Friday, October 29, 2010

CF Stomping Ground

Workout of the Day

WOD 1 – In the morning

3 x 200 m hill sprints, rest as needed between

WOD 2 – In the afternoon

Consecutive Tabata intervals

OH squat (45 lb) – no dropping the bar

D ball half moon slams (20 lb)

Toes to Bar

D ball burpees (20 lb)

I was all set to be lazy this morning when my friend Bodie blows up my phone at 6 am saying he’s outside my garage waiting to train. I scrambled up and we headed down the street to one of my neighborhood’s more brutal hills for pre-dawn pain. These were real sprints. I gave each of them my all and took plenty of rest in between to make sure that I could. Still, by the last quarter of the third sprint I could feel my body lacking the energy it needed to be explosive. That’s why I stopped there—hoping to add a sprint each week or so and see how much I improve my recovery and stamina.

This afternoon I met John and our buddy Dan over at Sacramento’s newest CrossFit affiliate: CrossFit Stomping Ground in Carmichael. Jake Newbauer (pictured above) has just moved into the place—doors aren’t even officially open yet—and it’s something to behold. He has an enormous back lot with a hundred year Oak in the back corner!!! Permanent rope climbs is all I have to say. I can see this place being extremely successful and it has me all the more anxious to find my space.

The workout went well: great repetition practice on the OH squats, good aggression on the slams, total wrecker on the toes to bar, and gut check finish with the burpees. To be honest, I’m still worn out from Tuesday’s beatdown at CF East Sac with Justin and Travis so I may take tomorrow off and plan a fun one Saturday. I’m heading up to Weaverville…waaay up North of the state where there is plenty of country and natural beauty. Fingers crossed for some dry weather.

Below is the latest submission for the October Monument Challenge, sent by Nico in Berlin. Only 3 more days to get em in. Enjoy!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

New Reader Video

Big thanks to Henry from Salem. Awesome bit of history and a great workout. Enjoy everyone, and get yours in... only 4 more days til November!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Blair vs Sven 6

Workout of the Day

Deadlift 5, 3, 1+

Good Mornings 10, 10, 10

WOD A:

15, 12, 9

Front Squat (80 kg)

KB Swing (32 kg)

Box Jump (60 cm)

WOD B:

250 m row/25 pullups

200 m row/20 pullups

150 m row/15 pullups

Today was the beginning of the third week in my current 5/3/1 progression and the day I finally tackled Sven’s challenge #6. Brutal workload. Both took place at CrossFit East Sacramento with Justin and Travis, two guys I love training with.

My deadlifts felt great. Hit 435 for 2 on my top set, but that result masks how strong I felt. Both felt light, but the third drifted away from my body right off the ground and I had to drop it to stay safe. We all did the good mornings for assistance work, then set things up to take up Sven’s challenge.

On paper, this didn’t look so bad. I figured I could do the squats pretty decently all the way through but this was not the case. First set I hammered out no sweat. Second set I had to break at 6 and 10, the last set just at 6. The swings weren’t too tough on any set and the box jumps were only tough because I was wearing vibrams—landing was a bit sensitive. Really, this WOD boiled down to squatting for me. My midline was pretty fatigued from the deads and good mornings so once my breath rate started to elevate it was game over. I finished in 5:22.

Exactly 5 minutes later I started WOD B. Again, not so tough on paper. Short row bursts and manageable pullup numbers. But in reality I struggled. I went out the first 250 at a 1:35 pace and burned my arms more than I should have. The pullups I did 15 and 10. The second row felt much worse because I think my heart rate was thumping up around 180 already. I fell apart on the pullup bar, getting 4 sets of 5. The last round I did my best to regroup and finish hard on the erg, but still only managed 3 x 5 on the pullup bar. Final time was 15:24, meaning my total work time was 10:24.

Travis, Justin, and I all were wrecked afterwards. My arms felt incredibly pumped for a solid 20 minutes and my head felt dazed. Definitely a great challenge from Sven and a testing day at the office for me, but I’m not sure this much work in one 2 hour span is going to become the norm. I need a serious nap.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Big Lift

Workout of the Day

Snatch 3, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1

Snatch Balance 3, 3, 3

New PR today!!! It’s funny because I was just talking about this lift with Justin Riley at the Barbells for Boobs event on Saturday. My previous best snatch (225 lb) came at his gym in June and he was asking if I had improved upon it. After tonight I can answer yes. I warmed up with 60 kg and 80 kg, then dialed up a 90 kg, 100 kg, and 105 kg lift without missing. Boy did this feel good. I gave it a go at 108 kg but couldn’t quite get locked out under it. Still, my confidence is at an all-time high and I think things are only going to continue to improve.

One more week left in the monument WOD reader challenge and I’ve received a good handful of videos so far. Definitely still time, so get em in!! Below is the clip of my top 3 lifts tonight.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Fitness Is...

Opportunity.

Take advantage of yours.

A farmer doesn’t plant crops without a harvest. An investor doesn’t invest without a return. But such is the tragic circumstance of a man who trains day after day without using what he’s gained.

With the surplus of material floating around the Internet, shelved in libraries, and taught in schools, it’s easy to lose ourselves amongst the methodology. Nutrition, programming, recovery, adaptation—there’s so much to know that the ‘process’ of fitness becomes a trap well laid. All this information fights for our attention and, as a result, we lose the forest while sifting through the trees.

That forest, while superficially unique from person to person, typically boils down to a better quality of life. Could be that we hate having to ask for help getting in and out of the car or that we feel self-conscious about the forty pounds we’ve gained since high school. Maybe we’re tired of being told we’re too small, too clumsy, and too slow to be an athlete or we simply want to get control of our asthma. Regardless of the particulars, we are all driven by a desire to transpose weakness. Pursuing fitness is the means to do so.

The problem is that the gathering of information and the daily application of it become ends in themselves. We homo sapiens are easily satisfied by our efforts—checking boxes is our forte—and we’re not above improving for improvement’s sake. But this is missing the point. Take your average Joe, for example. He stepped into the gym 2 years ago with sloping posture, weak muscles and joints, low self-esteem, and a crap habit of spending all his free time on the sofa watching TV. After 24 months of training, he’s improved his range of motion, his core and lower body strength, and even his bone density. He’s developed a love for chasing PR’s and has a genuine sense of discipline when it comes to training. He’s gone from feeling relatively weak and unable, to feeling capable and physically strong. But he’s still DVRing 10 programs a day and spending his nights and weekends anchored to the couch.

What’s changed?

In spite of his numbers in the gym and the self-esteem he’s built outside of it, Joe’s quality of life looks very much the same as when he started. Now he just has slightly lower body fat. This. Is. Pathetic.

We sweat and we struggle and we bleed our way through self-improvement only to squander the opportunities it provides. Logically, it makes no sense. What good is a 300 lb back squat if you always take the elevator? Who cares if you run a fast 5k if you never leave the treadmill? Man is born to live, not to prepare for life. Improved physical capacity is an opportunity to experience it above and beyond the norm, but it’s worthless without action.

Some will argue that it’s Joe’s right to spend his free time this way, that fitness does not carry with it an obligation to be active and engaged, and that his is a conscious choice and therefore defendable. These are fair points, but allow me to respond. First, it’s Joe’s right to waste his hours outside the gym on whatever mindless dribble he pleases. It’s my right to call him a moron for doing so. How many Seinfeld re-runs do you really need to watch big guy? Second, I’m not arguing that he has to throw away his television set because that would be ridiculous. Who ever existed without television? I’m just suggesting he lose the remote from time to time and let his hard-earned physical ability off the leash. Third, nobody chooses lethargy. They slip into it like a broadband coma. It’s a lifestyle that emerges from repetition and a consistent lack of consciousness, so don’t give me the couch by choice routine. If we actually took a second to think about it, we’d realize we don’t enjoy it all that much.

Example. Think back to the last time you had an injury or an illness that forced you to stay off your feet for a while. All you could do was sit on the couch, watch TV, and withdraw from the world until you healed. All you wanted to do was spring up, go somewhere, do something, and re-engage. You swore to yourself that when you got better you’d appreciate your health and take advantage of every physical opportunity you had. Now that thought slips your mind somewhere between Frasier and Friends. Sound familiar?

Joe’s quality of life will only improve when he breaks this cycle.

All the information we gather and gym hours we spend amount to very little if we fail to use them elsewhere. It doesn’t mean we have to go out and take on a series of extreme challenges, just that we have to take on something. Be it getting out of the house more, joining a club soccer team, or climbing the stairs at work, we have to find a way to physically engage our lives or that coma becomes consuming. We should all dread the day when life is twilight-lit and there’s more we wished we’d done. Like the kid who feigned injury to avoid practice only to realize halfway through he really wanted to play. This revelation smacks bitter in our subconscious because it’s so true yet so quickly forgotten.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Barbells for Boobs

Workout of the Day

30 squat clean and jerks for time

First, big thanks to Brittany, Rick, and all of CrossFit West Sacramento for putting on an awesome event this morning. It was my first trip to their box but I’m sure it won’t be my last. It’s pretty impressive that they managed to get 75 pre-registered participants for this thing just through the use of Facebook and word of mouth.

I arrived a little after 8 in the morning and things were already rolling. Immediately I bumped into Justin and Travis from CF East Sac, there at the head of what seemed like an army representing their affiliate. The whole place was splattered with pink t shirts, socks, and arm bands, leaving little doubt which cause we were supporting. Heats were organized to start every 20 minutes with between 8 and 12 people per heat. I got slated to go at 9:20, giving me plenty of time to socialize and warm up before things got cracking.

The first few heats featured nobody I knew personally, but there were some good-looking athletes to be sure. Travis and Justin both went off at 9:00 and posted then best times of 3:26 and 3:50, respectively. As they were going I saw Jake Newbauer come in. Great seeing him again—big congratulations on opening his affiliate in Carmichael! Can’t wait to go check it out.

Brittany was my judge, a self-described hardass, so I wasn’t going to get any favors. I chose to do squat cleans to thrusters every time, dropping the weight from the top rather than holding on to it to the bottom. As the bar bounced off the ground, I would catch it about thigh height then guide it to the floor and touch and go into the next repetition. This proved a great strategy as I was able to string together 18 consecutive repetitions before having to set the bar down. I did singles the rest of the way and stopped the clock at 2:50. Jake went after me at 9:40 and posted 3:10. As it stood when I left those were the 4 best times for the men, but there were a lot of people still to come.

This event was fantastic not only because the cause was worthy, but because the gathering of people was more than so. I met athletes and coaches from all over the area that I had not yet known about, setting up all kinds of potential road trips in the near future.

Again, big thanks to the CFWS crew and everyone involved for putting this on. Boobs, it appears, will persevere.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Going Heavy

Workout of the Day

WOD 1 – In the morning

Back Squat 3, 3, 3+

Floor Press 5, 5, 3, 1

Ring Dips 15, 15, 15

Good Mornings 20, 20, 20

WOD 2 – In the evening

Handstands and L sits

Wasn’t sure how the legs were going to feel today after yesterday’s hill workout but when I woke up to meet John for a session, things weren’t too bad actually. We got after the squats, working up to 385 for 5 and 275 for 5 respectively. The floor presses topped out at 285. Honestly the best part of this morning’s session was the dip/good morning assistance superset at the end. I lowered the good morning weight from 165 to 115 and doubled the repetitions. It was a completely different feel and hopefully I’ll provide a different type of strength.

This evening I wanted to play around a bit and wound up doing nearly an hour of various handstand drills and L-sits from different positions. The best of these was on the rings. Holding an L position on the rings is really tough—blows my mind to think of the Olympic gymnasts doing all that and more. Maybe one day… HA!

Tomorrow morning is the Barbells for Boobs charity event at CrossFit West Sac. Looking forward to getting a good sweat in and hang with a lot of the other crossfitters from the area. Squat clean Grace might not feel so fun.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Ring the Bell

Workout of the Day

20 minute AMRAP

150 meter hill run

20 kb swings (24 kg)

This afternoon John and I met up with Justin Riley of CrossFit East Sacramento to tackle one of the hills I stumbled across on a trail run 2 weeks ago. I expected it to be tough, but not nearly as devastating as it turned out to be.

The 150 meters is an estimate. More important to note is the degree of incline that the distance sits on. It’s STEEP. Almost to the point where we had to put a hand down to keep our balance getting up. The reality of how difficult the WOD was going to be hit us as we were dragging our kettlebells to the top before starting the clock and had to stop to rest halfway.

The hill is divided on its front face into 2 trails, one being the steeper version I’ve just described, and the other being a slightly longer, flatter version splitting to the west. This trail we used to descend as it was safer and provided more room to stay out of each others’ way. Thing was that our legs were so gassed from the other exercises that the run down felt just as hard. Absorbing gravity’s effect coming down from such a steep slope takes its toll.

To provide a little bit of a carrot for us I hung a cowbell at the top that we could hit every time we finished the climb. This was surprisingly satisfying. The kb swings turned out to be almost a rest compared with the run up and down—scary when you think about it. Overall I finished 5 rounds in 19:00, John finished 4 rounds + 16 in 20:00, and Justin finished 4 rounds in 18:55. I know we will all be sore tomorrow. Check the video below.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Rest Day and New Reader Video

This is Josh Courage in San Francisco... awesome workout and setting!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Night WOD

Workout of the Day

WOD 1 – In the morning:

Sumo Deadlift 3, 3, 3+

Strict Press 3, 3, 3+

Good Mornings 10, 10, 10

Inverted Row 12, 12, 12

WOD 2 – In the evening:

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Barbell Complex (50 kg) & Burpee wall jump

Decided to go with sumo deadlifts this morning to change things up a bit. Can’t remember the last time I did these so I didn’t really know what to expect, but I assumed that I would be a little weaker than I had been in past weeks doing standard DLs. This proved true, as I was only able to get 4 repetitions at 396 lb this morning. The interesting thing to note about this was the change in impact of the exercise. Ordinarily I find the most difficult portion of the movement to be somewhere just below the knees, but today it was at the very bottom. The sumo version felt like if I could get it off the ground the bar was going to snap up whereas conventionals definitely have a few sticking points along the way.

Also, note that I bumped the good morning weight to 75 kg since I can feel my back progressively getting stronger. Hoping that trend will continue.

This evening I threw a bar and a couple of 15 kg bumpers into the back of the car and headed with my mom over to a parking structure overlooking the Folsom bridge. It was deserted as usual, leaving nothing but the 75 degree air and an orangish glow from the street lamp as our companions. She worked out 4 sets of 25 burpees while I did the above couplet. The barbell complex consisted of 1 power snatch, 1 oh squat, 1 squat jump, and 1 back squat thruster. The wall was just short of chest high. The idea here was to combine a fatiguing component with an explosive component to see how quickly I could recover and long I could sustain explosive output.

Overall this didn’t go too badly, although my back certainly started to feel the deadlifts and good mornings from earlier by the 3rd round. I didn’t miss any of the jumps and my legs held up decently throughout the complex sets. Had my back not started giving out I think I could have completed it faster. As it stood my time was 7:22.

More than the results this was super fun. An empty rooftop on a warm night just felt right. As always, I cannot encourage everyone enough to re-imagine your surroundings and discover new ways and places to train. Go do something you’ve never done before in a place you’d never think to do it.

The link from tonight is below.

October Reader Challenge

Martin from Sweden shares this for the challenge:

Castle of Uppsala WOD from Martin Altemark on Vimeo.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Squat Cleaning

Workout of the Day

Squat Clean 3, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1

Worked speed on the cleans today trying to improve acceleration through my second pull. The results were good—I was getting a ton of height on the bar. My best lift was 285 lb, missing 295 twice after that. On each of these misses the bar traveled plenty high enough to make the lift, I just wasn’t getting deep fast enough. From the video it looks like I tend to drop under the bar to a half squat then ride the bar down to full depth. Not sure how to work on this to drop all the way down initially, but if I want to make more weight this is what I’ll have to do. In any event, I feel great about how well I’m pulling the bar. Hopefully I’ll see similar strength in deadlifts tomorrow.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Midtown Strength and more Monuments

Workout of the Day

Done with a partner:

800 meter run

100 box jumps

80 ground to overhead (95 lb)

60 pullups

40 GHD situps

20 muscle ups

800 meter run

Today’s workout took place at Midtown Strength and Conditioning down on 3rd street in Sacramento. Camillo and Tara organized a group session in honor of one of their member’s wedding celebration later in the day and I happily joined in. John and I got there just at 9 am and the workout kicked off not long after that. I teamed up with Spike (groom to be) and Camillo divided everyone else up with suitable partners. Angel was there capturing everything on film and doing pre and post WOD interviews with his baby strapped to his chest in a Baby Bjorn the whole time. Classic sight.

Spike and I paced ourselves well on the run and went right into the box jumps when we got back, breaking them into sets of 20 between us. The ground to overheads were a mix of snatches and clean and jerks, and the pattern of repetitions didn’t hold too consistently. But we were still right at the front of the pack moving to the pullup bar. We mowed through these and the GHDs in short order before heading over the rings. Here we came to a grinding halt. Spike had only just done his first MU earlier that morning and I could only do one at a time. Needless to say, our lead began to evaporate.

John and his partner, another fireman named Jared, ate up our cushion quickly and were just 2 MUs back when Spike and I finally finished our 20. We took off on the run and set a hard pace hoping it would be enough to carry us home. It was. We finished in 23:07, about a minute ahead of the next group. Afterwards everyone hung out and cooled off in the perfect morning air outside the gym. So much fun to be included in a group as great as the one Midtown has built. Hopefully it won’t be long before the next time.

All the best to Spike and his wonderful bride to be, and I’m looking forward to the video footage of the session whenever it surfaces. Also, 2 more monument submissions… one including a pretty hilarious encounter with a park ranger. The links are below.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Friday WOD

Workout of the Day

WOD 1 – In the morning

Back Squat 20, 20, 20

Floor Press 8, 8, 8

Med Ball Chest throw & OH throw 3 x 10 each

WOD 2 – In the afternoon

20 minutes urban climbing

As I warmed up for my 5/3/1 squat session I could feel my low back getting tight—residual effects from the deadlifts and good mornings earlier in the week. So instead of hammering through 5, 5, 5+ and risking something I decided to keep the load at bodyweight and do a volume day. 3 sets of 20 at 85 kg (187 lb) wasn’t difficult for me, but I definitely got something out of it. The floor presses went great as well, finishing with 245 for 7. Bodie was with me again so for our assistance exercises we went out on the driveway and did a 3 set, non-stop medball sequence of 10 chest passes and 10 overhead throws to each other. This actually got pretty tough midway through and proved to be a nice finisher before heading off to work.

In the afternoon I got myself over to a parking structure in Old Folsom that I’ve been dying to explore. It features one of the best hanging ledges I’ve ever come across—20 meters of mortared brick at about a 3 meter vertical height. Sooooo, I went over and did some scaling, a few pullups, and whatever else my imagination could muster. All in all I spent about 20 minutes playing around on the thing and was legitimately pumped up afterwards. My grip, arms, and back felt swollen and all I had been doing was messing around. This was a nice reminder of how not every workout has to be organized to be effective. Sometimes just going somewhere and allowing yourself to be inspired and loose is the best approach.

Below is a brief clip of the ledge in question. Next time I’m going to duck tape my gloves to my wrists to keep them from sliding off!!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Rest Day

The soreness has only gotten worse today. I'm hoping that a long night's rest will have me ready to go in the morning but I'm skeptical.
Below is the first video submitted for the October Reader Challenge, from Aaron in Australia. See his blog here. Love the site and the workout, hope everyone enjoys it and gets inspired to get out and train someplace beautiful.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Massage Therapy

Workout of the Day

Deadlift 5, 5, 5+

DB Shoulder Press 5, 5, 5+

Good Mornings 10, 10, 10

Well, the lunges didn’t disappoint. VERY sore this morning and it’s only seeming to get worse. Not getting out of bed this morning definitely crossed my mind, but I made it to the garage somehow. I spent a little extra time getting loose just to be sure.

The deadlifts went well and I finished at 375 for 8 on my last set. The presses I decided to shake up this week, going with DBs instead of barbell. I did them from my knees instead of standing—big difference. If you haven’t tried this before, give it a shot. Way harder on the core stabilizers for some reason. I got 30 kg for 5 the last set.

This afternoon I took advantage of Bryan College’s massage therapy program and got myself an hour of deep tissue. Talk about perfect timing for this baby. I’m going to get one every week as long as they let me.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Monument WOD

Workout of the Day

WOD 1 – In the morning

Squat Clean 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Front Squat 5, 5, 5, 5

WOD 2 – In the afternoon

3 rounds for time with 100 lb sandbag

80 meter run

40 meter lunge

10 shoulder to overhead

Today was the first morning of my admittedly ambitious 4 day x 6am strength sessions. Day 1 is for Clean & Jerk practice and Front Squatting. Day 2 is for deadlift and overhead press 5/3/1 protocol. Day 3 is rest. Day 4 is Snatch practice and snatch balance. Day 5 is back squat and bench press 5/3/1 protocol. Going to run with this for a few weeks and see how everything holds up. I’m hoping that by limiting the volume on the Olympic days my legs will get enough rest.

For metabolic conditioning and mono structural efforts I’ll float WODs in the afternoons doing them on days when I feel fresher than others. The weekend will almost inevitably include a trail run of some kind until the weather prevents it.

Okay, now that that’s off my chest… on to today’s workload.

I got 245 lb for the last set of squat cleans and it wasn’t hard. Technique felt solid and my pulls were fast. The front squats I finished at 275 lb for the last set of 5. Also not terribly difficult. Really happy about this number feeling good and looking forward to getting more practice in on a movement where I am admittedly weak.

The monument WOD this afternoon was AWESOME. I chose the Historic Folsom Turnabout because it’s the only one of its kind that I’ve ever seen and offered a pretty cool backdrop. I used only a sandbag (100 lb) and used the circular shape of the turnabout to construct the above written workout. It took me just 6:21 to complete but I was quivering afterwards. My ass and hamstrings were completely toasted and my core worked through. Usually I’m great with the overheads, even with shifting sand, but today I felt the bag pulling me all over the place. Great combination of exercises here.

This is just an example and I know there are many of you around the world that will come up with things far cooler and far more exciting. I can’t wait to see them--send em to me at morrison.blair@gmail.com. My link is below.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Rope Climbs Forever

Workout of the Day

Legless Rope Climbs, rest as needed

John and I took his rope up to the top of the Fair Oaks bluffs and tied it to a tree branch 15 feet high then took turns climbing it without our feet. We each did 20+ climbs before all was said and done, leaving our hands pretty callased and blistered from the effort. This is the first time I’d done legless rope climbs since last February I think, so it was a long time coming.

More than anything I enjoyed being outside on a nice night—the weather in Sacramento was mid 70’s with a warm breeze as the sun went down. Tomorrow will see a return to some heavy strength training, hopefully building on the gains I’ve made following 5/3/1 the past few months. I’m also hoping to get back up to Hope Valley for a mountain run later in the week. My grandparents and I did a hike this past Saturday and it was something to behold (pictured above). Hoping to convince a few of my friends around here to jump on the wagon.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Nimbus Dam to Negro Bar

Workout of the Day

WOD 1 – AM

Weighted Chin up 5, 5, 3, 3, 1, 1, 1

DB Hammer Curl 10, 10, 10, 10

L sit on DBs 4 x max

WOD 2 – PM

5 mile trail run

The morning session was designed to improve pulling strength that for me rarely gets trained. More often are the high volume pullup days where I’m testing my muscles’ stamina and recovery instead of their overall strength. Particularly weak in this chain are my arms, an area that whether you’d like to admit it or not factors in pretty heavily when it comes to doing a lot of upper body strength moves. So forgive me the inclusion of biceps curls.

I don’t have a belt to hang weight beneath me, so I used a combination of weight vests and DBs to accumulate enough resistance. My top set was with 15 kg of vests and 30 kg of DB. I found this to be as hard as doing 60 kg of hanging weight (from my memory), so I’m hoping the distribution had something to do with it and not all is my body having grown that much weaker. Considering that I’ve actually PR’d both my Deadlift and Back Squat in the last week, I think this is likely.

In the afternoon I left my car up near Rainbow bridge in Folsom and had a friend of mine drop me off down near Nimbus Dam, about 5 miles or so down the edge of Lake Natoma (Above picture is from early this summer on the same lake). From there I proceeded to explore a series of trails, hills, and parkland that I hadn’t known was there. Apart from the very popular bike trail that runs along the water there is a serious network of offroad paths to be taken advantage of here. And there are some MAJOR climbs within. I got real caveman and decided to wear my Vibrams—maybe a bit ambitious since the terrain turned out to be pretty rocky in parts. But overall I loved the run. I’m considering going back and marking off the best combination of trails and running it for time, with a possible eye towards hosting a race that would run from Nimbus Dam to Negro Bar. The elevation changes are pretty extreme in spots (150-200 foot climbs) and the views are spectacular. My feet are going to take a few days to recover I’m sure, but I’ll be back out there again soon to snag some pictures.

Heading on a hike with the family tomorrow to see the Aspen trees in fall form, should be a wonderful weekend.

Grokfeast 2010

If you aren't familiar with Mark Sisson's blog, check out this link to it and vote for the boys from Shenandoah River. Awesome caveman stunts. Way to go Quint and co. VOTE HERE

Friday, October 8, 2010

And the Winner is...

Congratulations to Yasir in Copenhagen!!! His video took home the most votes for September's challenge, narrowly edging Miles in Beijing. I will be sending Yasir a new Anywherefit T-shirt with his country's flag painted inside the logo, the first of this style to be made. Thanks again to everyone for participating and for voting, it was really a great turnout that I hope will continue. To see all the videos that were submitted click on the video heading at the top of this page and scroll down. And, as Yasir would advise, stay stylish...

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Tire Training

Workout of the Day

Flip a 300 lb tire up a 200 m hill

Took the party to the streets this evening with the help of my sister, mother, and friend Jessey. Utilizing the best of mother nature’s natural features and her relentless gravitational pull, I headed to the bottom of the biggest hill in my neighborhood and endeavored to climb it yet again. This time, however, I brought the tire with me. Flips are one of the most complete exercises in my opinion, especially if you can find tire that are tall, and are only more effective when done on an incline. I knew this would be a bear but still couldn’t wait to give it a shot.

In all the hill took me 18:57 to complete. Biggest limitations were the lateral slope (keeping me on a left to right tilt most of the way), and lower back fatigue. Afterwards I could really feel my forearms from gripping and pulling so many times on the tread, but they weren’t a huge factor during the workout. This was a great, really raw session that I think will pay huge benefits. I’d put it in the same category as the distance sandbag carry, trail runs, and even 5 k rows. With these types of challenges you never reach a point where you literally cannot take another step or do another rep, but you are forced to deal with a different type of failure. It’s a matter of will whether you will keep going and complete the task.

One more day to vote for the Public Transportation WOD so take a moment and show the finalists you appreciate their effort. 23 days to get your ideas for the monument WOD on video and uploaded so get out and train people.

Enjoy tonight’s video.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

October Reader Challenge

Voting is still open for the September finalists and it's close. I've gotten quite a few emails in addition to the comments so if you haven't yet voted get it in soon. I will announce the winner on October 8th. Vote here.
The challenge for this month is to come up with the best Monument WOD. A monument is defined as anything constructed in memory of some person, group, or event. Creativity is key here. Think outside the box and send the video link to me at morrison.blair@gmail.com

Monday, October 4, 2010

Public Transportation Finalists

Please vote on the following 3 finalists either in the comments or via email at morrison.blair@gmail.com
Miles In China
Zvi in Israel
Yasir in Copenhagen