Week - Jan 28 - Feb 3rd

Monday: 30' minute treadmill run
Tuesday: 550 meter swim
Wednesday: 1 km swim
Thursday: 3.1 miles run

Saturday & Sunday: Snowboarding

Week: Jan 21 - Jan 27

Tuesday: Crossfit
Warmup
600 meter rowing
3 round of:
2 by Turkish get up with 12 kilo L/R
10 squat with 12 kilos

Row 500m
Dynamic stretching: Knee to chest, lunge, triangle, twist x 3 each side
Bear Crawl forward/broad jump backward 20ft x 2
10 squats, 5 push-ups x2
Double Under Practice

WOD: 17 minutes
4 round
8 toe to bar
15 hand off push up
10 double under for time

Wednesday:
1000 meters swim


Thursday: Crossfit
Warmup

500 meter rowing
Front Squat

WOD for time:
3 rounds of:
- 750 meters of bike sprint
- 7 front squat (55 kg)
- 12 pull ups

Saturday:
8 miles bike ride

Sunday:
13.34 bike ride (12.1 miles as recorded below plus missing leg)

Thanks for reading,

Serena xx

Week: Jan 14 - Jan 20

Monday:
800 meter swim

Tuesday: Crossfit
Warmup:
2 round of Cindy
5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats

WOD
4 rounds of for minutes of:
- 25 KBS 12Kg
- 300 meter row (as fast as possible)
- box jumps for the rest of the 4 minutes
- each repetition is followed by 4 minutes rest

Wednesday:
800 meter swim

Thursday: Crossfit
Warmup:
Rope Climb
2 rounds of Cindy

WOD
Helen: Three rounds of 400 meter sprint (run), 21 Kettlebell swings (24 Kg) and 12 pull ups.

Saturday
2.84 run

Sunday: 
800 meter swim

Week Jan 7 - Jan 13

Training
Monday:
30' run
Mood: foul

Tuesday: 
30' min cycle
Mood: cheerful

Wednesday: 
This day was Crossfit day.

Warm-up: 
- 400 meter run, various stretches.
- 4 Rounds of:
   - 35 Kg front squat
   - 12 ring pull-ups
   - 45' plank

WOD:
Kettle bell used: 12 Kg. As John said: 12 Kg is for weak people... but I just came back from vacation!
 - 30 Kettle belts swings
 - 15 Burpees
-  24 Kettlebell Swings (KBS)
 - 12 Burpees
 - 15 KBS
 - 9 Burpees

Mood: This absolutely killed me (too much of pasta the 2 weeks in Italy did it for me)

Sunday:
30' Run
Mood: Pretty Happy


Summary of the week:
In a week I have lost 0.4 Kg. I am well aware that loosing kilos is not the only way to know that I am getting fit but knowing that I have gained 7 Kg from my rowing days (the fittest I ever been) one of my goal is to go back at that weight 62 Kg.

NOTE: My garmin forunner 310 got stolen so for the moment no techie data to display for you. I ll replace it soon :)

Thanks for reading!

Sere x

Past Sport Experiences and The Naked and Hurtful Truth

As an occasional athlete I think it is only fair to list all the sport activities and challenges I did in the past.

1. Gymnastic as a toddler (Does it even count?!?)

2. Volleyball from 6 yrs old till 24 yrs old. I have broken every possible bones due to this sport. I had 2 knee surgeries (ACL) and as much as I like to say I have never really stopped playing volleyball any now and then I play it again and my body reminds me why I should NOT playing volleyball.

3. Rowing: 1 year. If you guys even wonder why I mentioned this, it is because this only year made me more of an athlete than any other years. We started as completely novice and manage to qualify to Henley!! Thanks to an amazing crew, incredible hard work (circa 20/25 hours training a week) and an amazing coach Dr. Chris George.

4. Running: 2 marathons (Portland and the original marathon).

5. Hiking: Lots of hiking. Including Everest Base Camp and Kilimanjaro.

6. I even attempted a half iron man during my rowing year but did not complete because embarrassingly enough I did not know how to change a tire (no one can help you or you will be disqualified). Rest assure, I now know how to change a tire :)

Why would I call myself occasional Athlete? Because apart from volleyball I alternate incredible active periods to incredible sit down periods (mainly due of studying) and it seems I cannot keep a great balance between the two. If you don't believe me, read the chart below of my current weight and I ll transform you in a believer!

Weight: Let is say all of my effort of loosing weight in my past 4 moths (- 3 Kg) was completely vanished in 2 weeks spend in Italy for Xmas (+ 3.5 Kg). So basically I am starting from square 1 again!

Thanks for reading!

Sere x

Hello World! Where it all Started and Giving Back

I am an occasional athlete. I pass from intense "dolce far nulla" (sweet doing nothing) to intense training from my new endeavour.  This upcoming year I will turn 30 and, to celebrate, I wanted to set a new goal for myself: becoming an Ironman tri-athlete (see it as my 30 years old life crisis). Hence, sick to my stomach I registered to Ironman Florida 2013 which it sold out in 1 minute!! Who knew there are tons of crazy people out there!

Why? I like challenges and I like to prove myself that I am able to accomplish what I think It is impossible. It is a competition against myself and no one else.

How?Well I am not too sure yet, but with the help of John Leo Post (SF Crossfit) and few friends which are Ironman graduates, I hope I can achieve my goal. This site will keep track of my training, stats, good and bad moods and, hopefully, to help others in achieving their Ironman dream.

Really, Why!?! I am considering myself extremely lucky. I have everything in the world: good health, a loving family and amazing friends (alongside a job I love to do) and I do not need any present. I am a big believer in giving back to society and trying to do my part in helping others. For this reason I am doing an Ironman to raise funds to the Uganda NGO "The Solar Sisters". This amazing NGO was introduced to me by my dear friend Laura Sellmansberger, current Kiva fellow and soon to be Grameen employee as well as partner in adventure (we hiked to Everest Base Camp for War Child and our friendship developed in various country around the world for the past 7 years).

The Solar Sister "is a social enterprise that provides women with training and support to create solar micro-businesses, providing much needed household income for women, and much needed light for their communities". Because we all love numbers this organization works in 3 countries, has 277 entrepreneurs and their worked impacted 31880 people. For more information about Solar Sister and their work Laura's blog is an extremely good read.

To donate directly to them see: http://www.solarsister.org/donate/

You will soon be able to donate from this page directly.

I am planning to travelling to Uganda in 2014 to make a short movie about the solar sister and all the contributions our donation made to the lifes of these women and their communities.

Thanks for reading,

Serena x