Describing himself as a former adrenaline junky with a
penchant for most any
watersport (sailing, freedive spear fishing, windsurfing, surfing,
wakeboarding, snowboarding and kite boarding), Sarason has clearly been open to
new adventures although he admits he’d never done much endurance
training. But when Puchlov’s personal
training business evolved into SKC, Sarason tried group classes to save some
money and quickly realized the kettlebell workouts were super-efficient and
effective.
“I
got stronger in a way that I had never been,” Sarason said. “This is the first
thing I’ve done that has been really long term.
Kettlebell has helped me figure out my own body.”
Photo Credit: Matt Burn Photography
Last
month, Christian not only broke an American Record in 10-minute 16 kg biathlon
at the Crazy Monkey USA Kettlebell Championship, but he also completed his first
kayak race, where he completed a 70-mile trek from Tacoma to Port Townsend (!)
with a partner. We interviewed him about
the experience.
SKC: Can you
share with us a little about the race?
Sarason: The race was the Seventy48; a two
day, on the water, human-powered race from Tacoma to Port Townsend. Sort of a
mini Race to Alaska (and put on by the same folks).
SKC: How many hours did it take you
to finish?
Sarason: It took us 29 hours,
and we slept for about 5 of that (we camped on the beach along Colvos Passage).
You can read some written musings at:
And see a map of our track at:
SKC:
What was the hardest part?
Sarason: This was, without a
doubt, getting to Point No Point (the north end of the Kitsap peninsula) and
getting all fired up thinking we were in the home stretch. This was on day two,
after paddling for about 12 or 13 hours. We pushed right out into the incoming
tide and paddled super hard for about 20 minutes and....went nowhere. If you look at the track (red is actual, blue
is planned) near Hansville you can see we didn't have a very good line. That
was about what minute six or seven feels like [in a kettlebell sport set] ...just,
oof. We paddled a total of 18 hours that day, so we weren't even in the home
stretch!
SKC:
Any further reflections about the experience?
Sarason: The Seventy48 race
was my first significant sea kayak attempt (I previously had only ever paddled
at most a few hours, with no particular urgency). I credit my training at SKC for giving me both
the mental toughness as well as the fitness level to be able to finish. It
didn't hurt that I paddled the tandem with my friend Matt Pruis, who completed
the Race to Alaska last year in a kayak and left 36 hours after we completed
the Seventy48 on his second R2AK, paddling solo. He is a machine, which was
awesome, but then again, I had to keep up as best as I could.
Sarason
went on to praise SKC on how its training has transformed many beginning
lifters into successful competitors and says his favorite parts of coming to
class are Coach Misha’s motivational speeches and seeing all the of 5:15 am
members pumped up after class.
“Kettlebell
training is one thing, but I don’t know if everywhere has the vibe that Seattle
Kettlebell Club does,” Sarason said. “There’s no way you cannot be encouraged
by the people around you.”
Congratulations
on your achievements, Christian! You
make us proud.
-Camille Borodey and Amber Puchlov
