Hit Me Baby, One More Time

Today, I whooped up on the CFS advanced WOD and then PR'd by a full minute on "Jackie". Then I started a street fight with these two black belt Karate dudes from the dojo next door. I won, of course. Topped off my day with a ride on my custom built west coast chopper- laid the bike out twice, but I'm good. Soooooo gangster, right? No. Why not so gangster, you ask? Because it's really hard to be gangster about anything when you used to be in a boy band. Yep, Jeremy... that's what's called "leverage against your mohawk'd-tatted up-crossfit-loving-Filipino-butt for at least the rest of your life" - probably longer.

Although no amount of seeing the world, headlining tours, or albums recorded and sold will ever make my former life very cool...fortunately for me, it was just that: Very cool. From my vantage point, I was for 4 years afforded the opportunity to get paid to wake up in a different city each day, put stuff like "Slinky's" on a tour rider just to see if the venue would put one in my dressing room (which actually worked), and make music. Well, pretty gay music at times, but still music none-the-less. Ok, gay music all of the time but...I got paid to make it? This isn't going well. Hmmm. How about this: Gay music, all of the time, but I got to do sweet synchronized, choreograghed dance moves.

Soooooo....

Did I mention that I PR'd on "Jackie" today? Yeah, I know. I'm gangster like that.

The Little Box That Could.

Naysayers. If you're in the CrossFit game long enough, you eventually hear them, planting business seeds of doubt here, a little dab of "You'll never make it without me" there. There will always be naysayers. Always. Even when you do the right thing- even when you're honest, even when you try your very best, even when you provide people with positive, effective solutions to their problems- there will always be naysayers. So, what then, do you do? I see it as being a pretty simple solution: You continue to do the right thing, remain honest, always give your best effort, and help people solve their problems. Until one day, you find you have traveled so far that when you look back, you can barely even make out the faces or the voices of your detractors.

As I contemplate the steady growth of CrossFit Sringfield, the thought of moving into yet another larger facility to accomodate our oft overflowing group WODs and rowing classes seems staggering. It seems we were just moving into our current 5,000 sq ft facility less than a year ago with the thought that we'd never be able to outgrow the space very soon. Well...very soon is now upon us and the out-growth of the box we're in is becoming more and more evident each day. Even though it gives me a little anxiety, expanding our operation into a larger space with a larger overhead and a larger pricetag kind of gets me fired up. Not fired up at the thought of expanding some CrossFit Springfield empire hellbent on global domination (though, hey we'd take it :). No, I'm fired up at the opportunity to continue to build the CFS community, I'm fired up at the opportunity that CrossFit Springfield will have in the coming years to impact the Ozarks community through the pooling and giving of our many resources. My prayer is that we would continue to expand our influence in town and encourage and help those in need in the best ways we know how. No matter whether that need is fitness related or otherwise, my vision is that CrossFit Springfield will be a useable, tangible source of strength within our community. Wherever the road leads, I'm confident of this: The CrossFit Springfield team of partners, coaches, members and clients continue to forge a legitimate bond that few groups of people ever truly find in life. If we would point our collected hearts in the right direction and continue to move forward together, there won't be a naysayer in the world with words big enough to overtake the great works we can, and will, do.

~Cochise

I Feel Funny.

It's been a good week. As planned, I showed up ready to hit it hard on Monday did a 30-3-20-2-10-1 Bench Press strength workout (185-255-205-265-225-275), the Texas Throwdown 9-6-3 "D.T." WOD (in 3:42), and a 3,000m Row. Tuesday I did the 3 rds of 30 Hang Squat Snatches & 30 WallBalls WOD from the '09 Cfit Games in 14:23. I'm not sure if it's that my body feels wrecked from the past couple days of training or from eating paleo again or a combination of both but, regardless, I woke up this morning feeling pretty funny. And not funny like "Funny Ha Ha" funny like "Oh, that's funny: I feel like I just got hit squarely in my privates and twice on both ears with a ball-peen hammer."

Anyways, today I decided to take an active recovery day and did a 2.5 mile run and a 21-15-9 WOD of CTB pull ups, Knees to Elbows, and KB Swings in 7:15. Ok, so the 21-15-9 ended up being alot more work than I'd bargained on, but I was happy with my time to say the least. The weather was absolutely gorgeous during my run. I ran along the part of the Ozark Greenways trail that takes you around the pond at Nathaniel Greene Park. The cool breeze whipping off the water felt nice and refreshing. It was great to just trot along, not keep time, and enjoy the landscape and the day.

Monday Gameface: ON

Sometimes you go through the weekend and by Monday feel like you never really had a chance to relax, catch your breath, and get your gameface on for the new week. Other times you get invited to the Wistrom's lake casa for the weekend and do nothing for two days except straight up marinate in the sun and stuff your face with fajita's, margaritas, and ice cream. It was definitely a nice precursor to the 6 week CFS paleo challenge which starts tonight. I've decided I'm going to do my best to adhere to it as much as possible for the entire duration. I pretty much did the whole paleo thing for 2 months prior to Sectionals and really felt it benefitted my training and overall athletic performance.

My training as of late has been going well. Last Thursday I did FGB. I was feeling a bit fatigued going into the day, but managed a score of 379 (PR is 385). Based off of having performed the WOD quite a few times now, I could tell I punked out, felt sorry for myself, and held back when I was at my breaking point in rds 2 and 3. On Friday I did a Clean and Jerk 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 max effort and reached my PR of 260lb. On my 265lb attempt, I was extremely close to locking it out and just didn't quite drop under the bar enough to make the lift. I did, however, manage to make a complete fool of myself by throwing a temper-tantrum of epic proportions after the failed attempt. After picking up everything I kicked over and apologizing to all those who were witness to my childlike outburst :), I did what any good frustration-ridden CrossFitter would do and took out my angst on a 10min AMRAP WOD of: 4 Burpees, 6 TTB, and 8 DB Snatches @ 45lb. I completed exactly 9 and 2/3 rounds.

Today, in an attempt to punish myself for my gluttonous performance this weekend, I did the CFS WOD from Saturday- "Run, Barbara, Run". I finished it in 28:54 and almost vomited at minutes 15 through 28. It felt good to sweat it out, though.

As I mentioned before, I had a great weekend- it was a blast getting to relax and spend some time friends and family. I also think I found a new past-time to conquer: wakeboarding. I'd never tried it before Saturday. I actually told myself going into the weekend, "Self: Do not attempt to engage in any new watersports because you're the one who always manages to find a way to get injured." Now, anyone who knows me well, knows that if ever there is a new and adventurous deed to be done, I'm the guy who tends to be all in- but I also happen to be the same guy who ends up in the ER. Fortunately, this time at least, I was smart enough to dole off only enough "wakeboarding crack" to get myself hooked and not so much as to overdose and kill myself...but you wouldn't believe it based on Vin's reaction to me wiping out...

Overhead Squat PR

Today: OHS 1-1-1-1-1-1-1. After a good warm-up, my progression was 1 x 5 @ 155lb, 1 x 3 @ 185lb, 1 x 3 @ 205lb, 1 x 3 @ 225lb, 235lb, 245lb, 269lb-fail (we were using kg plates as well as lb plates), 255lb, 265lb, 270lb PR, 275lb-fail (got it overhead- but I couldn't keep it locked out during the squat descent).

There was a great energy in the box all day today. Brian, Grant, and Melissa hit PRs on this WOD as well- which was very cool (see video below). Afterwards, we did the CFS advanced WOD which was 21-15-9 of: 115/75lb OHS & Chest to Bar Pull Ups. My time was 5:34. 115lb OHS felt like absolutely nothing after the heavy lift.

Whereas I used to lift heavy once or at most twice a week, my S.E.M rotation (strength, endurance, metcon) has forced me into doing strength WODs 3-5 times per week- contingent on how many 2-a-days I program for myself. I've had a few people recently ask me why all of the sudden I've PR'd on alot of the major lifts. The answer is quite simple: Right now, I'm practicing them with greater frequency and purposefully increasing my heavy lift exposure time. I heard a great quote while attending the CrossFit Football Certification that went something like, "Don't expect your 1RM to increase on any given lift when you're doing WODs like 'Murph' 5 days a week." Now, hey, if your conditioning sucks and if you're not hurting in the 1RM department- by all means- practice your metcons and chippers like crazy. I, for one, just happen to not have ever been the greatest 5-3-1 lift guy. It's all about learning to be a balanced athlete-hence, CrossFit...But being a balanced athlete requires you to use discretion; it requires you to evaluate your training volume; it requires you to face your weaknesses.

With regard to my training, one of the biggest things that has erk'd me- about me- over my last year of CrossFitting has been my tendency to just hap-hazardly do random WODs with total disregard for what I'd trained prior to, or would be training in the near future. A few times, this lack of direction has led me to frustration and injury.

I Know You.

I know you. I know you're bigger, faster, and stronger than me. I know your Fran time is lower, your 5k is quicker, and your deadlift is heavier. I know you have 1,000 views on YouTube. I know you're a "WOD" Warrior. I know you.... but you don't know me. You don't know what's in my head, what's in my heart, and what's in my soul. You don't know that pain is my ally. You don't know that sweat and blood are my training partners. You don't know that I'm unbreakable. I know you train in your temperature controlled gym with the tough sounding name while I'm training in a garage exposed to the elements. In the heat and in the cold, in the humidity, rain and snow, I'm forging mental toughness. I'm tempering my resolve. I'm fueling my passion. I'm getting ready for the day we meet. I know your 1,000 YouTube views won't mean jack in front of 1,000 spectators. I know when the pressure is on, I'm goin' BIG. I know you don't know me....But you will.

~ Dave X from OPT

Ok, ok, so it's a little on the dramatic side...but it's still pretty cool. Today I did 10 x 5 Bench Press at 225lb and then 10 Rounds for time of: 10 Ring Push Ups and 20 Double Unders. Time was 9:32. Muh-bubbies-is-gonna-b-sore.

Saved by Grace

This morning I did Backsquat 30-3-20-2-10-1. I did 185lb-295lb-205lb-315lb-225lb-325lb. My legs will surely be sore tomorrow. This afternoon I did "Grace" followed by a 5 minute rest, then "Fran" followed by a 7 minute rest and then "Helen". I hit a new PR on "Grace" with a time of 1:46 (previous PR of 1:56). I knew that by going full boar at "Grace" my other two WODs would suffer, but I really didn't care about my other two times today. No, today I wanted to PR on "Grace". Period. The last time I did "Grace" was on St. Patrick's Day in a kilt. The kilt was awesome- what wasn't awesome was that I initially thought I had PR'd but after reviewing the video I found that I only did 29 reps. uhhhhhhgh. I wanted to make sure history didn't repeat itself, so today, with flip video running, I talked Erik, Meggin, and Mary into counting my reps so I could keep track of where I was. It also didn't hurt to have them violently screaming sweet nothing's into my earhole like "You need to stop being a weiner, pick up the bar, hurry up and finish!" Boy am I glad to be finished and even happier to have gotten a new PR out of the whole mess.



By the way, just to throw myself under the bus- my subsequent "Fran" time was 5:02 followed by a blazing "Helen" time of 15 minutes. Ohhhh yeahhh, I was bookin' it after that "Grace". No.

Weighted Pull Up WOD

125lb Weighted Pull Up @ a BW of 200lb

Today I hit up the 1RM weighted pull up crossfit.com WOD from yesterday with a buddy of mine, Larry, who I enjoy making fun of for an assortment of reasons (all in good fun, of course)- the main reason being that he's what I'd call a bit of a "fairweather crossfitter". This is the type of person who picks and chooses crossfit WODs to do based on (a) ones that they're good at, or (b) based on whether or not the WODs fit into their weekly YMCA workout rotation of arms, chest, back, and shoulders (no legs, of course). Don't get me wrong, Larry's a beast. Today, at a bodyweight of 165lb Larry successfully performed a 135lb weighted pull up, beating my best effort of 125lb (BW of 200lb). In all honesty, during my first year of crossfitting, I was without a doubt a fairweather crossfitter. As I realized the benefits of moving large loads, long distances, quickly, I slowly but surely I phased out the shoulder shrugs, lateral raises, and bicep curls and traded them for cleans, push presses, and pull ups. Now, at age 30, I would beat the living crap out of the 25 year-old version of me.

Larry, during a 135lb weighted pull up

After the weighted pull up workout, we did a quick-hitter of 15-12-9 Front Squat @ 155lb, Weighted Ring Pull Up @ 25lb, and Row 150/120/90m. It was the perfect "get-in, get-out" Sunday WOD. My time was 10:29.

Shoulders Officially Smoked.

260lb Ground to Overhead at the 2010 CrossFit Games North Central Regionals

Yesterday, I had a main course of 75 KB Swings @ 55lb, 50 H.P.C @ 115lb, 25 Push Press @ 115lb *For time- everytime you break a set, you must run 100m. I did the swings unbroken, ran 100m, did 20 H.P.C, ran 100m, 20 H.P.C, ran 100m, 10 H.P.C straight into 10 Push Press, ran 100m, and finished with 15 Push Press. Time = 9:42. Freakin' sweet WOD. It was challenging having to decide whether I had it in me to fight through more reps or just drop the bar and hit the road.

In the afternoon, I did push jerk 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 and reached 260lb (ties PR). It's been awhile since I've felt that "super-good-next-day-sore" feeling in my shoulders and traps- I'm definitely feelin' it today! I've hit it 6 consecutive days so I think I'm gonna take a rest day today and enjoy some chill time with the family. Here's to the weekend! Cheers!

"5k Gone Bad!"

CrossFit Springfield will be having a "5k Gone Bad" event benefitting the Wistrom Family Foundation this fall. We're still hashing out all of the details, but I wrote the WOD a few days ago and decided to give it a try today. It took me all of 34 minutes and 33 seconds to trudge through it in the mid-day heat. I'm pleased with the way the workout plays out. Stay tuned, YO! This event should be a good one!

One of our members, Paul Elmer snabbed some footage of a CFS trainer's WOD that we did last Sunday prior to a meeting and put it up on youtube. The WOD was:

1 Ground to OH, 185/115lb
10 Burpees
2 Ground to OH, 185/115lb
20 Bench Press, 185/115lb
3 Ground to OH, 185/115lb
30 KB Goblet Squats, 70/55lb
4 Ground to OH, 185/115lb
40 Pull Ups
5 Ground to OH, 185/115lb
50 Lateral Squat Jumps over 12" Parallette

I can't recall exactly, but I think it took me around 15 or 16 minutes. Here's just a couple minutes of the beginning of it (half of us started with the lateral squat jumps and worked the WOD from the bottom up):

Doodle-eedle-doodle-ee!!!

Thunderchicken outdid himself this time. Today's Coach B-crafted CFS "Thunderchicken" WOD absolutely kicked my teeth in. It was 10 minutes of 3 Deadlifts, 2 Squat Cleans, and 1 Push Press (all with 155lb) at the top of each minute. With the remainder of each minute, your objective was to perform as many pull ups as possible. Your score is total pull ups performed. The workout might as well have been called "The Human Trash Compactor" cuz that's exactly what it felt like. My strategy was to empty the tank and unload everything I had from the git-go on the pull ups. Genius, I know. I did 40 pull ups the first minute...then 10, 10, 9, 5, 3, 4, 3, 0, and 5 reps for a total of 89. Attaboy, Jeremy...way to keep it consistent.

The backhanded compliment to myself reminds me...growing up, I was never good at taking criticism. But for realz, who is? I mean, it's not really in our nature to want to acknowledge our shortcomings, failures, and mistakes. However, as I've gotten older, I sometimes find it easier to take correction and criticism than to accept sincere compliments or embrace encouragement. I had breakfast with a friend this morning who issued a challenge to me. Not like a "Let's fight to the death. Right here; Right now" type of challenge, but more a life-challenge to stay the course and continue pressing onwards and upwards. I gotta be honest, it kind of caught me off-gaurd to the point that I actually felt like I might have reacted a little defensively. Later, as I reflected on the conversation, I realized how dumb I had been for not immediately being receptive to the encouraging and empowering words that had been spoken to me. I'll cut to the chase and get to my point: When we're fortunate enough to be extended a kind or encouraging word, accepting the compliment affords us the opportunity to acknowledge our blessings. Acknowledging our blessings helps us to not take them forgranted. And not taking our blessings forgranted, ultimately allows us to become more empathetic and compassionate when we encounter those in need.

On a similar note, I was talking with some friends today about the B.O.B song "The kids don't stand a chance" and how it's kind of sad to think about the world our kids will be growing up in. There certainly are SO many things mankind has done to screw this place up- but- here's the good news- AND- Hopefully an encouraging word to you for the day...Although we're promised and even guaranteed to face adversity and tribulation in this world, there is hope in knowing that it's possible to live each day with a peace and an unshakeable courage. Why? Because God has already overcome the things of this world (John 16:33...check it, yo).

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but He has given us a spirit of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control." 2 Timothy 1:7 (AMP)

New Snatch PR!!!

“Stick to the basics and when you feel you’ve mastered them it’s time to start all over again, begin anew – again with the basics – this time paying closer attention.” Coach Glassman

Sometimes, good things come when you least expect them. I had no intention of practicing snatch today, let alone hitting a new PR. This morning at 9:15, I did a "chipper" WOD with Grant & Seabiscuit. I'm calling it the "I need a hero" WOD because it includes portions of "Badger", "Randy", "Nate", and "Jason".

For time:

1 Rd of "Badger"
30 Squat Cleans, 95lb
30 Pull Ups
Run 800m

1/3 of a heavy "Randy"
25 Power Snatches, 95lb

5 Rds of "Nate":

2 Ms Ups
4 HSPU
6 KB Swings, 2 pood

1 Rd of "Jason"
7 Ms Ups
21 Burpees over 12" parallette

Time was 29:45. I had so much sweat all over my hands that I kept sliding out of my false grip on the muscle ups. I wasted probably 2-3 minutes having to dry off and re-chalk in between reps. On a less humid day, I have no doubt I could do this one in around 25 minutes. No matter, it was a great WOD.

This afternoon, the Wistroms came back and went through oly lift programming that Melissa has received from Tracy Fober. I figured I'd jump in and play along. Although the workout called for reaching around 75-85% of your max for 2 x 5, once I was warm I decided to keep going up. My previous Snatch PR was 205lb back at the end of April. Today I hit a new PR with a snatch of 215lb. Thanks to all those who were there, cheering me on- the added eyes definitely helped me to focus.

Here's some video of the workout:

210lb Snatch...

215lb Snatch PR...

Blackhawk Downtime

Today Jessi and Ashley called me out of the blue at around 1pm and informed me that one of their friends, who is a Blackhawk helicopter pilot, had just landed his chopper at Fort & Sunshine for a "Make a Wish Foundation" event. I sprang into action quickly and told Vincent, "Hey dude, you wanna go see a helicopter?!" To which he replied, "Ahhhhh! Helicocker!!!! I wanna go se da helicocker!!! (brief pause) I pooped, daddy!" So, after quickly mopping my sons buttocks free and clear of said poop, we both ventured out to see said "helicocker". It was awesome. Vin's at that funny/ somewhat awkward 2 year old age where everything is new and exiting and amazing...until he realizes that there are other humans around who are watching him- then he kind of clams up and gets quiet. So when we pulled up to the Blackhawk, he was awestruck at first, but as we walked towards the chopper, he noticed everyone watching him and immediately got all shy. Funny thing is: As shy as he acted, he couldn't hide from me the sheer amazement that I saw in his eyes. As a father, it was so cool to see him take in the whole experience...Gotta love days like these :)

Snatch Balance 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

I've been looking forward to trying my hand at this lift for a while. The past few weeks, I've been waiting for the right place to throw it into my little "S.E.M" rotation. Today was the day. I've only tried to hit higher loads on snatch balance once or twice before- and both times I shut it down around 205 or 215lb. The more I train the major lifts, oly lifts, and skill transfer lifts, the more I realize the importance of progression and the need for a proper warm up. It might also be because I turned 30 this year and now my body figuratively "flips me the bird" every time I try to rush into a WOD. Any WOD. At any rate, I took my time, and although I missed once or twice I managed to hit alot as well. I'm both happy and thankful to report my 2nd PR this week with a Snatch Balance of 245lb. Then I realize that I'm really not that cool because I have the same as Snatch Balance PR as 2010 CrossFit Games 3rd Place finisher, Chris Spealler's Snatch Balance PR. I weigh 200lb and Speal weighs 140lb, yet he can throw up 105lb OVER his own BW! In France, I believe the word for this phenomenon is, "Le-Git". It's all downhill for me from here, kiddos :)

Here's some video of the workout:

205lb...

...a 225lb miss (featuring bonus temper tantrum footage)...

a successful 225lb attempt...

...here's 235lb...

...and finally, the 245lb PR...

5 Rds: Run 400m & 21 Ring Dips

I don't run fast. But I bet I'd run faster if I got all dolled up in a speedo like Zach in the above portrait which I've affectionately titled "Amante de la Carrera". This, of course, in espanol translates to: "Hello there. I have fireworks hidden within my undergarments. Please, no smoking."

I got 18 and some change...I can't remember exactly. However, I do seem to vaguely remember really not enjoying myself during the runs. Wait a gosh-darn tic...ohhhh, thaaaat's right...I hate running. Since I hate it so much I've been running a little more lately. You know, working my weaknesses and so forth. Yeah, it's been absolutely spectacular, practicing this phenomenon they call jogging- I actually believe it's pronounced "yawgging" (soft "J").

I think I may be getting worse.

Any Given W.O.Day

I ended Saturday's post with, "Win some, you lose some." In my ongoing war against the WOD, I would definitely call today's battle a victory. The last time I max'd out on deadlift (4/13/10) I pulled 485lb, but promised to eventually get the elusive (for me anyways) "5 Benjamin DLift". Today at noon, I was finally able to pick it up. Oh, it was ugly- but I got it none the less. Big thanks to Grant, Brian, and the noon crew for coaching me through.

My progression was: 3 x 5 deadlift @ 135lb, 2 x 5 deadlift @ 225lb, 1 x 5 deadlift @ 315lb, then 405/455/495f/455/475/495/500PR. I tried 515lb once just for fun...didn't budge it but I did come close to faceplanting afterwards.

I've had fun over the past 3 weeks with my training. I'm enjoying the stucture of this whole "S.E.M Project" game I've been playing. The unknown and unknowable is cool and all, but for the time being it's refreshing to have a game-plan.

Me vs Me

Yesterday (Sunday), I did the "Double Helen Pyramid" WOD from the games with Darryl, Brian, and Grant. Hitting this one at 1pm with the heat index at 105 degrees and the uphill runs really made me wish I'd waited for the opportunity to do it on an indoor air-conditioned track with a go-cart. My strategy was to lay back and not finish first on the 1200m run (which I did), and then try to complete the first round of 63 KB swings in 3 sets or less (I got'em in 3- broke at 43, 53, and 63). My time ended up being 22:18. All things considered, I was happy with my performance. The swings and pull ups weren't too bad- it was the 800m and 400m runs that crushed me. Of course, I'm sure if I would've pushed the runs a little harder I'd have struggled more on the other modalities.

Today I hit the 9am CFS group WOD. I had initially planned on doing a different met-con today, but after writing the "12 Pack" WOD last night I was anxious to take a dose of my own medicine. Awesome/awful idea. Absolutely brutal workout. I ripped through the first 7 0r 8 movements and was probably on pace to finish in around 10-11 minutes...then I hit the 12 hang squat cleans. I had hoped to do two sets of 6 and ended up doing 4 sets of 3...then I hit the shoulder presses. I had the 12th rep just above my head at 11:56 and couldn't quite lock it out. Having to redo it cost me around 20 seconds, making my final time 12:18. Grrrr...oh, well. It's funny cuz even after not performing as well as I know I could've at regionals this year, I was more pissed off at myself today than I was then. It's mainly because I know that at regionals, even though things didn't go as well as I'd hoped for, I gave everything I had. Today I know I left a little gas in the tank during the couple of times in the WOD that I started feeling sorry for myself. It's easy to say, "Oh, I could've gotten sub-this or that if I would've had someone coaching me through" (which, by the way, is exactly what I told myself and others all day) but the real test of fortitude is when you can push yourself to your absolute limit when it's just you and the bar vs the clock.

~ Cochise out