Staying (+)

I had not the time nor the desire to get any blogging done last week. We all have those days or weeks that just beat us down mentally and physically. Last week was it for me. The "downed-tree incident" was a major logistical and financial burden, the multiple 12+ hr long days coaching in crazy hot weather just sucked the life out of me, and on Thursday when the CrossFit Springfield website crashed it felt like someone had abducted my child. I know, I know...it's times like these that build character and teach you how to perservere...it's just that sometimes it's easier to say that and harder to believe it in the moment.

I'm always telling my closest friends and loved ones to trust in the Lord and to have faith that He will make all things work together for the good. I do believe that. It was funny because as I spoke with Jenny Thursday- or rather- complained and griped to her like a baby about how frustrated I was with how my week had gone, she had to stop and remind me of what I'm constantly preaching.

As busted of a week as it was, after some prayer, refocusing, and taking a few deep breaths things did eventually work out for the good: The tree is being removed, I'm resting up, and the CFS site ended up being fully restored.

I'm also thankful to have had the opportunity to still get some quality WODs in last week despite all the madness. Yesterday, after coaching the 9 & 10am CFS WODs I did a great little gasser with a few guys from our box (Canyon, Andy, and Jon):

15 C & J, 155lb

Row 200m
15 Muscle Ups

Row 400m

15 Bench Press, 225lb

Row 600m

It was an awesome, intense, and quick battle. I took the early lead and was actually able to keep it through the muscle ups- but Andy passed me at the 10th Bench Press rep and was able to hold on and finish around 35 seconds ahead of me. I believe Andy's time was like 12:57 and mine ended up being somewhere around 13:35. Canyon and Jon were able to RX everything except the Bench Press where they both dropped to 185lb and still managed to finish the WOD strong. Thanks for hittin' this one with me, fellas!

I'M READY FOR YOU, MONDAY 6/28!!! BRING ON THE NEXT WEEK OF ADVENTURES!!!

5x3 Hang Squat Clean

After dealing with a massive downed tree in our front yard this past Saturday from the storms that blew through- I was ready to throw some weight around in the gym. Monday afternoon I went after 5 attempts at a 3 rep max hang squat clean. I got up to 235lb x 3 successfully:

Today I took on 10 consecutive backsquats & 10 consecutive pull ups for as many sets until failure (start with 135lb...add 20lb on backsquat after each successful set of 10 consecutive reps). I made it 7 sets to 235 without breaking, on my last set at 255lb I failed at 8reps then finished the 2 remaining reps to get 10. Total workload completed: 70 reps of backsquat at 135/155/175/195/215/235/255 and 70 Pull Ups.

Mohawk Grenades on SUCKAFREE Friday

There are those days when you feel like you can lift a schoolbus and no WOD on earth can stop you. Thursday was not that kind of day. I've done "Linda" aka "3 bars of death" 3 times now. This one was the worst by far...my PR is 24 minutes and it took me 30. I felt dehydrated and exhausted by round 7. All things considered, I'm glad just to have finished.

I always say that fitness/health/wellness can be a roller coaster at times; it's beneficial to not jump off in the middle of the ride. Sometimes you just have to hang in there and live to fight another day. For me, Friday was better a better fight- I did 3 rounds of 50 Air Squats, 40 Push Press @ 65lb, 30 Double Unders, and 20 Ring Dips. Previous time was 13 something...got a new PR with a time of 12:57. I'm pumped for the weekend and a rest day today.

Creating "Franken-Vicente-Stein"

Yesterday I did...

"4 Quarters"

For time:

20 Thrusters 96lb
30 KB Swings 55lb
15 Thrusters
45 SDHP 95lb
20 KB Swings
10Thrusters
60 Sit Ups
30 SDHP
10 KB Swings
5 Thrusters

Cochise ~14:25 RX

Today I wrote and did the 1pm CFS Advanced WOD:

10 Clean & Jerk, 155lb
40m Prowler Sled Push, 255lb
10 Box Jumps, 28"
40m Prowler Sled Push, 255lb
20 Box Jumps, 28"
40m Prowler Sled Push, 255lb
20 CTB Pull Ups
40m Prowler Sled Push, 255lb
10 CTB Pull Ups
40m Prowler Sled Push,255lb
10 Clean & Jerk, 155lb

Cochise ~10:58 RX

Death By 15-ish meters/ Max Thrusters...

Just like it says...1st minute: Sprint 15m then max reps 35lb DB Thrusters for the rest of the minute. 2nd minute: Sprint 30m then max reps 35lb DB Thrusters for the rest of the minute, continuing on and adding 15m each minute for as many minutes as possible until you are unable to perform any Thruster reps...wow. Great freaking WOD. Could have done a bit better, but it was fun regardless. I finished with 86 total reps. Afterwards, I did 5 x 3 OHS (205/225/225/225/205) alternated with max reps of 25lb weighted pull ups following each OHS set.

There was a wonderful energy in the CFS box today. I was there from 5am to 8:30pm and- even though I was spent by day's end- today was a great reminder of why I love what I do so much. It's a true blessing to see people show up each day and tap into a strength that dwells within themselves...there is nothing better than to witness doubt being replaced by confidence, hesitation taken over by initiative and action, and complacency triumphed by an overwhelming desire to progress and excel.

Pillage and Plunder with BARE KNUCKLES in 6:21

I had planned on doing something really low key today...like jog a mile, some sit ups, perhaps just organize all the kettlebells along the mirror under the pull up bars at the gym. Then came along the CFS 1pm Advanced WOD: "BARE KNUCKLES" 5 rounds for time of: 10 reps unbroken Hang Power Clean @ 135/95lb- if the bar is dropped, you must perform a 10 burpee penalty on the spot. & 50 Double Unders. And so it was to be...

Ollis busted out with the first group and put up a great time of 7:17. Chance did well and finished in around 11min. Andy crushed it in 6:32 and would have finished 30-40 seconds faster had he not dropped the bar on his last set of 10 HPC. I hadn't planned on doing this wod. The logical side of me said " You're wrecked from Murph and that 10 min AMRAP you did yesterday- Just take a rest day." The competitive side of me said with a sweet prodding voice, "Are you gonna nut-up and see if you can put up a good time?" I haven't been keeping time on all of my workouts lately and this was a great opportunity to test myself. It's been awhile since I've been nervous prior to hearing "3..2..1..GO!!!". As always, I'm glad I did it.

~Cochise OUT!

Farewell, Granny. May You Rest in Peace.

The Mhire Family- as Cajun as they come. Loves it.

"The Tree" at Granny's House in Louisiana. This tree is on the historical registry and protected by the state of Louisiana. Probably one of the most vivid memories I have as a child of their home. That's my brother, Josh looking up at it.

It's been awhile since I've last posted, I know...My beloved Granny- the last of the grandparents on both my mother and father's sides of the family passed away on Monday of last week. Training goals, coaching wods and clients, and cabin getaway trips to the Buffalo River in Arkansas would all have to wait. On Thursday last week I left town with my Mom, Dad, Brother (Josh), Sister (Rachael) and her husband (Jeremy) and took an 11 hour drive to South Louisiana- Abbeville to be exact. It was a somewhat somber trip but overall a very pleasant opportunity to visit with my dad's side of the family. It was nice to catch up with aunts, uncles, and cousins whom I very rarely get a chance to spend quality time with. I was gone for 5 days and I think it's the longest time I've spent away from CFS since we opened two years ago. It felt like forever. Tuesday I was SO glad to be back.

While away, I was able to workout 3 times: a 5 min max reps burpees effort- I got 81 reps and twice I woke up and ran 2 miles. That was it. Tuesday I sacrificed myself to the Cfit gods...

Tuesday 6/8: The 2009 CrossFit Games Final "Chipper" WOD. I did this one last in January in 24 minutes. After 5 days of Cajun cooking and very little training- 38 minutes. OUCH. It was kind of like watching "Rocky VI": It sucked. I knew it would but I felt it a neccessary evil in order to get back into the grind.

Wednesday 6/9: 9-6-3 rounds of 135lb Power Snatch, Snatch Balance, OHS- then 50 Pull Ups. Then 9-6-3 rounds of 135lb Front Squat, Backsquat, SDHP- then 50 Ring push ups. It took 28 minutes. Not great- I know- but I was feeling like I was kind of getting back into the groove.

Thursday 6/10 (Today): First I did 5 x 7 Backsquat (135/205/225/245/245 rested 5 minutes and then did 10 minutes AMRAP of 7 SDHP, 95lb; 7 KB Swings, 24kg; 7 Push Press, 95lb. Got 9 Rounds and felt great about it.

I also did Murph with Coach B, Grant, Melissa, and Jessi. I finished it in 45:28. It really just felt good to do the work and sweat out all the gumbo, ettouff'ee, and boudin I ate over the course of last weekend during Granny's funeral proceedings.

I missed my family and my CrossFit Springfield family while I was gone and it sure has been great to see everyone's smilin' faces this week!

~Cochise out!

Memorial Day Weekend WOD...

Kickin' it with the fam-dam-ily, for time!!! Freakin' great weekend, yo. We marinated by the pool for most of the time. I did get 200 push ups in on Saturday and 5 rounds of 5 reps 315lb deadlift & 10 Pull Ups then 5 rounds of 5 reps 135lb OHS & 10 Pull Ups followed by 5 rounds of 5 reps 135lb Thruster & 10 Pull Ups. Between each round I did 50 double unders. The globo-gymers at "Powerhouse" gym in Joplin didn't know what had hit them. It's easy to take forgranted the quality and quantity of work that we get done day in and day out at the CFS box. All I can think while I'm crossfitting at these feux-fitness places is "Good-LORD, aren't you bored out of your mind? It's been like 10 minutes since you've done your last set of anything?!" But, of course, when I roll in doing front squats and push presses, deadlifts and overhead squats, and 150 pull ups... people stare at me with this look on their face that says, "What?...Why are you workin' out like that?!" Really??? "Why aren't YOU working out like THIS, MUTHA TRUCKA?! I Pity da Foo stuck on the preachers curl lifting 25% of his body weight. I Pity da Foo seat-belted into the horizontal adduction pec dec machine squeezin' his own creatine filled boobies in between sets of 12. I Pity da Foo shoulda pressin' 545lb throughout a 4-inch range of motion on the smith machine. I Pity da Foo who be "run-walkin" for like 3 1/2 hours on the treadmill with the speed set on 3.0 while he texts his girlfriend to put the pizza in the oven. It's like my boy Henry said...Henry FORD: "If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse." Rumor has it, he went on to say that someday globogymers will be replaced by hardcore, freakishly strong, crossfitters just like muscle cars replaced pretty ponies in the 20th century.

~Cochise OUT!!!

By the way, my WOD today was 15 Bench Press @ BW (205) alternated with 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 air squats.