Play New Sports

"Regularly learn and play new sports” is one of those super-inconvenient Crossfit bylaws that I have quietly maneuvered around…like not eating dairy. I am not a sporty guy, and Crossfit alone pretty much exceeds my fitness limitations, so there’s never been room for anything else.

But last Thursday night my friend Alex invited a few of us to attend an adult gymnastics class at Elite Champion Gymnastics in Plano.  
I had no idea that such a thing existed – adult gymnastics.

Seriously, old people doing backflips.  I imagined that the liability waiver required just to attend such a class would be several inches thick.

When we walked into the facility, it was filled with ponytailed little girls doing some serious werk…floor routines, balance beams – I scanned the room expecting to see a panel of Eastern Bloc judges sitting behind miniature flags and scoring panels. I also started to look for the EXIT.

But just as the wiser angels in my head were beginning to whisper their cautionary warnings in my ear , a very friendly coach named Marcus came over to introduce himself – and asked us to sign a waiver (just a single page). 

The adult class was about to begin, and a graceful exit strategy for me no longer seemed to be an option. The class consisted of a mixed crew. There were the athletic former- cheerleader types as well as a few beginners . I felt an allegiance to neither of these groups – even the beginners seemed pretty athletic, and I was definitely the “old guy in the room”.

One of the first activities was a backflip. Yeah…we STARTED with a backflip. While this movement seemed like a deal-breaker to me, Marcus was very confident and had us use this giant foam roller that kind of guided you all the way through the movement so all you had to do was extend your arms until your hands reached the floor behind you. No problem , “I got this” (well, I shuffled around and stared at the floor a lot at first).

From there we moved around the facility which was filled with all of the traditional stuff that you would see on TV during the Olympics…parallel bars, trampouline, pommel horse, rings, etc. Our coach pretty much let us take all of the equipment for a closely-supervised “test ride”.

It was tons of fun trying the stuff that looked “cool” …but I also got ‘played’ into trying stuff that was way out of my comfort zone – like a backflip into a pit of foam cubes. I really almost walked away from this one, until I think someone called me a lil’bish. I am sure it wasn’t very pretty to watch, but I survived  my first journey down into to “the pit” with a lot of help from the coach.

This adult gymnastics class is held every Thurs night…since Thurs is our programmed “rest day” at CFDC, I am thinking that this gymnastics class might become a regular thing.  At 40+ years old, there are some realistic limits to what I can do, so the hard part will be to resist the urge to do the fancy, cool stuff.

But even during just this first class, it was easy to see how the movements and technical training would translate directly into some benefits at Crossfit.  Regularly Play New Sports was not one of my 2012 Crossfit goals, but I am going to pencil-it-in.

Murph (Christmas Eve @ Crossfit Fresno)

48:50 Rx'd

ACO 2011 & Goals for 2012

So I have told myself several times in my head (and on this blog) that my pursuit of Crossfit is recreational, not competitive. But I am sitting here recovering from my All Cities Open 2011 hangover, just immodest enough to think that ACO might have been something that I could have tried this year.

I have never felt this way in the past and this change-of-heart has nothing to do with any sudden acceleration of athleticism or strength – to be honest, I have not seen at lot of progress. I personally have not changed… but I think that ACO has….

Clearly, ACO has grown to become a huge event, and CFDC has definitely honed their event-plannning skillz over the past 3 years; it’s a very well-organized, exciting all-day party, even for the casual observer (that I was).

Maybe it's just how I remember things, but in previous years, it seemed like most of the WODs that had been programmed for ACO were designed for a very specific type of athlete: the super-strong type.

This year however, the WODs seemed to be much more rounded out – they included a lot of everything, but you didn’t have to be a monster lifter to get your name on the board -- you just had to be terribly, freakishly fit (and if you happened to be a freakishly-fit-monster-lifter, then last Saturday was YOUR day at ACO).

Now, I am not saying that I could throw down with any of the competitors that I saw out there on Saturday; they were all amazing athletes that bring skills, strength, endurance and most importantly the “mental game” to Crossfit that I find truly amazing. But, when you look at the WODs, besides the HUGE volume of work that had to be done in a single day – there really wasn't a single event on Saturday's menu that would have been off-the-charts impossible to finish as a stand-alone WOD:

Event 1: Anaerobic Power

1 min max cals airdyne

2 min max meters burpee broad jump

No rest between movements

Event 2: Lactate Buffering

In 2 min: 1/2 gasser (track sideline to track sideline)

In remaining time, AMRAP deadlift (60kg men/45kg women)

1 min rest

In 2 min: 1/2 gasser, in remaining time, AMRAP front squat (60kg/45kg)

1 min rest

In 2 min: 1/2 gasser, in remaining time, AMRAP shoulder to overhead (60kg/45kg)

Event 3: Strength

In 2 min:

Take 5 stones from ground to over yoke as fast as possible (42 inch yoke)

Women: 42#, 73#, 93#, 116#, 142#

Men: 116#, 142#, 173#, 207#, 246#

Event 4: Aerobic Power

As fast as possible:

100 box jumps

80 KB swings (53#/35#)

60 pushups

40 pull ups

20 ground to overheads (60kg/45kg)

Event 5: Power

25m sled push AFAP, 3 attempts, rest as needed

...OK....Event 3 (Atlas Stones) would have been a public-humiliation ritual for me. But I could have at least gotten the first or second stones off of the ground.

...The 60Kg lifts in Event 2 would have been heavy for me.

...And Event 4 is just nasty.

But the point that I am making here is that the WODs did not require any high-tech movements – no double unders, no snatches, no muscle ups, and no one-rep max Oly lifts. Technically, the skill level of the work was very manageable for anyone, especially for anyone who has been doing Crossfit for a while.

If last Saturday’s event is a blueprint for future ACO’s....I'll say it: I would like to think that I might be tempted to allow myself to dream about maybe considering to participate some day.

For this monumental shift to occur, however, there would be several goals that would have to be met first…and since this blogpost is written just 2 days after ACO, in the final month of 2011, what better time could there be for setting a few Crossfit goals for 2012:

1) Get Double-unders: it’s about time. I can do single double-unders, I just can’t string them together yet.

2) Get Oly Lifts: I want to take the lifting seminar in January – I don’t expect to ever become a great Oly lifter – but I would like to improve my technique so that I can at least perform each of the standard lifts safely and somewhat efficiently

3) Get Mental Game: I can’t imagine what it must have felt like to be on the field, standing there amongst the other competing athletes, in front of that big crowd, cameras, music – and I’ve never competed, ever, in a real athletic event. So I would have to find some way to overcome the temptation to turn off the lights and lock myself in the house on game day

4) Get Box Jumps: I got no rhythm

5) Get Endurance: uhuh

Endurance is actually the area that I feel like I have actually seen some progress. Last Friday there was a WOD that I would have DNF’d not so long ago:

5 sets, 4 minute running clock each set:

400m run @ 90%

20 burpees

walk rest in the time remaining

It’s common knowledge that I am not a runner, and I will loudly bitch to all that is holy every time a running WOD appears. AND burpees? The phrase “rest in the time remaining” was like a knife in my heart. With a 4 minute cutoff, “Time remaining”, my ass.

But I got through each round – I did not rest between burpees either, they were all unbroken. And even though I only had about 30 seconds of rest left before the next round started, I was able to keep up with the pack and kept a consistent pace for each round.

Granted, five rounds in 20 minutes is NOTHING compared with ACO's 5 WODs in the same day. And much of this blogpost is likely just the result of some motivational heroin that got transfused into my soul on Saturday while watching my friends compete.

But at the very least, the 5 goals listed above are "in stone" now, I’m committed, it’s a done deal.

Bring on 2012.

2k Row

7:57 (Previous attempt: 8:07 in September)

Backsquat

206# x 1 (11/29/2011)

New Game Plan: "Moderate-elite Fitness"

My big training issue is that I am kind of a pussy.

Yeah, I said it.

I mean, I’m dedicated. I am really consistent about showing up every day, but I usually put in just enough effort to get me through the WOD. If JMez or one of the other "motivational firebreathers"  is there ready to shame-me-in-public for lifting “girl weight”, I might try a little harder. But not much.

My new goal is to try and break this cycle…which is not going to be easy as it requires a lot of discomfort. And to be honest, I think that I’ve been doing OK by just doing what I am doing.

But at the end of the day, what’s the point of being obsessively dedicated if I am not going “all in”?

AND it’s not cool to always be the guy who finishes last.

So a few nights ago, we were doing some profane number of HSPUs in a timed WOD. My knee-jerk reaction was to grab an abmat to place under my head to eliminate some of the range of motion – even though I am pretty good at HSPUs.

Dean was coaching that night and he pretty much snatched the abmat from out of my hands. Yeah, I gave him a little attitude (he can take it) but got through all of the HSPUs sans the abmat… albeit my time results sucked for the WOD because of the added difficulty. After the WOD, Dean advised me not to worry about the time so much and just to go for the added difficulty.

So last night, the WOD was 3 rounds of OHS (10 reps, unbroken) and a 400m run – an unsavory combination, coupled with kettlebell swings and burpees (equally hellish). My usual strategy would have been to go super light (68#) for that many OHS (to save myself for the running)…so I jumped it up a little (88#)…which was just heavy enough to be unpleasant for most of the reps and kind of nasty and unstable for the final few.

My comfort zone for kettlebell swings at this point rests at 53#. So I went with 70#.

To be honest, the heavier weight for OHS and KB swings was still manageable. Yeah, I struggled a little on the last few reps of each round of OHS, but that’s probably what was supposed to happen. I was still pretty slow compared to everyone else, but it felt good to basically “keep up” with the pack in terms of time, reps and weight.



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Family Business

And look, tell me you ain't did it, you ain't did it
And if you did, then that's family business...

I’ve spent some time lately talking to friends about Crossfit – some of these conversations were with actual Crossfitters, some were with people that were just humoring my tendency to ramble on [and on] about all things Crossfit.

And curiously, few to none of these conversations were about Fran PRs, box jumps or proper chalking technique. The conversations were really about community. And family.

I can’t say enough about the people that I have had the opportunity to get to know through Crossfit. Although we all come from different backgrounds, Crossfit really attracts a certain type of person that is impressively accomplished…or in my case, truly hopes to evolve in that direction. Through my Crossfit box I am constantly amazed and inspired by the people that I have come to know and what they are able to achieve in and out of the box – community volunteers, lawyers (lots of them),fashion designers, music artists…and most recently, a potential Olympian.

Indeed, being around these over-achievers can be very intimidating. But their passion for what they do is also contagious. I would never have stuck with Crossfit for so long if it was not for the passion of the coaches and the friends that I have met through CFDC. And I am serious about all of this being contagious -- it’s no coincidence that I have managed more than a few challenging situations and taken a few risks during the past 2+ years that I have been around these people…grad school and a recent career transition were definitely influenced by what I have learned [about myself] through my Crossfit experience.

However, just like any family…there will be fights, hurt feelings and disagreements… and occasionally a little drama and dysfunction.

But unlike your traditional, unnerving family reunion or awkward gathering in front of the fireplace, the genius of Crossfit is that once the WOD starts, it doesn’t really matter who is running next to you or who you’re sharing the bar with. In fact, once the WOD starts – there really isn’t much of an opportunity to think about anything else but the WOD.

A few of my good Crossfitting friends have recently questioned whether or not Crossfit was right for them. It wasn’t because they did not enjoy Crossfit or did not recognize the value of it. It was the other stuff. The family stuff.

Although I would miss-them-something-huge if they decided to “leave the nest”, I understand why they feel the way that they do. In such a large group of diverse, determined, intense people, it’s easy to feel marginalized and disenfranchised occasionally.

The Crossfit experience is intense. Everything is amplified – the music, the heat, the pace…there are many times that I have attempted to stumble back to my car in a post-WOD stupor, shirtless and covered with chalk totally oblivious to my general state of in-public wreckdom or even where I had left my car. And I think that it’s natural to establish a common bond with the people that go through this type of experience with you on a daily basis – even though outside of this intense environment, you may have totally opposite political views, cultural backgrounds, social values, etc.

I know that I have benefited from the generous encouragement of everyone at my box and the diverse backgrounds that they all have. And even though I may not be the typical jock/Prefontaine-quoting firebreather that is the Crossfit standard, I try not to let that prevent me from taking advantage of the opportunities that Crossfit has to offer. Instead of the politics and drama that can occasionally torture and divide us, I just try to enjoy the process and its results.

For better or worse, the family stuff is a big part of Crossfit…but just like 20 rounds of Cindy, you have to manage it and maintain your focus or you’re going to walk away very unhappy and perhaps cheat yourself out of a potentially rewarding experience.