One Morning in New Orleans....

(8/10)  So I went to New Orleans…it happens.  I got in late….my friends were already on Bourbon St…..I went to bed to get ready for a little fun in the morning…..my way!

 

3 boxes, 3 WODS, and all before I could eat the steam bison burger I would get between boxes 2 and 3. 

 

Up early to hit the first WOD of the morning.  I must say people are still up and drinking at 0700 on Friday morning in this town! 

 

I worked my way over to CF Nola 504 (280) where I was met with Nutts!    Nutts: 10 HSPU, 15 deadlifts @ 250, 25 Box jumps at 30”, 50 Pull ups, 100 wall balls, 200 double unders and 400m run with a 45# plate.  Nutts is dirty, so I only did ½ knowing what was in store for me for the rest of the day. 5/8/13/25/50/100.  I don’t remember the time, somewhere around 9 minutes.  I had a total blast at 504 and the space was awesome.  Plenty of room and great people there too!  I have a feeling I may see this again really soon……

 

 

 

After I grabbed a shirt or two, I headed over to CF New Orleans (281) for their 0930 WOD.  This was goona be fun.  We kinda started in waves due to the sheer volume of people and not enough rowers but it all worked out.  One of their best asked to race, so I said ok.  So we took off after our 10 rounds of 250m row, 7 DB strict presses, Left side @ 35, 14 stick sit ups, 7 R presses, and 7 elevated pushups.  It was rough, I think I barely won that battle, but he said he did extra pushups.  No worries, nothing extra in here ever hurt me.  Tony was super cool and I had a good time.  The crew was very supportive of one another and I liked that.  There was one drop in from Lafayette who was awesome too, I so wish I could remember her name.  If I ever run into her again, I owe her another sweaty hug!

 

 

No, I haven’t eaten yet, but I still have this feeling I’m gonna see Nutts again.  After waiting for that awesome bison burger, I found my way into CF NOLA (282)  and saw Nutts!  This time owners Jeff and Molly were there and saved me from doing it again.  Instead, I got to do two other painful workouts, one with Molly and one for Syn.  WOD 1: 11m EMOM of 2 Cleans @ 205 and 1 30” box jump.  Not bad.  Molly is a beast FYI!!!  WOD 2: 15rd 1 Squat snatch into 5 Overhead squats.  5 @ 95, 5 @ 115, 5 @ 135.  Each set got harder; each set sucked more and more.  CF NOLA was awesome.  People, staff, and location were all totally perfect.  I don’t think the truck driver liked Molly pushing the sled down the street, but he’ll get over it.  Thank you so much for having me

 

If you end up in the Big Easy, hit up all these places.  They are totally welcoming and will kick you in your “beers as big as your head” ass!

 

I do have only one regret though, my car was blocked in on Saturday morning and I couldn’t make it out to Crescent City CF.  Anne T. has become one of those text/email friends that I look forward to talking to all the time.  I promise that I will make it to C3F before I head to the island! 

 

Ok, next stop is the river with the girls!



UpTown in Indiana, PA

 

 

(8/3)  Quick Post!!! 

 

Was on my way to Nittany Valley and stopped at a cool space in the bottom of a church.....in a no shit vault!  UpTown CF (279) in Indiana, PA.  I wish I was making this up.  Totally unique.  There were three of us for this nights fun wod of:

 

5RDS

400m Run

&

10 Hang Power Snatches @ 115

 

We finished this bad boy up in just over 12 min.  The other two guys were new but still did a great job.  Totally a fun time and like I said a unique space.  Give them a shot if your ever visiting IUP.

 

 

 

Saol & Utility

 

(7/28)  Another weekend comes and so does another trip to NE Ohio. 

 

 

            First stop was CF Saol (277) in Twinsburg, OH.  Coach and owner Sean Humphreys was hard at work teaching the previous class when we arrived.  We watched and cheered on the others as we warmed up.  Wife and Co-owner Megan was hard at work drying out the gym since I met a little water with all the previous nights rain.  Class wound up only being us, so coach Sean joined in the WOD with me. A 20m AMRAP of 5 tire flips, 10 thrusters, 20 KB swings and 30 Double unders with 3 rope climbs during the 20 min.  I wasn’t feeling so hot so I only finished 3 rounds.  Thanks for showing us a great time, next time I won’t leave my stuff there…I hope not anyway. 

 

 

Next stop was a team WOD at CF Utility (278) in Green, OH.  My partner was someone I actually met before.  My partner Jeremy and I competed together at the Intense Games, Winter Chiller back in January.  20 rounds of alternating exercises of 5 HSPU, 10 box jumps, 10 sit ups, 10 squats, and 5 burpees was we had in front of us.  I wasn’t feeling super hot still but I held up my end of the team as we finished up in 22:40.    CFU was a blast and everyone was really supportive of one another.  I’m glad we made the journey, it was totally worth it.  Stop by, you won’t be disappointed. 

 

I’m trying to get caught up while I can…sorry again for being behind. 

Intergrated South Side Opens

Integrated Fitness –South Side  

Well the time has come to finally open the doors Integrated Fitness’s newest location, now in the south side area of Pittsburgh and is one block off the very popular Carson St.

Today the crew from the South Hills location headed down for the Grand Opening event.  There were many different WOD choices for the day including burpees and thrusters AMRAP, a chipper and my favorite Yoke carries and Wall Balls.

The new location looks like it will a great asset to the IF family.  Tommy M. is great coach and will keep our crew growing on that end of town.   

To great things in the future for Jim Crowell and Josh Bobrowsky's newest venture and looking forward to it’s official CF affiliate name.

 

2012 Post Games

 

Day 1 of 2 (7/16)

LAX CF (273) - Los Angeles, CA

 

I ran into an old buddy from DC here.  I’ve never really seen him anywhere else but on the road and this was no exception.  He is a coach at Patriot/Potomac and he was at my 200^th box in Hawaii last time I saw him.  It was deadlift day at LAX, I love deadlift day.  LAX had a pretty cool space not too far from the airport, hence the name.  They were really cool to having visitors from all over that day.  Besides reps from DC and PA, I think NY and South Africa were covered as well.  The scheme for the day was 1-10-1-20-1-30 or 515-405-485-335-445-265.  A good amount of lifting got done and I was happy to get it done.  Totally cool peeps there and glad we made the trip. 

 

 

Culver City CF (274) – Culver City, CA

This was a really cool space, tucked away inside a MMA & Krav studio.  Here I met Danny, a gung ho trainer, coach, and champion master’s power lifter.  He was totally cool and made me feel like one of the crew from the minute I walked in.  After our warm up, Danny introduced me to the class and then explained the WOD to everyone/

Master’s Chipper: 10 deadlifts @ 270, 20 pull ups, 30 box jumps, 40 kb swings, 50 double unders and then 40-30-20-10 again.  We all did great and everyone cheered each other on till the end.  I had a great time here and I would come back in a heartbeat.  Totally awesome time there and would go back there without a doubt. 

 

Day 2 of 2 and last day in Cali  

Intrepid CF (275) – El Segundo, CA

 

Being the last day, I was kinda glad we ended on a strength note.  Intrepid was tucked away in an industrial / residential combo area.  Owner and head coach Sean had strict presses and hang power cleans for us.  I was technically in a deload week so I actually decided to stick to my deload numbers for the week.  Both lifts were 3x3:  Presses - 115, 135, 155 & HPC - 135-185-225.  Sean was very good at helping everyone with their lifts and making sure form was good all around.  He did really well with Ellie and it was the best she had felt since her injury.  He had some really nice clients and I'm glad I got to meet them, especially the girl who had a super hero themed outfit planned for every day of that week.  Thanks for having us!

 

Well after a shower and a quick packing job, it's time to say goodbye to Cali for a while.  Not sure what's next, but 300 is getting close!!!!!

2012 Games - Pre

           I’m here! Cali is my birthplace and the home of the 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games.  This is my third year as a judge for the games and I’m super excited for everything going down in a few days at the Home Depot Center (HDC).  Before we get there though, we got to pregame. 

 

I WARN YOU NOW, THERE WERE A LOT OF WODs HARMED IN THIS BLOG, BUT I WILL ONLY GIVE THE HIGHLIGHTS!

 

 

(7/10) Day 1 of 3

 

Brick CF (267)– West Hollywood, CA 

Awesome people!  I got to meet Carl Paoli, who turned out to be someone I hung out with all week, a couple from CF Midlo, a box I visited 116 boxes ago, and Bob Harper.  Bob Harper actually called me a “lil nutz”.  The strength portion was 10-5-5-3 OHS (135-155-185-225).  Our WOD on the other hand was done in game style of 3m on, 2m off, 5m on, 2m out, and then all of it. 

10 Power Snatches @ 115#, 10 Hand Release Clapping Push Ups, 20 Pull Ups, 20 Air Squats, 30 Sit Ups, 30 DB push Presses @ 35$ and then 20-20-10-10

I finished up 78reps-135reps-8:56.  Not too bad, I did fairly well against the others and on the board. All in all though, Brick was a blast to visit.  I had a lot of fun and was pushed by the other guys around me.  Totally worth the visit and I think I’m going to Iceland with Carl one day too.

 

90 min rest

Cave CF (268)– Hollywood, CA

Green!  They love green there.  One of the coolest signs I’ve seen yet.  I met the owners, Zee and Brian, since I was a few minutes early.  Today was team WOD day, so once I got my partner, and then the WOD movements were explained to us all, we went at it. 

 

 

We finished up fairly quick, little did I know or realize that my partner, Alonzo, was on his 4^th workout ever and I was pushing a bit too hard.  I actually had to finish up the last of the power cleans by myself since he was in the bathroom meeting Pukie.  Overall, I had a great time and it was totally worth the visit.  Thanks for having me, I had a blast, just don’t let me drink any of that crazy mix you had Zee.

(7/11) Day 2 of 3

Karma CF (269) – Manhattan Beach, CA 

I had 2 of my favorite people ever with me.  Ellie H. from Cape CF and Rick Sinclair, the 5^th fittest 55-59 year old on the planet!  Owner Katy R. was totally awesome in letting her gym become a haven for games teams and competitors.  Tropic Thunder from Australia was there with us too getting ready for the weekend.  Here there wasn’t much of a WOD, more of snatch practice for all.  Rick got back to his pre-injury PR and Ellie just worked form.  We were totally grateful to Katy for opening p her space to us.  You’re a gem and we totally appreciated it. 

 

CF Southbay (270) – Hermosa Beach, CA   

We all went from Karma to Southbay.  Rick had to go to the HDC to check in, Ellie and I hit the warm up then jumped right into a 5x5  back squat, all at 225 for me.  Then hit a WOD of 15-12-9  KB Swings and Burpees, rest 2 min and then again at a 12-9-6 of the same.  Ellie was 8 sec behind me at the break and she fell more at then fell a little more at the end.  She was determined to win but the burpees got her in the end.  SCF was totally cool and very welcoming.  Glad I made the visit.  As we left, Team Front Range and Team CFNE were showing up.  More open gym love to games crews.

 

Zen CF (271) – Manhattan Beach, CA 

Garage space. Great coach. Pool!!! Coach J. Garrett Oliver was totally awesome. Ellie and I almost had a private session, but one other college athlete showed up. The WOD of 15-12-9-6-3 Front Squats and Deadlifts @ 175# was more deceiving than it looked. The weights were different to start but due to equipment issues, we improvised. Thanks for the pain; I hurt for a few days after this front squat nightmare. Totally an awesome garage gym with the exception of tall kids cannot do double unders.

 

 

(7/12) Day 3 of 3

CF Malibu (272) – Malibu, CA  

“The Hut” was awesome.  The people were great.  I actually saw a lot of them all weekend since one of their ladies was competing as a Masters athlete.  The WOD was one of my favorites, “The Chief”.  Yesterday’s front squat party played hell on my back so I only finished 19 rounds.  Ellie killed it with like 24 rounds.  We had totally awesome time and worth getting out of bed for.  Not to mention the awesome Irish themed restaurant that was owned by a South African post WOD. 

 

Time to get to work now, the HDC is calling our names. See y’all for the post WOD report!

Cadre & Medina

 

(7/6) Once again we headed over to Ohio to take out another box or two. 

 

 

                This time we hit up CF Cadre (265) in Hudson, OH.  Pretty cool place, very spacious and very well laid out.  The trainer was amazing, very knowledgeable, even if he was exhausted from being there all day and not to mention in the heat.  He was actually a competitor in the 2008 CF Games, back when it was just a BBQ and a party.  We worked some handstand / handstand walks before hitting the WOD they had in store.  We hit a 12-9-6-3-6-9-12 rep scheme of T2B and Floor wipers @ 95#.  It was solid fun in 6:30.  CFC was one of the coolest boxes in Northern Ohio and totally worth the visit, even with the horrible heat that day.  Keep up the good work.  Follow them on Twitter @Crossfitcadre

 

 

 

(7/7)  We found a great dive bar and stayed there all night and then crashed so we could hit the 7am workout at CF Medina (266) in Medina, OH.  Here we me John’s crew and trainers, only without John.  The trainer that day was actually my counter for 12.4 #2 of the open.  She was at her Oly Cert at Integrated CF or as like to say, my box.  The class overall was a bit new but we had fun with TEAM ANGIE none the less.  My partner in most of these Ohio trips, Mari, was partner here again.  We split it up half and half, I did pull ups and push ups, she did squats and sit ups.  We had a fun time, glad to meet some more new people and see some familiar faces in the community.  Thanks for having us and keep up the good work.

 

Next stop the 2012 CF Games Pre and Post box reports...