3 steps to a better you

1. Go get a lacrosse ball (they're about $2 at play-it-again sports).


2. Watch these videos by San Francisco CrossFit's Kelly Starrett.

(approx 10 minutes each)

upper-body maintenance

lower-body maintenance

3. Implement the techniques from the videos! Go!

enjoy slowly

"There are more days than luck. Be quick to act, slow to enjoy."
- Baltasar Gracian, from The Art of Worldy Wisdom

The Warrior Dash is on! See y'all in Dallas tomorrow!

Until then, pour yourself a drink, and check out this piece in the Wall Street Journal by Georgetown constitutional law professor Randy Barnett. He says the new health care individual insurance mandate may not pass judicial scrutiny.

Happy Friday!

Warrior Dash... dashed?

I'm not sure who all has been following this, but according to the latest from the Dallas Morning News, the Warrior Dash is on.

Well maybe. They think so. I get the impression they kept shaking their magic 8-ball until they got "all signs point to yes."

OK seriously, the organizers spent all day yesterday in court dealing with their lack of permits, inadequate parking and crowd control. The Dallas county judge finally ruled that the event won't be shut down if the organizers can keep crowds "below 2,500 at any given time."

According to the email sent out by the organizer I got this afternoon, there will be off-site parking and a shuttle service:

"We will be offering off-site parking, within less than 5 miles of the course. There will be continuous shuttle service running all day to and from the event. There is no additional charge for the shuttle service; this includes participants as well as spectators.The exact address for the parking location will be available by Thursday night. This information will be sent via email and posted to the Warrior Dash Texas website page."

Groovy. Game on!

Except...

Not so fast.

According to the Dallas Morning News article there are about 18,000 scheduled participants - who will start the 4 mile race in heats of 500, every thirty minutes. Oh, and they expect approximately 10,000 spectators.

With numbers like that, I don't get how they are going to accomplish keeping the crowd down to 2,500...

This sounds like a clusteryou-know-what waiting to happen...

But, unless this thing gets officially cancelled, I'll see ya'll in Dallas on Saturday!

Then again, maybe not...

live

"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air..."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, from The Conduct of Life

photo courtesy flickr

linkage

Here are some interesting - contrarian even? - reads I found over the weekend. FYI - these are not fitness related.

From the Wall Street Journal - Did FDR end the depression?

Staying with a financial theme for a sec, I found this next one via the excellent blog by economist Paul Kedrosky. Author Richard Bookstaber (Demon of Our Own Design) opines on the state of the municipal market.

One that makes you go "hmmm?" Apples of Discord by Walter Russell Mead, the author of Special Providence.

Lastly, not a read but a link: e-thepeople.org has a "contact your elected representatives page" that is easy to use and all you have to do is type in your zip code. You will get a current list of both state and federal officials for your district and their contact info.

muscle-up Monday

Today's WOD:
30 muscle-ups for time

I finished in 9:41 rx'd. PR! Felt good!

Went right into some strength/skill work to finish up the morning...

power clean
3-3-3-3-3

my loads were: 135-135-145-145-155 F(2 reps)

Probably should've stayed at 145lbs, 155 was slop-tastic. Good start to the week though!

Here's a video of coaches big Mike and Travis knocking out 30 muscle-ups for time (from October 2009).
Mike- 7:42
Travis- 5:05

strength

"Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough."
- Og Mandino



I saw this video on Elliot's badass blog and had to share it!

14 April 2010

I'm digging the strength-bias style programming we've been getting lately. Today we worked the deadlift...

deadlift

1-1-1-1-1

275-285-275-275-275-275-275

I got some extra lifts in, and Big Mike had me keep the loads moderate to focus strict on form. I'm slowly and surely losing the stripper deadlift!

WOD

for time:

1 wall ball @20lbs medicine ball/15 burpee box-jumps

3 wall ball/13 burpee box-jumps

5/11

7/9

9/7

11/5

13/3

15/1

10:19 as rx'd. Smoker, legs felt like J-E-L-L-O throughout. Deadlifts may have had something to do with that... good stuff!

Whatever you are up to today, take a breath, focus in, and just do.

Happy hump-day y'all! Peace.

Friday night mayhem

I had a blast Friday night! It was great to see everybody there!

here's a photo of my good side ;) during the muscle-up contest

I'm in Houston for my grandma's 88th birthday! I'll be back with more on the blog soon... I hope everyone is having as great a weekend as I am! Peace.

consistent inconsistency

This week my sinuses and the pollen count have joined forces to bring me a perfect storm of pain and suffering, well suffering mostly. I've been coughing so much lately I feel like I've done countless GHD sit-ups. BTW, suffering without the whole training part is just weird ;)

Anyhow, thanks to the magic of modern pharmaceuticals, I've quit the ranks of mouth-breathers and am back with normal humanity. Just in time for project mayhem! Minus the beer though... I read the little label and apparently alcohol and anti-histamines are a no-no. Damn.

I'll be back training - yet again - tomorrow!

Good Friday

This quote is on CrossFit Faith today.

“I cannot be any more specific about the methodology of love than to quote these worlds of an old priest who spent many years in the battle: ’There are dozens of ways to deal with evil and several ways to conquer it. All of them are facets of the truth that the only ultimate way to conquer evil is to let it be smothered within a willing, living human being. When it is absorbed there like blood in a sponge or a spear into one’s heart, it loses its power and goes no further.’ The healing of evil – scientifically or other wise – can be accomplished only by the love of individuals. A willing sacrifice is required... I do not know how this occurs. But I know that it does... Whenever this happens there is a slight shift in the balance of power in the world.”
- M. Scott Peck

I was happy to see strength work on the white board this morning at the gym - it's what I need to work on.

front squat 3-3-3

my weights were: 135-145-145F (two reps)

WOD:

AMRAP in 12 minutes

3 15-meter shuttle run

6 burpees

9 dumbbell push-press @ 45lbs DBs

15 sit-ups

I completed 5 rounds as rx'd. Some good training on Good Friday. Have a great weekend!