Oyster Point, New CF Love and a Trip Over A Mountain...Literally!

(5/16) So I ended up back in the Tidewater area after only being gone for like 4 days.  This time I got scared of the tunnel and never left the Peninsula. If your from there you know what I mean, if not sorry.  So anyway, after a pretty full day of work, I headed to CrossFit Oyster Point (119) in Newport News, VA.  After some introductions and the standard waiver signings, I hit the warm up.  Now on to the WOD:
5 Rds of 5 Push Press @ 80% PR (195) & 30 Double Unders with 2 min Rest between rounds. I finished in relatively descent time, I think just over 15min or so.

(5/17) So I figured I'd come back for a second round but this time I brought my good friend Eric Sanborn with me.  He is a newly retired MSGT from the Air Force and wanted to not keep getting fat since his military career ended.  I knew what I was in store for coming into this WOD, as for Eric I was unsure.  I had the undaunting task of taking on "300", Eric on the other hand was handed "Baseline".  I think it turned into a race between us.  Baseline is a "toe in the water" of what CrossFit is (500m Row, 40 Squats, 30 Sit ups, 20 Push Ups and 10 Pull Ups)  where 300 is something that can be grueling to even an experienced athlete. 
300 - 18:45  Baseline - 14:00+  Eric took a while to recover but I think he will be back.  I had a great time and a super experience here at CF Oyster Point and I'll totally be back and hope Eric stays with it. Thanks Jim Koske and all your crew for all your hospitality and keep it up!

(5/23)  When I say Over A Mountain I wasn't kidding.  Seriously, I went over two mountains to get to CrossFit Jackson Hole (120).  This was one of these spur of the morning ideas that sometimes gets me in trouble but usually turn out to be great experiences and it totally lived up to it.  After some emails and getting work and logistics ironed out, off I went.  The views were amazing, the drive was pretty simple and I even saw a moose!  I showed a little early not know how long it would take and here is what I stared at as the 430 class finished up.

This was totally the most amazing view I've ever seen out the front door of a box.  So now after the most extensive and amusing intro ever, we got started. Coach Ryan Hudson fills as much you can possibly imagine into 1 hr of time:
Rd 1: Stretching and Mobility Work 
Rd 2: Tabata Lateral Jumps (23)
Rd 3: Split Jerk Review
Rd 4: Split Jerks 3-3-2-2-1-1
Rd 5: "Annie"

Rounds 1-3 are cut and dry so I don't have to explain them, but I will jump straight to Rd 4.  Split Jerks! We went guys on one platform, girls on the other.  One by One went and got to watch everyone go and cheered as we hit amazing lifts.  I think everyone hit a PR during this round, including myself @ 115kg/253#. Thanks Ryan for not letting me do conversions and just lifting colors.  Now on to "Annie" where I had a PR at 6:45.  This time it was personal since I haven't really done double unders since Wod 11.1 and the concussion.  I did great with a 5:41 but what was better to see was Tina and Liz battle thru double unders, some one at a time.  This was a great time and so worth the drive. Thanks Tina, Elisabeth, Liz, & Anthony for making me feel like part of the team and thank you Ryan for fitting me in.  Your box is totally amazing and I think you may have the best bathroom ever!  Good Luck at Regionals and I look forward to coming back when I can. 

(5/24) I did get to revisit Shane and Maltese CF for some snatch grip deadlift 3x3x3x3x3 (135,225,275,295,295).  Then a fun wod of 6rds of 10 K2E and 20 24" Box Jumps.  I finished in 11:06, that was good for me since I hate box jumps.  I even stuck around for a 4-3-2-1-1 of front squats.  (135,225,275,305,325) Hope your recovery process is a good one and good luck on the move...next door.

I was also lucky enough to visit (CF) YMCA Idaho Falls (121). There was no actual class since they only have two classes a week but being resourceful I found the weight room.  They had a few bumpers so I put together a quick 3rd 5 Power Cleans (135#), 5 Dips, & 5 GHD Sit Ups (3:01). I know it's not a lot but it was like wod 4 in 2 hours. 

Back home I go tomorrow, for 2 days this time then off to DC for memorial day and maybe a little Murph...

3 Boxes in 6 Hours!

(5/10 1200) So I got a chance to go back to one of the cities I love in life, Va Beach.  I was there finishing up some work and was given a whole day to enjoy myself, sneak in a few WODs, see an old friend and even pop in to a hash circle. 

As soon as we finished up with our work and could get out of there, I headed for the beach.  After about 30 min on the beach, I headed for CF Obsession (116) a few blocks away. There I watched some amazing women practicing deadlifts.  One in particular was Dana, who happened to be the coach of the noon class.  After she put us thru an extensive warm up, we hit one of the worst WODs I've done since giving myself a concussion.  5min of DU (200) then 30 HSPU / 15 Rope Climbs, 20/10, 10/5, followed by 5 min of KB swings (1.5p/50). The center piece took 19:15 to complete, which was pretty good since every member was over 20 min up to that class.

Thanks for welcoming me to your box and I can't wait to visit again.
I headed out to catch up with my old friend from Hawaii, Dirtbag.  He's in town installing some new water slides at the ocean front.  After a quick few minutes he had to go back to work and I realized how close I was to another box that I hadn't been to before. 

(1400) I was only about 5 minutes away so I headed out to CF Takeover (117)  where I met Shawn, one of the trainers.  This was their open gym time so Shawn said I could do either today's WOD or yesterdays WOD.  I took the easier road and did their Monday WOD of 10-1/1-10 Power snatches @ 75# and Burpees.  Finished in around 9:45.  This was a little harder than expected but really fun.  I also met some of their team for regionals.  I liked this box a lot and can't wait to see what the Takeover Heroes and Chicks have to give at regionals.  Good Luck guys!

(1600) Now I was a little tired but I pulled it together and met my good friend Lynda Otto, who is now an avid crossfitter.  I promised her from the minute I got her into it, that I would be there to WOD with her.  I kept my promise to her and as tired as I was, it was gonna be a good one.  We hit up a 3-3-3-3-3 OH Squats set. I maxed this one out at 205. Not bad considering I almost lost it.  After this was a quick 12-9-6 of HSPU, KB Swings and Box Jumps (4:01).  I think my traps hated me after over 80 HSPU in a day!  Thanks for having me CFOV and I'm glad my friend is there with you.

Now this was a crazy day of working out which was totally completed by dinner on deck of Greenies and some great fun with my crazy hash friends.  A good time was crammed into one day and I wouldn't have any other way.  Back in the area tomorrow, lets see what kinda of trouble I can get into......

CF Reynoldburg and Sugarcreek CF

(4/25) Well since sectional was winding down, I figure I head home for easter Sunday.  I did 11.5 and then sped home to judge in the Queen City Sectional @ CF Power Performance, hit a River Monsters game, and then saw friends at a local watering hole.  On a sad note, after all this fun it ended with finding out my Aunt Wanda lost her battle with cancer.  RIP my sweet Aunt, we will miss you. 
Being one of my biggest supports in all that I do, she would have wanted me to go on and that I did.  With strength comes power so I decided that the timing was just perfect for me to visit CF Renyonldsburg (#114) in Renyoldsburg, OH.  There I met Heather and her crew for some warm ups and then some front squatting.

They were in a strength routine, so Heather just said to PR.  I hadn't hit a Front Sqaut PR since I was at CF 440 back in December.  I was paired up with Police Officer T was just recovering from surgery.  After some jokes we decided to get going.  Warm Up rounds of 135, 185, 225, & 275.  300 was my PR so I went for 305.  I did 305....twice! T was great and said if I did that I was going to hit 325 like it or not. 
 

Thanks for the encouragement T, I nailed it!!!  After some more PR's around the gym it was time for the WOD.  4 Rounds 30 KB swings @ 2p, 20 Ball Slams @ 20# & 400m Run.  I finished in just under 15min.  There is a good thing going out there in Reynoldsburg and I'm glad I got the chance to stop.  I'll definately be back again.  Thanks Heather and CFR!
(4/25) Since I had family issues, I made a run back home just to make sure things were going good.  Along the way I had a chance to get off the beaten path and hit the "Switzerland of the MidWest", Sugarcreek, OH the home of Sugarcreek CF (#115). This place was a little different than a normal box, hell it had camping and a tanning bed, bed it was totally cool.  I met some of the clients, mainly women,  and one other guy before the head trainer and owner Harry got there.  Harry is beyond the normal of your average CF trianer.  Harry is 69 years old and has loved CF since he stumbled on it a few years back.  The WOD was "Moore" 15m AMRAP of 1 rope climb, 400m run, and max HSPU; score is HSPU.  I scored a 42, not bad for all head to Ab Mat HSPU. 

After some recovery I was asked to help with deadlift skill work with the ladies. They loved the stretch reflex work and were teasing me about having to do it more now that Harry had seen it.  Thanks for letting me do what I love and if your ever in Sugarcreek, check out SCF!

One last note, I was going to WOD one more time that day at CF Covington.  When I walked in and saw Emily's face light up, I knew something was up.  I wound up teaching two intro classes for her due to Laura speeding down south to see her man fresh off the plane from the desert.  Totally understandable and totally worth it.  Thanks Emily for letting me do what I love.

More travels soon, trying for 3 boxes in one day on Tuesday 5/10.........

Final games thoughts

So I've finally finished the 2011 Reebok CF Games sectionals.  I've learned lots about myself, my training, and my capacity to endure pain.  I know that my training has been thrown out the window for the last 6 weeks or so and with that my diet has suffered and my body is wrecked.  I've dealt with a family member loss, a concussion, and gym move between wods.  Through it all, I can tell you that I've discovered a few weaknesses and a few strengths on this journey and I wouldn't change a thing. 

11.5 was brutal on the forearms.  No one would have ever guessed that would they? 
5 Power Cleans @ 145, 10 T2B, 15 Wall Balls. 15m AMRAP.  I started strong and faded fast.  I think I finished at 8rds, 5/10/1. 

11.6 or Fran on crack.  No one thought that with a 4min Fran that C2B pull ups would change this WOD that much.  7min go til failure of 3 Thrusters @ 100#, 3 C2B Pull Ups, 6/6, 9/9, etc...
I pulled out 102 total reps, got into my rd of 18 thrusters.  I actually tried this twice and trashed my hands the second time. 

As the games scores went final, I finished 294 in the Mid-Atlantic.  Not bad, I think I was somewhere in the top 3500 overall.  With it in the books, I found what I need to fix, have a great coach in Jim Crowell who will make me stronger @ Integrated Fitness, and have a whole year to plan.  Now to regionals to judge and cheer on CF Pittsburgh and CF RAW from the local area. Also gotta mention my good friend and far far away training partner Rick Sinclair who made the 2011 Reebok CF Games in the 55-59 Masters category, I can't wait to be there my friend!

CF Games WOD's 11.1 - 11.4

Well as you can tell, I haven't been traveling much. I've visited a new local box, CF Focus (113), and met some new and old friends alike.  Bryan and the crew at CF Focus are really great and I'm glad some of my old CFC friends have migrated there.
Now on to the sectional WOD's. 
So I may have been a little too amp'd up for WOD 11.1 (10 Min AMRAP 30 DU/15 GTOH @ 75), so much that I game myself a concussion in the 1st round and the 12th rep of snatches.  I did get up and finish the WOD, but not very well.  This rung my bell so hard that I tried this WOD three times in the alotted and barely got thru 5 rounds. Not a great start, nowhere near what I knew I could do. 
Wod 11.2 (15min AMRAP 9 DL @ 155/12 Hand Release Push Ups/15 Box Jump @ 24") wasn't much better to me.  Still reeling from my concussion and the fact that my goat may be box jumps, I didn't do much better.  My head was swimming, hips were burning and I wasn't having fun at all.  So another lack luster performance was had and my regionals fate was sealed.  Maybe next year. 
Now with nothing left to play for, it was time to have fun with WOD 11.3 (5min AMRAP 165# Squat Clean and Jerk).  Actually I started feeling better so just wanted to have fun with one.  Too bad this was right up my alley! I got thru 24 rds on Sat and 29rds on Sun, which was a sure sign that I was feeling much better. 
WOD 11.4 (10min AMRAP 60 Bar Facing Burpees/30 OHS @ 120/10 MU) came out and I decided to keep my same attitude about it all, just have fun.  I haven't had much time to practice MU's due to height limitations, but hell I've tried many short hanging MU's leading up to this WOD.  Again I got 2 days to try this 96 was Sat and 101 was Sun.  I was slower at Burpees and OHS, but killed the short rings vice the rings we put on the basketball hoop.
Well Wod 11.5 (???) comes out in just under 24 hours and I think I'm gonna have the same attitude I've had the last few weeks, just have fun.  Sitting in the bottom 40% after two weeks and now in the top 60% after four weeks.  If only I wouldn't have dropped the bar on my head, just goes to show you that you can't prepare for everything and to have fun with this stuff.  It's all for fun unless your an elite athlete. 

Powerlifting with Westside

So Jim Crowell and I are in Columbus, OH at Westside Barbell for the CF Powerlifting Cert.  This place is legit.  No signs, no advertising, just hard core athletes doing what they do best, LIFTING HEAVY SHIT! We've met world champions, world record holders, and crossfit champions.  We started off watching a typical dynamic day with Louis Simmons lifters, 12x2 box squats in very fast succession.  WINNING! Went over some lecture information, question, and demonstrations. All good stuff, but I was ready to put this info to work.  We did some work on the mono lift, it was interesting to see that all the time that I was going wide, wasn't wrong after all.  Then we went over the deadlift, but on bands, this makes for very explosive lifts and really gets you going.  Which led to the class setting PR's in the deadlift and if you know me, I love a good deadlift! I got in on the 405 rep, then 455 rep, and then the question was asked by Louis himself "What is your PR?" As I told he said throw on 555 but then questioned if I was really wanting to go up 100. I told him lefts roll and then pulled the triple nickel like it 135! It felt so awesome to dominate something.  After some more demo's and even doing banded power cleans, which is very difficult, we tried a power clean PR. One guy almost 300, I was happy to PR @ 250.  Day 1 was done so what better way to celebrate than with a drop in WOD at CF Core (112) in Lancaster, OH.
Great space, good wod, and very nice people. Jim actually even got to be a client for a change. We met the trainers Greg and Shelley, reviewed the wod (made some changes dues to equipment) and off we went!
4 Rds of 15 backsquats @135 (cleaned from the ground), 15 ring push ups, & down and back bear crawl, VESTED.  Jim just over 7, me just under 9, & everyone else finished strong!  Thanks for a great time CF Core, hope to see you again in the future.
The rest was an amazing time of learning new techniques, ways to increase my work capacity and met some cool new people.  Thanks WSBB for opening their doors to the CF world and thanks to Louis, AJ, Gene, Shayne, Chris, Laura, and everyone else for taking time out to share with us your knowledge.

New Things Back Home!

So I went home this weekend to see  my new nephew Kai.  He's adorable. He's like half of my thigh size but he's a rockstar. Great job little brother.

Now on to the fun stuff. 

I stopped by to check out CF Cornerstone (109) to meet up with one of my good friends Jenna and get a WOD in.  This was a different box to say the least.  I have never seen the week laid out in chalk for you to pick.  Brandon K was there when I walked in and explained how things worked at CFC.  It was totally cool how they gave people options but odd how I didn't have my favorite elements of CF, the class and competition.  Jenna and I decided to hit a little CF Total, odd how much I actually like this WOD.  Jenna pulled a 367 and I upped all my lifts 190 Press (+5), 380 Back Sqaut (+5), & 545 (+20).  I actually failed at the top of 555.  A great time was had and I can't wait to see what CFC has in store for their next box. Good Luck guys!

 

 

A long party night turned into an early morning.  Got to CF Covington (110) about 30 minutes early.  Turns out that I grew up down the alley from CFC.  Emily and her crew and family worked super hard to bring that old machine shop to Crossfit life!  I actually met Emily once before at CFNKY so I got a little special treatment.  I really wanted to do the demo wod vice the "Jimbo" wod and Emily was totally cool with it.  After some welcomes, explanations, & the bet between the demo team, we started the WOD of 10 HSPU, 10 DL @ 275, 10 Pull Ups, 10 Clean & Jerks @ 135, 10 Burpees, 10 KB Swings @ 53#, and 1 rope climb.  Eveyone in WOD did a tremendous job, I'll let the pictures explain it all.

While the 2nd group workout was going Jenna and I snuck off to CF Hustle (111) in Erlanger, KY. This box has a ton of potential. Owner Rich Vos planned ahead when picking a place with space.  We did a FGB style with Box Jumps, Double Unders, KB Swings, & Sit Ups.  Good scores all around and I even climbed the 24' rope and signed my name at the top.  Good Stuff Mr. V and I can't wait to see what is in store for your future. 

Now we all rush back for some Paleo food and adult beverages at CF Covington.  Fun time ensued and I got to meet a great staff of enthusiastic crossfitters.  Emily, Jarrett, Laura, and the rest of the CFC crew have a line up in store and I'm looking forward to what they are going to bring to fitness in the Greater Cincinnati Area.  Had a blast everyone, it was hard to leave! See ya soon!!!!!!