“Everyone and Everything is interconnected in the universe. Stay pure of heart and you will see the signs. Follow the signs and you will find your destiny.” – Jeff, who lives at home.
Month: December 2012
Xmas Eve.
“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” ― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
I. Barbell Gymnastics:
Establish a 1RM Jerk
Completed: with a great group of ladies for partners. PR at 115lbs.!
II. Conditioning:
Partner WOD – with a partner 5 rounds each for total working time of:
Row 250m
10 Burpees
30 Double-Unders
Rest 1:1
Completed: with most awesome partner Louise. While we may have been one of the last teams to finish, we worked hard and simply did not stop until we were done.
12 Days of Christmas.
“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,
stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” ― Dr. Seuss
12 Days of Christmas:
1 Clean & Jerk 115/75
2 Muscle-Ups
3 Box Jumps 24/20
4 Hang Squat Snatch 115/75
5 Bar Facing Burpees
6 Push Press 115/75#
7 Pistols (alternating)
8 T2B
9 Wall Ball 20/14
10 C2B Pullups
11 HSPU
12 Front Squats @ 115/75 (no racks)
For time.
*After completing the first movement go back to 1 and begin again adding a new movement each round. There are 12 total rounds with one new movement being added each round. I.E. do 1 C&J, then 1 C&J + 2 MU, then 1 C&J + 2 MU + 3 Box Jumps, etc. The WOD is complete when the 12 Front Squats are completed.
Completed: at 55lbs. for each movement. In somewhere around 42 minutes. And that’s all I have to say about that.
RX!
“The only way to have a friend is to be one.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
I. Barbell Gymnastics:
Establish a 1RM Snatch
Completed: up to 95lbs., then back down to 55lbs. to work on form.
II. Conditioning:
3 Rounds:
30 Kettlebell Swings (53/35)
25 Wallballs (20/14)
Completed: in 8:35 at RX on both weigths, with Amy lapping me for time during each round. Great to see you!
12-21-12. To the good.
“It must happen to us all…We pack up what we’ve learned so far and leave the familiar behind. No fun, that shearing separation, but somewhere within, we must dimly know that saying goodbye to safety brings the only security we’ll ever know.” ― Richard Bach
So the world did not end. Although it’s raining and blowing sideways here in the Northeast today. I wonder about all the doomes-dayers stepping out of their bugout bunkers into the world again, eyes blinking against the daylight. I understand where the fear comes from. Or the need to feel in control to the best of our ability, prepared against any possible scenario. I’m not sure what I would do if the world actually did end. I don’t have the resources to build a bunker. Not sure what I would do locked in there for days on end. I’m mostly of the mind frame that I’d rather not think about the world ending and do my best right here and now. Even on this rainy day.
Mostly I relate to the need to feel safe. But safety is relative. You cannot plan for everything. I had some vivid dreams last night about being trapped on an island that was being attacked from the sea and sky and I was calling out for Oliver to come home but I was standing in the middle of an open field and finding nowhere safe to run. I’m glad I woke up. This is what fear does. There are certain things we cannot control. I cannot control whether the world ends. I can control how I spend my moments in it. I like the Keep Calm and Carry On approach. With some Crossfit and Strongman tossed in for good measure. I like feeling that in regards to my health, I’m prepared to the best of my ability. By being the fittest I can possibly be. I can run to safety even if safety is really far away. Or throw Oliver over my shoulders. Or climb a rope.
I have finally accomplished that goal by the way. Successfully completed my first rope climb on Sunday. For someone with less than stellar upper body strength in proportion to their size and shape, climbing a rope to 15′ off the ground is a pretty freaking fantastic feeling.
So I steer my mind to the good.
direction. set one. errr… or two.
Probably posted this one before, but it’s worth repeating:
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” ― E.E. Cummings
This was an unusual day as I was able to spend a total of approx. 3 hours at CF. Casually snuck out of work at lunch for the nooner. Then back again for Strongman at 7pm. Followed by some additional training with peeps. There’s so many challenges going around the box you just have to reach up and lasso the moon, George Bailey. Do it. It’s an endless stream of things to goal and do and work towards. CF’ers love to work. As do I. Give me a goal, point me in a direction, wind me up, and let me go.
Direction. Set one. Errrr… or two.
For not only have I signed up for the 90 Day Challenge which starts Jan. 1, I also threw my resilience in the ring for the Back Squat Challenge which began on Monday, Dec. 17. Here’s how it works…
Back Squat Challenge: You work every other weekday – Mon., Wed., and Fri., for two months. On Day 1, Monday, start at 50% of your 1RM back squat weight. Do 20 reps at the 50%. Then every other weekday after (W, F…. M, W, F…etc.) increase the weight in 5lbs. increments. I started really, really light, as I don’t want to burn out too quickly. So, even though my Back Squat 1RM is 155lbs. and I should be starting around 75lbs., I elected to start at 55lbs. So, Monday, Dec. 17, 20 reps completed at 55lbs. Wednesday, Dec. 19, 20 reps completed at 60lbs. Friday we’ll be up to 65lbs. And so on…
You cannot put the barbell down at any point during the round.
On the day you cannot complete a set of 20 reps you work at that weight for however many days it takes until you can complete the full 20. Suppose you only get 18 reps at 145lbs. on Wednesday before you drop the bar? You try for 20 at 145lbs. again on Friday.
Even at the lighter weight this is a surprisingly taxing goal. It is supposed to make your ‘posterior chain’ (CF’ers love this word) über strong. I’m down with über strong. Let’s see how long I can last.
WOD:
Strength:
Press – 3 x 5
Completed: up to 5 reps at 70lbs. I know. I know. My overhead is cray-cray weak. Still. Alas.
II. Conditioning:
8 Rounds
Tabata Hang Power Cleans (95/65)
then…
8 Rounds
Tabata Front Squats (95/65)
then…
8 Rounds:
Tabata Push Presses
Completed: at 60lbs. Not bad. This was a really fun barbel complex. Love the Tabata. Takes you to a different place when strategizing. You gotta find a number of reps and stick to it.
Holiday Buzz.
Holiday Buzz.
You know what it is, that overt ringing in your ears this time of year, the Holiday Buzz. It climbs on top of you the moment you step out the door, or perhaps it’s even ringing inside your house right now; the Holiday music, commercials, lights, balsam scented candles, frantic need to complete each task on your very long list of things to-do before the big day.
I find it ironic, that this is the season of peace on earth and it is anything but peaceful.
We are ever awash in a holiday flood that plugs the senses. Right down to the abundance of holiday cookies in the break room, a feast for the eyes and if you give in, taste buds too. Our mental capacities bobbing in a holiday sea; with more things to do comes stressors about time, with more food temptations at parties and gatherings, a stressor about trying to stay healthy or get healthy. An endless stream of moments of simply trying to make the right choice. On top of this cornucopious holiday pile, add expectations; about family gatherings, time spent with loved ones, not so loved ones, gifts, time, travel, time off from work. The list goes on an on.
If we let it.
Recently I’ve been of the mind frame to turn it all off when I get home. Close the door and turn off the excess lights, the phone, the internet, the TV. No text msgs., no phone calls, no reading the news online, no How I Met Your Mother reruns on TBS.
Instead, maybe a low meditative music playing in the background. One soft table lamp lighting the room. And a good book. Currently, a book about a land far, far away. Of a life I’ve never known. A life I may never have the chance to know. A life lived in the dirt and sand and sun and wild-life rich world of the African outback. A primal land built on a foundation of instinct, invisible sensory, and acute rhythms constructed between the strict unforgiving confines of life and death.
Nature is peaceful. Its rhythms soothing. It is all so much bigger than you and me. I relish the opportunity to step outside the man-powered holiday buzz that booms around us this time of year and get lost in Lawrence Anthony’s world.
Lawrence Anthony recently passed away. It is rumored the two herds of wild elephants that he rescued made a 12 hour trek through the African bush and loitered for two days outside Anthony’s compound to mourn his passing.
DoubleUnderDogs 