Recovering Well

Things continue to feel better with my ankles and feet day after day. Today I probably walked far more than I should have, running errands and getting myself set up in Oxford. A group of us also met this afternoon to give punting a shot on the little tributaries around the town. Punting is the Venice-style, pole in the water method of moving a boat up and down stream. It took a bit to figure out the technique, but once we got it things got fun. We were racing, picnicking, and relaxing for close to 2 hours before calling it a day. On the way back to the city center, Niels and I spied a park that should support a decent workout tomorrow. Looking forward to doing something again, even if it doesn't involve anything on the lower half.

Also, I've attached the link to a video from the series of workouts last week at CrossFit Central London. Had some trouble uploading it earlier in the week.

Manchester/Chester

Tuesday morning I took to the rails and ventured up to Manchester to visit CrossFit 3D and CrossFit Central Manchester. I was met at the station by Pete, a new friend and training partner who frequents both locations as a coach and athlete. Pete qualified from the UK sectional last month for the European Regional in Halmstad but isn’t going to be making the trip. He took me on a brief driving tour of Manchester before dropping in to Central’s box to say hello. We were met by Simon, owner and operator, and chatted for a bit. Their facility is located beneath a rail arch, very similarly to the space I saw at CrossFit Central London. The plan was to head back in and train with Simon and co. the following day, but, as I will explain, circumstances didn’t permit this return visit.

From there we headed to 3D, a new facility opened by Karl Steadman in south Manchester. It’s in an industrial park well within sniffing distance of the local brewery. Due to this, open door workouts are privy to wonderful aromas—smells like a fresh bread bakery out there. Pete and I began training with his boy Jaime, a 3D regular and 2009 Games competitor. I worked rack jerks, Pete did front squats to jerks, and Jaime worked snatches. I felt pretty strong overall and ended up setting a personal best at 135 kg. I tried 140 kg twice but neither was clean or close so I let it alone at that.

Afterwards we headed out to the parking lot for a strongman circuit that was simply crushing. Using a prowler sled loaded to 170 kg, a 20 m length of rope attached to 40 kg flat sled (plus 75 kg Karl riding on top), and a 60 kg sand bag, we did the following for 3 rounds:

20 meter prowler push (170 kg)

20 meter rope pull (115 kg)

40 meter bearhug carry (60 kg)

20 meter prowler push (170 kg)

My times were 1:21, 1:31, and 1:29. I hated this and was on the ground for a good while afterwards. Pete and Jaime were not far away, equally sprawled. Hard to imagine such a short interval being so completely exhausting, but such was the case. It was actually a bit comical how wiped out everyone was.

I rested about an hour then joined Karl’s 7:00 class for their MMA inspired Fight Gone Bad mash up.

3 x 1 minute rounds of:

Battling ropes

Sledge swings

Tire flips

Sprawls

Bear hug getups (20 kg bag)

I felt great throughout this routine. My recovery was good during the 1 minute break and my numbers for each 5 minute block were surprisingly consistent: 190, 189, 191. All told, it was a great afternoon with some great guys who know how to push it. A few of us headed out for a beer and dinner afterwards and they helped me get set up with plans to visit the city of Chester the following day (ancient city with Roman walls still intact). The plan was to return the following afternoon to say goodbye. That, however, did not happen.

I arrived in Chester by 10:30 the next day, expecting a little sightseeing before heading back to Manchester to train with Simon. Walking about, I quickly found the famed wall—super cool and impressive. The northgate area, especially, has been preserved and refurbished to perfection. Along my walk I did some weighted pullups and weighted inverted rows from the undercarriage of a low hanging railway bridge, kind of peaking my exploratory interest. Then, as I was walking along the old moat, I came to an area of the wall that looked quite climbable. It was only 25 feet or so to the top ledge and there were a couple of locals hanging out below encouraging me so I figured I’d give it a shot. The first sign of trouble was the looseness of the dirt covering much of the ancient wall. To all those reading: DON’T climb on loose dirt. I took my time and worked what was a relatively simple line up the wall until I was literally on the top ledge. Then, just as I was pulling myself up, the hold under my left foot gave way and I was sliding backwards fast. I bounced a little on the ledge blow and my slide turned into a freefall to the walkway and the locals below. I managed to land fairly square on my feet and absorbed most of the impact without endangering my head or back by crumpling quickly and rolling. However, it was still a 20 + foot fall onto a cement surface, leaving my feet bruised and my ankles sprained. I got myself back up to the train station and made my way directly back down to Bourne End, skipping the back half of the Manchester trip for obvious reasons.

While then I wasn’t sure how serious things were and feared the worst, today I can say that I dodged a bullet. Things have already begun to feel better and I’m walking close to normal. It will probably be a week or so before I even try to run or do anything strenuous on my legs, with the main focus to be 100% by the qualifiers in May. Moral of the story is that this was an unnecessary risk that didn’t need to be taken. Luckily the result wasn’t catastrophic, but that shouldn’t divert attention from what could’ve happened. With climbing, especially, precaution must win out over adventure in an untested environment. Needless to say, the next week or so will be upper body dominant routines and a lot of ice and ibuprofen to help the healing process along.

Snatch Heavy

Workout of the Day:

1RM Snatch

3 rounds for time:

5 full range HSPU

10 full range pullup + full range toe to bar

15 man on fire burpees

So I have been waiting over a week for my BritRail train pass to come in the mail, but have been dealing with issue after issue with the courier service. Finally, this morning, the representative agreed to let me come pick up a duplicate from her office in London. This meant I was going back to the city and I figured I might as well drop in to CrossFit Central London for some heavy Olympic lifting. So I sent a quick message over to Dell and Rob, my training partners from the other night, and we agreed to meet over there at 5 pm. With the gym practically to ourselves and the video camera as an aid, we went about establishing 1RM’s.

I warmed up with 40, 50, and 60 kg for sets of 3, then did a single at 80 kg. Felt good, so I bumped it to 90 kg. Hit it first try with ease. Decided to go straight to 100 kg, my PR and a weight I hadn’t hit since moving to Europe. Stuck it first attempt. REALLY fired up at this point. Then I proceeded to attempt and miss 105 kg 6 consecutive times, getting it halfway up one time before losing it left. This was frustrating, but encouraging. Until the last few sets, the weight didn’t feel too heavy, I was just missing it by a few inches. Anyways, going into regional qualifiers having matched my PR’s in both Olympic lifts within the last month, things could certainly be worse.

To make things even better, Rob and Dell each improved their lifts as well. Rob’s technique looked amazing, just a few little wobbles in the bottom of the squat caused him to miss reps at 80kg. Next time he attempts, I’m sure he will get it. Dell is like a spring off the ground and has seriously raw power. He power snatched 70 kg (almost a muscle snatch), and just needs to get comfortable diving under the bar to get much higher numbers.

We set off on the metcon without a clock because it was being used for the class happening around us. Even after the heavy snatches I was most interested in how I would do with the handstand pushups. Answer: not bad. The first set I felt strong and got 4 + 1. Everything from there was singles due to the fatigue of the other exercises, but I only missed one attempt the entire time.

The full range pullups with full range toes to bar were the toughest bit. CCL has a monkey bar setup that we used to pull our heads between until our shoulders hit the bars. Then, from a full hang without kipping, we lifted the feet all the way beyond our heads (almost like a skin the cat) before beginning the second repetition. Definitely wears the arms out fast but a great challenge on the core as well, and almost therapeutic after all the heavy hip extension we had just done.

The last bit was a variation I’ve been wanting to try for a while. Hitting the ground like a standard burpee, then log rolling left before pushing up and clapping. Back down, rolling right, then jumping and clapping. This required more coordination, more arm strength, and more time than regular burpees. The heartrate didn’t jack up as quickly, but it was a good way to get out of the sagital plane of motion that we so often get trapped in.

Overall this was an excellent session with tons of positive points to carry forward. My next few days will be a bit wild as I’m heading to Manchester Tuesday/Wednesday, then to Iceland from Thursday to Monday. It’s a hell of a 7 days so stay tuned.

The Run Test

Workout of the Day:

In the morning…

16 half gassers (50 meters and back)

Sprints meant to be kept under 16 seconds, rest remainder of minute

In the evening…

20 foot legless rope climb

20 pushups

20 second iron cross

No time, no set rest, do as many rounds as you feel like

Another beautiful day of weather in England, and another day of great outdoor workouts to accompany it. This morning I made my way to the stretch of turf that lines the space between neighborhood houses here, and marched off a distance of 50 meters. We used to do this run test every year coming in to summer conditioning for football at Princeton, but it was always on a proper all-weather track. Today’s track was grassy and inclined. Not ideal. Given these factors, I gave myself an extra second’s grace on the time, pushing for 17 seconds or less on all rounds, rather than 16 seconds or less. Good thing. Don’t think I made it under 16 once. I did, however, make every time under 17, only slowing a bit from start to finish. My legs felt the brunt of this and it was not fun overall. But, I have to say I was happy with my ability to recover in just over 40 seconds each set.

Took a few hours off to get some work done then headed up to Marlow Wood to play around in the trees. The idea tonight was to lay off the legs and to do some climbing without a lot of structure. I wound up finding a tree with endless branches to climb and all kinds of creative options. I probably could have tied my rope up 30 or 40 feet up if I wanted, but things would have been precarious getting down to say the least. Just to the side of the rope limb was a set of branches wide enough to do elevated pushups. The branch where my hands were was giving plenty of flex, making the pushups a little more challenging for the stabilization. On the other side of the tree there were two trunks widening out just enough to support a suspended iron cross between them. This was fun, but a little scary as I got tired during round 3. 20 seconds was doable the first 2 rounds, but the 3^rd I only had the strength for about 10.

After 3 rounds of this rotation I decided to work a little extra on rope climbing technique. Got an extra 4 climbs in before calling it a day and heading back home. Tons of fun at a great location. Video is below.

Rest Day

CCL round 2...

Workout of the Day:

5 x 5 sumo deadlift

5 x 6-10 good morning

3 rounds for time partner WOD:

40 OH squat (55 kg)

50 pullup

60 box jump

70 double under

400 meter run

(I wore 20 lb vest)

Made it back in to London today. I spent an hour or so in Hyde park with a friend of mine from the States, then headed over to London Bridge to meet up with Dellus from CrossFit Central London. He’s an Osteopath working in the city and after last nights work he offered to see me today for a once over. This was great. Not only did he work out some kinks, but we chatted at length about CrossFit, the role of his practice therein, and our experiences in general. Afterwards he walked me through a bit of old London, including Borough Market, the Clink, and some great neighborhoods between the bridge and CCL.

When we got to the gym it was seething again. Brian was teaching a foundations course with 3 new members and there were a handful of others doing the workout of the day (as described above). Dellus, Rob, and I started in on some strength work, doing 5 x 5’s of sumo deadlifts (dead stop in between repetitions) followed by 5 x 6-10’s of weighted good mornings. The deadlift sets were 120 kg, 140 kg, 150 kg, 160 kg, and 170 kg. I felt pretty strong with these, the biggest limitation being the grip. The last set at 170 was a struggle, but in a good way. Never was there a chance of it not getting up. Del looked strong the whole way and Rob made it look easy. Kid is built to deadlift.

We transitioned to weighted good mornings from there, an exercise neither of my workout partners had done much of. I’m interested to hear how they’re feeling tomorrow. We worked at 60 kg for the first few sets, then bumped it to 70 kg for the last 2. I got at least 7 every time, with a few 8’s mixed in. Loved this for strength building in the lower back and hamstrings. Hoping to do a lot more of it as we head towards Sweden in May.

The partner WOD was tough. Rob and I paired up, with me wearing the 20 lb vest for a little extra umph. As the workout progressed the weight vest felt heavier and heavier, my compressing more and more. We necessarily split the workload based upon our strengths, so I wound up doing 60 % of the OH squats, Rob doing closer to 70% of the pullups, splitting the box jumps, me doing 60 % of the double unders, and obviously both doing the run. In total the workout took us 26:07 to finish and it was a burner. The first round felt real easy, but the rest was not fun. The weight vest took its toll on me, especially on the pullups and the run. I was able to get through the OH squats without much trouble on any of the rounds and the double unders didn’t feel much different with the extra weight. Overall, though, I was pretty kicked afterwards.

After the guys locked up, a group of us headed around the corner for a few beers and chatted til 10:30 or so. It was a great finish to the night and I genuinely enjoyed the company. Brian got some great pictures and I’m hoping to get my hands on them as soon as he posts them on Flicker. Hopefully this is not the last time I train at CCL. Great spot.

Run Forest...

Workout of the Day:

In the morning…

5 rounds for time:

1200 meter run

200 meter weighted run (40 kg)

In the evening…

Establish a 3RM front squat

3 rounds for time:

12 ground to overhead (40 kg)

15 pullup

21 kb swing (32 kg)

Even after taking yesterday off to rest, I was feeling stiff this morning. My quads and ass especially. I also felt a general soreness in my shoulders, but nothing big. Still, I was excited to get back outside and build on the momentum I created Tuesday.

The morning workout was designed to be long, mentally grueling, and to challenge the cardio vascular conditioning that I’ve neglected in Paris. Just down stream from the Bourne End bridge there’s an open farm plot with telephone poles dotting down it’s center spaced just under 100 meters apart. This was my spot.

The first run around the perimeter felt great. I kept my pace under a 7 minute mile (with the exception of the couple mud puddles I had to navigate) and I got back to my starting point in 5:15. I used the same log I had the other night for the OH squats for the weighted carry today. It felt light. Definitely had a Rocky moment running with it across my back through the field, only my field wasn’t covered in snow. The second run was a little tougher, but not too bad. By the third I was wishing I hadn’t set out to do 5 rounds, but I pressed on only dropping my pace a little bit. The weighted runs never really got hard, to be honest. This has to be thanks to all the sandbag stuff I’ve been doing the past 6 months. Surprisingly, it’s much easier to handle the huge log than it is the lighter sandbag.

The 4^th and 5^th rounds were gut checks. I tried to pick up my pace on the home stretch and dropped the log with the clock reading 30:19. I had set 30:00 as a goal after I saw the time on my first leg, so I was a little pissed I had come so close. This was still a cool twist on doing a distance run and I recommend people give it a try. Next time I will pick a location with some hills for the running portion.

The evening session took place at CrossFit Central London, the city’s first and largest CrossFit affiliate. Brian, the gym owner, had invited me in months back and today was the day to take him up on his hospitality. I went in to the city around 2 to do some sightseeing. No pictures though, because my camera has failed me yet again. Sadness. I walked around the town, saw the standard sights, was super impressed with the Parliament building even though I’d seen it a million times in movies and on television, and made my way over to CCL by 6 pm. The location is beyond perfect, in my opinion. On the south bank in the old city of Southwark, CCL is tucked in a converted arch of the railroad line passing overtop. The address actually reads: Arch 57. Not kidding. Apparently the railroad company decided the space was too valuable to go to waste and converted about a dozen of these arches into storage facilities for rent. Down the row there’s a boxing gym, an Astin Martin dealership, and a custom framer.

The interior is tall and huge. They’ve actually taken up two arches, giving them (by my estimate) around 2000 square feet of usable space. At the moment they’re only using half of it at comfortably supporting 50 regular members. Tonight I was training alongside 12 other people and didn’t feel crowded in the least. These guys have a great situation here. I’m jealous.

The Workout of the Day called for heavy front squats followed by a short metcon. Perfect. I hadn’t done any heavy in what felt like forever so I was excited to see those front squats. By sets looked like this: 100 kg x 3, 110 kg x 3, 120 kg x 3, 130 kg x 3, and 135 kg x 2. Barely got the second repetition on the 135 and thought better of attempting the 3^rd. Had no chance of getting another. Pretty happy with this result considering the morning’s activities. I don’t remember any previous numbers for a 3RM, but I’m sure this is my best. I think my best 1RM might have been 135 kg before, so tonight wasn’t bad at all. This is my chief weakness when it comes to cleans and I don’t do it enough. But it felt good to see the numbers going up anyways.

The metcon, 3 round for time of 12 ground to overhead (40 kg), 15 pullups, and 21 kb swings (32 kg), I was excited about. I knew the limiting factor would be the grip, something that tends to be an Achilles heal of mine from time to time. The prescribed weight for the kb swings was actually 24 kg, but we ran out of kettlebells. I was happy to bump it up, remembering all too well the way the 32 kg bell crushed me in Copenhagen 2 months ago. I started off snatching the ground to overheads—felt super light. The pullups went quick as well. The swings felt heavy from the start. I didn’t break the set, but I knew that I would have to in the rounds to follow. I picked the bar up for the 2^nd round of GTO’s and it was like someone slipped an extra 50 pounds on there when I wasn’t looking. Where the first set I had really just been flipping it up with my wrists, this set I was power snatching it with my entire body. The pullups I broke after 8 and finished in two go’s. The swings were tough but not unbearable. I did them in 3 sets of 7. The last set of GTO’s I did clean and jerks instead of snatches, and broke the pullups in 5’s. Coming in to the last 21 swings I knew it was going to be rough. My forearms were exploding and the grip was starting to go. It took me 5 sets to get to 21, with a final time of 6:52.

I feel great about today overall. I pushed myself hard and got a lot out of being in a group setting again. Hoping to see these guys again tomorrow night if I can get myself back into the city.

Fitness is...

Outside.

Go find it.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned during this trans-national adventure of mine, it’s that there is nothing like training out in the open. Urban environment or rural environment, city street or barren trail… get outside and train without walls.

Some might argue that cities, by their very nature, don’t lend themselves to physical exploration. They’re lazy. Some say the countryside encourages accessibility, freedom of movement, and an exploratory eagerness that cities do not. Maybe it’s not our environment that cultivates these characteristics in us, but we that find it in them. There are no objects in nature whose equivalent can’t be found in a city if you’re looking with open eyes. Mountains are just nature's staircases, trees are her climbing walls. Carrying a bag of cement is the same as shouldering a fallen limb, and lifting a stone is, well, you get the picture. The point is, just because most of us live in cities doesn’t mean we are bereft of outdoor fitness potential. Usually it just means we’re addicted to air conditioning and the comfort of what’s habitually easy. But I digress.

The main objective of this post is not to argue the pro's and con's of the urban/rural life, but to highlight the importance of forging a connectivity with our surroundings wherever they may be. That, more than anything, is what fitness boils down to in my opinion: How capable are you of engaging and mastering challenges in an unpredictable physical world?

Answering this question in the current climate isn’t so easy for many of us. After all, a great challenge in someone’s physical world could be changing the filter in the coffee machine. Most people proudly spend every ounce of their energy avoiding physical challenges, as though that were the rightful culmination of the experiment known as modern civilization. Here we stand on the shoulders of our ancestors so that we no longer have to stand. Let us, for the sake of my sanity, disregard this perverted idea of evolution as the purest form of rationalized lethargy and, instead, engage with a world where physical challenges must be overcome by individuals whether they like it or not. What then?

First, there’s the problem of gyms: people measuring their fitness by a standard that has no practical authenticity. Gyms are a simulation of reality. A very valuable simulation, I grant you, but a simulation nonetheless. They plug the gaps when the weather is bad, help to build bases of strength and conditioning for athletes and the de-conditioned, and assist in training specific movements that must be practiced again and again to perfect form and technique (rehab/sport). These are all great uses, and if this is how you see your gym I have no objection. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people view their gym as a fitness mecca, the only place where their quest for beauty, strength, and discipline can endure and be validated. The image of a dog chasing its tail comes screaming to mind. In reality, gyms are a crutch on which we lean too heavily and quickly become dependent upon. Largely, this is because they are controlled environments and are grossly convenient. They’re also expensive, sterile, and largely devoid of practical usefulness once you leave. Globo Gyms, CrossFit Gyms; every kind of gym is merely a tool with which we build fitness for a life outside their doors, a life filled with broken elevators, dead car batteries, and the occasional evasive maneuver. That life is variable, it’s non-linear, and it rarely comes with chrome-plated barbells. If you never train strength, speed, agility, balance, power, accuracy, etc. in the environments for which they are necessary, what good are they? Life, as it were, happens everywhere. Act accordingly.

Beyond the logical reasoning outlined above, there’s also this: training outside is a far more satisfying experience. Remember that connectivity I mentioned earlier? It’s real and it only happens when you get out and start interacting with the rest of the physical universe. I cry for the individual who runs 5 miles a day, 5 days a week, and never gets a sunburn. I pity the man who does endless pullups but never gets to see anything above the bar. It’s the totality of the experience that makes outdoor training different, and it’s something you cannot simulate. When you’re outside there’s endless sensory input: wind, noise, temperature, visual space, etc. There’s constant variation in the tools you use, be it bags, beams, bridges, walls, ropes, hills, cars, or people. An environment with this much possibility literally stimulates creativity and breeds confidence in the individual’s ability to overcome all things. The more stuff you use and the more tools you touch, the greater the connectivity you create and the greater the belief in your own ability to master your surroundings. Such is the ultimate brand of fitness.

In short, these thoughts boil down to this: Be it urban or rural, fitness is only as measurable as it can be applied to overcoming challenges in the randomized physical world around us. And, while controlled environments are useful, even necessary to preparing us for this world, they are not the most critical proving grounds. The extraordinary satisfaction we get after conquering natural obstacles and the totality of the experience in general are proof of this fact.

Don’t believe me? That’s okay. Keep chasing that tail. I’ll be out back whenever you’re ready.

Bourne End Bridge

Workout of the Day

In the morning…

20 minute AMRAP:

5 Handstand Pushup

10 Atomic Situp (knees to chest)

15 Walking Lunge (ea)

In the evening…

For Time:

30 Muscle Ups

then

30 Ring Dips

Every broken set do 10 thick bar OH Squats (40 kg)

Incredible day. Off the charts good, in fact. I didn’t find anything heavy to lift, but I had so much fun doing this stuff instead that it didn’t matter much. I was up and out by 7:30 am, heading to the Bourne End Bridge just outside of town near the field from last night. The walking bridge that parallels the railroad crossing has high banisters on each side, making handstands doable without any danger. I used the length of the bridge for the walking lunges and just started my next round wherever I finished my 30^th step. Surprisingly, the handstands were no problem at all. Neither were the situps. The only real challenge in this WOD was the lunges, and those were really just because of how long they took. At no point during this workout was I significantly out of breath, reaching muscle failure, or losing focus. I finished 13 rounds plus 5 pushups, 10 situps, and 2 lunges, bringing my totals to 70, 140, and 197, respectively.

Afterwards I did a little bonus, ala the Butcher’s Lab in Copenhagen. 4 sets of pseudo iron crosses on the banisters, playing with L-sits and different leg positions while holding. This was really tough. The handrails were at my limit width wise, really forcing me to squeeze down and out to stay suspended. Great exercise though. I wanted to include a video clip, but blogger was being a bastard and I couldn't get the thing to load. Oh well.

After joining Colin to his sound studio for show and tell (he works as a audio mixer on motion pictures, TV, etc… so cool), I headed back to the bridge for the second part of my training day.30 muscle ups and 30 ring dips, with 10 thick grip overhead squats every time a set is broken (I found a huge log nearby that did the trick nicely). By this time my butt was starting to feel the lunges and my calves were feeling the hill from the night before. Whatever. This workout kicked ass. It was a perfect night, no one was around, and the exercises meshed seamlessly. I began by ripping off 10 muscle ups—feeling strong. The log was incredible, but it wasn’t centered weight so balancing was a challenge as I pitched forward and back trying to keep it steady. The second set of MU’s I got 5. The squats were actually better, but because it was so thick my forearms and hands were doing a lot of work. The third set of MU’s I only got 4. Just 3 on the fourth. Now the rest of my arms were feeling it on the squats. Keeping my balance front to back was getting tougher as my shoulders tightened up… technique was at a premium. I got 4 the fifth set and finished with 4 on the last. The clock was at 10:41 by this point. Strategically I had been taking my time between the squats and the muscle ups, trying to give my arms a chance to recover.

The ring dips were much easier—I got them in 3 sets: 13, 10, and 7. But the OH squats were murderous during this last stretch. I was squeezing for all I was worth trying to keep the thing from sinking onto my head or falling forward. My final time was 15:53, and while that’s not super fast, I couldn’t help but feel great afterwards.

I hung out for a little while afterwards and enjoyed the best hour of the day. Hoping to do something strength related in the morning and save up for a real tough endurance effort in the afternoon. Weather permitting, of course. Should be another good one, but I can’t imagine it will top today.

Winter Hill

Workout of the Day:

3 rounds for time

20 box jumps

300 meter hill run

5 meter legless rope climb

Alison took me and the dogs on a walk today up to Winter Hill, a ridge running along the edge of yet another wide open space of public land. In addition to being beautifully green, this place was completely empty. It felt like I was on an episode of Man versus Wild and had just been dropped in the middle of nowhere with Bear Grylls. On top of the ridge I found a perfect tree from which to hang my rope. It had a branch 5 meters up that hung away from the rest and looked over the field below.

The idea with this workout was to get as out of breath as possible. Box jumps, hill run, rope climb, repeat. First of all, the hill was STEEP. I made it up the first time pretty quick. The second time I was breathing fire and my legs were cement but I still got to the top without stopping. The third was half walk half run and I felt like death. I concluded afterwards that the lack of trails in Leiden and Paris have taken their toll on my aerobic capacity. I used to do 5 mile trail runs consistently in Washington before I left and the benefits were enormous. Now that I’m back in an environment suitable to this I will be doing it again.

I used a bench for the box jumps, no problems there. The rope climbs weren’t so difficult either. The hill was everything in this WOD. I finished in 13:21 but I should've be able to do it under 10. Heading out tomorrow morning for some exploration...maybe find something heavy to lift.

English Easter

I am just a few days into my English residency and already I’m loving the experience. I’m currently staying in Bourne End with family friends Colin and Alison Chapman, two people whom I’ve just had the pleasure of meeting but have accepted me into their home with the utmost graciousness and hospitality nonetheless. The surrounding area here is beautiful. The Thames runs right past their town and cuts a wonderful swath through the countryside, much of which is open to the public for walking, jogging, dogs, etc. I aim to get out there tomorrow and utilize this to its fullest.

Today was a FEAST. We ate with Alison’s sister and her family around 1:30, but Colin was up early preparing pork loin, roasted potatoes, cooked leeks, carrots, onions, parsnips, broccoli, and some other vegetables I’d never heard of. There was gravy, some special English rolls, all kinds of cakes and tarts, and, of course, Cadberry eggs. This meal lasted at least 3 hours and I’m not exaggerating. It felt like Thanksgiving. I stayed away from the cakes, had only a few bits of chocolate, but crushed the rest. There’s no way I’ll be eating like this once classes start and I’m over at Oxford, but if I could, I’d be putting on good weight without question. Made me realize how little I normally eat compared to what’s possible.

Since tomorrow is a bank holiday, Colin, Alison, and I are taking advantage of the day off and heading over to Windsor Castle to see the Queen. Well, we probably won’t see the Queen but maybe we’ll see her window. I’m just excited to get out and see my first real English historical sight. Tomorrow is also my first day back training and I couldn’t feel better after this week of rest. Tons of energy and motivation to carry me through this next month.

Oh yeah. Go Butler.

Riding with Courage

Today is the first day of Josh Courage's month long trek across the United States. ON A BIKE. Josh has been a great friend and training partner for the past 3 years and to say the man has a big heart is an understatement. In an effort to raise awareness for the Children's Miracle Network, he is going to ride roughly 3700 miles in 30 days, stopping where he has local connections, where there are CrossFit boxes, and at pre-designated campsites to rest and re-fuel. I've known Josh through more than a few of these creative physical endeavors, all benefiting some cause bigger than himself, but this is by far the most impressive. I've told him many times how much I wished I was in the States to take part in this amazing adventure, but alas this is the most I can contribute. If any of you are along his route and have the time, please get out and support him. He'll be the one dripping in sweat and towing a mini bike trailer filled with camping gear.

As for me, I'm packing up my life and getting on a bus tomorrow for Oxford. Close the book on Paris, baby. See you all in the UK.

Rest Day

In the midst of moving myself from Paris to Oxford, and I am at the 6 week mark to boot, so this is a week for recovery. Hoping be primed for my romp through England and Wales next week. Only a month and change til qualifiers. Ramp it up.

Isle Saint Louis Video

This video is from last weeks workout down on the Isle Saint Louis with Niels.

Pullups across the Pond

Workout of the Day:

50 double unders

1 to 10 ladder: pullups and burpees

50 double unders

10 to 1 ladder: pullups and mountain climbers

50 double unders

For the second installment of this series with my friend Frank from Steelfit Strength back in the States, we chose a format that would really test capacity and recovery in the upper body. I also did this outside on a thick piece of fence piping (above), making butterfly kipping impossible and really challenging my grip. It was definitely a tough sequence that tested my limit with arm strength, not to mention overcoming repeated psychological failure on the bar. The entire second pullup ladder I was doing singles. The double unders, burpees, and mountain climbers weren’t major obstacles, but they didn’t offer much of a break for the muscles I needed to be fresh either. My final time was 15:13. My friends across the pond finished as follows:

Ori – 13:13

Frank – 18:54

Erik – 21:07

Graham – 28:32

Props to Ori for smoking us all. I took some video footage, but it didn't turn out so well. the angle cut off the mountain climbers completely and only got the top half of the burpees so I didn't think it would be worth it to edit it together for a full video.

Rest Day/French Roadtrip Day 4

Nice

Heading to the beach Sunday morning I had every intention of doing a workout in the water. I had imagined a swim coupled with some sort of sand running and lifting a heavy stone. Unfortunately, Nice is a rock beach and the cloud cover never lifted long enough to make swimming a non-hypothermia situation. Still, the promenade was impressive and it stretched the entire length of the bay. I took an exploratory jog towards the east end where my friend Kasper had told me to look for a set of stairs and war monument to France’s fallen. Sure enough, just as the coastline ended a huge set of stairs emerged. After climbing them and admiring the incredible view, I stumbled upon this incredible waterfall overlooking the bay. To one side there was a low hanging tree perfect for a set of rings… Bingo.

I headed back to the beach where I’d left my friends to grab my bag and get started. The workout was simple, but very challenging. 2 rounds running up the stairs (385 of them), the first carrying my 12 kg bag and the second without, followed by 10 muscle ups, the first with the bag the second without. Maurice got some great footage of me as I reached the top level of the climb and during the muscle ups. Sadly, Eva’s film of the actual climb did not come out, so you’ll have to take my word for the severity of that portion. So beautiful but so tough.

In total the routine took me 12:59 to complete. The best part about this was the muscle ups with the pack. It’s about the same width as my back so it didn’t get in the way at all, just made things heavier. I’ve attached the video link below.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing and wandering around the town, which reminded me a lot of south Florida. There were tons of retired people and tourists everywhere, giving it a much different feel than the other places we had been on the trip to that point. I can only imagine how packed it must be in the summer when the majority of the workforce takes their holiday.

The next morning we were up and off before 10:00, trying to hit the road early to lessen the pain of the long drive back to Paris. Along the way we stopped and saw the Chateau de Rochepot, an unbelievable castle nestled in the central French countryside. Before we left I tied up my rope to a nearby tree and did 12 sets of climbs. I was trying to work some foot technique and to be more efficient up the rope to save strength in my arms, so this workout didn’t necesarily take the form of a WOD.

After that it was nothing but asphalt the rest of the way. We made it home just before 10 pm. What a great trip. I really didn’t want to come home.

Workout of the Day:

Superset the following using a single dumbbell (32 kg), resting as needed between sets but not at all between exercises:

Unilateral bench press 12, 12, 12, 12, 12

Weighted pullup 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Rest 30 minutes

5 x 1 minute sets:

200 meter run

AMRAP handstand pushups

Moderate workload today. I was feeling little to no residual soreness from the early week activity when I got up today, leaving me ready and willing to kill it. The strength sets went well, but my single arm press is significantly stronger than my ability to pull with extra weight, hence the 12-5, 12-4, 12-3, etc. Interesting note here: holding a dumbbell between your feet with legs straight beneath you is tough. I could feel the weight pulling all the way into my obliques and transverse abdominus. This leads me to believe it’s more beneficial and certainly more challenging than weighted pull using a belt.

Although the strength sets were challenging, they were fairly low intensity. Such was not the case during the second half of the workout. The distance and time limitations were short enough to encourage sprinting, therefore the heart rate was jacked up immediately. Muscle fatigue was a biggest factor on the runs, believe it or not. My legs felt great during sets 1 and 2, but terrible after that. Hamstrings, calves, quads. All of it was heavy coming down the back stretch. The handstand pushups dropped from 12 the first set to 9 the second, 8 the third, 4 the fourth, and bounced to 6 on the fifth. My total count was 39, which I don’t think is too bad on this. My speed on the 200’s dropped from :26 to :28 to :31, then held at :33 the last two sets. I loved this interval structure because it was short, sharp, and didn’t allow you to dog it during any portion. 1 minute of rest is enough to pull your tail from between your legs, but not enough to really have you standing tall. And, of course, you can do it anywhere with a wall and some space.

I’ve attached a video below.

French Roadtrip Day 3

Avignon and the road to Nice:

We got up early on Saturday to go explore the Palace of the Pope and the renowned Avignon bridge before hitting the road for Nice. Good thing, too, because the Palace is built more like a medieval fortress and is every bit as large. (For more read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_des_Papes). We walked through ancient prayer chambers, 60 meter long dining rooms (above right), frescoed chapels, and beautiful courtyards where cardinals used to cloister. We even saw the papal kitchen (essentially a huge brick room tapering to one giant chimney above). But the staggering thing for me was the number of stairs in the place. NOT wheelchair friendly back in the day. It seemed that between every room there were either steps up or steps down to the point where it felt like the place had about 10 different levels, few of which matched up with any others. To think that those stairs were climbed for over 350 years by the succeeding heads of the Catholic Church, albeit controversially designated at times, was mind blowing.

After a few hours of Papal history we strolled down to the Avignon bridge, famous for its abrupt incompletion halfway across the Rhone River. Apparently, years of flooding and debris kept corroding the pillars, forcing the inhabitants to habitually rebuild the structure with substandard materials. Finally they decided it simply wasn’t worth the effort and abandoned the cause in the late 17^th century. (For more read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avignon_bridge). About halfway across the existing bridge there still remains a chapel built into one of the columns. Mostly a home to pigeons now, this has to be one of the more unique places of worship I have ever seen. It’s strikingly simple and plain, but its location gives it the impression of floating above the water. Very cool.

The bridge also offered plenty of opportunity for a little physical adventure, though the fact that it was a museum left me a little hesitant to do anything too sacrilegious. I did, however, find a doorway over which a stone could be used for close grip pullups, so I did a few sets of those (video below). The bridge itself would make for a really fun bodyweight/swim/climbing routine because of its sheer drop into the river. I imagined a scenario where one would do 50 burpees on the top, jump off the bridge into the water (30 feet or so) and swim to the opposing bank (maybe 600 meters), do 50 burpees, swim back to the bridge, climb the exposed bricks (very easy holds), then finish with 50 burpees. Obviously this would never fly with the citizens or curators of the bridge’s museum, but it was fun to think about.

After lunch, we headed off towards Nice on the French national roads and quickly reached the coast just East of Marseilles. From there we drove along the Mediterranean through Toulons, Saint Tropez, and Cannes before reaching our destination. Wow, what a drive. Very reminiscent of coastal routes in California, just with a much older, less suburban dubdivision feel. We stopped a number of times to soak up the scenery that was, in a word, stunning. Particularly beautiful was Pont de Layette, a random pull-off along the road between towns that featured stairs down to the rocky coast below (above left). There was a small sand beach facing west where a handful of people and their pets were enjoying the sunset, and a beautiful bluff point with a 300 degree view of the mediterranean. We probably spent an hour relaxing here while dusk settled over us. There were trees to climb, tidepools to explore, and endless rocky shoreline to admire. It has to rank as one of the top 5 prettiest places I have ever been.

We arrived in Nice around 8 that night, somewhat reluctantly after our wonderful experience along the coast, and hit the town for some sushi and a few drinks. We didn't stay out too late, instead crashing at the hotel in anticipation of a long Sunday at the beach. While the weather had less than ideal plans in store, I did find an incredible location for a workout thanks to a recommendation from a buddy in Copenhagen. Still putting that together, so stay tuned.

Snatch Rhythm

Workout of the Day:

Snatch 3, 2, 1, 1, 1

10 minute AMRAP

20 calorie row

10 OH squat (65 kg)

10 toes to bar (strict)

Was feeling pretty sore still today, both in my lower back from Tuesday’s deadlifts and in my calves from Wednesday’s fireman carries up the stairs (I swear Niels weighs more than 83 kg). But I was feeling excited and ready to get it going, regardless. In fact, I spent probably 10-15 minutes just watching old Olympic weightlifting footage to try and visualize what those guys do. Something I noticed right away was the tempo of their motion. There’s a discernible rhythm that each man approaches the lift, usually unique from that of others but always the same for him. I focused on this today and could feel a difference. My motion felt smoother, I was more relaxed, and the weight felt lighter. Unfortunately, because my back was pretty beat up from earlier in the week I couldn’t push my weights too high. I finished with a top set of 95 kg and just kept working the timing there. Would have loved to see what I could’ve done fresh, was really feeling great about technique.

Afterwards, I loaded the bar with 65 kg (143 #) and prepared for a short, maximum intensity metcon: 20 calories on the ERG, 10 OH squats with the weight, and 10 toes to bar on the gymnastic stretching rack against the wall. I really didn’t know what to expect here. I pulled the first 20 calories at around a 1600 cal/hr pace, did the squats unbroken, and banged out the toes to bar without any hesitation. The 2^nd row was down closer to 1500 cal/hr most of the way, the squats still unbroken but now burning in the quads, and the toes to bar took a second set after 7. At this point my heart rate was starting to jack up good, and the temptation was to linger around before getting back on the rower. This is what I heard Chris Spealer call the point of panic for most people. You haven’t reached true failure, but your body is sending up warning signals and your brain starts to get nervous. I fought this urge and continued on without any rest, felt pretty horrible while rowing at 1470 cal/hr but still managed to get the squats unbroken. I broke the toes to bar between 6 and 4, dropping to the ground with 2 minutes to go in the WOD. Again, the rower felt awful. The OH squats felt good til 5, bad from 5-8, and seriously shaky on the last 2. I finished them without dropping though and made it up on the bar for 1 repetition before the clock hit 10.

A few things I learned from this workout. 1^st, 10 minutes is too round a number. I’ve been using it as a timeline too often and should vary it much more. When I was approaching 10 minutes my body was giving out. Not sure how well another 2 minutes would have gone keeping the same rotation. 2^nd, strict toes to bar continue to be a bear of an exercise. They were the most limiting factor here, even though they appear to be the most harmless. Last, the point of panic is a mental hurdle that you have to expect during metcon workouts. Expect it to be there so when it happens you know how to respond.

Rest Day/French Roadtrip Day 1/2

Orleans and Clermont-Ferrand

We hit the road Thursday evening around 5pm heading south from Paris towards Orleans. Our original plan had been to stop in Chartres to see the Cathedral there, a building famous for its asymmetrical towers, massive height, and for housing the Sancta Camisa (the tunic Mary wore when giving birth to Christ). Unfortunately, we had to forego this leg of the trip in the interest of time and pushed on towards Orleans without delay. Driving in France is a bit different than driving in the States, mostly because the signs don’t tell you which direction the road is going, only towards which city it’s headed. Also, the highways all require tolls if you want to be on a road with a speed limit over 100 kph. We tried to avoid the toll and take the national roads during this first leg but quickly realized that the national roads hit every town along the way and were poorly marked if marked at all. Needless to say it took us longer than expected to reach our destination.

When we did arrive, however, we were treated to a mid-sized city with full-sized charm. The city center was immaculately clean, with beautiful gray stone buildings extending in all directions. We came across a giant fountain honoring Joan of Arc just in front of city hall, most likely because Orleans was the site where she led the fight against the English during the 100 years war that gained her fame. Towering over all was the gothic monolith of Cathedral Saint Croix (above right). I was thinking we were about to walk up to it, but its proximity to us kept getting distorted by its size—same effect that makes walking the strip in Vegas seem so easy when in fact it is not. When we finally did reach it, the square was literally empty (a far cry from the square at Notre Dame in Paris this time of year). If I hadn’t been so tired from the day of driving I think this location would have been ideal for a bodyweight WOD. As it was, though, we just walked around and enjoyed the view.

In the morning we hit the road early in the hopes of reaching Avignon before dark. According to the map we would be driving through a lot of countryside, so I anticipated getting a workout in somewhere along the way—perhaps utilizing the rope I had packed in the trunk. Unfortunately, during our lunch break in Clermont-Ferrand our car got towed by the shockingly efficient French parking police. Apparently we left the Citroen in a space it ought not to have been and because we had to retrieve it from the local towing agent after paying our fine to the commissariat. 90 euros. Ouch. The bigger issue was the time we lost. This meant that we would not be able to stop on the way to Avignon. While waiting to get the car I climbed around on the side of a highway overpass that featured a strange circular design with little ledges (above left). Not much of a workout, but fun physical activity nonetheless.

We ended up making it to Avignon after dark, but it was probably better that way. The views of a medieval walled city lit up at night are pretty priceless, after all. More about that in the next post.