Stretch Yo-Self B4 U Wreck Yo-Self

Yesterday (Tuesday 9/28) I did 3 Rounds for time of:

6 HSPU on Parallettes

12 Clean & Jerk, 135lb

18 Deadlift, 225lb

24 Pull Ups

30 Double Unders

Nasty WOD and I loved it. My time was 17:41. Today I woke up and could really feel the effects of the past two days of training. Every muscle and joint felt tight and achy. I did yoga today at 10am and felt so much better afterwards. My stretching game as of late has been almost non-exsistent whereas in the past it's been on point. I did yoga a few times prior to Sectionals and Regionals earlier this year and I know that doing it in conjunction with once a week sports massage/PRT and daily stretching really benefitted my overall athletic performance. I'm not gonna lie- after recently seeing a CrossFit Journal video of 2010 Games champ, Graham Holmberg incorporating yoga into his training routine- it reminded me of how much better I felt when I was including it in mine. Trust me, I've got no shame when it comes to ripping off anyone's game- ecspecially not Graham Holmberg's.

After training a few clients and grabbing some lunch, this afternoon I did a strength workout of 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 Snatch Balance and got to 245lb. I followed that up with a 5k Row for conditioning.

As for the most exciting part of my day...well, you'll just have to read for yourself (Read Comment # 24 first then scroll down to Comment # 30): http://crossfit-springfield.com/?p=6119#comments . I've heard that Coach Glassman once said, "When I step into your facility, I'll be able to tell the most about how successful your business is by first inspecting the bathrooms." Coach...Don't worry, at CrossFit Springfield we show no discrimination when it comes to making sure turds of all colors, creeds, shapes, and sizes are dealt with and properly destroyed. We also flush our poop.

Lock'in Out Loud!!!

I got to spend some quality time with Vin this past weekend as Jenny traveled to Kansas City for a getaway with some girlfriends. It was the first time for me to bachelor pad it up with the little guy for a whole weekend so I was a little iffy on how he'd do...more importantly, I was iffy on how I'd do. Friday night we went to a sweet fundraiser at Randy Bacon Studios downtown for an organization called Speed The Light. My brother, Josh, played with his band and they absolutely tore it up- I was so proud! Vin, being the huge music lover that he is, thought it was the coolest thing he'd ever seen. Afterwards, Josh took him up on stage and let him bang around on the drums- which gave me the idea to hook my little man up with a drumset for miniature-sized humans. I promised to get it for him BUT not without first making one of the most genius parenting moves I've ever made: He had to promise to be a good boy all weekend. It should be noted that there are varying degrees of good-boy-ness. Regardless, Vin made life relatively easy for daddy (and consequently, for himself) the rest of the weekend. On Saturday afternoon we cruised up to Toy R Us and Vin picked out a black and blue drumset to beat up on. We've already started up an 80s hair band "Metabolic Acidosis", shot a music video for our hit single "Lock'in Out Loud", and bought ourselves fifty pairs of leapard-print spandex pants. Groupies beware: Vin has thrice been to rehab for overdosing on chocolate milk. He also has a tendency to poop in his spandex (trust me, you don't wanna be on the tour bus when special guest, "Number Two" performs). Buy our album or doom on you.
As for the un-important stuff...today I did the Filthy 50. Previous PR was 21:47. I did 21:06 today which isn't the sub-20minute time I'd always dreamed of growing up as a kid (I hope you smell the sarcasm and enjoy the way it tastes) but I'll take the 40 second PR. It never fails, it's those dang burpees at the end that get me. Oh well. This afternoon, I hit up "Elizabeth" (21-15-9 of Squat clean @ 135lb and Ring Dips). My best "Elizabeth" time is 6:43 - today I got 6:47. I'm happy to have come within 4 seconds of my previous best, ecspecially after having done the Filthy 50 this AM.

Creating A Monsterpiece

Not that I ever expected any other outcome, but doing "Fran" twice on Monday absolutely destroyed me. I'm still all kinds of sore all over. Yesterday, I followed Monday's cram session up with a great push/pull WOD for time of:

Row 500m, 50 Ring Push Ups, Row 1000m, 35 Ring Push Ups, Row 1500m, 20 Ring Push Ups

It's the same format as a CrossFit.com main page rowing/wallball WOD I've done a couple times before. My time on this little gem was 17:01. Today, just like every other day, I tried to devise an evil workout for the CFS peeps to do tomorrow. After almost three years of writing and programming WODs daily for CrossFit Springfield, I sometimes get writers block. There have been many occasions where I've spent an entire evening writing and re-writing WODs only to eventually post a workout like "Grace". Likewise, there are times where I've sat down and had a crazy masterpiece production of a WOD written up in less time than it takes to do "Grace". There's a great quote by CrossFit founder, Greg Glassman, where he describes CrossFit by saying, "The magic is in the movement, the art is in the programming, the science is in the explanation, and the fun is in the community." This quote encourages me and reminds me to allow myself the freedom to have fun and be creative when it comes to writing WODs. Not that every workout needs to be some clever creation- usually, the simpler the WOD looks on paper, the more dangerous it is in practice. With that in mind, I decided to put myself through the torture that will be visiting CrossFit Springfield's member's tomorrow (9/23/10)...check out the workout by clicking HERE. I scored 63 burpees on the first part and after resting exactly 3 minutes, did the 15-10-5 SDHP @ 115lb and Burpees in 2:37. Here is video of me doing the second portion of the CFS WOD for 9/23...

I Heart "Fran" (Squared)

After a nice relaxing weekend, today I felt ready to start my week out strong. Jenny and I had the opportunity to go out on Saturday with a big group of CFS peeps- which was a blast! It's always nice to hang with everyone outside of the gym. Yesterday we had a meeting up at the box to discuss some of the specs for our upcoming 5k Gone Bad event. It's shaping up to be a very fun and unique race.

At noon today I did 5-5-5-3-3-3-1-1-1 Backsquat with Grant (225-245-275-275-305-305-315-335-335). After taking a 15min break to recover and to "get my mind right", I did "Fran". The last time I did "Fran" my time was 3 minutes even. Today, with an awesome push from a few people from the noon crew, I PR'd with a time of 2:32. My goal was to get sub-3 and, make it through every set unbroken. Although I managed the sub-3, I screwed up on my 21 pull ups and came off the bar at 20, thinking I had hit my 21 reps. The mistake cost me at least four or five seconds. I'm was otherwise fairly happy with my performance and the outcome.

But WAIT!!! Upon further review, my squat depth was garbage on more than a few reps (the camera angle didn't help either). So, what does any normal crossfitter do (and by normal I of course mean psycho)? Why they do the dang thing over again, that's what...and 3 hours later, at 3:50pm, that's precisely what I did. This time, using a medball for depth, I did 2:42 hitting everything unbroken except the last 9 pull ups. Am I happy now, you ask? Nope. Of course not. My hands are completely torn to shreds and I did it 10 seconds slower. But I'm gonna sleep like a baby tonight knowing that I did it legit, got a PR, AND knowing that I can still go faster. I just gotta do it right the first time while I've got my mohawk mojo. Next time, if I can manage to not have any miscues, I think it's realistic for me to shoot for a sub-2:30 time.

I'm thinking tomorrow will be a good day to do an endurance WOD of rowing to log some meters for the C2 fall rowing challenge...Gonna kill 2 birds with one stone, baby! Here's a video of the 2:32 "Fran" with the bush-leauge thrusters (at 12:50pm today)...


And here's the legit 2:42 "Fran" (at 3:50pm today)...

Thruster/Muscle Up WOD

Did the CrossFit main page WOD today: 9-6-3 rds of Thruster @ 165lb and Muscle Ups (CFit Games movement standard for the MUs; full turn-out with thumbs forward at the bottom). It was a sweet met-con/sprint workout. I did the first 9 muscle ups and the 9-6-3 thruster sets unbroken, but had to do the 6 and 3 rounds of muscle ups individually. On the round of 6, I did 7 muscle ups by accident. My time without the unecessary rep at the end was 4:20 - 4:28 with it. Yet another perfect example of why you should have someone count your reps.

1 RM Rack Jerk

Today I did the Again Faster Competition WOD for week 2 with Seabiscuit: 1RM Rack Jerk. A couple of weeks ago I did 275lb which was a PR. This afternoon I got 285lb and came extremely close to 295lb twice. I'll get it, dang it. I know a 285lb rack jerk is garbage to alot of top-notch CrossFit athletes, but hey, so are most of my numbers! I can live with that. I just can't live with knowing that I can do more but not doing it.

Today I also rowed 2500m to log some meters for the C2 fall rowing challenge that CFS is participating in. Yes, I know there are some of you who are rowing somewhere in the vacinity of 150,000m a day and you're all like, "What! Only 2500m?! That's weak sauce, Cochise!" For the record- yes, on both counts: Only 2500m and I'm full of weak sauce. Don't judge, home-slice. Speaking of the C2 rowing challenge, I'm excited to see what kind of final number our box can put up! Below is the video of the 285 jerk- Head's up: I hope you have a glass of wine handy; I'll admit the post-lift victory yell is muy cheesy. I gotta be THAT guy. Jeesh, I annoy myself...

Be Strong And Take Heart

Today started out weird. I had just dropped by starbucks to get an overpriced cup-o-mud, and as I was driving in a downpour on my way to the gym, I passed by the scene of an accident at Sunshine and Fort where a man had been struck by a vehicle as he was attempting to cross the street on foot. EMS crews had already been dispatched but judging by the large indentation the guy left on the front windshield of the car that hit him, it didn't look like a good situation. After having personally experienced a traumatic side-of-the-road near catastrophe two years ago with my lovely wife and my numero uno "ride or die chick" as I loveingly refer to Jenny as, I've never been the same whenever I find myself driving by a traffic accident. The magnitude of the incident we experienced on April 7th, 2008 still resonates within my spirit each day for me. Although I've told the story of what happened on that day countless times, I've never actually taken the time to articulate the event, all my thoughts, and all my feelings in writing. I don't necessarily believe now is the time to do it, but I will say this: Because of that day, I now find it nearly impossible to ever allow a day to go by without looking my wife in the eyes and telling her how much she truly means to me, without telling her how much I'm thankful for her, and without telling her how much I love her. Yes, this is indeed a sappy, lovey dovey, soliloquy- but- not one without merit. Miracles, by their very nature capture us, grip our hearts, and put us in awe. In my life up to this point, it is the miracle of Jenny's survival on that day which has left me forever greatful for God's grace, His peace, His mercy, and His awesome healing power. So often we mistreat those whom we love the most. I, of course, still have my moments. But when our family experienced the heart-stopping (pun intended) events of April 7th, 2008, I had a moment where I instinctivly reached for my bible and my eyes were led to this scripture in the 27th chapter of Psalm, verses 13 & 14:

13 I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.

14 Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

In that moment and this, my spirit was and is empowered knowing that with patience, strength, courage, and faith in God, there is a destiny of purpose and goodness that I can walk through life with. You can too.

You vs Gravity

...60% of the time, you lose everytime. I've done a hodge-podge of WODs over the past few days: The CFS 9/11 Memorial WOD (7:35), 1RM Snatch (210lb), "The Seven" Hero WOD (33:27), and today I did 7 x 3 Backsquat to 315lb and the CFS advanced WOD which was 30 Hang Power Cleans @ 135lb, *300m Farmer's Walk 2 x 70lb, and 30 Chest to bar pull ups for time (9:25) *Everytime you set down the weight, perform 3 burpees. I've had some good workouts (9/11) and alot where I felt pretty sissyfied (basically, all of the others). Tis' the glorious nature of the crossfit beast, I guess.

I can definitely feel the effects of being out sick for a week from a strength standpoint. In general, everything heavy feels heavier than usual right now. I've always sucked at backsquat, but backsquatting 315lb today I felt as if my lower intestines were going to come flying out of my belly button. I dropped down to 275lb on my last two sets and even those reps felt heavy. There's an interesting mind-game that goes on (which I love) when you train with larger loads. You can literally screw yourself out of a lift if you aren't confident and assertive straight from the get-go of an attempt. Ten times out of ten, you'll gain confidence as you train with heavier loads. You've just got to let your mind and body be allowed to accomodate to the work. Only when you're sensitive to and aware of the neuromuscular adaptations that must occur in strength training, will you be able to fully obtain your athletic potential. The catch is, you've gotta be patient and diligent enough to practice, which is typically where myself and most of us fall short. As I've said alot over the past few days, it's been nice to finally feel as though I'm getting back into the swing of things. I'm eager to participate in the upcoming Heart of America CrossFit Affiliate Challenge this November. The event was such a great success last year and I expect nothing less from this year's competition!