love, Your Friend....

Update for week ending 12/4

2011-12-06T19:18:00.001-08:00

I started sending out a weekly update to my personal training clients. I figured I wanted to touch base with them on a regular basis outside of the gym and wanted to create more community within the groups that meet with me regularly. I typically look for things to acknowledge from the past week and pull together some information that I think will be valuable. I thought I would post and share this on my blog - maybe someone will get something out of it :)

Another week has come and gone - by now you are looking forward to when these come out, right?

I most certainly hope so. A few people were gone over thanksgiving so it was nice to get everyone back in the groove of things last week.

Special shout out to Rob & Brandon for doing the workout Jackie last week- i think most of you have done since I love to use it as a benchmark.

Row 1000, 50 Thrusters with the bar and 30 Pull ups - fun times to be had. Who's looking forward to re-doing it to see how they do on it?

Updating spreadsheet - Brandon, Bo, Rob, Carolyn, Sarah

If you aren't doing it, let's figure out a way to get on it to stay current - would incentive help?

For some critical thinking please watch the following:

http://bigthink.com/ideas/16660

I may have mentioned this book in one of our training sessions "Happier" - I finished it in the past 6 months and can honestly say its contributed greatly to my overall happiness and well being and would highly recommend it to all!!!!

Nutrition -

Have you been keeping up with the habits I emailed previously? Below is the new habit to implement - do it for this week

Habit 5: Eat healthy fats daily - if you don't know what these are, please ask me

And here are the previous habits that I have sent out

Habit 1: Eat every 2-3 hours

Habit 2: eat complete, lean protein with each feeding opportunity

Habit 3: Eat vegetables with each feeding opportunity

Habit 4: Eat veggies/fruit with any meal. Eat "other carbs" only after exercise

Last but not least, please welcome Joel to the semi-privates, he'll be joining us twice a week. Be sure to make him feel welcomed to our groups :)

Thanksgiving

2011-11-28T19:51:00.001-08:00

I can't believe its almost Christmas - where did 2011 go?

I have so much to be thankful this year, yet at times I still feel somewhat discontent - why is that? Here's my 2011 recap with some reflection on what happened...

I have been at Crossfit Invictus coaching for over 2 years now - before I started on this journey it seems like I couldn't hold down a job for any sort of length of time. I have also been coaching for Crossfit Endurance for about the same amount of time which has allowed me to travel extensively throughout the United States as well as internationally.

This past year along I had the opportunity to go to Australia twice and New Zealand - both trips were absolutely amazing and it really made me appreciate the impact that Crossfit has had on a global level which was really driven home when I competed at the world games in July.

In 2008 I decided to go back to school to get my teaching credential since I wanted to work with kids to have the opportunity to positively impact their lives and futures. About a year into the program I started coaching too and in 2009 decided to pursue this road that I have been on ever since. This year I have had the chance to start working with kids too as I have a group that meets every week from Monarch School. I really like coaching the kids once a week, I have the 7th & 8th graders for about 40 minutes every week and its been amazing to watch their progress and their outlook on health and fitness.

This year I also made a commitment to pay off my debts and have been making a lot of progress in that department - I have paid off close to 10,000 in credit card and old debts that I have slowly been working towards.

I have competed in 2 triathlons this year as well - I did SuperSeal in March as I was preparing to do an Ironman a few weeks later. I trained for about 5 months or so to get ready for IM St. George and about 5 weeks prior my body broke down. I remember someone saying 'training for an IM will age you' and i can now look back and agree - I am not in my 20s anymore and my body does that a little longer to recover and the training for it coupled with training for the CF Games was a bit much.

I risked blowing out my achilles which I aggravated it in my 2 prep races in March - looking back it was one of the best things that could have happened, it forced me to slow down and remember that I am not invincible. All of it came crashing at once, I got super sick right before my trip out to Australia at the end of March and decided to pull out of the race then to focus on getting and staying healthy so that I could compete at the CF Games.

I am so thankful for my teammate Invictus s on the team - without them we couldn't have done what we did. We won regionals convincingly, it was an absolute blast, we had the support of our community at the event taking great care of us, superb coaching and we went out and executed flawlessly. Being at the CF Games in July was absolutely mind-blowing. Getting to compete on the big stage for the 3rd year in a row was such a privilege that I can't even describe it. I feel super lucky to have had the opportunity to do so and can't thank everyone enough that helped along the process.

Professionally I feel super lucky, aside from being at a great coaching facility I have some fantastic clients that have seen some transformational changes along the way that really make me appreciate what I do and make it all the more rewarding :) I also had the chance to take the CF kids course in February and a couple of the OPT courses where I learned a ton.

I also started doing more things socially this year too- i joined a flag football league and met some fun people and even started dating this year which has really been huge progress in my life :)

I'm also coming up on another year sober - 4 years at the end of December and I have to honestly say that my life wouldn't be what it is now if it weren't so. I feel super lucky to have gone through what happened because its paved the road for where I am at now. It's not all roses though, this year I have also had to start the process of dealing with the implications of my run in with the law in 2005 which could potentially have me deported. I have an immigration attorney and am hopeful everything will turn out ok, but at times doubt still creeps in. All in all, I know this is just part of the process and everything will turn out exactly how its supposed to, if it means I have to leave the US, so be it, although I am hoping it isn't so.

With another month in 2011, I look back and can say that this year has been SUPER. There have been some tough times, but many more great times looking back. One of the things I always look forward to is attending Hot N Dry - a sober event in September and I got to go back for the 4th year in a row this year. I get to make my own schedule with work/clients which I feel super lucky to do so, I have gotten to work with kids, I have an endurance team that meets regularly and have trained several athletes that have qualified for Boston Marathon (pinnacle for endurance events)

One thing I started doing earlier this year is writing in my journal on a nightly basis a simple gratitude list - 5 things most of the days that I am thankful for. If I went back and looked I think what would show up the most is my health - getting the opportunity to work out and train people for a living. Cooking - I love food and I cook a majority of my own meals which allows me to be creative and put what serves me best into my system. Friends often shows up on my gratitude list, I feel super lucky to be surrounded by some great individuals. At times when I have been down, they have picked me up, when I needed someone to talk to they've been there :)

Thank you for being part of my journey - its been a great year so far and looking forward to a great month of December to wrap up 2011....

2011-09-27T12:13:00.000-07:00

It's been way too long since I have posted. I have been thinking about posting, but it's just not the same.
Since the Crossfit Games took place at the end of July I have had a lot of travel, and that is no excuse, but I just haven't been disciplined enough to sit my butt down and share some of my thoughts and things I have been going through - so here it goes.

Our team did really well at the games, we finished 15th overall which is phenomenal considering there are close to 3,000 affiliates worldwide now - definitely not a bad showing, but part of me felt dissapointed with the outcome. I think everyone on our team had super high expectations, after winning the southern california regionals we thought we had a chance to compete for the title at the Home Depot Center. We competed hard, but made a couple of mistakes here and there and things just didn't turn out the way we wanted them to - that's the way it goes in competition sometimes. Losing is not always the easiest thing to cope with, the dissappointment provided a lot of opportunity for what I call character building.

I feel like the experience definitely was beyond what I could have imagined, but I was in a lull for about a week until i let go. I remember this lesson - it's not necessarily about the outcome of the competition, but doing your best and leaving it all out there. So what we didn't win, big deal, our fans love us just the same. It was amazing to have the CF Invictus community AKA Sea of Green cheering for us.

I was gone 3 out of the 4 weekends in August, the first trip was to San Francisco and this was a play/vacation. I competed in the SF Track & Field Pride Meet where I reconnected with some people I met at the Gay Games last summer. This was a super fun event, nothing I trained for specifically and just went out and enjoyed myself :) I also had the opportunity to spend the weekend with my good friend Miguel from college and I always cherish our times together. We've known each other since my freshman year in college which is now going on 12 years and our friendship has definitely grown and evolved over the years through the good and bad times :) He's someone I highly respect, trust and always learn from and when we get to hang out we have some of the best conversations ever.

Next weekend I was in Houston coaching a Crossfit Endurance course, and this was the biggest one I've lead. There were 53 athletes signed up, I had an assistant coach and an intern and the weekend was beyond amazing. Bayou City Crossfit is a fantastic facility with some great coaches and everything fell into place perfectly and had the most incredible experience where everything clicked!

The next weekend I was in Ventura for another Crossfit Endurance course and I had the opportunity to attend a nutrition seminar with Dr. John Berrardi from Precision Nutrition as well - this was an awesome experience. Both the course and the seminar, the whole weekend was great! To top off the weekend I had dinner with one of the best people in the world - my friend Stephen Baldonado, and god knows we've been through some years together from college, NY and now here in California. Such a great person and our conversations always seem to pick up where they leave off :)

Tired of the travel yet? I went almost 3 weeks straight without a day off and I didn't get run down at all - i guess this whole eating healthy and working out helps...

I was here for labor day weekend and attended Feeling Good, where I got to reconnect with some people in the program. The next week I was off to Palm Springs for the annual event I attend - Hot N Dry This is one of the things I look forward to every year, for me personally its an experience like no other, hard to describe. We had a group of 4 that shared a room and we had a fantastic time - everyone got along great, met some new people, got to know some people better - all around a phenomenal weekend!!! I have already signed up for next year - this is my 4th year in a row that I have attended :)

The following weekend I went to Portland to coach the Crossfit Endurance course there - I had been there in February and Tony had attended the course I coached there, so it was nice to have a familiar face in the crowd as he was hosting at his facility. Portland is a beautiful city, I stayed close to downtown and went exploring the city on Friday night - walked around for about an hour, went to a meeting, took public transportation back and felt super connected to the city.

That's the end of the travel - 5 out of 6 weekends gone, had some amazing experiences and met lots of people and feeling like I am living life to the fullest. I am not scheduled to travel till November which is great, give me some sense of calm and getting into a routine and to compliment being here we've launched a 5k training program for 5 weeks :) I like to stay busy, i find that I am more effective and efficient if I have a lot going on - what I did learn this year is to minimize my distractions and made sure the things that I was busy with were in alignment with my goals and help me get to where I want to be instead of just being busy for the sake of being busy - can you relate?

All in all I was telling a good friend last night that I feel super rejuvenated - once I got past the lull of the games I have been super focused, driven, motivated and inspired to continue to make a difference, positively impact people in the world and empower individuals to pursue their dreams & passions. I feel like I am one of the luckiest people in the world, living a dream life. I think that's about all for now, there's a couple of books that I've read in the past few months that have contributed to the overall level of happiness that I have been experiencing but that's going to require another blog post altogether - I will get it done this week :)

Long overdue

2011-09-24T20:39:00.000-07:00

This blog is about to get some work done on it
First the picture has been updated - thank you to Lululemon for the pictures, love them!
I will be posting more frequently, I have all sorts of excuses and reasons why I haven't been doing so, but none are really all that meaningful.
Stay tuned....

Conversations with God - book 2

2011-07-23T12:56:00.000-07:00

So I must admit that I am a total nerd, i probably read at least a book every month, but usually have at least 2 or 3 books that I am reading at the same time. I just recently finished the 2nd book in the series of 'Conversations with God'. I loved the first book so much that I read it twice, back to back, it was the first time I had done that with any book.

I picked up the first book in Australia at the recommendation of a friend and I have to say the books have really resonated with a lot of what I believe in regards to the world, society and who I am and what I want to be.

I've already ordered the 3rd book, but I thought I would share some of the things that stood out to me from the 2nd book.

'Stop trying to figure out what is "best for you (how you can with the most, lose the least, get what you want) and start going with what feels like Who You Are.'

'We are Perfect, just as we are'

'Religion asks you to learn from the experience of others. Spirituality urges you to seek your own.'

'When you live as a three-par being, you come at last into balance with yourself. Your concerns include matters of the soul: spiritual identity, life purpose; relationship to God; path of evolution; spiritual growth; ultimate destiny.'

'Devise a new curriculum, and build it around three Core Concepts: Awareness, Honesty, Responsibility.'

'Need nothing. Desire everything. Choose what shows up.'

'Be a light unto the world, and hurt it not. Seek to build, not to destroy.'

I realize a lot of these statements may not make much sense out of context, but if you are reading this, i strongly encourage you to read these books - their purpose/intent is to create awareness and a shift of consciousness from where the world is heading, and this cannot be done until all of society is on board.

Hakuna Frittata – It means no worries for the rest of your days….

2011-07-19T17:41:00.000-07:00

It’s our problem free philosophy – Hakuna Frittata….

Here’s a great idea for breakfast for those of you that ‘don’t have time’

First things first – cook some bacon in a pan – however much your little hear desires for this frittata. I recommend 6 pieces. Once the bacon is done, put it to the side, this will come in handy in just a little bit. The next thing you want to do is cut up all the great things you want to put into this yummylicious feast you will have.

For this frittata I suggest 1/2 an onion finely chopped, 2 tomatoes and 1 green pepper – feel free to add a few things here like mushrooms or anything else you think would go well. You will then take all these veggies and cook them in the bacon grease – YUM! Get them nice and ready, and once they’re cooked you will want to add the eggs. For about 4 breakfasts I will add 12 eggs – about 3 eggs per serving more or less. Make sure you whip the eggs in a separate bowl first though and you will want to chop the bacon too and add it to the pan – make sure you have a pan that you can throw in the oven.

Once you throw the eggs and bacon in with the veggies you wait for it to cook completely – make sure you stir it around, this usually takes 5-7 minutes. Once cooked, you will take the pan into the oven which you’ve turned to broil earlier and leave it there for about 5 minutes or so until this nice golden brown top over it.

Take it out of the pan and serve – suggested here is some hot sauce for a little added flavor, but not required. By doing this once a week you will be able to package about 4-5 breakfasts for your upcoming week. Altogether this takes me about 30 minutes from start to finish and now all my morning meals for the work week are prepared and I don’t have to worry about rushing out of the house, or what I am going to have the morning of. Plan and prepare for success – breakfast has been said to be the most important meal of the day - http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/most-important-meal

What do you typically have for breakfast – have any great recipes to share?

Update

2011-07-07T14:17:00.000-07:00

There's a few things that have been going on in my life the past few months that I am really proud of. First off I have made some huge progress on my debt - awhile back I looked at my finances and realized I was spending way too much $ on eating out and not watching how I allocated my income. I had a friendly reminder that I ought to look at my finances as often as I exercise on a weekly basis - this was great advice, because how can you know what you need to change if you are not aware of your current situation. I started doing so a few months ago and then came up with my plan of attack which a couple of friends helped me out with.

The first thing i was committed to doing is paying off my new triathlon bike - I have been doing tri's since 2006, and it was time to upgrade, I had been training for IM St. George before I hurt my achilles - here she is:

Let's just say this wonderful bike was not cheap by any means, but I was able to get 0% interest rate for 6 months - I paid it off in less than 3 which was amazing. There were 2 things I did to make this happen - worked a little bit more, opened up my training availability from 15-20 hours per week to 20-25 hours per week and spent less. I have also been consistently coaching one of the CFE courses on a monthly basis where I travel either here in the US or internationally.

With this kind of an approach I was able to stick to my plan. Next on my priority is paying off my motorcycle - just in the past month I made a huge dent on doing so and if all goes according to plan I will have it paid off by the middle of next month. All in all this is setting me up to get to my CCs and have those paid off by the end of 2011 so that I can focus on a few other outstanding debts.

In hindsight my 20's were not the smartest years - I got myself into quite a bit of financial trouble and I have been working hard to clean the messes up that I created. If all goes according to plan I will be completely debt free by the end of 2012!!!!

Update on my educational program for 2011 -
- Sentence completion once a week - been doing this on a regular basis, an exercise I picked up from the book "Happier" which has brought a lot of awareness to my life
- Take a course on breathing or energy work: haven't found anything yet, but committed to doing so this year
- Read for of Neale Donald Walsch's books - have read 2 already and about 1/2 way done on the 3rd one now
- Blog once/week - been consistently doing this

Professional Development
- Best Coach Ever: created google docs and been keeping up with it - about 90% compliance
- 'Chi Running' very small progress has been made - was on page 58, now on page 62
- 'Influencer' have read some of it - about 2/3 of the way done - was on page 89 and now on page 139/271
- Life Coaching Course: nothing planned yet
- Read 4 other books: committed to finishing the one's I have started for now

Best Coach Ever

2011-07-02T16:57:00.000-07:00

I created my educational program for this year sometime last month and this is one of the things that I was inspired to do. I created a simple google docs where I kept track of the things I did out of the regular towards becoming the best coach ever. I subscribe to a few newsletters, and I always come across interesting articles, but don't always get a chance to read them - so i decided to start organizing them into a format that seemed a little bit more reasonable to keep track.

I liked doing it for June, so I am going to give it another try in July and see what comes out of it - let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.

Crossfit Southern California Regionals 2011

2011-06-22T12:26:00.000-07:00

I’ve been super blessed to have had the opportunity to compete at the CF Games the past 2 years and am now going back for a 3^rd. Before I came to Invictus I competed on the CF SoCal team where we finished 6^th in 2009 and last year I was part of the Invictus team that finished 4^th in the worldwide competition.

275#s x 45 reps was heavy...

Leading up to regionals there were a few uncertainties about who was going to be on the team and what role each athlete was going to have in the workouts. I think it really played to our favor to be the last weekend that regionals was held because we were able to see what the top competitive times were and see where we stacked up to the rest of the world. It also brought us closer together as a team which really benefited in our chemistry.

In our training we never did the actual workouts, but we did each of the segments and had a good idea of what we might be capable of doing. We knew we had the potential to do really well, but at the end of the day we still have to go out and execute the strategy which is exactly what we did and then some.

I couldn’t be more proud of my teammates – it was amazing to see them in action, during the workouts that I was not performing although I was a little bit anxious and nervous for my teammates I was super confident of their abilities and knew we’d be competitive in each of the workouts. When we did as well as we did, I wouldn’t say it was surprising or shocking it just felt like we did what we were supposed to do, not in the sense of crushing the workouts, but in the execution of the game plan.

I am a little biased, but I would most definitely say that we have the best coach in the world and we knew exactly what we were supposed to do on game day and that takes all the thinking out of it and just allows us to do what we are supposed to do.

We couldn’t do what we did if it wasn’t for our amazing community – having the Sea of Green there this past weekend gave us additional motivation to do our best, we can’t thank you all enough for your continued support. As athletes competing everything is pretty well organized for us too, which is beyond what anyone can ask for – from all the meals being prepared, to having an ice bath ready for us post workouts, to hotel arrangements it makes it super easy for us to focus on the competition and not have to worry about all the additional details – thank you to everyone that helped!

Another big reason why we were successful is the support of our acupuncturist extraordinaire – Heidi Fearon. Having her there for a majority of the weekend was a huge blessing – she was able to work with us each day making sure that we were physically prepared, taped, stretched and mentally dialed in as well.

All in all, regionals was an amazing experience – it was almost surreal, I have had to ask myself a few times – did we really just do that? It was an awesome competition and now that we’ve qualified for the games in July it’s time to take it up a notch and get things dialed in the next 5 weeks or so to do it again and bring it to another level and show the world what we are capable of as a team.


Invictus finishes #1 in Southern California - good times were had!!!

Nutrition & such

2011-06-09T20:19:00.000-07:00

With the Crossfit Games right around the corner I am getting super excited about competing at Regionals. Here in Southern California our regionals is the weekend of June 17th-19th, and at that point all the other regions will have gone already. In order to qualify for the games in July our team must finish top 3 out of 30, which will be no easy task.

Check out the workouts that we will be doing - http://games.crossfit.com/content/regional-workouts

Leading up to the games I get seriously committed about my nutrition and here are a few things that are a stable in keeping me on top of my game.

If you haven't tried this nut butter, get ready for it to rock your world. Not only is it amazing, but your body will thank you for it! "2 tablespoons of NuttZo PF provides 75% of your daily value of Omega 3 ALAs. No sugar or hydrogenated oils added. Most importantly, the taste is amazing and it will have you coming back for more."

I have found this to be the best recovery drink out there. I have used it almost religiously for all my competitions for the past year an half - from 5k races, to 1/2 marathons, triathlons, CF Games, Gay Games, you name it - I always rely on Genr8 post workout to fuel my body. I especially like the Tropical Flavor and will typically always have a tub of it available. I like that I don't feel bloated when I drink it and it's sugar free :)

With the level of training that I have been doing for the past 6 months or so I have found that I have also been eating lots more, so one thing I looked for awhile back was a good source of protein which is what I found in Stronger, Faster, Healthier. I found it to mix really well with most things and have been using the natural flavor for awhile now. I find that I ended up eating somewhere between 3-5 meals per day and on the most part I eat only real foods, but in a pinch for time and convenience I lean on SFH whey protein which I think is the best out in the market. Their fish oil is pretty amazing as well, all the flavors!!!

Speaking of fish oil, that is one thing that I must have in the house at all times. At Invictus we carry Barlean's which I really like. After using the Kirkland brand that I got from Costco I decided to try this since it had a higher EPA/DHA - which means I would have to take less of it, doesn't that sound ideal? I started using the liquid form and before I knew it the fish burps went away - you know what I am talking about? If you are getting them, it's probably because you are taking a low grade fish oil that's coated with a bunch of stuff that is unknown - switch to a high grade fish oil like Barlean's, SFH or maybe even Carlson's which I also really like.

The last recommendation I have is what my accupuncturist extraordinaire Heidi Fearon recommended to me awhile ago. It's a calcium/magnesium supplement, which she has found at times athletes are deficient. These are two major minerals that can help keep the body running at its best! "You experience the tensing (calcium) and relaxing (magnesium) interaction of these two elements each time your heart beats, when you feel your pulse, and every time you breathe." I found this to be a nice supplement to keep me healthy. I have taken the natural flavor and am now on the raspberry flavor which I think has a nice zest to it.

All in all there's not one thing that I would say keeps me healthy, its always a combination of things, but these are top of my list. What have you found that works really well for you?

Education Program 2011

2011-06-01T16:28:00.000-07:00

This was a suggested exercise from the book Happier that I have been reading for the past couple of months. Check out the previous post that was on the Invictus blog.

Learning material that I enjoy reading and thinking about and will contribute to overall growth and putting time aside for both

Personal Development

Sentence completion once a week -

ex: If I bring 5% more awareness in my life - I will ..... (spend about 5 minutes filling in the blank with different things)

Take a course on breathing or perhaps energy work - reiki possibly
Read 4 of Neale Donald Walsch's books - from the series 'Conversations with God'
Blog once/week (schedule it) - typically the best time for me to blog is post workout - that seems to be when i have the most creative energy

Professional Development

One thing I do per day towards being the best coach in the world - tracking? maybe in google docs? Still working through this one
Finish reading "Chi Running" in June 2011
Finish reading "Influencer" in June 2011
Take a life coaching course
Read 4 other books

What am I actively creating in my life? Am I keeping my commitments? Have I made progress towards my goals? Improvements? Who do I have that is holding me accountable? What support do I have from others on this journey?

To heal or not to heal...

2011-05-10T17:10:00.000-07:00

It's been a few months since I have been 100% healthy - I guess I am at fault since I decided to take on the world...Let's see between training for the Crossfit Games, the Ironman I was signed up for, I decided that I wasn't busy enough so I went out for the flag football league thinking it would be fun!!!

It has most certainly been fun, beyond fun really - but it has come at a cost. While I was recovering from my achilles nicely I got hurt in a game the weekend before this last one. At the end of the first half I came down straight on my heel which hurt like heck. If you've ever bruised or strained your heel you know this is no fun at all.

Of course I played the rest of the game - running itself did not hurt, but the slowing down and everything else was kinda of excruciating. We lost the game too, which made it a double whammy - oh well. I thought this heel thing would go away in no time, and immediately went into PRICE mode. If you don't know what that means, let me spell it out for you :) Proof in the picture below...

Prevention
Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation

I spoke to a few physicians that had a look and no one seemed to think I broke anything, but I was most certainly not very happy with their diagnosis - rest and probably will take 4-6 weeks to heal completely. You mean I have to be patient with it and not go all out with things right now? Yickes, that is a lot to ask for.

The game was the past Saturday, and by wednesday of last week, I was not walking any better - I could not apply any pressure on the heel which meant that I was walking around with a limp (pretty right?) I was starting to get concerned and then I remembered another little trick of the trade someone had mentioned before for bruises - Arnica...as soon as I applied it that day, it started to feel better and at that point I was still icing it 3-4 x day and wearing my compression socks daily.

As the week passed the pain subsided, but it hasn't gone away completely, and then came Saturday and our team was playing and I had to decide whether to play through it or not. This was not an easy decision, but I chose not to play which I am thankful I did since our team won handily. I could have risked a serious injury and instead I cheered from the sidelines. I was super tempted to play, and even brought my gear to the field, but left it in the car and made the right choice.

If you've been keeping up with this blog you know I am kind of competitive, so having to sit from the sidelines was kinda torturous - looking back at my athletic career I can count in one hand the number of games or events I have had to miss due to injury - I suppose I have been super lucky with good health and am able to recover quickly from injuries.

I get into action as soon as something happens - I went and saw my accupuncturist and had treatment on it and went into PRICE mode, but the rest is always the toughest. I still kept up with my Crossfit workouts as we prepare for Regionals in June although I have had to modify some of the workouts considering I can't do anything dynamic and come down on the heel hard.

So where am I now - its been a week and a half since the injury and I have been 'resting' to the best of my ability :) It's still bruised, although i'd probably say its about 75% of the way to recovered. My psoas has been a little out of whack since though because I have been limping around and compensating for not being able to apply any pressure on the heel.

Was it a sign from the universe that I am supposed to let my body heal? Is this darn heel suppose to hold me back, or help me become more aware of my choices in regards to athletic events and what I get involved in? It's definitely been an opportunity to reflect and evaluate what I get out of each thing that I am involved in. I am grateful for superb health and that my body does recover quickly, but at times I push it too much - time to take a step back and allow the body to get back to 100% - then watch out Crossfit Games

Here's the heel today - still slightly bruised, but I think I will be 100% by next week :)

Preview

What it's like to lose

2011-05-01T19:32:00.000-07:00

Olympic training center in Chula Vista

If you've known me for any sort of time you probably know that I am somewhat competitive.

I have played volleyball, soccer and am now playing in a super fun flag football league, and let's not forget running events and triathlons.

One time I was playing volleyball at the beach with some people I knew and had to be reminded that people were playing just for fun, and did not need to be coached. I guess I felt it was my place to tell them where they were supposed to be and what to do - not so much :) My friend kindly pulled me aside and put me in my place.

I like competing a lot - but not so much for the winning or losing aspect although that's sort of always part of the fun. I like the idea of competition because you see people put their best out there and lay it all out on the line and really push themselves beyond what they might think what's possible.

Yesterday our team lost for the first time this season. We had been undefeated, 6-0 and were playing the other undefeated team that came into the game 5-0. It was a showdown and tons of anticipation leading up to it. The game was close in the 2nd half with our team down 20-19 and then the game got away from us, we committed too many turnovers and the other team capitalized and ran away with it. They played well and deserved to win - but it wasn't easy to take.

I hate losing - it can be super disappointing, especially when you feel like you put it out there on the line and still walked away with a defeat. How do people deal with it time and time again? We have a super strong team - that was our first lost of the season yet I was frustrated with it because it felt like we gave it away and could have done better.

There are 2 teams in our league that have not won a game yet - i cannot imagine what it must be like to go through the losing week after week. From what I have heard, the first few weeks was dissapointing, but then you accept it - its not good or bad, it just is what it is, and that's that!

So why was I upset over the fact that we lost? Was it because I felt we didn't do our best, was it because I felt we could have won had we played to our potential, was it because I hate losing? Who knows, I got into the flag football league because I wanted to have fun and meet some new people and didn't really know what to expect from a competitive standpoint then all of a sudden we're undefeated and going into a big game and poof - we lose.

I've heard this time and time again - it's not really about the outcome, its more about the journey and I can relate to that. I know that preparing for the Crossfit competitions its about the sweat and tears and the discipline it takes to get prepared to do our best when it comes to lay it all out on the line - but in the long run, does it matter if you win or lose? Which will i remember more - the win's or the losses?

"Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is victory." Mahatma Gandhi

Simplicity

2011-04-26T13:49:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I took the Coaster up to Carlsbad to have lunch with my dad and step mom. I could have ridden my motorcycle, but I chose to take the coaster so that I'd have some quiet time on the way up to do some reading and journaling. These are two things that I tend to do a lot whenever I take a trip somewhere, but whenever I am back home I find it more difficult to set time aside to do them.

Before I went to Australia I met with Doug from CFE and we had a great conversation where we talked about goals, values and things that were important. I took a lot out of the conversation with these being the key takeaways: simplifying my life, holding myself accountable and creating community.

In the midst of all that I was involved in I found myself spread thin and quite busy to say the least and not enough down time to reflect and process where I am at in regards to where I want to be. I began the simplification process immediately that week and its been completely life changing!

I took a lot off my plate and found myself with more time now to do the things that are important to me and really dedicate myself fully to them. Since I've done this I have found myself a lot happier too - a lot calmer, with a lot less rushing around and scrambling to get things done.

I have more time to spend with friends as well and continue to develop relationships that are important to me. I have had a sense of peace about the way things are and where I am headed that I haven't felt in a long time.

Here's something I want you consider: simply notice who and what you are being, doing, and having, and see whether it serves you...

The Chronicles of Nuno….

2011-04-07T16:34:00.000-07:00

If you’ve known me for long enough you probably know that I am a pretty ambitious person. Sometimes a little too ambitious. Let me tell you a story about how being too ambitious can sometimes come back to sting you in the ass.

Last October I did really well in a triathlon and I got in my head that I wanted to train for an Ironman event – so I signed up for St. George. I started my training immediately and was coming along nicely until about February when things started to tighten up a little. Part of the problem was that I felt pretty good and confident about where I was at in my training so I decided to take on a little bit more. I signed up to play flag football, I decided to help out with the track team at San Diego High and with Vavi’s triathon group as well, let’s not forget that I was also training/prepping for the Crossfit Games. Too much you think? Maybe so…

Here’s what happened – things were coming along fine (at least in my head) although some people would differ and say they saw this coming long ago and even if they tried to advice me, I had my mind set and was not going to be deterred.

March rolls around and I decide to do Safari 1/2 Marathon and do fairly well – a respectable 1:28 was near my personal best for that distance, and let’s not forget the day before I had a flag football game and did Fight Gone Bad and had a personal best of 426 on that even with a ’24 box. If you don’t know what FGB is search on youtube and give it a go and let me know how it turns out for you.

Needless to say that 1/2 marathon wasn’t the best idea – but I figured it was going to be good prep for my IM. I could tell my body wasn’t 100% and I managed to get through the race, but immediately after my Achilles swelled up and I just felt broke everywhere. I went into treatment/prevention mode immediately with acupuncture, massage, rest, ice, compression – you name it. The following week was the 1^st Sectionals workout and I waited till Saturday to have a go at it and did really well – I think I finished 25^th overall in the world which I was astonished – I hadn’t really considered myself in that elite level of competition before and was shocked at how well I had done.

My body hadn’t still fully recovered though and the following weekend I did an International Distance Triathlon. I had done this race 2 years ago with only CF training and wanted to see how I measured considered I had been working hard getting ready for IM in May. I did really well – PR by 7 minutes, finished with 2:21, which is a respectable time for that distance, but I was miserable almost the entire race. It was the first event I really did not enjoy – especially for a triathlon. I knew I had done too much at that point. Oh yeah, I did play flag football the day before, oops… My Achilles hurt from the get go on the run and every step of the 10k. I didn’t care that I had done well – mentally and emotionally I was distraught. I knew that I had to make the decision to pull out of my IM event. For me racing is supposed to be fun – I go out and compete to test myself and my athletical ability, but when it stops being fun I have to reconsider and evaluate why I am doing all this.

I made the decision right away – my Achilles was swollen and I did not want to get seriously injured, I know that if I continue to run and train hard for this event I could potentially do some serious damage and that just isn’t worth it – I rely on my body for what I do for a living in training/coaching people and can not afford to be out for an extended period of time.

I had put a lot of time in training for my IM event, I was emotionally, physically and mentally invested – not to mention financially as well (just bought a new FELT bike – well over $3000 investment) In the big picture of things I was somewhat distraught by having to pull out of the race, but it didn’t make sense to do it either.

Here’s what happened next – my body just revolted against me altogether, I came down with a mean stomach bug – not really sure what to call it, virus, demons, let’s just say my body wasn’t having it. Last week I struggled to eat and would get these outrageous cramps in my lower abs that had me wincing in pain. I never wish that upon anymore – it gave me an appreciation for our digestive system and how much I take it for granted. I was also getting ready to come to Australia to coach 2 CFE courses so the travel didn’t help – let’s just say that by the time I got to Sydney on Friday I was in bad shape. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t do anything really but lay and rest and it wasn’t until I started taking in some fluids (Gatorade- thanks for the suggestion Carole) that I started to feel better. I went about 24 hours without eating and the first day of the course I was in pretty bad shape but could not let the quality of the coaching suffer – so I went to work and gave it all I had. Saturday I considered going to the hospital and it wasn’t until that afternoon that I started to feel better thank goodness. Sunday I felt heaps better and now back to normal.

Looking back I realize that I was doing too much – even at the time I know I was doing too much, it wasn’t until I had some time to reflect on all this that I came to my own realizations though. I had to walk this path for myself rather than being told what to do – does that ever happen to you?

This trip has been eye opening – I finished reading “Blink” and started reading “Conversations with God” which has been super insightful. I can’t seem to put the book down J I’m also reading “ChiRunning” and “Happier”- too much reading? Probably, I guess I tend to take on a lot in all areas of my life, the great thing about having the opportunity to travel is that I have time out to evaluate all that’s going on in my life and re-set myself. I am far from perfect, at times I overdo it, I don’t always listen to what people tell me that might be best, and that’s just the way it is. I’ll close with this from one of the books I am reading now ‘Allow each soul to walk its path’

Too Much?

2011-03-17T17:25:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've posted - just about a month, and it's not that I haven't thought about it, I just haven't taken the time to do so. I've had opportunities, but haven't been motivated to do so.

At times I struggle with finding the motivation to do certain things - I'm sure you can probably relate, no?

Here's what I have going on now - I am currently training for an Ironman, which is going to be here sooner than later. May 7th is right around the corner, and before you know it I am going to be lining up in St. George, Utah with the rest of the 1700 other competitors.

This will be my first Ironman, and I am super excited about it - I know that mentally it will probably be one of the toughest tests, but physically I feel ready. My primary goal is to have fun along the way and finish, and of course the competitive side of me wants to go fast which is why I have been training hard - almost too much.

Me train too much? Is that possible - absolutely! A few weeks ago my body had it and I had to dial it back a little bit. I'm also training for the Crossfit Games as I really want our team to qualify so that we can compete at Regionals. When I first decided to do my IM we didn't know the format for Sectionals was going to be 6 weeks long. I had expected it to be a weekend event like the past few years, which kind of put a wrinkle in my training.

Aside from doing 4-5 crossfit weekly workouts to get ready for the games I was doing 1-2 bike, swim and run workouts, and surprisingly enough my body was holding up ok until recently, and I think I know why.

As if the IM and the CF Games wasn't enough I decided to start playing flag football - which makes absolutely no sense to anyone but probably me. Here's my deal, I wanted to join the league for the social aspect, I don't go out drinking and the bar scene is really not my cup of tea. The idea with the league for me is to have fun, meet people and improve my social life a little bit.

The league so far has been super fun, our team is awesome! We won our first game and guess who got named one of the MVPs for the game - that's right me, how cool was that, check out the pic...

So recently my body started breaking down, and I started listening to everyone around me that told me that I ought to take some rest and dial back the training a little bit. Last week I took 3 full days off consecutively to allow my body to recover and then I kinda overdid over the weekend.

We had our first game this past Saturday, then I rushed off to CF to do Fight Gone Bad - and if you don't know what that is, google it and watch the videos, lots of crazyness. And as if that wasn't enough I ran a 1/2 Marathon in 1:28 the following morning where I placed 29th overall out of over 3,000 competitors.

Let's just say that my body was not happy with me after all that, my achiles was swollen and tender and my calfs super tight - geez, I wonder why huh?

I immediately went into prevention mode, I have been icing 2-3 x a day, been using my compression pants from BSC Gear and been doing tons of stretching and self myfascial release in order to get all the blood flowing :) and ready to rock the first sectionals workout this weekend.

Training & Coaching

2011-02-18T12:17:00.000-08:00

It's been a couple of weeks since I got back from New Zealand - what an unbelievable country that is. It would have been great to spend more time there, but I know that won't be my last time there hopefully. I even proposed to my brother that once he graduates from Architecture school that will be his graduation present. We are going to take a backpacking trip and explore the sites. This ought to give him some motivation to get through some of the tough times, as he's in his 3rd year and having to pull some all nighters to get his school work done, while also working 25 hours a week to pay for his tuition - super proud of him!

Believe it or not when I got back from my trip I didn't feel jet-lagged at all. I purposely stayed awake most of the flight so that I'd adjust to the time zones a little faster, but I was happily surprised that I never felt super exhausted. I did allow myself to sleep a little longer as I felt my body needed the rest, but I picked up right where I left off and been able to keep pace without breaking down.

As for my training - things are coming along well. I am doing 4 crossfit workouts per week, and doing 2 bike rides, 2 swim sessions and 2 run sessions per week all based off Crossfit Endurance.

Last week I was pretty exhausted by Saturday and took Sunday off completely as I really felt like my body could use the rest. For this week, I swam Monday with Christopher Walden & Christina at Coronado Community Pool - and if you haven't been there, you absolutely have to go sometime, it's one of the nicest pools I have ever swam in. I got on my bike both Tuesday & Thursday and managed to get in some good riding and was able to avoid the rain. This morning I was able to go to the Mission Valley YMCA and do Masters swim. As my Ironman is fast approaching I'll be doing that once or twice a week to improve my swim.

I definitely feel as if I am on track for my training. I need to make sure I do a few rides to test out my nutrition, and continue to be consistent and stay strong and get all the little tid bits dialed in the next few months - less than 12 weeks to go, so now its a matter of fine tuning the training and coming up with a race strategy and getting my nutrition in order for the race.

I was on the IM St. George site this week, and they have a pretty cool course preview - check it out

As for this weekend I am now sitting at the airport getting ready to head up to Portland to coach the Crossfit Endurance course at Crossfit Excellence - I absolutely love what I do, and feel super blessed and grateful that I have an opportunity to pass on what I have learned about endurance training and making a positive impact in people's lives.

GOALS - Dreaming BIG!!!

2011-02-07T16:22:00.000-08:00

I did a lot of reading/writing on my trip down under, here's some things that I came up with...

The premises for these goals is what if I couldn't fail - that was one of the things that got me dreaming big. The other one is if I had $100 million in the bank what would I do with myself. Took these concepts from "The Four Hour Work Week"

6 months:
1. Make 10k from coaches development program (CFE) - this is an idea I'd like to explore
2. Debt free - possibilities here: write a bestseller, lottery, TV show? - 10k extra income per month next 6 months.
3. Start a charity/non-profit for kids
4. Investments in place for future

12 months:
1. Kids - start a family
2. Bestseller book?
3. Open up an endurance based Invictus Endurance based facility
4. Trip to Europe - 4 weeks-3months

More adventure in my life!!!!!

I've since been working on these goals - it seems that it's easy for me to set goals, but then achieving them can be another story. These aren't easy by any means and will require quite a bit of dedication and discipline. One of the main things that has been running through my head is continuing to be productive rather than just being active and the difference between effective and efficient - a little food for thought - explore those for a good time :)

Collage

2011-02-06T07:18:00.000-08:00

Pictures from AUS & NZ

2011-02-06T07:14:00.000-08:00

A breath of fresh air

2011-02-03T00:44:00.000-08:00

I landed in Wellington, New Zealand last wednesday night - just past midnight. Since my flight was arriving after midnight I found a hotel right near the airport. Before this trip I didn't really pay attention to where NZ was on the map, I had a general idea. Flying from Perth, Australia I had a layover in Melbourne for about an hour or so, each flight was about 3 and a half hours. I left about 11am and by the time I landed in NZ I had gone through 5 different time zones. Even though it was past midnight, for Perth time which i was slightly adjusted to it was only 7pm, which meant stayed up until about 2am. Breakfast was delivered before 9am and my day was started.

Matt & Donna from MAD CF came and picked me up around lunchtime and brought me to where I'd be staying over the weekend. It was a nice place, overlooking the water which had some stunning views. It's hard to find words to describe the essence of NZ - it's absolutely stunning and breath taking. Just from the drive from the airport to Petone which is where I'd be, it was absolutely incredible views...just wait till I post the pictures

After getting comfortable at hotel I got picked up to go check out the place where I'd be teaching course over the weekend. Their CF is great, a nice space and very fun to workout in, I knew it was going to go well over the weekend! Afterwords we went into town for dinner and that was about it, I as feeling a bit of the effects from all the travel and the different time zones - I needed some rest.

Friday worked out in the morning, we went to breakfast and did some swimming in the afternoon, have to keep up with my IM training :). After that I went into Wellington, which is about a 15 minute train from Petone. The city itself is like a mini San Francisco, super cute, fun, hilly, lots of coffee shops and seemed very diverse. I spent most of the afternoon wondering around which is always something I really enjoy doing to get familiar with a new area.

Friday Matt & Donna hosted a small BBQ of some of the folks that would be attending course over the weekend which was fun. Notable from the course was the down pour that we got Saturday afternoon when we were about to start the workout - it wasn't light at all. The weather is quite interesting here, it's quite windy almost always, and the sun can be super intense - I guess there's a whole in the ozone here. 20 minutes in the sun is about all that one can take. I got dark right away - love it!!!!!

Sunday I could feel something coming on, I wasn't sure what it was, but could sense it...turns out with the wind being quite strong peoples allergies can flare up easily, which is something I hadn't prepared for. Towards the afternoon on Sunday it was starting to get to me, but I pushed through it and gave them my best. We had 21 attendees in Perth, and 22 here in NZ.

Monday came and I felt like crap - my head felt like it was going to pop out of my ears. We had picked up some zyrtec(allergy medicine) but it wasn't working fast enough. I managed to get in a workout in the morning and another in the afternoon, but I was in quite a bit of discomfort throughout the day, and a bit tired from coaching course over the weekend - the group was really fun, even had someone come all the way from the middle of Australia, about an 8 hour trip for the course.

Monday night Matt had something that resembled the netti pot and I got busy with it - I didn't use to be a believer but sometime last year I couldn't shake off a sinus headache for awhile and tried it and found immediate relief. This time it worked well once again, I woke up Tuesday still congested, but no headache - yeaaaa!!!! This was great since Donna and I were going to the South Island for a day trip - it was a 3 hour ferry and the views were seriously breath taking, coming in through the sounds and docking in Picton.

We spent the day near by, we looked into going to some of the near by places, but it was too expensive or too late in the day, so we had a lunch in town and did a great 3-4 hour very near by which was the perfect way to spend the day. The weather was incredible too, nice and warm clear sunny skies. We came back on the ferry later that afternoon.

Wednesday Matt had a work meeting that he had to drive to, which was about 3 hours away and I tagged along and got to see a lot of the North Island thanks to this opportunity. During his meeting I managed to do a 30 mile bike ride (super windy - great IM training) and then we drove a little further to Lake Taupo which is where IM New Zealand takes place and it's a sight that words can't even begin to describe. We also went to Huka falls, had lunch and made our way back to Wellington. On the drive I saw the most incredible nature display, volcanoes, trees of all sorts, desert - yes in the middle of all this, and lots of sheep!!!

It's Thursday now and I return to San Diego tomorrow night, I've had the chance to see quite a bit of NZ during my short stay thanks to my gracious hosts Matt & Donna. New Zealand is beyond amazing, it'd be super fun to do a backpacking trip for 3 months here with my brother sometime - maybe someday...

I'll be posting pictures from entire trip this weekend - stay tuned :)