Category: CrossFit

 

I ran the Michigan Tough Mudder event on June 30th.  It was awesome.  While we didn’t break any course records for time, I was definitely near the top of the “Mud Consumed per Obstacle” charts.

For anyone not familiar with Tough Mudder, here’s a brief intro:

I felt this was my first true test of my year of CrossFit training, and I have to say, it seems to have paid off.  I had only two issues.  First, the running.  The back half of the course was long, and had long distances between many of the obstacles.  I had never ran more than 2 miles or so in one day.  basically Murph is the longest I ever run.  And 12 miles is just f-ing far.  So I ended up doing a mix of run/jog/walk for the second half.

The second issue, and the bigger one, was all mental.  Every one of these obstacles is more than doable, but my brain kept getting in the way.  I would freak myself out, sometimes for good reason, other times not so much.  On the Boa Constrictor obstacle, as you near the bottom, you are forced to get your mouth and nose under the water, and I was not ready for that shock.  My mind went into “you are drowning” mode, and I had to back up a foot or two (in the tube) to collect myself before I could shut my brain off long enough to muscle down into the water.  And the reward for that, was having to do it going up the other side.  That was rough on my brain.

The Funky Monkey also got me.  The bars near the platform were very slick from all the mud and water from previous people’s attempts.  So as soon as I got going, my brain said “there’s no way you can do this”, and I had that in my head as I started across.  I think I made it about a third of the way, and after those first few bars, they were no longer slick, as not that many people made it that far, but my brain kept telling me “you’re gonna drop after this one”.  I needed to get myself to shut the F up and just attack this thing.  This is the only obstacle I wish I had back, and is a big part of my motivation to get out there and do this whole damn thing again.

These mental challenges were something I had thought about going in, and was hoping to make some gains here.  And I think the Tough Mudder really paid off.  I definitely feel stronger for having done this.  Learning CrossFit at HyperFit definitely has helped my mental toughness…doing Kettlebell Thrusters is no joke, but it’s nothing like this type of an event.  It’s also strangely addicting.  The day after Tough Mudder, I signed up for GoRuck Light.  Who’s with me???

 

This morning we did a “Pause Clean” progression, which meant as you start your clean, you pause in position 2 (barbell at the knees) for a full 1 second count before you proceed to ‘explode’.  I have to say, this was one of the best working techniques to get me to thinking about exploding to full extension with my hips and shrugging with my shoulders. I’m not saying I was able to actually do that every time, but at least I was thinking about it.

We did 30 of them EMOTM and I was able to load up pretty well.  I was able to hit several at 135 pounds, and even got a few in at 145, which is my clean PR that I just set last week.  Since things were going well enough, I decided to take a couple shots at 155.  Not even close.  I think I have the physical ability to pull it off, but my brain said “OH SHIT” as soon as I went to explode with the hips, and my brain then sent an impulse out to my hands… “LET GO NOW”.  I took 2 attempts, and same result.  2 fails.

I’m a little pissed I didn’t get 155 up, but I’m hoping I can use that to convince myself to jump under it next time.

And then there’s this guy, showing us all how its done… fast elbows and all!

 

During the set up for our Murph on Memorial day, instructor Mike, a.k.a. MOB, reminded us that the work out we were about to do was a tribute (see: Murph).  He told us that as such, we should approach the WOD with integrity.  What I took that to mean is be true to the movements.  Technique is always important, and for the Murph, hitting the markers (chin totally over the bar, full squats etc) was even more important.

I’m the first to admit, sometimes my wall balls don’t quite hit as high on the target as they should, or on a thruster I may not get quite to the bottom of my squat on a rep or two here and there.  And for the Murph, I pulled out my No-Rep stick, and it was painful.

I had more no-reps during this WOD than I ever did in any other work out.  Probably just as much a function of the fact it was damn near an hour long for me, but I was watching myself.  It was really painful to not count that pull-up where I had pulled my chin up higher than my forehead, but still just didn’t quite break over the bar.  But, I no-repped more than a couple of those.

When I look back at my time for the Murph this year, I know it was the absolute best I could do, it was legit, and I can be proud I approached it with integrity.  I really appreciated and enjoyed the seriousness that MOB put behind the WOD, and I feel that it translated into a gain for me personally.

My Murph Time: 54:04

There are many men and women to be remembered, thanked and loved for their service to our our country and the gift they and their family gave to us and ours.

I look forward to being a small part of the CrossFit community as we remember and honor Lt. Michael P. Murphy this Memorial Day. I can’t fathom the situation he chose to be in, nor the course of action he chose once he was living it.

Thank you Murph for all you gave for all of us.

Medal of Honor Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life and above and beyond the call of duty as the leader of a special reconnaissance element with Naval Special Warfare task unit Afghanistan on 27 and 28 June 2005.
While leading a mission to locate a high-level anti-coalition militia leader, Lieutenant Murphy demonstrated extraordinary heroism in the face of grave danger in the vicinity of Asadabad, Kunar Province, Afghanistan. On 28 June 2005, operating in an extremely rugged enemy-controlled area, Lieutenant Murphy’s team was discovered by anti-coalition militia sympathizers, who revealed their position to Taliban fighters. As a result, between 30 and 40 enemy fighters besieged his four member team. Demonstrating exceptional resolve, Lieutenant Murphy valiantly led his men in engaging the large enemy force. The ensuing fierce firefight resulted in numerous enemy casualties, as well as the wounding of all four members of the team. Ignoring his own wounds and demonstrating exceptional composure, Lieutenant Murphy continued to lead and encourage his men. When the primary communicator fell mortally wounded, Lieutenant Murphy repeatedly attempted to call for assistance for his beleaguered teammates. Realizing the impossibility of communicating in the extreme terrain, and in the face of almost certain death, he fought his way into open terrain to gain a better position to transmit a call. This deliberate, heroic act deprived him of cover, exposing him to direct enemy fire. Finally achieving contact with his headquarters, Lieutenant Murphy maintained his exposed position while he provided his location and requested immediate support for his team. In his final act of bravery, he continued to engage the enemy until he was mortally wounded, gallantly giving his life for his country and for the cause of freedom. By his selfless leadership, Lieutenant Murphy reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

Murph Hero WOD
(F.K.A. ‘Body Armor’)
With 20# Weight Vest:
Run 1 mile
100 Pull Ups
200 Push Ups
300 Squats
Run 1 mile

 

“The high-intensity CrossFit workouts that helped Payton get into the best physical shape of his life have inspired a new approach to the Saints’ offseason workout program.”

I think it’s great that Sean found CrossFit, thinks so much of it that he is bringing it his work… seems like a good idea to me!!

http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2013/05/sean_payton_brought_back_high-.html

 

 

I have my DVR set to auto-record “CrossFit” which usually means highlights from the 2012 CrossFit games on ESPN, but today it had Live with Kelly and Michael in there. So I have to admit, I was intrigued.  I guess they are doing a week long fitness challenge and today was CrossFit day.  It was kinda fun watching them do box jumps and kettle bell swings.  And they both seemed pretty gassed after the 2 minute “WOD”.

Megan May was the instructor, if you could call it that.  Given the nature of the show, there wasn’t much time for instruction, which makes me question the push for American Swings, but Kelly was blasting them out (8kg) with no trouble, and Michael busted out a 30″ box jump, but I would expect that a former NFL player wouldn’t have much trouble with jumping.

They have the video posted up on their site here: http://livekellyandmichael.dadt.com/features/themed/fitness-week-13/#tabs-25022-0-1

The first thing I do every morning is roll over, grab my phone, load up the Beyond The Whiteboard app and see what the wod is for the day. Yesterday it was Nancy. Run 400m, 15 Overhead Squats (95#), 5 rounds for time. I had done this once before, but I didn’t finish and I didn’t go 95#. But for some reason, I thought I could totally do this Rx. The app was telling me my one rep max on overhead squats is 115, so if I drop 20 off that, I should be great, or so I thought.

During the warm up I realized that 95 was not happening. I was warming up to 85, and decided to drop to 80 for the wod.

About 2/3 of the way through the first set of 15, I pulled off the 2.5 plates and dropped to 75. I would have gone lower but I had put on 15s, so I didn’t have any more easy options. I ended up finishing in waaaay last place for the day, as you can see in the picture, I’m the only on left still doing my squats. I have never failed on so many lifts in a single work out. I must have failed at the bottom of my overhead squat a half dozen times, and an equal amount on the way down.

It’s funny though, as pissed as I was about having to go lighter, dropping down and still finishing last, I think this was one of my best workouts. I got so much out of it. This definitely was the most sustained consistently challenged workout I’ve done in a while.

The last rep was by far the hardest. I failed twice at it. There were at least 5 people standing around me, motivating. My coach is standing there, he said “just do these one rep at a time” when I coughed out that I just had one left, there was quite a bit of chuckling (starting with mine). But I waited a second, visualized that I was going to get it (thanks Shane) approached the bar and got it… Just shy of the 24 minute mark.

 

Whit shared a great NYT.com article with me recently on bringing CrossFit into your work:  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/31/business/crossfit-offers-an-exercise-in-corporate-teamwork-too.html

What a great way to build real teams.  This has to translate into some long run successes:

There are other, less quantifiable benefits. Karin Eisenmenger, 46, Datalogix’s director of order management and the woman running up the stairs past her panting colleague, says the classes unite people from different departments who might otherwise never meet. “If you can sweat and groan and moan with your co-workers,” she said, “you’ll have no problem working with them in a meeting.”

For only $25,000 per year, I imagine this initiative has a monster return on investment.  Through increased productivity via collaboration and there has to be some major health and morale benefits that pay off to the company.

CROSSFIT is one of many perks at Datalogix, where a range of other options — like self-defense classes and courses in the Java programming language — are available free and in-house. The company’s fitness initiatives, called DLX Fit, cost the company around $25,000 a year, Mr. Roza said. A majority of that goes toward CrossFit.

Well done Datalogix!

 

March 28th is my CrossFit birthday. I turn 1 today. I guess that means I can officially no longer play the newbie card. Even though I still feel like I just walked in the door for the first time.

It’s interesting how this experience still feels so new. Every time I walk into HyperFit I’m excited to see what they have in store for us. By now, the luster should have worn off, but it hasn’t. I’m just as pumped up about going in now as I was 12 months ago. I’ve logged over 250 workouts, and I’m not bored. Not at all.

Along those lines, I’m still making progress. Measurable progress. If you are looking at beginning CrossFit, just do it. Give it a month and see for yourself. As I’ve said many times, this isn’t for everyone, but it is for me.

Big thanks to all the people that make it awesome. Thanks to Doug for putting this together and assembling the perfect mix of trainers in MOB, Steve and even Jeff. Big thanks for keeping me motivated to Lexi, Whitney, Lee, Craig and everyone else at HyperFit. And of course, huge thanks to Colleen, Bob, Mike, Baylen and the rest of the 7:30 crew, getting up shortly after 6AM every day is a little easier knowing I’m not alone!

And lastly, this would not have happened were it not for my former classmate, Chris. I owe you big time buddy. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

You would think it would be impossible to stand 18 inches from a wall, throw a medicine ball at it, and miss.  But alas, not only is it possible to miss, it’s repeatable.  At least it was for me on Friday.  My goal for reps for the CrossFit Open 13.3 was 151.  I thought I could get through 150 wallballs, and have a minute or two to get one double under.  Well, I landed at 138 reps when time ran out.  I think this was the first time I was ever disappointed with a WOD.  I know I am still recovering from an illness that took me out of action for 6 weeks, but I didn’t expect to be put that far behind in my wallballs.

The good news is that there are always more WODs.  Like Griff yesterday.  After running a half-mile backwards, and enjoying it, it helped to wash away the sting from getting my butt kicked the day before.  And now, I am extra motivated for Karen next time she shows up.  And I know she is going to show up.

All that aside, the CrossFit Open 13.3 was the first time I ever felt like I lost while playing this sport.  Losing sucks, and I don’t want to lose, even if it’s just against myself.