August 29, 2017

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I am reading Learning to Breathe Fire, which is a history of CrossFit.  I found CrossFit in 2007 or early 2008 as I was really tired of running marathons and realized that the pursuit of a 3:10:00 marathon had left me skinny, weak and plagued with injuries.  My back hurt all the time, I could not do one pullup, my knees ached, my hips hurt.  I was taking Ibuprofen like a kid eating Skittles and not feeling any better.

I decided that I would take some time off running and try to gain back some strength.  I foundRoss Enamaits site and eventually CrossFit.  I loved both of them instantly.  Ross had a forum on his site which taught me A TON and then the CrossFit WOD and comment section allowed me to compete worldwide with soldiers, MMA guys, police, fire, first responders as well as the high school pottery teacher.  It was underground, gritty, and awesome.  I checked it daily, met some really cool people and gained back my strength, quit taking Ibuprofen, cleaned up my diet and invested in some weights. 

The book highlights some of the early days of CrossFit in Santa Cruz when Nicole Carol, Annie Sakamoto and Eva Twardokens were among the early adopters.  They filmed this awesome video that changed so many peoples idea of fitness and eventually changed the lives of 100,000+ people as they began to do CrossFit and realize what was possible in fitness.

In this video, Annie, Nicole and Eva go after a new workout called Nasty Girls.  Annie wins, Eva 2nd and Nicole shows the world what it means to dig deep and train hard.  Crying, struggling and giving it her absolute 100%, she finishes this workout well behind the other 2 girls but ends up the hero.  Her ability to face a challenge, dig deep and fight was recognized instantly as this video went online.  For so many people who love CrossFit today, this video was a big part of their journey.

While it was tempting to throw Nasty Girls in the mix today, we needed a long and heavy one so I chose Eva.  This one is nothing but tough.

Run 800m

30 KB Swings at a heavy 70 lbs

30 pullups

x 5 rounds for time

I did not wake up this morning with a burning passion to do this workout.  That happens sometimes.  Today, I kind of thought about changing the workout to something easy, but I wrote it on the board last night and when it is on the board...we do it.

Round 1 went ok, but there were alot of voices in my head urging me to quit, cut it back to 3 rounds, or use a lighter Kettlebell.  I just kept chipping away and soon I was making my 4th run.  When I came back to the garage after the 4th run, Rusty told me that he had the finish in the crosshairs and I realized that I was well over the hump and I could also finish. 

Breaking up the swings and the pullups, I set no records today, but I did accomplish something much greater in so many ways.  When the voices were loud, the temptation to quit was strong and the work was incredibly tough, I dug deep and broke the overwhelming workload down into manageable chunks. 

Soon I was finished and I felt really good about it.

Try this one someday and let me know what you think.

Aug 19, 20, 21, 2017

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August 19 was my birthday and Reggie dreamed up this quick little workout for us to celebrate with

Run, 400 m

49 Overhead Squats, 75 lbs Run, 400 m 49 Push-ups Run, 400 m 49 Deadlifts, 135 lbs Run, 400 m 49 Snatches, 75 lbs Run, 400 m 49 Double Unders Run, 400 m 49 Power Cleans, 75 lbs Run, 400 m 49 Thrusters, 75 lbs Run, 400 m 49 Push Press, 75 lbs Run, 400 m 49 Burpees Run, 400 m 49 Tire Sledgehammers, 0 lbs Run, 400 m 49 Air Squats Run, 400 m 49 Wall Climbs Run, 400 m 49 Wall Balls Run, 400 m 49 Row Calories Run, 400 m 49 Kettlebell Swings, 53 lbs Run, 400 m 49 Ski Erg Calories Run, 400 m 49 GHD Sit-ups Run, 400 m 49 Handstand Push-ups Run, 400 m 49 Knees To Elbows Run, 400 m 49 Assault Bike Calories

It was simple.  Run 400 m and then come back and do 49 reps of just about everything he could think of.  We ran 4.9 miles.  I wore a 20 lb vest for everything but the GHD and HSPU.  Very difficult workout.  2 hours 37 minutes, several gallons of water and several more gallons of sweat.  I had a good group with me.  Here are some pictures

Sunday August 20, 2017

I was a little sore but not too bad.  I hit my Hinshaw Aerobic Capacity workout for today

Sprint 50 m then go straight into a 300m run at 7:18/mile pace or 1:22 300m

rest 3 minutes

x 6

I also replaced the tops on the Jerk Boxes with 3/4 plywood yesterday

Monday August 21, Eclipse Day, 2017

Split Jerk 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

then

Grace

30 Clean and Jerks @135

For time

I wasnt moving very well and came in at 3:49 today.   I know I can go much faster.

Enjoy the Eclipse!

August 17, 2017

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Team workout today

Team America

Teams of 2 complete the following and distribute any way you see fit

100 KB Swings @ 53

50 burpees

30 T2B

10 Snatch @135

30 T2B

50 Burpees

100 Partner Wall Balls-one partner throws the ball and the other catches

For time

Due to an uneven number, I went without a partner and simply did 1/2 the reps.  Still a tough workout that I finished in 14:27

Finisher: 5x legless rope climb

August 16, 2017

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Running work today on the track

30min easy aerobic threshold run that includes 10x15sec fast surges and 10x7sec max effort sprints (within 30min). Target an aerobic threshold pace based on your heart rate. A good rule for your targeted heart rate is 180 minus your age.

We did it like this:

Run 5 minutes at heart rate of about 145

Every minute on the minute for 20 minutes, alternate :15 and :07 second efforts.  Tried to get our heart rate back to 150 during the slow running.

Then, slow 145 HR run to the garage...5 minutes

Good workout

August 14, 2017

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My daughter's birthday is tomorrow so I wanted to make sure to get in her namesake workout this week.  We hit it this morning:

Hanna

10 Hang Squat Cleans @ 45lb dumbbells

10 Clap Pushups

x 10 rounds for time

I have a love/hate relationship with this workout.  I love it because it can be done in a short time with equipment that most hotel gyms have.  Looking over my notes, I saw that I once did this workout on lunch break during interviews for Saltwater Experience.  Because it is such a beautifully simple workout, it deserved a good name and that is why it is called Hanna.  The workouts that get my kids names are always good ones and this one could be the best one I came up with and named for one of the kids.

The dislike of this workout is obviously evident in about the 3rd hang clean of the 3rd round.  All of the sudden you kind of realize that this thing is no joke.  Today, I was pouring sweat heavily by round 2 and finished all reps unbroken until round 7.  I then split the cleans 7/3 for the rest of the sets.  My time today was 15:07 which is pretty good after looking at my history.  There were several entries where I dropped weight after a while but there were also several entries where I used 50's instead of 45's.  Ill take 15:07 though. 

This week is also my birthday week.  On Saturday, I'll turn 49.  At 49, I am extremely pleased with my physical condition and do not feel that I have stopped climbing towards further enhancing my strength, flexibility, mobility, endurance or speed. As an athlete in high school, physical fitness was just always there.  When I went to college, however, that all changed and physical fitness was not anywhere on my list of priorities.  I gained alot of weight, didnt move much and ate anything, literally anything I wanted to.  At some point, I noticed a tire forming around my waist and decided that if I quit eating red meat, I might stay away from fast food a little and so I did that for a while. It was not effective as I drank more calories than I would have taken in through fries and milkshakes.

During college I became a fishing guide in Jackson, WY in the summers.  I loved it immediately and knew I would be doing this in some form for the rest of my life.  Everything went into fishing and I never thought about fitness for a long time.  While rowing, I sustained my first back injury ever and tried to resolve it in different ways.  Finally, I went to a chiropractor who helped me right away.  I was fascinated that his care could have such a major effect.  How had I not heard about Chiropractors before?

He also told me about core strength and how that could help to avoid injury in the future. 

As I became a saltwater guide, I found it hard to stay on the water all day without becoming overly tired.  This was simply a matter of paying attention to my diet and mostly my hydration levels.  Once I was drinking adequate water and covering up with clothes, I was doing much better.  It was these little things I was learning that were making a huge difference in my life and my business.  All of the sudden I saw that if I was fit, strong and healthy, I could go longer and for more days than I had before. This meant more money in my pocket. 

I decided that I would regain my fitness.  This was about 23 years ago.  Running occupied my fitness for many years and then I found more of what we are doing today. 

This year, I read a book called The One Thing, by Gary Keller.  This is an excellent book and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone.  It's basic premise is that you examine what you are trying to do or accomplish and chose the ONE THING that will make everything else unnecessary or that makes everything else either much easier or possible to begin with.  
I think about this daily and prioritize my schedule to accomplish the biggest things first.

Rusty and I were talking about this book and he commented that he thought the one thing was physical fitness and health.  With it, everything else is easier and possible.  Nothing is impossible.  Without it, everything is more difficult or impossible.  Paying attention to your health as the main priority of your day, every day, is the one thing that will keep you going towards success in any endeavor.

August 5, 2017

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I hit my 2nd Aerobic Capacity workout today.  This work happens on the track. 

When I was running marathons, the way to get faster was to spend a day or two a week on the track running shorter distances at a faster pace.  Most runners hate the track work and I was no exception.  I wanted the long efforts, a 2 hour run or at least getting in 7 miles at a race pace.  That seemed fun, but it was not getting me closer to my goal of running a 3:00:00 marathon.

With this new program, I have similar thoughts.  I'd rather be lifting weights or hitting a 20 minute AMRAP, but because I am definitely older and it could be argued that I am also wiser, I see the value in this work and I am committed to it for at least 6 months.

The workout today was

Run 500m

Rest 1:15

Run 400m

Rest 1:15

Run 300m

Rest 4 minutes

x 3

Chris Hinshaw built this program around my 1 mile and 400 m max effort times.  I was told to hit certain splits on each of these efforts and I managed to do so with no trouble.  The workout was challenging and took about 30 minutes to complete.

Hopefully, this program will not only help me to be better at the CrossFit workouts but also to regain my running form and speed that I once had.