Moving to my website

I'm going to move all my blogging to my CF website, www.crossfitcaliforniacity.com. I'll leave this blog as-is, as it chronicles my CrossFit beginnings and many of the first pain-storms I went through on this journey. But, all my new posts will be posted on my site, and all my articles will be posted there as I come up with new things to write about.

Thanks to everyone who follows me here, I hope you'll continue to visit my affiliate site.

~Bob

Free Workout at CFCC!

This Saturday, 10 AM, Free Workout! Bring your whole family!

Why do you CrossFit? Why do I CrossFit - Part 2

Dateline, Aromas, CA. Kerry and I attended the 2009 CrossFit Games with a couple intentions. First, we wanted to meet folks face-to-face that we've been "talking" too online for over a year. Second, we wanted to see the competition, the spectacle, the display of intestinal fortitude that is the CrossFit Games.

Epic fail on number one. While we did meet the folks from CF Solano, and message board regular Renee, we really didn't spend too much time socializing at all. Fail on number one was because we were sucked into number two full bore. The athletes. The competition. The Games. It was so much more than I expected. And I had pretty high expectations. Words cannot describe the shared feelings and emotions that spectator and athlete share during the Games. But I'll try.

What other sport marries competitor and spectator so? I can't think of one, and I like a lot of sports. I imagine it's like being the parent of an olympic gymnast at the Olympics. But we're not the parents of these athletes, and in many cases, we don't even know them. We've "met" them on the internet, or maybe by email or at a certification course. We've followed them during their journey and our heart cries with them in their shortcomings and cheers with them in their victories. The CrossFit Games does this for one reason. That reason is because, as CrossFitters, we understand. No matter what your Fran time, or one rep deadlift, or whether or not you can do a muscle up, you understand. We are CrossFitters. We see the looks on the competitors faces as they push the boundary out, leaning on the limits of body and mind, and we know what they are feeling. We've been there. Most of us have been there recently. Most of us will be there again soon. This is what is different about the CrossFit Games. Everyone in attendance is on equal ground when it comes to heart and soul. Our physical capacities are different, but our mindset is the same. Burpees suck for everyone.

It was during this experience that I realized again why I CrossFit. Here we were, watching the fire-breathers, the champions, the fittest people on God's beautiful green and blue earth; and for two days, I was one of them. I know the thrill of achievement, and the agony of failure. I know the feeling of one more rep when you're already out of reps. I know the anguish when an old injury rears it's ugly head again during a workout. I know how sweat burns when it seeps into my eyes, but it's only 5 more burpees! Anyone can do 5 burpees right?

This is why I CrossFit.

Whether you know it or not, that is why you CrossFit. If you attended the Games, and found yourself mingling in the crowd elbow-to-elbow with Josh Everett, Chris Spealler, Mikko Salo, Libby DiBiase, Coach Burgener, Iceland Annie, or any of the other affiliate cup or individual competitors, and you felt the need to shake their hand and say "Great Job! You did wonderful!"....then you know why you CrossFit. There's no other sport where the competitors walk freely among the crowd without fear of being mobbed or ridiculed for failing. You'll never hear a Josh Everett fan yell "YOU SUCK MIKKO!" Never. If you do, punch that guy in the back of the face and escort him to the gates, because he's no CrossFitter! He doesn't belong with us, and we're better without him. We may cheer for our favorite, but we cheer just as loud for the competitor we don't recognize, simply because we see them gutting out one more rep. We celebrate with them in every movement. We know what they're feeling, so we feel it too.

This is why I CrossFit.

In the end, we're all in the same boat, trying to improve our bodies and our minds. Competitor and specator are all on a journey to a healthy and long life. To be an example to others, pass on our knowledge and experiences, and help them find the same path. Every true CrossFitter is the same. We are all trying to improve our physical self so our mental and spiritual self can thrive. Life is worth living fully and abundantly. We were put here to be beacons of life, not to waddle around the mall with two ice cream cones in our hands, sucking in air-conditioned air while the breeze blows wonderfully through the trees just beyond the walls. Get out. Get fit. Get to the Games. Smell the dust. Feel the pain. Live the victory.

This is why I CrossFit.

2009 CrossFit Games

Kerry and I are headed to the 2009 CrossFit Games in Aromas on Friday. I will be posting results of events as I can, hopefully as they happen. I will most likely not post them here, but on my Facebook page and CFCC webpage.

HOT MURPH!

I got a wild hair up my butt today, sitting calmly at my desk, in 72 degree AC, belly full of Paleo-goodness, to tackle Murph for my WOD today. For those that don't know, Murph constitutes:

Run 1 Mile
100 Pullup
200 Pushups
300 Squats
Run 1 Mile

Hardcore is to do it all with a 20 lb. vest. I'm not hardcore.

I did the reps in 10 sets of 10, 20, 30 respectively. It was 98 degrees which probably puts my garage at 97 degrees. Last time I did this was in January, much colder. That was my first time doing it as Rx'd, and it took me 1:02 and change.

Today I finished in 55:24. Much slower than I thought I could do, but the heat really took a toll on my from the very beginning. Here's some stats I jotted down as I went along:

Starting heartrate: 54
First Mile Time: 8:38 (deliberately paced, but I probably can barely do a sub-8 all out anyway)
Heartrate halfway through the reps: 140
Second Mile Time: 10:59 (holy dog crap, I was hot....walks a bit sadly)
Finish line heartrate: 170
Heartrate 1 minute later: 140
2 minutes later: 130
5 minutes later: 104 (here comes pukie... but I fought him off)
15 minutes later: 80

I'm glad I did it, but am slightly disappointed with my improvement. I don't want to use the heat as an excuse. Michael Murphy didn't get to choose his weather, right?

Why I refuse to mourn Michael Jackson

I know I'll make some people mad with this, but whatever. I don't walk on eggshells around anyone.

Michael Jackson was a talented musician. Granted. He was physically and emotionally abused by his father. Agreed. He was thrust into stardom without the social and emotional skills to handle it. Agreed. We should sympathize with is plight and understand how screwed up a kid can become from bad parenting.

I will not, however, feel bad for him, or celebrate him in his death. He was an accused child molester, and a drug addict. His treatment of his own children in public alone bordered an abuse, I can't imagine what kind of life they led behind the scenes. He was a self-centered, egotistic child playing out his lost childhood through the abuse of himself and those around him.

His physical ailments were nearly all brought on by his own destructive behavior. Even his death, it seems, was the result of morphine overdose. His family warned in the days leading up to his death, that he needed rehab for his addiction.

Don't mourn Michael Jackson, folks. PRAY for children that are, as I type this, being raised in similar homes, with abusive, absent or otherwise unqualified parents. PRAY for this world to again value good parenting and the proper preparation of our children for adulthood. PRAY that our children do not value fame and fortune the way Michael and so many other pop stars do. PRAY that our children value honesty, integrity, hard work, faithfulness, honor and dignity more than money and fame.

I believe Michael Jackson is meeting his Maker and is having to defend his actions. PRAY that God has mercy on his soul.

Out.

P.S. If PRAYing isn't your "gig"..... and I agree we all have the freedom to choose our own "gig"... than insert "hope" or whatever other meaningless feel-good word you like. See how far HOPE will get you.

Paleo a go-go.

Time to do more walkin-the-walk instead of just talkin-the-talk.

I give moderately detailed nutrition advice to any one who asks. I preach the "eat more fat, eat more protein, lose the sugar" mantra to everyone willing to listen. I have pretty sound anecdotal and empirical evidence to go along with the "new science" that is finally making it's way into the public realm. I know how to calculate zone blocks for folks, how to critique their current diets and recommend changes.

Then I go home and order pizza once a week and my cheat "day" turns into cheat "weekends". Time to buck up and put my money where my mouth is, and many other cliche's.

Starting today, I'm as close to 100% Paleo as I can get. I'm not ditching the zone completely, I still will have fat, protein and carbohydrate with every meal, it's the quality of what I'm going to eat, and maybe more importantly, what I'm not going to eat, that is key. I'm ditching dairy... I know, I know. Milk is good. I love it and there's nothing wrong with it. However, I can't tell someone to drink it for "A" when many people do not because of "B" without experiencing "B". So I'm off dairy. I'm also finally getting rid of artificial sweeteners for all the reasons I already knew. Just bad stuff. Milk might be back, artificial sweeteners will not.

So, what am I eating? It's simple, and Coach Glassman outlined it in the now famous "World Class Fitness in 100 words...". "Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and sees, some fruit, little starch, no sugar." That's all folks. But, that leaves me with all the meat I already love and eat, veggies, fruit, nuts, eggs... all the yummerific stuff about clean eating. It get's rid of the grains, breads, sugars and processed crap that I was letting back in too often.

I pose this challenge, or better yet, this question, to fellow CrossFit trainers. What example are you setting for your clients? Shouldn't we be the example of what we preach? I will go out on limb and say many of us already do pretty well. But could we do better? Nutrition is such an important pole in the tent, wouldn't it behoove us to show our clients how important it is? How often do you hold nutrition classes or workshops? I've yet to hold one, but I do cover nutrition in my foundations course.

So, another new leaf to turn over today. Black coffee. No ranch dressing on my veggies. But plenty of the good stuff to satisy and fuel me for life.

My semi-monthly daily post

Good Morning, afternoon, evening...whatever it is where you are! Buenos Dias!

I guess I should quit feeling bad about not keeping this blog up to date and concentrate more on posting when I've got something to say. Today, I just want to say "Hey, what's up?" That's all. I know I have a handful of folks that drop by pretty regularly, and I don't often just say "Hi".

Things are trucking along well here, my training is going good, minimal shoulder pain, although today it's pretty hot. I've learned when to lay off and ice more, etc. Kelly Starrett of San Francisco CrossFit has enlightened me. Check his site out if you're not familiar. I've also been working in extra shoulder skill work; handstands, handstand pushup practice, kettlebell swings, that sort of stuff.

I got a little love from the CF Affiliate Blog the other day, they linked to my "Why do you CrossFit..." article. I received a lot of positive feedback, and I'm glad this resonated well with the community. It really is why I CrossFit.

The Jr/Sr High Boot Camp started last Saturday. I've got 4 kids that will make this the summer of CrossFit for them. I've got a lot of fun stuff planned, it should be a blast. We're taking a field trip to CF Brand X to meet the Martins and see the home of CF Kids too!

The 2009 CF Games are right around the corner, and Kerry and I are going to pull our tent camper up for the festivities. No, we're not staying in the camper. We've offered it up to Dave and the Games team for whatever they need it for, and it looks like it will be in the kids section for a semi-private place to take the little ones for a diaper change, feeding, etc. Look for us in the kids area, and stop by to say "HI".

I think that's all for today. STS-127 is planning a launch tomorrow, so it's back to the grind.

Mark "Dash" Graziano Tribute WOD

CrossFit California City is hosting a Tribute Workout this Saturday at 10 AM for Major Mark "Dash" Graziano who was killed when the T-38 that he was flying crashed north of Edwards AFB. Dash was an accomplish, experienced pilot and served his country with pride. We'll do our best to pay tribute to his service and his life. All are invited. See www.crossfitcalcity.com for more information.

....update

Sorry, folks. It's just hard to keep this sucker updated. We had a great weekend. Shuttle Atlantis returned safely to California, then a fun Memorial Day with great friends. No WODs for me the last couple days, just too tired. I'll hit the CFT today, and probably Barbara tomorrow.

Lot's going on I guess...

Sorry so long (again) since my last post. I've been busy with STS-125 support and the usual madness with CFCC.

Not much new news other than CFCC proudly joining the CrossFit Risk Retention Group. It's going to go a long way securing the future of CrossFit, and I'm happy to be involved. It was a tough decision to make, but my friends and family are supportive of CFCC, and that's all I need. I know I'll continue to grow and down the road I'll be happier that I joined the CF RRG than I am today, for sure.

On the homefront, my little girl is turning 13 this weekend. Yippee. I can't (and won't) complain, she's a wonderful daughter and I have full confidence that she'll continue to be that through the coming years, no matter how difficult and challenging it might be!

That's all for now.

Programming

So I think I've learned enough to start some of my own limited programming. I've been hesitant so as to not make mistakes on clients.... probably a good choice. But my M-F gym schedule lends itself to one day of programming and four days of main page.

Starting tomorrow, MP rest day, I'll start adding programming to my website on rest days. Sounds fun. I'm also excited because I'm going to be buying some new equipment today. GIGGLE~

Grace PR

My buddy Matt has some pec pain during dips, so we did Grace instead of Elizabeth yesterday. Greg joined us. We all killed our last times. I had only done Grace as Rx'd once before, last summer and it took a long 12:54. Yesterday? 4:55. I'd say that is an improvement.

Tomorrow is CFCC Open House.... and it might rain. Figures. Oh well, we'll make it nice.

Gee Whiz

I'm horrible about Blog updates lately.

My last WOD was Friday, I did Filthy Fifty. I felt really run down going in, hit failure really fast on each exercise, and my time was horrible. I hit a wall during the burpees, felt so weak I thought I was going to pass out. I stopped there.

An analysis of my previous 1-2 weeks will show that my sleep has been crap. So, I quickly diagnose overtraining/under-resting. I worked on our backyard on the weekend, didn't WOD yesterday, and will be skipping tonight's to get Kerry to the Doc. Tomorrow is a main page rest day, so I'll hit it again Thursday. I've slept better the last few days. I ate a ton this weekend and feel much better.

Hopefully everything is back in order. :)

Deadlift WOD

No DL PR for me yesterday. My PC was still feeling the effects of the backsquat WOD on Monday. I went to 295 for the work reps. Felt heavy, but no problems locking it out.

On another note, we had our first muscle up at CrossFit Cal City last night. Matt got up on the rings on the new outdoor pullup/ring station (aka Pig's Corner) and BAM! First try. He pumped out three of them bad boys. A great effort. Now we're all chasing him.

Summer Boot Camp

I've released all the info about my Jr./Sr. High Bootcamp. See the link below for more info:

CFCC Summer Boot Camp

Where have I been?

It's been a few days since I've updated... what have I been up to?... Not much. I did "DT" the other day, a new hero workout. 5 rounds for time, 21 DL, 15 hang power cleans, and 9 push jerks, all at 155#. I scaled to 115#, but kept the rounds at five. It took me a little over 13 minutes, but it felt faster than that. My grip was FRIED!

I followed that up yesterday with a new WOD from our friends at CrossFit 603, which was a tonnage WOD. Take your bodyweight, multiply by 20, then do as many overhead squats as necessary, at a weight necessary, to complete that tonnage. At 205#, I did 54 reps at 76#. The intended load was not there for me, I think. My shoulder flexibility still is not 100%, the strength is about back, but not my strength+flexibility. So heavy OHS, while I'm able, are not really comfortable, and do not feel very safe. So I opted to stay away from say, a 95-100# OHS. The workout took me 3 something. The breaks I took were because of the wrist fatigue (leftover from DT I'm guessing) rather than a needed break for my shoulders, PC or anything else. In escence, this ended up serving as a really good buy in for "Helen". Which I did almost as Rx'd. I dont' have a 1.5 pood KB yet, so 1 pood had to do. Finished in 11:52.

Oakland PD Fundraiser WOD

The gang at my affiliate today joined CrossFit Solano in raising money for the "Fallen Four" Oakland PD officers. It was great fun and the overall effort. More info on my affiliate site, and photos in my Facebook profile.

CrossFit California City

Bob's Facebook Page

CFT PR and Oakland PD WOD

Man, it's been since Monday since I posted here. Sorry.

I set a PR on my back squat and deadlift tonight during the CrossFit Total. My press is still stuck at 135. I'll have to change up the routine a bit to figure out what's going on there. I hit 265 on the squat and 315 on my deadlift. I'm making decent progress now in those areas.

Tomorrow we're having the Oakland PD fundraiser WOD. We hope to get over $100. That might seem low, but we're a new affiliate in the middle of nowhere and it's Easter weekend. :)

WOD 090406

Today's WOD:
Walking lunge 100 ft.
21 Pull-ups
21 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
18 Pull-ups
18 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
15 Pull-ups
15 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
12 Pull-ups
12 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
9 Pull-ups
9 Sit-ups
Walking Lunge 100 ft.
6 Pull-ups
6 Sit-ups

Time 17:32. My legs are too tired for me to type....