Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Time To Get Gangsta Wit It

Forgive me, father, for I have eaten my weight in Christmas cookies. Wow. After spending a wonderfully relaxing Christmas eve, day, and day after with the family, I looked forward to cleaning back up my diet and resuming my training. The 2011 CrossFit Games Sectionals process has not yet been announced or explained- but it's gonna be here sooner than later- and with that in mind, I'm ready to ramp it up! Today was an exceptionally productive training day with my good buddy and CrossFit SOMO owner, Rodney Hamby making a guest appearance at CFS! This morning at 11pm, after having the always enlightening opportunity of visit Jenny's lady-parts doctor and listening to our tadpole's heart beat (HR was 162- don't know if that means boy or girl...I forget the wives tale but I guarantee it will surely be one or the other) I did Hang Squat Snatch 1-1-1-1-1-1-1. In all reality, for me it was hang squat snatch one meeleeon x 1 because I wouldn't stop attempting 205lb until I made the lift...And, alas, on the meeleeonth attempt, I made the lift. Exhibit A (please note David Helfrecht's exhuberent scream after I successfully completed said meeleeonth attempt):




At 1pm myself, Rodney, and Grant took on 5 Rounds for total reps of max consecutive reps 115lb Overhead Squat and max reps pull ups. You could not rest longer than 3 minutes between any effort (aka "dealbreaker clause"). Oh. My. Goodness. I would literally prefer allowing you 5 opportunities to punch me square in the face as hard as you can than to do that WOD again anytime in the immediate future (the immediate future being now until the Detroit Lions have a winning season). Max efforts are great because of their ability to force you into a serious gut-check scenario. Add the fact that both Grant and Rodney are stellar athletes and also the friendly competition factor and your weather forecast will be that of serious PAIN with a good chance of vomit. Regardless, we all got better today, and most importantly, fun was definitely had by all. After 5 rounds of action, here's what our scorecards looked like:

As you can see, I kind of bet the house on the first round of OHS and Pull Ups- not sure if that was the best strategy or not. I do know that by round 3 I was having some serious "suck it up, buttercup" talks with myself. By round 5, I was questioning my ability to do another set of anything. If you give it a truely honest and legitimate effort, max consecutive reps of anything is gonna SUCK. Like Rodney once so elequently put it: "If you wanna find out how much ball's you've got, try backsquating your bodyweight 'til failure."

Author's Note: This same guy once did just that...for 5 rounds...on one of his rounds, Rodney literally puked mid-set and then continued on until failure. Now THAT'S gangsta.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

CrossFit Elf WOD

Got myself embedded with a doosie of a gripping game today. At 8am I took on 21 Deadlifts @ 225lb, 42 Pull Ups, 15 Deadlifts @ 225, 30 Pull Ups, 9 Deadlifts @ 225lb, 18 Pull Ups. Finished in 7:26. Trained some clients, watched a class, coached a lil snatch here and there, marveled at Ryan Davis performing 100kb swings unbroken...and then at 1300hrs had a momentary stroke of genius and wrote the following WOD in 2 minutes:

For time:
6-4-2 with 135lb...
Squat Snatch
Thruster
Snatch Balance
then,
60 Double Unders
40 DB Push Press, 45lb
20 Hang Power Cleans, 135lb

Lung. Burner. It may have been the sushi I had just partaken of or it may be that I just so happened to have written a masterpiece- either way, I felt the standard CrossFit body-numbing-wheezy-sickly-tummy feeling throughout this whole WOD. Time was 8:42.

Christmas is almost here, so this evening, I'd like to close my set by performing one of my all-time favorite Christmas anthems for you...



Ahhh...May the sweet aroma of Christmas elf fart linger in your living room for many, many years to come.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

"Whitten"

Did "Whitten" hero WOD this morning at 8am with Grant...

Five rounds for time of:
22 Kettlebell swings, 2 pood
22 Box jump, 24 inch box
Run 400 meters
22 Burpees
22 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball

We haven't marked our run distances yet since our recent move to the new facility so we rowed 400m in place of the 400m run. I hate having to modify WODs, ecspecially hero WODs but time was limited so we had to make due. The 2000m of running would have no doubt added to my time. My time today with 2000m of rowing was 39:39. This workout was everything you expect out of a hero WOD- it was both physically and mentally challenging. By round 3, I think I had already experienced most of the stages of grieving...Denial, anger, bargaining, etc...Never really reached the acceptance phase. Looking forward to doing this one again- except next time as RX with the running.

Army Captain Dan Whitten, 28, of Grimes, Iowa, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, based out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, died February 2, 2010, when enemy forces in Zabul, Afghanistan, attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. Whitten is survived by his wife, Starr Whitten, his mother, Jill Whitten, his father, Dan Whitten, and his sister, U.S. Army Captain Sarah Whitten.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Metcon/Strength/Metcon


Hit-up a 10am team WOD today of:
15 Cal Row
25 Box Jumps
25 Burpees
25 OHS, 95/65
25 Pull Ups
25 Push Press, 95/65
50 Double Unders

Conveyer belt format- Everyone completes all reps for each movement but each team member can't advance until the person in front of them has finished. I led off for our team and got through the list in 8:15. Our team time was somewhere around 15 minutes.

At noon, I did the CFS WOD. Reached 245 on 2RM Hang Power Clean in 12min and 245 on 2RM Push Jerk in 12 min - then we did:

2 Power Clean & Jerks, 155/105lb
1 Round of "Cindy"
4 Power Clean & Jerks, 155/105lb
1 Round of "Cindy"
6 Power Clean & Jerks, 155/105lb
1 Round of "Cindy"
8 Power Clean & Jerks, 155/105lb
1 Round of "Cindy"
10 Power Clean & Jerks, 155/105lb
1 Round of "Cindy"

My time was 8:17. It's amazing, but in just two days of cleaning up my food intake and ramping up my training volume, I already feel my overall strength and conditioning kicking back into gear. Who'da thunk it? I may just decide to stick with this crossfit stuff after all.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Mental Strength Training For A Dummy

After finally completing the bigtime tasks of moving the gym and moving my home all in the same week, today was the first day in a while that I arrived at CrossFit Springfield and felt both mentally and physically ready to train and train hard. I've been nursing what is either just a metatarsal head bone bruise or a stress fracture in my foot over the past few weeks. Nagging injuries tend to take your mind out of the game from the outset. Today I was determined to not let anything detract from me getting some quality work done. This morning I did 5-5-5-3-3-3-1-1-1 Backsquat and Bench Press. I reached 325lb on backsquat and 295lb on Bench- both numbers under my PRs for the lifts but I'll take'em considering my sub-par diet and spuratic training regiment as of late. I immediately followed up the strength WOD with CFS's daily WOD of 5 rounds: 30 Wallballs @ 30lb and 30 Ring Rows. I felt good about my ability to push through the workout and finished in 18:36. After running a few errands, this afternoon I did "Randy" (75 snatches @ 75lb for time). I hadn't done this WOD since last year - my time then was 4:02 and today I PR'd with a time of 3:26. It was interesting to see the progress. Even though I think I was physically stronger a year ago than where I'm currently at, I can tell that my ability to tolerate pain and continue to push through WODs has improved. I'm hoping for a good night's rest and looking forward to embracing more pain tomorrow.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Along Came A Pathway

Dear God,

With my life, I have chosen to follow the path you lay before me; wherever it may lead. In times when my path was jagged and I could barely decipher my next step, You gave me the clarity to trust in You and continue on. In times when my path seemed to come to a sudden stop, You had the patience and grace to wait for me to continue on. In my times of darkness, You led me to lighted stairways. When my path has been well lit, You have encouraged me to keep pressing forward.

No matter the lay of the land You've been there, time and time again, to guide my steps and make my way known. You've given me an abundance of resources, tools, and mentors to assist me at every turn. As I begin a new leg of my journey, I want to pause now to thank you with all my heart and soul for your many blessings: My family, my wife, my son, Vincent, my unborn child (Emille, born 7/2/11), thank you for the joy they bring to my life. Thank you for the path I've walked thus far: Through schooling, tough decisions and life lessons, mistakes and misfortune, through sacrifice and instability, and through victory and defeat...Thank You. Thank You for guiding me to CrossFit Springfield and to all those whom I am now blessed to work with, learn from, and lead.

In the days, weeks, months, and years that may come, I pray for Your continued mercy, grace, and favor to rest fully upon my life and upon the lives of all whom I hold so dear, that we may do the good works you have placed along our paths for us to do.

With Great Pride I Call You My God And Savior; It Is with Great Humility That I Call Myself Your child,

Jeremy Mhire

Monday, December 6, 2010

Remember The Past, Face The Present, Look To The Future

Today I did the CFS daily WOD: "Murph" in 32:15. I know I've done this WOD at least a handful of times in the past 2 years but for whatever reason, I guess I've never recorded my time- or if I did- I've since lost it. So, here's to a PR!? I guess. It was good. I pushed hard through the cold on the first mile run and finished it in exactly 6 minutes. I broke my 300/200/100 Squats/push ups/pull ups into 10 sets of 30/20/10 which worked great until rounds 4-6. They were those rounds where you start trying to block out that annoying little voice in your headspace that chatters, "Cochise, your getting tired. It's only round 5. I bet you can't even imagine how much more rounds 6 through 10 are gonna suck!" But, listen I didn't and slug away I did, until at 25:06 I found myself through all of the reps and running out the door. It took me until mid-way through the 2nd mile to pick back up a decent pace. I needed a good conditioning WOD today and as always, "Murph" delivered.

Although I have never served in the armed forces, it's easy for me to approach the Hero WODs with great reverence as my grandfather, Vicente Repuyan, fought for the Filipino Army in conjuction with the US Army against the Japanese during World War II. I remember grandpa as a tall, athletic, yet quiet man who loved his family dearly. Although he was reserved, his still waters ran deep. As a child, when I would ask him about his WWII experiences he would tell me, with great detail, about the time he spent as a prisoner of the Japanese, and of his survival of the infamous Battaan Death March where as many as 11,000 US and Filipino soldiers lost thier lives in captivity due to starvation, execution, and disease. By God's grace grandpa managed to survive the ordeal because he could cook, so the Japanese soldiers thought him valuable enough to keep alive and put him in charge of preparing food. I, on the otherhand, would've been royally screwed (unless easy mac'n'cheese was readily available, in which case I could've hooked it up daily, yo). His menu was limited as rats, snakes, and monkeys were the only fare available in the jungles of Luzon. In retrospect, I think Grandpa spoke openly to me of the things he experienced because he felt that, as a child, I would be a safe soul to confide in. He probably also knew that it wouldn't be until years after his death that I would even begin to fully comprehend the magnitude of what he lived through. The morning he was captured, he was sitting in camp preparing to put his boots on. As he bent down to place his boot on his foot, a sniper shot him through his left shoulder. As he fell to the ground and his comrades scattered for cover around him, the sniper fired again, this time striking him in his thigh. Bleeding profusely and unable to escape, Japanese troops quickly emerged on his position and took him captive. Miraculously, he recovered from those bullet wounds, survived the death march, and was ultimately rewarded when General Douglas MacAuthor liberated the Philipine Islands. The United States awarded my grandfather with the Purple Heart and offered him and his family US citizenship if he would, in turn, join the US Army and continue the fight against the Japanese in the South Pacific. He accepted. And because of his bravery, his willingness to protect his homeland, and his desire to pave the way for our family to have a better life, I now have the awesome privilege of calling the United States my homeland. As I pursue God's will for my life, I am eternally grateful to the many heros who have fought, are currently fighting, and who may someday fight to preserve the American dream.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Chew On This...

So, this week I got to see the heartbeat of our newest miniature Mhire creation (we're now 9 weeks pregnant with baby #2- it's still a bit surreal), we finalized the sale of our house (must upgrade living quarter accomodations prior to arrival of said tadpole), and topped off what was an already stellar week with a new Snatch PR (225lb). No time now for a long dissertation cuz I need to get to bed but I will post a couple of videos: The first is of today's snatch PR and the second is a sweet video of the final event at H.O.A by Dan Thacker of CrossFit Valley Park. Pardon my potty mouth at 1:43 - like most red blooded crossfitters I tend to get pretty hyped up on game day...however, it did taste good...aaaaaaand it made Jessi smile despite the nastiness of the WOD so it was worth the PG-13 rating :) Enjoi!