Anywherefit New Zealand Day 9

It felt really good not to be moving on to another town after Day 8.  Queenstown was proving to be every bit as exciting and fun as it's reputation, but nothing we had done so far would prepare us for the rush of Day 9.

We loaded up the group early and caught the first bus of the day to Shotover Canyon for the adrenaline junky's dream:  the canyon swing.  And not just any canyon swing, the world's highest canyon swing.  109 meters above the river below (that's close to 400 feet for all you un-metrics our there) with a 60 meter free fall.  The rig they use is very similar to a bungee jump, except that the cord isn't attached to a fixed object like a bridge or tower at the top.  Instead its suspended from a wire cable that is strung across the canyon, so that as you hit the bottom of the bungee you begin to swing along the cable like an enormous slingshot.  Eventually gravity catches up with you and you start swinging back and forth until you settle to a hanging position and they reel you back in.  If it sounds crazy, it kind of is.

The crew that works at Shotover Canyon are diligent with their safety precautions but also do a great job of keeping groups relaxed and having fun.  You're offered all sorts of jump styles while preparing for your turn, ranging from a simple jump to using props like chairs, tricycles, and ropes.  There's really very little you're not allowed to do while jumping off their ledge.  One member of our group even took advantage of the naked jump, earning her 2nd jump free of charge.

As far as the feeling you get while taking the leap… it's pretty intense.  Free falls are always exhilarating, but I've never fallen for that long with such a lack of control.  Usually when you're jumping of cliffs into water you're thinking about your landing.  With this you're just trusting that the cable holds you the way it's supposed to.

By the end of our morning, all but one among us had done the swing.  We hurried home for a quick lunch then got back on the bus to make our appointment with the Jet Boat pilot.  That's right, Jet Boating.  This had to be, without doubt, one of the most impressive feats of skill I've ever seen.  We were pinning the throttle in inches of water, swerving around boulders and cliff edges, while doing donuts.  Obviously these guys are professionals and do this all day long, but I still swore we were going to crash every third turn.  I don't really even understand the physics of how we could maneuver in such shallow water.  Pair that with the road we had to take just to get to the boat launch (think bolivian death road), and I can't imagine frying a tourists nerves any more.

To round out the day we found a staircase right in the middle of Queenstown and hit a bear crawl, lunge, pushup, sprint workout as a group.  Crawling down stairs is always a great way to train the entire body in my opinion, and most Crossfitters haven't ever done it.  So I like to throw it in and see the reaction I get.  It ended up being one of the toughest WODs of the trip thus far, and had everyone ready to hit the town that night.  After everything we'd done that day, I couldn't blame them.

Anywherefit New Zealand Day 8

Day 8 began with a free morning to explore the town, then a 1:00 swim WOD in the deepest lake on the South Island, Lake Wakatipu.  Because of its depth, this lake never really warms up, even in the heart of summer. So there were a few among us that toed the water a little more nervously than they did on Day 1 in Auckland.  The workout was intended to be 3 rounds of a buoy swim (about 200 meters), 5 pull-ups (tree branch or jungle gym), 10 pushups, 15 squats.  Very simple as written, but the temperature of the water made it far more challenging.  As the WOD got going a few people had to divert to a closer buoy, just to be safe.  The best part of this workout was easily the location.  Queenstown proper was on the opposite shore, and the mountains climbed high around us, throwing reflections on the aqua blue water.  The sun was out and beautiful, as it had been our entire trip, so even the cold water wasn't too much of a bother.

After drying off, we headed up the hill a short ways to CrossFit Queenstown for some heavy front squats and deadlifts.  We only had an hour before the next class came in so we limited ourselves to just those lifts.  Surprisingly, there were more than a few PR's from the group.  This has been something of a trend on AWF trips, and I have to think it has something to do with the absence of normality.  Sometimes routine creates pressure to perform, whereas the absence of routine removes that pressure.  Think about it… If you're in an unknown situation, you're not worried about performing up to some standard, you're just excited for the opportunity to perform.  Not a bad mental state to be in if you ask me.

We wrapped up the day with a trip to the top of the Queenstown gondola and an hour or so on her street luge course overlooking the valley.  No matter how fun you think this sounds, you have no idea.  The simplest contraption one could imagine (handlebars that control the brakes by levering forward or backward), and gravity.  The track was wide enough for 3 cars to fit side by side, and there were steep drops, sharp turns, tunnels, and chances to get airborne.  For our money, this may have been the best value of the entire trip.  We were racing, bumpering, and screaming down the course just like kids at a 10 year old birthday party.  The video footage says it all.

Anywherefit New Zealand Day 7

We were up and out the doors early again on Day 7, heading for Fox Glacier to see what that type of hike is all about.  It's not everyday that you get the chance to walk on a piece of ice thats been around longer than the human race.

After a safety briefing and boot fitting, we hopped on the bus with the guides and made our way to the terminal face of the glacier.  It was about a 2 mile walk from the car park, during which time our guide made it abundantly clear that the cliff walls around us were very loose and could crumble down upon us at any moment.  They didn't, thankfully, but it certainly added to the adventure of it.

Once at the glacier's edge, things slowed down considerably.  The guides in front of us were meticulously cutting and re-cutting staircases into the ice so their groups wouldn't slip and fall.  All well and good, but every guide was acting as if they were the first ones to carve the stairs.  The result was that we wound up doing a lot more standing than hiking.  Even so, just physically being on the glacier, watching the water flowing through it, and seeing just how powerful nature can be was worth the trip.

Once off the glacier, we made a quick turnaround and got out on the road towards Queenstown.  It was our last major driving day of the trip and I could tell everyone was getting a little bit of cabin fever from being stuck in the van so much.  That being said, we had to get over the pass by 6:00 pm or we'd be stuck on the wrong side of the mountains until morning.  So we hustled our way across and then stopped at a random pull out to stretch our legs.  What we found was a hidden gem.  Nestled not far from the road was a waterfall feeding into a small creek.  This may as well have been a playground the way our group was scampering up it.  People took turns ice bathing in the pools and doing handstands on the shore until we were ready to get back on the road.

Our last stop before Queenstown was CrossFit Wanaka, who graciously opened their doors to us for an additional hour so we could train.  We did 1RM split jerks, then a 21 minute AMRAP that included 5 shoulder to overheads, 10 sit-ups, and 15 wall balls.  Every 7 minutes we did a 600 meter hill run.  What a burner this turned out to be.  I looked around the room at one point and it felt like everyone was on their knees gasping for air.  Just what we needed to carry us the last hour on the road.

Check the video footage from Day 7 below.

Anywherefit New Zealand Day 6

Day 6 was our first of 2 major travel days.  We needed to cover roughly 500 kilometers through national forests, coastline, and mountains in a single day, easily our roughest road trip thus far.  But it was a necessary evil for us to get where we wanted to go the next morning: Fox Glacier.  

The plan was rough draft at best: drive a few hours, take a break when we found something cool to do/a great place for a workout.  Sometimes spontaneity and embracing the unexpected is the only way to stay upbeat when you're trapped in a  car for 7+ hours.  Our first stop was at a historic swing bridge in the Buller River Gorge.  This was a cool excursion that was more novelty that anything else- a 200 foot bridge built out of thin cables, kind of like something you'd see in Indiana Jones.  So we all walked the plank and got across, then took a quick hike through the surrounding forest and beach to stretch our legs.  While it was a very beautiful portion of river, the most memorable part of this particular stop were the sand flies.  Everyone got eaten alive in the 30 minutes we were there, and could be seen scratching their ankles, legs, and backs for the rest of the trip because of it.  Needless to say we picked up some Off! at the next supermarket.

After another few hours on the road we pulled off at the underpass of an old rail bridge and did some free climbing.  We used the I beams under the bridge itself as hand holds, but also were able to string up the rings for muscle ups, skin the cats, toes to rings, you name it.  This was our best opportunity thus far to do some legitimate skill practice on the rings so we took advantage.

While there we squatted logs and boulders, and even did some stone to shoulders.  Different animal when the stone isn't perfectly round, let me tell you.  This turned into a 2 hour workout, and it was a blast!  Super creative and resourceful, just like these trips are meant to be.

On the last leg of our drive we were blessed with one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. EVER.  Every few minutes the colors got deeper and deeper, to the point where we simply had to pull off the shoulder and admire them.  We took pictures in front of a random lake and did our best to capture the moment.  Soon after we were in Franz Joseph, a stones throw from Fox Glacier, and getting ready for bed.  Another big travel day lay in front of us, but with Queenstown as our destination, who could complain?

Anywherefit New Zealand Day 5

We boarded the inter islander ferry and said goodbye to the North Island.  This also meant that we were leaving behind our van and trailer and picking up a new one on the other side.  This was a little nerve racking since it meant we were depending on the rental agency to have everything prepared and ready when we landed, but because the cost of bringing the van with us on the ferry was so high, we didn't have much choice.

Once on the ferry we scouted a comfortable spot for home base, then broke the group into two halves for a workout on the main deck.  Death by burpees.  Only, because the deck was wet and disgusting, we did the burpees without pushups.  This was the second time an Anywherefit trip has trained topside on a ferry, and it proved every bit as fun as the first.  In this instance we had a section of the deck all to ourselves, as it had been divided into seating and standing areas.  Because there wasn't much to see so early in the trip, no one wanted to stake a claim to the standing area.

For the most part, this WOD went as expected: everyone was cruising through the early rounds, then ground to a halt once things got into the higher teens.  A few were able to make it to the twenties, and Sven took top marks with 25 rounds.  The coolest part of this workout was the elements.  The boat was rocking and the wind was spraying mist everywhere.  Luckily for us the sun was also out and shining, making the wetness a little more bearable.

After we made it across and got our bags from the carousel, we made our way to the rental agency to discover our van was not yet ready.  We were told it was still on it's way back from a neighboring town and that we'd have to wait another hour and a half.  So we took the opportunity to walk around town and grab some lunch at a local spot.  Right away, we could tell the difference between the North and South islands.  The marina we had left in Wellington didn't hold a candle to the one in Picton where we now found ourselves.  Crystal blue water, tree covered mountains, and an easier vibe were among the things that jumped out straight away.

After a great lunch we picked up the van and started driving west toward Newton.  We made an unscheduled stop, however, and decided to spend the rest of the afternoon romping around the countryside on ATV's.  Best decision of the trip so far!  The place we stopped was a combination of sheep farm and off road wonderland.  There were zip lines, quad tracks, and paintball courses littering the place.  We got fitted up and took off climbing the trails behind our guides, dumping in and out of creeks and pausing for nice views.  When we hit the top everyone decided to ride the Skyline, a 4 person chair lift turned zip line, across the valley.  While not exactly scary, this turned out to be a really cool addition to the trip.

On the way down the mountain our guides let us ride a few laps around the "fun track" at our leisure.  Which pretty much meant go as fast as you can without flipping.  And we did.  Everyone emerged covered in dirt and mud, but totally stoked on the experience.  A short drive later we were in Newton barbecuing burgers and hashing out plans for the next days long drive to Fox Glacier.  For a day that hadn't been expected to provide much, this one had really delivered the goods.

Anywherefit New Zealand Day 4

Day 4 was a crack of dawn start.  5:30 am we were up and getting breakfast on the go in order to make it to our trailhead by 7:00.  The shuttle bus only picks up 3 times per day for the Tongariro Hike--6:30, 7:30, and 8:30--each successive pickup growing more crowded.  Thankfully our group was on top of the wake up and we made it for the 7:30 pickup no problem.

There's something cool about a sunrise shuttle ride when you know what you're in for.  20 km up and over the North Island's best hike, passing just to the side of the mountain used in Lord of the Rings as Mount Doom.  I could tell everyone was a little nervous getting off the bus, but also really excited.  The plan was to let Asta run ahead with the runners, I would stay with the walk/runners, and Sven would park the bus and come with the 8:30 shuttle, sprinting to catch the pack.

The initial few kilometers were cake.  Flat land with a few twists and turns, but no crazy climbs.  Right about the 3k mark things started to ramp up significantly.  The trail turned right and started switching back and forth up the mountainside, giving us a beautiful view of the where we came from.  Soon nobody was running because the grade was so steep.  Bags were getting passed around from person to person in an effort the share the heavier loads, and there were plenty of "picture stops."

At the top of the initial climb the terrain flattened out and we caught a cool stretch of volcanic basin.  To the right was "Mount Doom," to the left Mount Tongariro.  It was a welcome reprieve from the steady climbing we'd been doing for the past hour, but it didn't last long.  Another set of peaks awaited us and they proved even steeper than the first.  We started climbing along the ridge, giving us an amazing view of the North face of the mountains.  As we hit the summit, the dirt turned soft and ashy and people started sliding down the backside.  SO FUN.  This took me straight back to Iceland 2011.

The back half of the hike was all downhill, weaving between sulfur lakes, volcanic debris, and thick vegetation.  While the views were incredible, the downhill pounding was starting to catch up with me.  By the time I hit the car park I was feeling it in the knees and ankles, and I wasn't the only one.  We basked in the sun, snacked on some Paleo Kits, then hit the road to Wanganui to watch the second half of the Super Bowl.

After the worst game ever (not biased), we rode the rest of the way to Wellington to wrap things up.  Brittney took the group down to a waterfront park and took us through some Yin Yoga to stretch the legs.  This felt amazing and it was so needed.  Everyone was ready for bed early, knowing we were catching the ferry to the south island early in the AM.

Video clips from Day 4 are below.

Anywherefit New Zealand Day 3

Day 3 of the trip began with a partner beach WOD.  We partnered everyone up in teams that were equally distributed based on strengths, injuries, etc.   The workout was a relay between partners that went as follows:

50 meter bear crawl
50 meter frog jump
50 meter burpee broad jump
50 meter partner wheelbarrow

In between every round teams had to complete 50 partner pushups.  At the very end, teams had to complete 100 partner sit-ups.  This workout would've been hard enough as written, but put it on the deep sand and everything got just that much harder.  Especially the wheelbarrows.  Supporting your bodyweight while having to keep stable on such a squishy surface absolutely blows up your arms.  This proved a big challenge for many of the people on the trip, forcing them to dig deep and lean on their partners for support.

As soon as we were finished, we got up to the main drag and rented some toys.  Surf boards, boogie boards, and sunscreen were the tools of the day, and we did our best to take advantage of them all.  Jason, Kevin, Helen, Sven, Gio, and I all tried our hand at catching waves with the surfboard, but with little success. Jason probably had the best ride of all, but still a far cry from the locals carving up the waves further down the beach.  I will say this though… Surfing is absolutely one of those things you don't need to be good at to enjoy.  I could spend all day out there trying and failing and still have a great time.

The rest of the gang either boogie boarded or sunbathed.  Everyone knew that Day 4 was the day we were aiming to be up early at on the mountain for our 20 km hike so no one really wanted to beat themselves up.  We gathered everyone up by 2:00 and hit the road for Lake Taupo.  A few hours later we were there and checking into our 3rd home in 3 nights, the Settlers Motel.  The owner of this establishment threw out the welcome mat in the form of an Icelandic Flag out front.  We all agreed that this had to be a good sign for the day ahead.

The highlights from Day 3 are below.

Anywherefit New Zealand: Day 2

Day 2 of our trip began with an early morning jaunt into the Symmonds Street Cemetery.  No, there was no climbing of gravestones or sprinting around mausoleums.  But we did find a trail that led to the bottom of a ravine and the base of an enormous bridge.  After a quick canvassing of the area, everyone was able to find a heavy object to squat, an area to work handstand holds, and a beam to hang rings from for toes to bar.  We divided the group into 4 x 1 minute stations: squats, toes to bar, handstand holds, and stair sprints.  We set the clock for 20 minutes, giving everyone 5 times at each station.  The goal was to hit the same number of reps each round for each exercise, but that proved quite the challenge.  Squatting logs and stones becomes pretty dicey when you're out of breath.  But it was a great way to break a sweat before hopping in the car for the drive out to Mount Maunganui and the coast.  And it was good to see everyone willing to get their hands dirty.  A good omen for the rest of the trip.

The drive to Mount Maunganui took around 3 hours, just enough time to get everyone acclimated to the 12 person van that was going to be our transportation for the next 10+ days.  We learned quickly that bathroom breaks needed to be frequent, music needed to be uptempo, and snacks needed to be readily accessible.  Also, we were driving on the left side of the road from the right side of the car.  That took some adjustment.

All things considered, I think we did a damn good job navigating our way out of Auckland.  Parking in Mt. Maunganui, however, was a bit of a challenge.  We dumped the trailer at our hotel, found a good burger spot on the main drag, then hit the beach for some free time.  We got lucky as far as weather, with some offshore wind creating perfect waves for body surfing and the sun keeping us warm enough to do it without a wetsuit.  We spent the remainder of the day swimming, exploring the volcanic hillside overlooking the bay, and even chasing a few sheep.

Afterwards we headed back to the hotel where we cooked dinner and admired each other's sunburns.  Honorable mentions in this area go to Sven, Brittany, and Jason… all of whom would be pealing for the rest of the trip due to day 2.

Check out the highlights from day 2 below.

Anywherefit New Zealand: Day 1

Anywherefit New Zealand finally commenced on January 30th, 2014 in Auckland.  Sven, Asta, and I were in town a day early to get things organized with the rental bus, the hotel, and the grocery store, but the rest of the gang showed up that Friday.  As soon as we had everybody checked in and unpacked we shot off to Mission Bay for our first workout of the trip: Paddleboarding.  Few of the group had ever attempted this before, let alone out on the open ocean, so we were keeping our fingers crossed for calm waters.  As we took instructions from the SUP staff, I watched white cap after white cap roll in towards the bay and I had a flashback to the AWF Iceland 2012 ocean kayaking trip.  Shudder.

Thankfully, by the time we were out on the water things were starting to calm down.  People took their time getting to a standing position, but soon everyone was up on their boards.  Which meant it was time to either race or start pulling out the stupid human tricks.  Cue handstand attempts (all failures), headstand attempts (most failures), and overhead squats (few failures).  This was no crushing workout, but it was a ton of fun and a great ice breaker for this group of 12.  For me, it felt like I was knocking dust off after a series of long flights.

From Mission Bay, we went straight across town to CrossFit NZ to hit the weights.  Darren and his crew out there were more than accommodating, allowing us to christen their new barbell room with power snatches and back squats.  Everyone was given 4 attempts at unbroken sets of snatches (90%, 80%, 70%, and 60% of 1RM).  During this session, Sven and I were able to walk around the room and give small cues and coaching advice to some of the less experienced lifters.  Starting the trip off with a WOD like this helped me to get to know everyone's ability level when it comes to Oly, their mobility level, and gave us the chance to expose any injuries that might need working around.

Afterwards we worked up to heavy doubles of back squat, then hit a short and sharp team WOD.  Can't say enough about the members and coaches at CF NZ for their hospitality, only wish we could've stayed longer.  But the first 6 night of this trip are all in different towns… an unfortunate necessity when you want to drive to Queenstown in less than a week.  Not to worry though, there's plenty to do along the way.

Below is a few video clips from our first day.

Lonely Wall Workout

Found a huge sound barrier wall for a local Fair Oaks neighborhood and decided to build a workout around it.  Walls are such a great resource… we need to use them more.

Abandoned Tennis Court WOD

I've been wanting to train at this abandoned tennis court forever and finally got out there the other day.  It's been awhile since I've posted a video and for that I apologize.  Need to be more diligent about bringing my camera!!

Fitness Is...

Solitude

“I don’t like work—no man does—but I like what is in the work,—the chance to find yourself. Your own reality—for yourself, not for others—what no other man can ever know.”   

Marlow—Heart of Darkness

I’ve heard it argued many times that the reason for America’s fitness failures is some combination of ignorance and inaccessibility.  Sounds plausible: If people don’t know what they should be eating or how much they should be exercising, how can we expect them to stay healthy?  So we go about increasing awareness and try to infuse our culture with fitness.  The topic makes a home on the talk show circuit and carves out a daily niche on the local news.  The marketplace explodes with informational videos, online tutorials, and $5 per month gym memberships.  The number of gyms in America rises to an all-time high.  Additionally, restaurants are required by law to disclose the nutritional content of their food.  All the pieces are falling into place.  Yet all reliable statistics indicate that we are more sickly, more injured, and more overweight than we’ve ever been.  I’ll say it again: with more resources and more knowledge than ever before, we are the least healthy we’ve ever been.  This unequivocally tells me that information and accessibility are not the issue.  

So, how is it possible that with so many tools at our disposal we still find a way to fail so miserably?  The easy answer is that we just don’t care.  I’ll admit, the simplicity of this is tempting. But there has always been a section of society that could give two shits, and I don’t believe that those apathetic few are the only thing contributing to a problem this big.  I believe that for the larger “caring” subsection, the issue is something closer to mental crowding.  We live in a world more immediate and barraging than any our ancestors had to navigate.  We have more resources, authorities, and research than they ever did.  I believe that as the flow of information has grown, so too has our inability to process it.  Where they went days or weeks between news cycles, giving them ample time to think and formulate opinions, we are refreshed within minutes.  How do we form coherent thoughts on fitness when Google pulls up 100,000 returns to our search?  How do we digest the value of health and wellness while scrolling through infomercial after infomercial on premium cable?  The answer is, we don’t.  We observe, briefly acknowledge, and change the channel.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t cut it.  Whether the subject is politics, religion, family, or fitness, skimming the headlines will never be enough to make an informed decision.  You have to dig deeper, discover facts from multiple sources, then take your time digesting that information.  This is the critical element.  Rarely is your first thought your finest—in fact, it’s usually somebody else’s.  Yet the overwhelming trend in our society is to make up our minds quicker and quicker.  In our effort to be decisive and efficient (read: laziness) we bypass the reflective stage of problem solving and cut straight to the chase.  Every diet book is a bible, every fat busting tool is a magic bean.  We buy them without understanding their cause or purpose and hope they’ll solve our problems.  Looking at health through the eyes of its advertisers, we’re no longer fitness practitioners—we’re fitness consumers.  And as long as we see fitness as something that must be done “to us” rather than “for us,” we will never internalize the message.

The solution to this problem is threefold. 

First, we need to appreciate the gravity of what we’re facing: 

-We live in a world of highly processed, if not completely contaminated food sources.  Choosing to ignore this fact increases our risk of practically every disease known to man.

-Our typical daily routine demands hours of sitting, a position that directly opposes the healthy, pain free evolution of our species.  Choosing to ignore this fact increases our risk of practically every injury known to man. 

-If you ask the average person on the street what it means to be fit, they’ll point to a picture of Kate Moss.  Choosing to ignore this fact might actually save your life. 

Needless to say, the deck is stacked against you. 

Second, we have to examine our limitations carefully, locate their origins, and go find tools that can push us past them.  This requires research, patience, and the permission to make mistakes.  No blanket diagnosis fits everyone, so stop assuming your condition is a perfect match with the latest episode of Dr. Oz.  Fixing a postural distortion will take years, so don’t get discouraged when you can’t fix it with 2 weeks of Mobility WODs.  Your fitness journey will last the rest of your life—you have to accept that there are no shortcuts.

Finally, we have to deafen our ears to the musings of our friends.  Their reasons are not your reasons, their problems are not your problems.  We have to discover for ourselves how and why fitness will benefit our lives, take the time to seek out the best method of achieving it, then take ownership of the process of doing so.  Emerson wrote that we “must be defended from travelling with the souls of other men, from living, breathing, reading, and writing in the daily, time-worn yoke of their opinions.”  As it pertains to fitness, this means training for your own reasons, not somebody else’s.  Take what others say and do, learn from it, and continue on. 

Underpinning all of this is solitude.  If we don’t give ourselves the space to ask real questions, we will never be capable of finding real answers. Comfort food, alcohol, Facebook, and YouTube are all just elaborate distractions.  You won’t find yourself there.  As humans, we need isolation to sift through the vocal chorus in our heads and determine which voice is ours.  And that doesn’t mean going off on a cliff somewhere and staring into the sunset (although that is a totally awesome way to do it).  It can be as simple as a workout alone in your garage or a ten minute session on the yoga mat.  Whatever it takes to quiet your mind and focus your energy to a single point.  Like Marlow said, no man likes work, but what’s in the work has real and lasting value.  Spend some time determining what that is.  

Rope Climb to High Muscle Up

Did a really fun workout with Denny today.  We had to do some leg work to make it possible, but that's where a lot of the fun is in training without the gym.  Hanging ropes and rings requires more fitness than using them, often times.  Check the video below.

2013 Adventure WOD Recap

This past weekend marked the second annual Adventure WOD, hosted by CrossFit Anywhere.  This year we teamed up with CrossFit Avalanche to host the event in Lake Tahoe.  The idea was that a canvas as broad and beautiful as Tahoe would offer unlimited opportunities for creative programming while taking the competitors away from the comfort of regular urban life.  A true adventure.  Mother nature didn't disappoint.

All week long we were checking and re-checking the weather forecast.  One day it looked fine, the next they were calling for rain, then it was scattered thunderstorms.  As an event planner, this is a tough situation because you really have no control over the elements.  While we discussed plan A's and plan B's in case things got rough, we were really just hoping and praying the storm held off.

The morning of the event came and it was chilly.  Volunteers and athletes alike were huddling together outside Avalanche, sipping their coffee and listening to standards.  The first task teams would have to perform was a max wall handstand for time.  This would set their heat order for the first 2 events.  Those events were as follows:

EVENT 1-
5 minute partner AMRAP:
3 muscle ups
10 pullups

EVENT 2-
EMOTM Strength Ladder:
OH Squat, Front Squat, Back Squat
(Men's bars increase by 20#, Women's bars increase by 10#)

The minimum work requirement for event 1 was 1 muscle up and 10 pullups per person.  Otherwise it didn't matter how the teams split up the work.  At the end of 5 minutes teams moved out of the gym and into the parking lot where the strength ladder awaited them--a line of men's bars and a line of women's bars.  There was no minimum work requirement here, just the sum total of poundage lifted between the two.  We saw some pretty impressive feats of strength during this portion of the day, with Drew Canavero making it to the final bar (315#) and Allisandra Pichelli finishing the ladder entirely (185#).

Right away we could tell that altitude was going to be an X factor all day.  People were sucking wind during the squat complex like they were doing an all out metcon.  Moral of the story: 6000 feet elevation is no joke, even when you're doing 3 squats per minute.

The standings after the first 2 events were then scored and tallied to establish the starting order for the adventure race.  The first place team would start first, second place :30 behind them, 3rd place :30 behind them, and so on until all teams had departed.  The starting line for the race was at the Tahoe Biltmore Hotel at the California-Nevada state line, making this possibly the first interstate CrossFit competition.  No big deal.

Once they began the race, teams would not stop for another 2+ hours.  Their tasks included a 1.1 mile hill run up a fire access road, 50 partner burpees with lateral jump, 2 minutes of partner planks, 2 minutes of crow pose, 2 minutes in a 1 armed handstand, solve a math problem, run 1.1 miles downhill, bike 6 miles, partner paddle board 600 yards, bike 3 miles, 50 partner burpees with lateral jump, 5 wall climbs, 100 kb swings, 75 goblet squats, 50 kb snatches, 25 thrusters, 400 meter sandbag farmers carry, and a 400 meter run to the finish line.  If all that wasn't enough of a challenge for these teams, the skies opened up while they were on their bikes heading towards the paddle board shop and started dumping rain.  The wind was whipping on the water, churning enormous waves onshore and dumping people left and right.  You could see the athletes go from competition mode to survival mode in an instant.  I can only imagine what it must've been like to get out of the water and get back on their bikes in the rain.  And then to swing kettlebells and carry rain-soaked sandbags.  From there on out it was grit and toughness that would get them to the finish line.

When it was all said and done 33 of the 35 teams that started the day, finished the day.  CrossFit Avalanche was a tightly packed sardine jar of shivering bodies and barbecue, as everyone tried to warm and refuel themselves.  People were laughing and crying (depending on the person), but all were incredibly accomplished.  I could not have been more impressed and inspired by the durability and toughness of these athletes.  If there was ever proof that CrosFitters are hard to kill, this was it.

Taking home the gold were Brandon Caskey and Monica Renk of South Tahoe CrossFit.  They were 11th after the first two events and made up ground during the hill run and the partner holds, before taking the lead on the bikes and extending it on the paddle board.  They would never relinquish it.  Second place went to Matt and Chelsey from San Francisco CrossFit, aka the "Purple People Eaters."




A big thank you to all the volunteers who made this event possible.  Some showed up the night before to run through events and all were there at 6:00 am the morning of, standing in the rain counting reps, and running alongside the teams to keep them moving.  Myles and CrossFit Avalanche were incredible hosts, if you've never been to their box it's a must visit.  Finally, the vendor support was amazing as well.  Alpha Strong brought their sandbags into the wild and they held up perfectly.  FitAID was there til the end giving out recovery drinks to depleted athletes and cases to the winners. Men Wielding Fire provided delicious food at the finish line, without which I'm not sure I would've made it home.  In sum, it was a brutal but memorable day that I can't wait to start planning for next year.  Congratulations to all the participants for making it through!!!

Check out our video from the event at the following link:

AWF Balkans - Day 8

Day 8

Waking up to the sound of an Islamic call to prayer was definitely a first for me.  But that’s daily life in Sarajevo.  Constructed alongside Serbian Orthodox and Catholic churches, there are more mosques in this city than in the capital of Saudi Arabia.  Religious diversity is just one example of the cultural variety the Bosnian capital boasts.  Walking through the old town you could see everything from Western Europe to the Middle East, all under the subtle veil of a war torn past.  To say that you can read the history on people’s faces is an understatement.  I wouldn’t go so far as to say people look overly unhappy, just very serious.  Not exactly surprising when you consider the city was under siege for close to 4 years.  During that time the only way to get people or supplies in and out was through a 1000 meter underground tunnel to the United Nations air strip.  Many of the people still living in the city spent their formative years in that type of environment. 

After visiting a few mosques and walking around the old city, our group headed out to the Olympic Stadium from the 1984 Winter Games.  Here we were set to meet Adi, the owner of the largest CrossFit training facility in Bosnia.  His gym is carved out of the old track and field training facility for the Yugoslavian national teams of the 1980’s.  Talk about a piece of history.  Entering the single story building, I couldn’t help but be reminded of every YouTube video I’ve seen of Russian and Bulgarian lifters.  Non-descript red cinder block walls, simple placards on doors denoting things like “Equipment Room,” and “Showers,” and the no frills feel of a place built to encourage hard work.  Adi led us to the end of the hall where his portion of the facility was located: 2 rooms, 2 squat racks, 2 benches, 4 olympic bars, a 3 person pullup system, a few strategically placed rubber mats, some nautilus rehab equipment, and a classic set of wooden stretching bars mounted to the wall.  Perfect.

After a warm up out on the track that included some running and some pigeon to pigeon transitions, we divided the group up and worked up to 5 rep maxes of back squat and deadlift, respectively.  This was quite the scene, as you can imagine, with 30 people crammed between 4 bars.  But it kept things loud, heated, and intense, he way training should be in an Eastern European Olympic relic.  Between every set of squats and deadlifts, guys had to do 10 chest to bar pullups and girls had to do 5. 

 

We spent a solid 1.5 hours enjoying this scene, then headed out to the main field for some pictures.  With the word S-A-R-A-J-E-V-O spelled out in enormous letters in the seats across from us, we took turns speed walking 50 meters as fast as possible.  This display soon escalated to a tournament style bracket, with Sunny coming out the victor.  Not exactly a surprise since his legs are twice as long as everyone else’s, but it was a good race. 

From there Adi led our bus across town to an apartment complex that had been destroyed during the war but were still standing.  This is something I had really looked forward to witnessing.  The whole place was riddled with bullet holes and crumbling debris, but we found a way to make it ours.  Everyone finding their own space, we proceeded to do the following Tabata sequence:

Shoulder Taps
Pistols
Good Mornings
L Sits

It was dusty, dirty, and decrepit everywhere you looked, but there were 30 people there doing something positive with the space.  It doesn’t get any more anywherefit than this.  I can’t wait to see the pictures from this WOD.  

It was a big day of training, so the showers and down time we took before dinner were well deserved.  The plan for tomorrow is to head out into the country to meet up with some of Armann’s Serbian relatives on their farm.  Should be a perfect way to bring today’s urban excursion into relief. 

AWF Balkans - Day 7

Day 7

Stepping out your front door and having the Adriatic Sea to welcome you is an experience few have.  Since Day 7 would be the last our group enjoyed this luxury, we decided to take advantage of it one more time.  Immediately after breakfast we met by the water and did a swim sprint workout:  Swim 50 meters every 2 minutes on the minute for 20 minutes.  We divided the group into halves (stronger swimmers/weaker swimmers), and started on opposite ends of the 50 meter distance.  Group 1 went on the even minutes, Group 2 went on the odd.  This kept the course relatively clear so people weren’t swimming over each other in an effort to stay close to shore. 

After the workout everyone had free time to enjoy the beach as they saw fit.  Jenn and I chose to lay around on the beach chairs with a group of others, but many decided to go out and try the inflatable obstacle course the hotel had set up a short ways offshore.  This was essentially a balloon bounce house, with jumps, ropes, and handles scattered throughout.  The TV show “Wipeout” came immediately to mind as I watched our group struggle, flail, and eat it all over the course.  Definite comedy for those of us watching from shore, but an exhausting workout for those directly involved.  Just goes to show you don’t always need to be “training” to get a work out.

Just before noon we loaded onto the bus and set our sights on Bosnia.  Although it was certainly sad to say goodbye to Croatia and her infinitely beautiful waters and coastline, I have to say I was excited to see the interior of the Balkans.  So much history from the Yugoslavian civil war is still fresh and palpable there and I knew our group would find it interesting. 

As we drove across the border the first thing I was struck by was the landscape.  Huge mountains and forested hillsides, beautiful rivers and cliffs… not exactly what I had pictured.  For some reason the image in my head was something much flatter and desolate.  Chalk it up to ignorance I guess.  Throughout the drive Armann got on the microphone and explained some details about the conflict, including the cultural peculiarities of Bosnia-Herezgovina.  Because this region was home to a large population of Bosnian Muslims, Catholic Croats, and Orthodox Serbs, it was where the majority of the fighting took place.  To a large degree, each nationality fighting for independence was defined by its religion, so mosques and cathedrals were easy targets for bombings.  And nowhere else in the Balkans was there such a high concentration of all three denominations than in present day Bosnia. 

We saw the lasting effects of the fighting at our first stop in Mostar.  Mostar is a small town in the hills that boasts a singular crown jewel: it’s bridge.  A beautifully arched stone structure connecting both sides of the river, this bridge was destroyed by bombs and mortars during the war.  We stopped and watched a video detailing the process of rebuilding that took place and couldn’t help but wonder how they did it.  Walking around the town you could feel the poverty.  The walls still boast bullet holes, many of the buildings have not been bothered to be repaired from explosions, and the street vendors are all huddled onto a single stretch of cobblestones that lead tourists to the bridge.  While eating lunch we could observe locals enticing foreigners to jump the 80 foot bridge for a fee.  Apparently it’s common for the local diving club to raise money by coaching tourists on how to safely enter the water from such a height.  Naturally, our group only a few days removed from a day filled with cliff jumping in the Adriatic, the buzz over lunch was about who would jump the bridge.  It wound up that only Sven, Sunny, and I were willing to pay the 25 Euros to take the plunge, but boy was it worth it!!!

Before we could jump we had to go below with the diving coach and do a series of practice jumps from a 10 meter platform he had set up down river.  In severely broken English, he coached us to keep our knees bent and relax our arms like a bird’s wings until just before impact.  At this moment we were to violently extend our legs and tuck our arms to our sides, breaking the water and entering vertical.  While this is not the first time I’ve thought of these things, I’ll admit the practice jumps helped get my nerve up.

As we climbed back up the rocks to the bridge I noticed our entire group had found seats along the shore to watch and take pictures.  I mention this because they looked a whole lot smaller from the bridge.  I was the first to jump, so I climbed the ledge (a 8 inch piece of stone was we had to stand on once over the rails), got my balance, and tried to think of nothing but the practice jumps.  If you ever find yourself in this position, it’s important you don’t waste time on the edge.  Just go for it.  And I did, floating through the air for over 2 seconds of blistering freefall before entering the water.  I’d love to describe exactly what it was like, but it happened quite fast.  Perhaps the videos will do it better justice.  Sunny and Sven followed soon after, each of us emerging unharmed and exhilarated.  And we had to have the biggest, loudest cheering section Mostar’s seen in quite some time. 

By this time it was nearly 6:00 pm and we had to be getting on to Sarajevo.  Only 3 days left to go…

AWF Balkans - Day 6

Day 6

It was with mixed emotion that we left the island of Brac this morning.  Even though there are a lot of amazing things to come on this trip, it’s hard to leave a place as beautiful and as comfortable as this one.  The coastal islands that Croatia boasts along its shores could easily consume an entire vacation.  Perhaps the next AWF adventure to this part of the world will take place on a series of yachts hopping from place to place. 

But for now we set our sights on Dubrovnik, the crown jewel of the Croatian coast.  We made our way across the island and to the ferry docks by 9:00 am to try and catch the earliest transport, but it turned out there were earlier birds than us.  While we were able to board the ferry no problem, our bus was forced to wait until the 11:00 am slot when there were less cars.  This meant we had a few hours to kill on the other side before we could start the drive to Dubrovnik, so we decided we might as well get a workout going. 

In teams of 3 we completed 500 walking lunges, 300 situps, 200 partner rows, 100 inchworm pushups, and 400 meters gurney carry.  In all elements more than one team member could be working at a time.  We tried to team up according to body weight, but in certain instances it just wasn’t possible.  I, for example, was teamed up with Jenn and Kelly… not exactly an easy gurney carry for the two of them, so we rotated in such a way that I was rarely carried. 

The location for this workout was right on the edge of the port, so we were essentially training in the shadows of huge cruise ships and ocean liners.  As always I was impressed with the willingness of the group to get their hands dirty.  Many of us were without training shoes because it was an unplanned stop, but there was no hesitation to do everything barefoot.  Everyone was working hard and smiling the whole time, so it couldn’t have been that bad.

After the workout we split up for a short while to grab lunch, then reconvened on the dock to greet the bus.  We boarded and made our way down the coast toward Dubrovnik.  The route we chose to take wound back and forth along the water and took us through many small beach towns.  Every one of these appeared more idyllic and quainter than the last, reinforcing the desire to sail the coastline. 

 

As we approached Dubrovnik, Armann explained to us that no automobiles were allowed in the old part of town (the old center of Dubrovnik is contained within an enormous castle wall overlooking the sea).  This maintains the feel it must have had while also preventing insane traffic jams.  The streets in the old city are more like alleys and the building rise vertically so that you don’t often see exactly where you are going.  In a sense, you feel a bit like in a maze, but because it is so small there’s not a real risk of getting lost. 

The first thing we did upon arrival was take the tour of the castle wall.  This was probably the closest thing I can imagine to the Great Wall of China, on a much smaller scale of course.  Looking out over the city from above you can see a number of churches, squares, and restaurants, but for the most part Dubrovnik appears residential.  Clothes are hanging out on lines, satellite dishes dot the rooftops, and although the architecture is 100% stone and ancient in appearance, it’s obvious that these places are “lived in.”  While touring the wall one can help but look over the edge.  Hundreds of feet straight down to the Adriatic below make this city practically impregnable from sea.  But the large hillside to it’s back offers a much simpler and direct route in.  During the Balkan Wars in the early 1990’s Serbian forces camped out on the hill above Dubrovnik and shelled the city over and over again.  Imagining this scene was frightening.

We also noticed a number of seaside bars just outside the wall where patrons could have a drink, take a dip, and warm themselves on the rocks.  Looked like a great way to spend the evening.  Somewhere around the halfway point of the walk, Denny, Donovan, and I took turns trying to scale the interior ledge of the wall using extremely amateur Parkour techniques.  This was our version of storming the castle.

 

After the tour we found a nice place for dinner and went our separate ways to explore the town.  Jenn and I visited a few galleries while others popped into some bars.  One of the coolest things we came across was a public square beneath one of the churches where a group of restaurants had set out chairs for their patrons to listen to live music.  A group of 4 were playing acoustic guitar singing “Ain’t no Sunshine when she’s gone,” by Bill Withers.  So cool.

AWF Balkans - Day 5

Day 5

 

The group awoke eagerly for the day’s events, because they had been so mysteriously concealed the night before.  We walked them down to the harbor after breakfast and onto the pier, where they were met with 3 military grade speedboats and their captains.  The reaction was a mix of fear and excitement, but all were surprised.  Never have we done something this extreme on an AWF trip, but thanks in large part to our friend Bojan from Belgrade, we were able to make this possible. 

The plan was to take the group island hopping out in the Adriatic, hopefully finding some cool places to climb and cliff jump along the way.  Our guides began by giving a brief safety demonstration, then we were out on the water spinning donuts and speeding along at 30+ knots.  It should be noted that while these boats are very durable and extremely fast (they have large rubber tubes on the outside and run up to 600 horsepower engines) they leave a little to be desired in the shock absorbing department.  As the waves got bigger towards the middle of the sea, so did the impacts and the spray, leaving some among us with bruises on their legs and soaked to the skin.  Small price to pay for what was in store.

Our first stop was the blue caves, a tourist attraction the likes of which can only be seen in 1 other place in the world: the island of Capri.  Until 1:00 pm the sunlight beams up from underneath the water and casts the entire cave in an electric blue.  A few meters beneath the surface you can see natural rock bridges connecting the walls.  Apparently you used to be able to swim in and around these but it has since been outlawed in an effort to better preserve this treasure. 

After the blue cave, we shot across to the island of Vis for lunch.  This place is only accessible to tourists in the summer because of the inclement weather that pounds her shores in the winter.  The waves crash so high in the colder months that the population drops to a mere 200 people.  Thankfully for us the harbor was still readily accessible and we were able to find a restaurant within walking distance.  There couldn’t have been more than 30 buildings in the whole town, making this the quaintest experience we’ve had thus far.  The whole group ate local burritos, filled with beef, rice, peas, beans, pepper sauce, and cheese, then washed them down with waters and beers.  Impressively enough, this place was serving my favorite beer: Leffe Brown.  I took it as a sign and ordered one.

When everyone had had their fill we re-boarded the boats and made our way along the coast of the island to look for places to climb.  You really can’t go anywhere in Croatia without noticing the cliffs, but this stretch was particularly riddled with them.  Soaring rock faces that extend vertically from the water were everywhere we looked, bringing to mind every movie I’ve ever seen about ancient Greeks and Romans sailing through these waters. 

Our guides assured us that there were better places to climb and took us to a secluded beach tucked back in a cove away from the wind.  As soon as we entered the cove I knew we were in the right place.  2 enormous yachts had dropped anchor in the perfect water, along with a handful of sailboats and smaller craft.  The beach itself was made of smooth white rock, and partially enclosed by the remains of an ancient cave wall that had since fallen away.  High cliffs surrounded the main cove and dropped straight down to the water below.  We eyed up one that looked suitable for jumping, dropped anchor, and started swimming towards it.  Denny and I were the first to make our way to the top and took our time scoping out the best place to jump from.  As always seems to happen, the view from the top was a little different than the view from below.  But with such a clear shot to the water and such beautiful scenery around, there was no turning back.  I took the first leap, and was followed by Denny, Sunny, Sven, and Ryan.  Soon after the line of people climbing the rocks grew longer and longer, until it seemed like our whole party was up on the cliff waiting for their turn. 

Perhaps the most impressive jump of the day was turned in by Marlyn Morris.  She and Erica were the first women to make the climb, and I thought there was no way in hell they would jump.  This is a 60 foot cliff we’re talking about here, not your average diving board/cannonball spot.  But Mar got out to the ledge, gently let go of Sunny’s hand and did it.  She bobbed up a mixture of shock and happiness, and, aside from a few bruises, unharmed.  Erica followed her off less than a minute later.  I was dumbfounded at what I was watching.  I’ve probably seen 50 girls with more jumping experience than these get to the edge, panic, and back down.  The same goes for equally as many guys.  Something about the situation we found ourselves in today lent itself toward an increase in the bravery and/or trust of our group.  Maybe it was the location, maybe it was seeing so many others jump before, or maybe it was the momentum of what we’d already done to that point, but something was enabling these people to take risks they otherwise wouldn’t even consider. 

After a brief spell on the beach and climbing on the rocks, we pulled out of the cove and continued down the island towards “Green Cave.”  This was the most spectacular rock formation I have ever seen in person.  With a single column running down the center, the cave appeared to have 2 entrances.  Each of these were elegantly arched about 40 feet above the water, almost as if they were planned or built.  Inside the cave there was a single hole in the roof about 3 feet across that allowed air and sun in like a skylight.  We spent the next hour swimming in the water (under the water the contrast of dark inside the cave and blue outside the cave was incredible), jumping off the arches, and taking pictures of both.  Jenn and I even made a tandem jump to close things out. 

By this time is was nearly 4:00 and we still had an hour boat ride back to Brac across an increasingly choppy sea.  I won’t waste too much time describing that ride, but suffice it to say that it was a test of fitness to stay on the boat and in one piece.  What it must take to be a sailor in these waters, I’m not sure I want to know. 

We wrapped up day 5 with a private dinner at a secluded restaurant called Moby Dick’s.  Here we ate pizza, pork loin, and hamburger steaks, followed by crepes for desert.  Definitely not our healthiest meal of the trip, but it was delicious and well deserved after the day we’d had. 

It’s hard to believe that the trip is only halfway over at this point.  So much has happened that it’s difficult to process how anything else we do could top or improve upon it.  But that, as they say, is why they play the games!!!

AWF Balkans - Day 4

Day 4

Day 4 began with a 20 minute yoga session, courtesy of Kimberly Wilson.  Everyone was still feeling the effects of the first few days so we thought a good stretch was the right call before hopping in the bus for the 3 hours it would take to arrive in Split.  Considering there were quite a few among us who had never done yoga before, this went surprisingly well.  Sun salutations, flipping your dog, a few warrior poses thrown in… and the group was feeling good and limber heading back on the road.

Our final destination for the day was Bol, a city on the island of Brac.  In order to get there we needed to hop on a ferry in Split (2^nd largest city in Croatia) and ride it across the channel.  This gave us a little downtime in Split to walk around the harbor and explore the local vibe.  While definitely more industrial than Ljubljana, Split still felt relatively warm.  The locals there were not stand offish or rude, but seemed to welcome the tourist element as part of life there.  I took this opportunity to purchase some water shoes from a street vendor.  As a small group of us were negotiating prices on the shoes, we were observed by another portion of our group.  This got them thinking that maybe they too should get some water shoes.  After all, maybe I knew something they didn’t know…  Time would tell they were right. 

The ferry ride itself took less than an hour.  Once on the other side we began driving up over the top of the island in search of a good location to train.  Just past the crest of the peak we found such a place.  An old rock quarry just of the highway caught our eye and we convinced the bus driver it was safe enough to pull over.  In the quarry were piles and piles of indigenous rock, along with an enormous mound of slabbed marble in all different shapes.  The workout for the day was a Partner Diane, where each team had to complete 42 deadlifts, 42 handstand pushups, 30 deadlifts, 30 handstand pushups, and 18 deadlifts, 18 handstand pushups.  For the deadlifts each team had to find a rock of suitable size and weight—not necessarily easy to find the perfect shape—and then move it from ground to waist using all the same criteria for a typical deadlift.  For the handstand pushups, partners could spot each others legs and feet. 

 

Sven and I teamed up for this one and found a rock that loosely resembled the “Africa Stone” that they used to use in World’s Strongest Man.  I found that gripping this thing was the biggest challenge of the workout.  Perhaps that’s the point of training this way: discovering the unintended obstacle.  We broke the sets up in 10’s and 11’s the first time through, 10’s and 5’s the second time through, and 9’s for the final.  There was no real “easy part” here, other than the rest you got while the other guy did deadlifts.  Even spotting the handstand pushups was tough because your shoulders were already tired from doing them yourself. 

As everyone was finishing it was evident how much people enjoyed the workout from the huge smiles on their faces.  Before leaving we gathered up the stones and built them into a large monument with the letters “AWF 2013” in front of it.  We even found a chunk of an old column to balance on top. 

Once down into Bol and all checked in to our apartments, we rented bikes for the group and set them loose on the town.  2 hours to ride and explore before reconvening for dinner.  Some rode all the way to neighboring towns, others hit the beach for some beers.  Denny, Kim, Uyen, Chris, Jenn, and I made our way to a secluded camp spot with a large island dock and took turns jumping off into the sea.  It was our first taste of the Adriatic and it was amazing!  The water is extremely salty, but so clear and blue that you can literally see to the bottom without goggles.  I would later decide that the reason for the saltiness is the types of rocks that line the coast here.  They are nearly porous from the erosion into the sea, making the water extremely dense with minerals like magnesium.  The benefit of this to the swimmer is that soaking in these waters is nearly the same as taking an Epsom Salt bath. 

 

Once back with the group we took dinner at a place right on the harbor, where we ate skewered chicken and two types of Mediterranean sausage.  Again, amazing.  The food here has been incredible.  I will miss it when we’ve gone. Before heading to bed on Day 4, we set the stage for Day 5 by telling everyone only that we would be out from 8:30 am until after 5:00 pm.  What we’d be doing for those 8+ hours, remained a mystery.