KSX

(2/15) I had travelled passed this area many times during my transition period and never noticed the Keystone Health Club.  Inside this hidden gem is the home of CF KSX (335) in East Pittsburgh, PA.  Here I met Diane, head coach at KSX.  After some warm up, we did some L sit holds for time and then got ready got the workout.  21-15-9 of walking lunges with a 135# barbell alternated with 3-2-1 of 100' sets of burpee broad jumps.  This was a fun WOD right up my alley.  I finished quick and began to cheer on the others, what I didn't know was the GM of KHC was in the class too.  I don't think she liked me too much since I cheered her on when she didn't want to do the burpees and I was a bit loud when she decided that she had had enough and went back to her lunges.  It happens, sorry.  Thanks for a fun afternoon! 

Acernus & CDI

(2/7) After I left my boys at Big Fish, I headed to south to prepare for a competition in Lancaster PA.  Not too far from there is Amish country and CF Acernus (333) in Lebanon, PA. Here we met one of our really good friends and blog regular, Lanita.  I was her partner for the competition, so we figured we could get a little work in before it went down.  After we met the coach, we warmed up on our own and then went over the WOD.  5 rounds of 10 Burpee pull ups, 9 Clusters @ 95#, & 15 KB swings @ 1.5p.  We both finished pretty well ahead of the class (19:05 & 22:10) but not without feeling a bit off.  They began to give me shit for taking my shirt off, they may have been joking, but I was wasn't too sure. The other thing was they told me to do jumping pull ups mid WOD once he realized that I was making them single kipping pull ups after each burpee.  After we cheer everyone to the end we had talked for a few and he was very proud of the fact the "Lebanon Levi" of TV fame was a member there.  I hope you succeed in the small town, I'm glad Lanita was there to make it fun.

After a fun competition where we came in 24th, we celebrated with a good dinner and lots of sleep!  I could not leave town without seeing our friend Lisa and Darren's newest creation, CF CDI (334) in York, PA.  No class, just four friends squatting it out!  Front Squats & Back Squats 5-5-3-3-1-1, no racks, just boxes stacked on top of one another.  They have already moved to a new location, and growing steadily.  Thanks for a a little Sunday Funday and glad to see Lisa get her butt back in the gym. 

 



Time to get back home before the 30 day road trip begins!

Root 18 & Big Fish

(2/6) I had decided the night before that I was only doing a single today and taking it easy.  So I got up early and headed over to Root 18 CF (331) in Medina, OH.  I got there right on time, filled out my paperwork and got into the warm up with the class.  Root 18 had a split level, so all of our platforms were on a low level and the rig was up on the higher level.  We had a 4x3 back squat on tap to start the morning.  135-225-275-305 were solid numbers for the crack of dawn.  After our strength portion, we hit up the WOD of 21-15-9 back squats @ 165 & T2B.  This was a fun one, finishing in 5:17, especially with the added measure of running up to the rig every time. I had a good workout and I hope they remember what we talked about.  Keep growing and get after guys! 

(2/7) Now I had to start heading out of Ohio and back to PA.  I did make a promise though to see my boys at CF Big Fish (332) in Erie, PA.  Jim has always had an open invite for me to come workout with his coaching staff and I took him up on it.  We thought long and hard and came up with a 3 round, 3 part, 2 sections a part kinda beast.  NO TIME, DO WORK.  We all partnered up and did 300# yoke carries with 135 squat cleans - Cal Rows with 205# deadlifts - box jumps with squats with pull ups. Max out each in a minute, switch with your partner then rotate stations.  After you did them all a 400m run was in order.  After the last runner was done, a one minute break occurred, on the last round, everyone had a 400.  It sounds like a lot, but it was a lot of fun. Thanks for a great time brother!  Your crew is awesome!!!

Now it was time for me and Buddy to get on down the road.  We had some Amish Mafia CF to get to!  

Crooked River, Ctown, & Cleveland

(2/5) I started my day by traveling north to Crooked River CF (328) in Mayfield Heights, OH.  I really can only say one word: "FRAN" I had walked into Fran day.  We all know how it is, how it sucks.  I PR'd with a 3:19 but only a 4 sec PR.  I had a blast, we were all left gasping for air and wanting more. Thanks for a fun morning!



I took my afternoon drive to Ctown CF (329) in Cleveland, OH.  Here I met an old FaceBook friend and strongman cert partner in Carl Dei.  Carl is the owner of Ctown and a pretty cool dude.  After our warm up we worked on the Shankle complex: 2 heavy shrugs, 1 hang squat clean, and 2 jerks.  135, 165, 185, 205, 235, 245 were solid for never doing this before.  Our wod that day was a 12m EMOM alternating 2 squat snatches at 165 and 6 burpees.  Totally fun and totally taxing post Fran.   Ctown was a blast and Carl was amazing.  Thanks for hosting me and again, I'm sorry about the pink.

Now on my way to my third location, I was looking at my GPS and hit a pothole.  Not any pothole, a Cleveland sized pothole.  I bent my rim, got a flat, no big deal.  Big deal was that there was not a jack to put the donut on.  Then Enterprise had me pay for the tire to get fixed.  Good thing I knew the owner of the local Enterprise so I got my rental free after everything.

I finally made it to CF Cleveland (330) in Rocky River, OH.  Here I met up with an old buddy in Mr. Bill Russell.  I first met him way back around box 90 since he co-owns another local area box.  I told him the story, he laughed a bit and then we got right to work on "Gwen" 15-12-9 of unbroken clean & jerk sets.  I did them all at 135#.  It was fun and something I should have gone heavier with.  I like the new space and happy to see that you had to expand.  Good luck and thanks for being super hospitable to me!  Great seeing you again too.

Well I'm back at it, more to come as soon as I find the time! 

All Heart & Everhard

(2/3/13) This morning led me to meeting CrossFit games competitor Lisa Shiu.  I found myself a little late due to the weather but none the less I made it All Heart CF (326), in Kent, OH. Since I was a little late I missed the time for strength portion of clean and jerks so I just got ready for the WOD on the board.  We had 5rds of 6 C&J @ 165 and 30 double unders.  We all finished strong between 6 and 15 minutes, I think I was around 7 or so.  Overall I had a great time and was gladly welcomed by Lisa and Charlie. Thanks for the great morning and sorry I was late!

After I left AHCF, I headed over to see the NFL Hall of Fame.  As always, I got a little side tracked and found myself at the front door of Everhard CF (327), in Canton, OH.  I met one of the guys I was with from the CF Strongman cert, Corey.  Corey was a coach and an owner here at ECF.  After our group warm up we got into a 3x5 back squat.  I did well hitting 225-175-315-335-345, with 345 being a 3rep PR.  There was also a tabata running & burpee WOD. I forget the due to not writing it down and being a bit overwhelmed lately.  Ken, the other owner did eventually show, I got to see one my other strongman peeps.  Thanks for a great time and I lool forward seeing the expansion you had planned.

So I know this is way late, but vacations can be great and no one wants stuck on a keyboard.  Paradise is great and I'm deploying soon.  I'll have plenty of time to catch up soon, Aloha!!!!!!!!

Fun Week in Ohio PT1 - Independence, Strongman and Cuyahoga

So I got a week off from work so I headed over to visit my friend Anne and help her out for the week until Ed got home.  This also gave me a great chance to check out a few boxes in the area. 

 (2/1) My first stop of the week would be at CF Independence (324) in Independence, OH.  Here I met Joel Woods, he wasn’t coaching this class, but I did see him when I came into class. Coaches for the day were Scott and Amber I believe.  We started this class off right….with a little friendly 5 minutes of dodge ball. Basic rules applied but with 5 burpees to get back in.  Totally a great way to get the blood flowing!  We had three parts to this class after dodge ball: 3x3 OHS, Snatch EMOM, and “Annie”.  OHS was kept light, 135, 155, & 175.  The snatches were the same weights as the OHS, but a 5m EMOM of 5 @ 135, 5m EMOM of 3 @ 155, & a 5m EMOM of 1 @ 175…oh and if you let go of the bar it was 10 burpees.  This was fun, but time seemed to fly between sets.  As for Annie, I felt her for a few days after, but I got the PR in 5:36.  I had a great time, the predominant class of ladies kicked ass and I had a blast.  CFI had a great space and they seemed to really be having a great time.  Thanks for having me!!

 

(2/2) I can’t write much….all I can say is that CF Akron hosted one hell of good CF STRONGMAN CERT.  I think I was sore and battered for a few days after!

(2/3)  Sunday is usually a day of rest but not at Cuyahoga CF (325) in Broadview Heights, OH. CCF is inside of Peak Performance.  The area where CF is held has to share airwaves with the spin class, which means that CF usually loses out to some 1980s hair bands or to 1990s dance or hip hop.  Neither which was going to help us take on Fight Gone Bad! Head coach John Collis went over the order of attack for everyone, reviewed some moves and then started the countdown.  FGB ended just as fast as it started, it seemed like those 17 minutes flew by.  After we cleaned up, we called out scores (323) and most everyone ran for the door.  CCF seemed to me like more of a health club that offered a class vice a CF box.  I’m not knocking them by any means, but I believe you need more freedom and choice in your practice.  Thanks for everything, I actually PR’d from the last time I did it. 

The weekend is over, now it time to get serious....

El Paso pt 2 - Push West & RKU

(1/19) After a wonderful night of fun, I headed over to PushCF West (322) for a little fun before the day’s activities commence.   It was an early morning WOD here and there were only two of us in class.  Since we were both experienced, we changed up the WOD on the board and tackled “Jackie” instead.  We both went pretty hard hitting it in 7:28 and just under 8.  Since we had some time left in the hour we decided to tackle one more little challenge: 21-15-9 Front Squats @ 135, Burpees and T2B.  This was a little bit longer but we raced through this one as well finishing both under 11min.  Overall PUSH had hours that could satisfy anyone’s needs.  Thanks for pushing us two, I had fun.

 

 

 

(1/20)  Now this is Sunday, Sunday is a day of rest. Well it is unless you are CF R-K-U (323).  These guys were pretty awesome I must say.  All I had to do was send a text and I felt right at home.  Owner and Head Coach Marco made sure that I was properly taken care of from the minute I walked in.  Isaac was the coach for this Sunday and I was not to be disappointed.  We started off with a series of strict presses in sets of 10-9-7-5-3-1-1-1-1 ending out at 175.  Then we went after a cool WOD of 21-15-9 HSPU, KB swings (2p), and T2B.  Since we ran out of 2poods I scaled up to a 3pood and cut the rep schemes to 12-9-6. This may have seemed like taking it easy but it was rough. 3p is no joke!  Everyone at R-K-U was awesome to me, we even traded some bracelets.  I had a blast here and would totally come back the next time I’m in El Paso.  Thanks you so much Marco, Isaac, and the rest of the R-K-U family.



 

El Paso is done, time to head home and then a week of play time in NE Ohio!