Friday, February 26, 2010




5 rounds

80m front rack KB lunge 50#
400 m row

GRIND! 37:52

The old knee was pissed off at me today. I don't know why. So I ended up using the long leg to my advantage and lengthened my lunge to almost and obnoxious level. But it helped and I actually made better headway that way.

Thursday, February 25, 2010






3 rounds

10 ctb pull ups
10 dips
25 whip smash

3 rounds

KB snatch #35 10 per arm
25 whip smash

20m lunge single leg dead pistol combo

PM 30 min row

Originally this WOD was full of muscle ups. RH and I started the WOD and after we both started failing the muscle ups we decided to scrap them. No clock again today. Lots of focus on weakness. The afternoon row was just plain annoying. I hate rowing long distance because I am so antsy. I could have done a little better I started off crappy and got better toward the end. Next time Im shooting for 7000+m. 2:05 av split.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010




warm up:
400m run
1-6 dead hang pull up/ push up

bench press/ max dead hang pull up between sets

10x 55# 8 pull ups
8x 75# 7 pull ups
5x 85# 6 pull ups
3x 105# 5 pull ups

6 rounds
20x piston press on dynamax ball 25# per arm
20m seated tire drag

Ride to Hell

20-15-10-5 calorie airdyne with a friend


Went too light on the bench press I should have started and ended higher. Tire pull was super fun. I love functional work like that. Ride to hell was PAINFUL! Anyone who doesn't know about that airdyne should really get on it. It looks rediculous but damn if it isn't the hardest shit in that box.





Monday, February 22, 2010





20 m
lunge-single, leg deadlift, pistol combo (with counterweight)

3 rounds

8x squat jump 80# chained
2 minutes airdyne (15 cals per minute minimum)

rest 3 minutes

3 rounds

8x split jump 80# sandbag
2 minute row (15 cal per minute minimum)

rest 3 mins

3 rounds
10 burpee pull ups
forward leaning rest to failure

I love this kind of WOD! So fun. I was suprised to find that this one smoked me not in the legs as much as the arms.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

5 rounds for time

50 double unders
5 thrusters 95#

9:06 (I wan't to revisit this one when I haven't been drinking and eating like crap, I think I could crush this time)


When I grow up I want to be Matt Baird. Quote of the day:

"Words don't do it justice... I've scheduled two hours in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber Friday night after my massage....dude, I'm fucking ready."

He pretty much makes my day every time he talks. Good luck at sectionals, Baird! Don't die on that mountain.

Friday, February 19, 2010



Snatch/ OHS tech day

drop snatch/ snatch balance

5x 35#
5x 55#
5x75#

full snatch

5x75 (x2)

OHS

5x75#
5x 85#
5x 105#

PM:

Press 5-5-5-5
(55, 75, 85, 85)

Then fun with gymnastics: free standing band assisted HSPU and walking on hands. I can't go forward I don't know why.

then 3 miles in 21:34

I would like to apologize to my very patient coach. I got new headphones today and I decided that tech day would be a good day to not be able to hear him. Thanks RH for not punching me in the face.

Thursday, February 18, 2010



Huge day for me. I've been working for a muscle up wod for 2 years. Like most people when I found crossfit I started watching the HQ videos non stop. I mostly focused on videos that featured women. I didn't know anything about bumper plates so I was always seeing women with big weights and being from a globo gym I was always like "hold up, how much weight is that!?" When I saw "Nasty Girls" for the first time I was blown away. I didn't know there were women out there who were as strong as Nicole, Eva, and Annie. The muscle up immediately became a long term goal.

Everyone knows that the muscle up has been an elusive little thing for me. My first one came a week before last years regional qualifier in May and then I didn't stick another one until November. Since then there has been more failure than success but they were coming sporadically. I was patient. Kind of. Finally last week I started to nail them more often than I was failing them. So RH and I decided it was finally go time to put them to the test.

5 rounds

2 muscle ups
4 sandbag get ups 80#
8 GHD situps

19:02

So first of all, again....F that sandbag. And secondly it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I failed a few but for the most part if I took a minute to focus I got up on the rings. Until the last rep. I think I failed it 5 times before I hit it. My shoulder and elbows were pretty jacked up at that point and I almost walked away to not end with failure. With the strong likelyhood of the mu being part of the qualifiers/sectionals I needed to know that I could keep hitting them. I got it. I'm feeling good. Hopefully a month will be long enough to get them strong enough where a time limit wont mess me up.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010


Taken by Troy:
Steak Salad... momma learned how to grill.


So I think I broke my pinky toe chasing Troy around. Today's WOD was 400m time trials. Amazing timing for a broken or just really badly jammed toe. It was about time for it I guess since the one next to it was broken about 3 years ago in a Troy accident. Troy got in a 400m run with very little stopping to "rest" and then he took pictures. He is actually a pretty good photographer. I rested up for my first ever muscle up WOD happening tomorrow.

Still having trouble getting back strict with the diet. Having way too much fun.




Tuesday, February 16, 2010


row 4 mins, 15 seconds hard, 15 seconds easy

5x5 power cleans

95-115-135-145(2)-135

EMOM for 10 minutes

95# power clean x 5
20# ball slam x 5

So sore today from "Angie" I set 145 as a goal and struggled with the best method to get there. I decided to work up instead of opening big at 135 even though I was confident at 135. Looking back I should have opened at 115, then 135, then jumped up adding 2.5's. 145 went up twice and I felt I could hit more reps but on the third rep I rushed the set up and hit myself in the knees and then the chest with the bar. Went back to my crap set up and hung out forward ofthe bar too long. Typical of me. Booo.




Monday, February 15, 2010


"Angie"

100 pull ups
100 push ups
100 sit ups
100 squats

21:39

RH, Tanner and I were all about 2 minutes off our PR's. I was being a baby about my hands and the nutrition has been crap so I deserved it. I didn't really feel badly, I just didn't feel great. Later in the day after getting some good food in my body I started riding the paleo wave again and my run felt great.

5k run (no clock)



Pork Chops

2 thin cut pork chops
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
finely chopped chives
finely diced garlic
1 egg
sea salt
pepper
extra virgin olive oil

Pound the chops thin with a (meat hammer)?? Heat oil in a skillet until it begins to smoke.

Combine and spread the walnuts, chives, and garlic on a plate. Whisk and season the egg with sea salt and pepper. Dip the chops in the egg then coat with the nut mix. Fry in the oil about 4 mins per side.



Saturday, February 13, 2010

"Chop Shipper" by 324

65# thrusters x 21
pull ups x 21 (sub burpees)
400m run
95# ground to overhead x 10
400m run
95# squat cleans x 15
ring dips x 15 (sub burpees)
400m run
95#ground to overhead
400m run
65# overhead squat x 9
HSPU x 9

The clever name did not make this any better. Can I please be done with the clean and jerk for a week? I did this one at home so I had to sub out for equipment reasons. I'd much rather have done this with pull ups but I wasn't upset to have to miss the ring dips. Time was 23:34 including the time to unload and reload the bar. Tanner and Turbo did this in around 13 minutes??? Good WOD. Im ready for Sunday rest day. My nutrition has been off since the garage games. Monday is time to go back strict and fit in some more running.


Friday, February 12, 2010



Crossfit Jax

I just can't say enough about this joint. Today I had the privilege of meeting some people who share my passion for a good crossfit experience. Clint and Neal from "The Shop" travelled all the way from Topeka, Kansas in the name of self improvement. On their blog they describe themselves as average people looking for above average results. They have been following and participating in the blogs of some of the avant-guarde programmers such as CFJax, 324, and Sin City Crossfit. In true CFJax form Chris, Mego, and Turbo were happy to give them the experience. I have to say I think they picked the right place. No disrespect for an L1 cert but you just cant beat the environment and people that you get in a box as passionate as CFJax.

We got some good Oly tips from Chris while we were working towards a 1rm Clean and Jerk. I PR'd at 160 lbs. Hit a few muscle ups on the sexy wooden rings (which I now am on a search for for my garage). And then finished up with an AMRAP.

18 mins
row 500m
30 double unders
clean and jerk 135#

5 rounds

Thanks everyone, I had a blast as usual.


Wednesday, February 10, 2010

10-1 @ 50% BW

dead lift
squat clean
jerk

I didn't run a clock today because I really needed some work on these moves. Rounded up to 85#. I rested a lot more than I wanted to but I really wanted to keep my brain in the game. I shot a video so I could check out my form. Concentrated on dropping my hips in the dead and "using my legs" like my big bro said. My hip looks a little muted in the clean and I'm chasing the bar forward a lot. Jerk looks OK to me. Any coaching is appreciated. I'm posting the round of 10.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010


"The Richter" a 324 production

1 min max reps bw bench (scaled to 115# and even dropped to 105#) 6 reps!?
10 pull ups
20 push ups
30 sit ups
40 squats
2 min max rep bw deadlift 25 reps
10 pull ups
20 push ups
30 sit ups
40 squats
1 min max rep bw back squat (scaled to 135#) 15 reps

18:01



I was so not ready for this WOD. I was hoping it would be good for me. Fran was on the board but I wasn't ready to throw a ton of intensity into the bag today. I probably could have taken one more day to rest. Im feeling the burpees from this weekend but either way my bench press is really pathetic.

I got peer pressured into doing Fat Fran after that disaster and actually didn't do too badly

Fat Fran

15-9-6
thrusters @ 95#
pull ups @ 20#

8:37



Photo by Jeffery Franks. Event photos coming soon to:
http://jeffreyfranks.typepad.com/weblog/

Garage Games 2010

Day 1:

8:00 am 7k ish trail run kicks off. Advanced and beginner males and females all take off as a large group and hit a woody, muddy, cold and wet trail run through the hills. I finished around 32 minutes. Downhill running is not my thing. I felt fine on the ascent but coming down I was too cautious. I dont know if my heart rate jacked up from being afraid of falling and hurting myself or what but I felt the most distress coming down the hills. Sand dune running to prepare for this event proved to be helpful for the uphill parts of the run but coming down in sand is much easier than in clay with trees and rocks as obstructions. I think I need to hit the bridges and try and work on descents. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated! I think I finished 4th out of the adv women on this WOD. My strategy was to keep Cat in my sights since I know she has a good run and I thought I might be able to hang in there with her for a while.

12:00 pm rain lets up and sleet starts to come down

AMRAP in 12 min
10 wallballs 10-11 ft target (16#)
10 KB swings (53#)

7 rounds and 10 swings

This WOD was only awful because I couldn't feel my hands. It wasn't really physically taxing it was about accuracy and being able to bear the pain of the cold slippery ball smacking your hands. I tied for 1st on this WOD.

3:00 pm rain and sleet have taken a break but its cold down my the water for the next event

80# Sandbag hill run unsure of the distance. Fairly gradual hill with some mud.
10 sandbag cleans to shoulder
descend hill with the sandbag
20x deadlift 205#

I thought I would do really well on this one. I was really wrong. Not having experience with the bag hurt most of us from CFD. Made it to the top of the hill first in my heat with no problem. Easy stuff. Then I went to clean that sucker. It was just plain awkward. the footing was really bad up there. Churned up slick mud and on a fairly steep grade made it hard to keep balance with 80# flopping around. Im pretty certain my judge lost count and took away a few good reps which really made me want to throw him down the hill but I know that kind of stuff happens. (all too well) The problem is I let it distract me. Heading back down the hill was awful. I was trying to recover but was fuming. Hit the deadlifts hoping for 10-5-5 rep scheme. I was too distracted to realize I had one foot in a hole about 3 inches deep which threw off my whole set up and dropped the bar on rep 5. Moved the bar and from that point on I think I was hitting 3's and eventually singles. I finished 7th in this one I think somewhere around 7+ minutes. I was shooting for 5 mins. Needless to say I was happy to be done with day one.

Day 2:

10:00 am

2 rounds
10 ground to overhead (95#)
20 sit ups
600m run
10 KB swings (53#)
20 burpees
600m run

One of the most awful wods I have ever done. The work was done in a sand pit. The run was a steep uphill and downhill hell run. The good news is I did a shit ton of running in the last few months and it has seemed to pay off. I was able to keep moving and because of the day before I had learned to "fall" down the hills. Clean and jerks were pretty easy sit ups are always cake, but the burpees! I used to be OK at them. I don't know where they were this weekend. Finished 4th in this event I believe.

3:00 pm final champ chipper is announced minutes before we start

Uphill overhead lunge 25# plate (steep uphill unknown distance...120m??)
30x power snatch (65#)
200m? sandbag run (80#)
40 wallball (12#)
50 burpees

Start is staggered based upon a point system from the previous WODs. I ended up 3rd and was to start 50 seconds off the leader. However I placed in this WOD was to be my overall placement in the competition. Lunges were good, right at the end it got pretty steep and my shoulder started to yell at me but I got through it. Lots of girls passing me but I was hoping the snatch would help me out. Snatch was super light weight but my middle back and posterior chain were just fried. They were a little ugly. More like stiff-legged deadlift hang power snatches. Heh. Used the sandbag portion to catch my breath then chipped away at the wallballs. 12# was thankfully pretty light because my back was screaming at that point. And then the burpees. I know now that I'm only good at burpees when its low rep. First 10 were ok but the rest was just plain torture. Ugly electric worm burpees. I guess the girl who came flying by me with the sandbag and dry heaving through her burpees pulled out in front of me and the second place athlete at some point and I ended up finishing in 4th place. That girl was out of control. She worked really hard that last WOD and deserved that 3rd place finish.

I had a lot of fun this weekend. I loved hanging out with my CFD crew and enjoyed meeting a new friend, Vanessa. Even my big brother came out to see me and go to dinner with us. I really feel fortunate to have such great people around me. We did a lot of talking about training, eating, significant others, and family. We met a lot of really cool people and even got a chance to get food drunk on Sunday night before the long drive home. Thanks to everyone who made this comp so much fun. I cant wait to do it again soon!

Thursday, February 4, 2010




2.5K run

2 rounds:

2 min row 20 sec on 10 sec off

2 min 5 burpees 5 ball slam

2 min rest

2 min active rest

Tomorrow we leave for GA. Today I just wanted to keep my body moving, get a little run in. Super excited about the garage games. Not so excited about 8 hours on the road and 1 bathroom for 7 people.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010



Sand dune run with 10lb vest 16:20

warm up:
6 rnds
6 TGUs (3 per arm) #25
20 m bear crawl

then:

row 1000m (4:04 slow paced)

then:

10 min KB test (#35) 112 reps

Ran hard and took the WOD nice and steady. Nothing fast or intense about anything but that run today. Really that run could have been faster too but I just wanted it to suck enough to make the garage games trail seem like a good time. Hopefully I achieved that. hah

Im very excited for this weekend. Everytime I close my eyes I get a rush of adrenaline. My body is buzzing. BUT thats pretty much the best thing about competing.

Cycling is a sport that I can't wait to get back to once Troy is a little older. Crossfit has been my solitary method of training for the last 2 years. I have competed in a few triathlons during the summer without really focusing my training in their favor. The one event that suffers is the cycling. This post is a reminder that while crossfit is a very effective method of athletic training, there is much more out there. I see more and more people who are competing in crossfit events becoming specialized in crossfit. Let's not forget about one of the founding principles of the crossfit program. PLAY SPORTS!

This video was sent to me by my mom. If you like this video, you'll love the film, "Roam" by The Collective. Check it out on amazon.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Deadlift

work up to 205#
then:
205# x 20 fast

pm:
muscle ups and HSPU
win some lose some





Paleo friendly Buffalo Chili

1 lb grassfed ground buffalo
1 of each red, yellow, green pepper
2 jalapeno peppers
1/2 red onion
1 package baby bella mushrooms
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 can hot rotel with peppers
1 small can tomato paste
Mrs Dash Chipotle seasoning
sea salt
fresh black pepper

Season the buffalo meat with Mrs Dash chipotle seasoning and sea salt. If you haven't used this yet you're missing out! Brown the buffalo on medium heat in a large pot. The meat should be pretty lean so you wont need to drain it. Chop the veggies into large pieces. This is the key to making this chili work. Since this chili is beanless, the way to make the chili hearty is having chunky veggies. Once the meat is browned dump the canned tomato ingredients and veggies in. If you like the mushrooms more firm leave them out until the other veggies have cooked down some. Add more seasoning to taste and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the veggies reach your desired consistency.

RH made me some buffalo chili a while back and this is my stab in the dark at recreating it. A note on the heat of this... it's pretty hot. If you like less heat remove the seeds of the jalapenos and maybe use just one. Also you can sub the hot rotel for mild or even just more diced tomatoes. I love chili because it makes great leftovers and it's foolproof. It's also awesome for people who don't have a lot of time. You can pre chop your veggies and refrigerate until you're ready to cook to save time. If you really don't have time you can brown the meat and then throw it all into a slow cooker before you leave for work. If you really really dont have time maybe if you had cool friends they would make it for you. This will feed you for a week, get to work.