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!

El Paso Pt 1 - El Paso West, Get Lifted, & 915 West

 

Wow life is flying by and things are stacking up.  Now I’m moving to Hawaii.  I’m taking this night to catch up on life, blogging and whatever else I may need to do.

 (1/17) On a recommendation from my friend Molly, I headed out to El Paso, TX to hangout for the weekend.  She lives on the west side, so it gave me an array of boxes to check out.  My first stop was to CF El PasoWest (318) where I met Ernesto.  It was an off day at CFEP due to the box getting an award that evening.  It must have been big because Ernesto’s new Iphone was blowing up during the warm up and mobility portions of class. We went in to do dumbbell shoulder presses for strength and I showed him how to silence it so he could pay attention to class.  As we finished up the presses, we actually got a different coach so that he could go and attend.  So we got into the workout at hand.  It was a burner of 15 clean and jerks at 135#, 15 push ups, 15 burpees and a 200m run.  I was pretty much a sprint to get and I was happy to finish in just less than 3m.  I think it was an off night and that CFEP wasn’t always that way.  Congrats on the award. 

 

 

 

 

(1/18)  I hit up a wonder beast of this morning at Get Lifted CF (319).  This was the final workout of the OC Throwdown.  30 Wall Balls, 15 snatches @ 135, 30 WB, 12 snatches @ 155, 30 WB, and 9 snatches at 185 were what I had in front of me.  As I looked at this task, Coach Mike Abeel just smiled and said take it one step at a time and have fun.  I did great until the 185 snatches.  I have not been able to do heavy snatches since I got hurt, but I powered thru them.  I think it was just less than 20m but I did not quit and I finished.  Thanks for the great time.  Your crew seemed to have fun running in the “cold” that morning.  You all were super nice to me and I’m glad I could be comic relief. I would come visit again anytime!



 

After some time with my friends, I went to visit the ladies of CF 915 West (320).  I say ladies because this is where I met the owner Kim, my trainer Iris, and another trainer Jessika.  All of the ladies were awesome and totally motivating.  I was with two newer members, so there was a lot of explanations and teaching beforehand. Our WOD was an AMRAP of 250m rows, 2p Kettle Bell swings and 155# push presses. It was a totally fun night, even with the 50 burpee cash out for time.  Overall, 915 West was great and I think they will soon rival there East location.  Thanks for the great time, you all were beyond awesome!



 

Two more WODs before I leave El Paso!!

Trip TO Nola - HD & Big Easy

 

(12/28) Now I’ve been home for all of 12 hours, I’ve hopped on a plane and headed south to New Orleans. Like most things, my plans are always a bit sketchy and made up on the fly.  This flight was no different.  I had an exceptionally long (6hr) layover scheduled in Atlanta and I just happened to have a good friend and CrossFitter, Robin Butler, there and she had the day off.  So she came and filled that layover with a WOD at her home box CrossFit HD (313) in Chamblee, GA.  Once again, I was the only guy for this adventure in CrossFitting.  The trainer for the day was a super cool woman named Krissi, really cool and super friendly.  This was going to be an interesting WOD, it started with 4min of burpee box jumps (40), took 2min of rest, then a 4m AMRAP of 20 walking lunges with 95# and 10 hips to rings (1 full rd) then 2min max regular burpees (29).  I think I hate burpees, but I’m getting better at them.  CFHD was a blast and the ladies didn’t beat me up too bad.  I’m super grateful for their hospitality and I would definitely go back!  Thanks you Robin for filling those six hours, now on to NOLA!

 

I got to NOLA…..my luggage didn’t……till 5pm the next day!

Once I realized that I didn’t have clothes, I needed to blow off some steam. So I headed over to Big Easy CF (314) in New Orleans, LA.  I met Zack, owner and head trainer there.  We started with a 3-3-3-3 of push jerks. It was a good release finishing around 215.  As I was cleaning up, I realized what was in store for me, 4 rounds of 400m runs and 25 burpees!  Math says that 1 mile and 100 burpees…que the throwing up in your mouth a lil bit.  It actually wasn’t as bad I thought it was going to be, especially the running portion.  I finished strong with a 17:30. I once again hate burpees!  Big Easy isn’t on a beaten path, but it was exactly what I needed!  Thanks for having me Zack. 

OK, tomorrow I keep my promise from a few months ago, Crescent City CF Team WOD, here I come!

CF U-Town #318

(1/12/13)  My good friend Kelly was in town and was looking for something different to do today.  So we headed down south a ways to check out one of the newest boxes in the area, CrossFit U-Town (318) in Uniontown, PA.  Here we met Jason Tungate, owner and head coach of CFU.  We were a bit early so we got to see what was in store for us in a few moments.  (3) 6min AMRAPS of a 200m run and max Wall Balls then 6m rest.  This was pretty cool because everyone was racing to get back to the wall.  There were a lot of wall balls done that day and I’m proud to say I hit over 100 in the first set. 104, 89, 85 were my rounds, not too bad.  After class we worked with some people on some skills and then talked for a bit.  CFU has some pretty strong people, all I can tell them is to be patient and not just got lift heavy when you cannot do something.  Thanks for having us! 

Lebanon/MesserFit & FTW

(12/27/12) Time to head home and get ready for my New Years trip to Nola.  Well I can say that I did it again, this time with two stops.  First stop was at CF Lebanon (311) in Lebanon, OH Collin Messer, the owner wasn’t in, but I did meet his brother Kyle Messer.  MesserFit/CFL was a studio style place, with pull up bars coming out of the ceiling.  Here in store for me was something they called “Moon Dog”  Moon Dog was 3 rounds of 30 double unders, 20 pull ups, 10 burpees, 10 deadlifts, and 10 DB snatches.  I actually liked this work out, well except for the burpees.  It was tough to move through when you were doing it by yourself.  Oh well, I finished up in 14:29.  CFL is a bit off the beaten path but I had a great time.  Thanks for having me!

 

Damn you Columbus, how can I never get through you without stopping?  This time I hit up FTW CF (312) in Columbus, OH.   Here I met Ryan Callahan, he owns and runs the place.  FTW has a very different approach to timing. It was always open gym and he was usually there to train.  You could do what you wanted or do what was on the board.  I did what I wanted and hit my heavy back squat day…yes I love to squat!  5-5-3-3-1-1-1-1-1 was the scheme, hitting 185-225-275-325-345-365-385-and a sketchy 390(PR).  The lift wasn’t pretty but it worked.  I think that FTW has an interesting concept and I’m glad it works for them.  Thanks for letting me come in and get a lift in, great talking with you as well.  Take Care!!

Back to the Burgh I go, then off to Nola! 

New Orleans!!! Crescent City, Launch, & Elmwood

 

(12/29/12) Well I still have no clothes, good thing I had a clean shirt in my bag!  So I took that bag and headed over to the West Bank to make good on a promise.  Here I found myself at Crescent City CF (315) in Gretna, LA. CCCF treated me like family when I walked in the door.  Very cool and laid back with a whole lotta love.  Literally, I think I have a dozen or so hugs by then end of class.  I first met Lyle T. and David C., they were talking and welcomed me as I walked in.  I then met Marshall C. who was preparing for his workout.  I finally met Ms. Anne T. after she finished up doing what looked to be 1,000 or so walking lunges (400m worth).  After more and more people piled into class, we all finally headed back into the dungeon.  Here we had a massive group warm up.  The girls that were in the lane with me and around me were awesome, they were also pretty booty-ful as they put it.  We then paired off for the fun that was in store for us.  My partner, who’s name I never got, was 17 and never done CF before.  No worries though, he had a good coach.  We started with a team 2K row, then a 200m run, 50 box jumps, 200m run, 50 ball tosses over the pull ups bar, 200m run, 50 K2E, 200m run, and finally 50 burpees.  We worked together, never got too far behind and even took the lead for a few moments.  We finished in 21:57 but more importantly, we had a blast doing it.  I really hope he comes back to CCCF.  After the WOD we played with some stones and hung out and a few of us even went to breakfast after.  CCCF was a blast and more importantly they made it fun.  I did get to spend a few extra hours with Marshall and Anne later in the week as well, seeing the Saints play the Panthers.  Thanks for that.  Overall, the Crescent City family was amazing to me.  I could not have asked for a better time.  If you’re in Nola or even close to it, GO! Do not question me on this one.  Ask Cheryl Parker, she did and loved it! 

 

(12/31/12)  So on my last workouts of the year, I took Anne’s advice and headed across the causeway and visited CF Launch (316) in Mandeville, LA. The place was uniquely set next to a Curves type gym, in fact I thought that the gaggle of ladies walking the 400m run cul-de-sac were all from CFL.  I was wrong though.  Launch had something fun in store today.  After a creative warm up, that included cart wheels, we hit a 7x1 thruster.  Working up nicely, I hit 195 and then got ready to meet “Helen”.  I had not done her in a while, but was ready for a PR.  Helen is 3rds of a 400m run, 21KB swings and 12 pull ups.  I did it in 9:14 and got a PR by :12 sec.  Everyone here was super nice and they even invited me to their box party that night.  It was totally worth the drive and I would go back without a doubt.  Thanks for having me and thanks for the recommendation.

 

 

Well, I was not quite ready to drink yet so I headed to the last place I knew I could get a workout in before the festivities would start, CF Elmwood (317) in Elmwood, LA.  Here I met Laura Netterville, a little spitfire and part of the Crescent City family.  After a warm up and some room rearranging, we tackled an oldie but a good, 11.5. 11.5 was a 20 min AMRAP of 5 power cleans at 145, 10 T2B and 15 Wall Balls.  This was rough but everyone did awesome.  I was happy to have Justin to go at it with. We were really close throughout the entire 20m.  I finished better than the last time I did it but over a round hitting 9rounds and the power cleans.  CFE was fun and Laura was a great person to talk to.  I would recommend CFE to anyone, and if you are really good, there is a drive thru daiquiri place just around the corner! 

 

Well 2012 ended with me hitting boxes in Hawaii, Virginia, North Carolina, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Washington, Oregon, Maryland, Toronto, Texas, New Mexico, California, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Louisiana.  I hit 115 boxes overall and had a blast doing it.  I met some great people and I hope to meet more as we go along!  Here’s to a great 2012 and an even better 2013!  YOLO!!!!!

Home - Calibrated & Anax

(12/26/12)  Today we got an epic snow storm in Cincinnati.  People could not or would not drive in this crap.  Well I’m not normal people, so I headed out to an open gym session at Calibrated CrossFit (309) in Mason, OH.  I kind of expected this but I was the only one there.  I was given the room and told to play whatever I wanted.  I took to my normal programming that day and hit a 2x20 back squat at 175 & 275.  Then I hit a 5x5 Deadlift 155, 245, 335, 415, & 435.  Finally I hit a 2x20 bench of 115 and 165.  I was kinda bummed I did not get to meet the owner, but I did meet his partner.  They had a program much like we do at home at Integrated Fitness, only with different rooms.  I enjoyed to solitude and the lifts, wish I could have gotten a better feel of the community there.  Oh well, next time!  Thanks for letting my play!

The weather cleared a bit so I headed over to the DMV to get new tags for the Jeep. Too bad it was really close to CrossFit Anax (310) in Cincinnati, OH. I went in and saw the previous class hitting a chipper.  I did not get that luxury though.  The class did their back squat portions and I helped the girls out before I got a slap in the face with the WOD. “HEAVY GRACE” HG is painful no matter how you slice it. 30 Clean and jerks @ 225 is how the game is played.  I was the only one going Rx, so I figured a goal was to just finish it.  I took my time, all 19:59 of it.  I did it, no misses. It was brutal and I was wrecked.  The class was nice, some people cheered on others.  I had a good time at Anax.  It’s not fancy but it gets the job done and I’m glad I made the stop.  I even ran into my friend Sarah’s boss who was hitting the WOD with me. 

Well time to get the tags.  Let’s see what our ride home has in store.

Christmas Eve - Buckeye and Conjugate

(12/24/12)  Like always, I can never just go straight home. So I made my usual stop in Columbus, this time at Buckeye CF (307) in Columbus, OH. Here I met John Lovins & Jason Merrick, owners and trainers at BCF.  After some intros and stretching we started on finding a split jerk number.  Being pretty early and after driving 3 hours, I stopped at 245#.  From this number we took a percentage for use in our WOD.  50 air squats, 10 G2OH 155#, 10 Bar Facing Burpees, 40/8/10. 30/6/10, 20/4/10, 10/2/10.  This was very taxing, 14 min of fun taxing!  John and Jason were always walking the room and being very encouraging to everyone.  BCF had a great atmosphere and everyone I talked to loved to be there.  I had a great time at Buckeye and I would go back without a doubt.  Thanks for having me guys, totally a class act.

Back in the car……Fueled up the body…..where should I go…..home…..

 

Of course not, I headed over to see my good friends Shane and Laura Sweatt and get a sneak peak at CF Conjugate (308) in Blue Ash, OH.  They were awesome and let me have the whole room to myself while the big boys lifted in the main Sweatt Shop area.  I got to work with some 5-5-3-3-1-1 front squats with a muscle up between each set.  It was fun; I worked up to around 305#. Not a max, but was still good to squat.  The big guys were intrigued with what I was doing; either that or they wanted to look at the idiot on the rings.  I did get one of them to hit their muscle up though.  Laura said they try often but never hit them.  CFC is gonna be awesome! Shane and Laura have made a major investment into the fitness community and I can only see them growing and expanding in no time.  Thanks for always being so nice and generous when I roll in. Love you both!

 

 

Christmas time and Rest day….back at it on 12/26!  Hope everyone had happy holidaze!