Lobster

Posted on June 18, 2008 by Jason

Enjoying Maine, read here for your Mission

What awesome feedback I got about John "Thor" Johnson coaching at the noon class today…here is what Lenora had to say, "Gratitude to John Johnson (Thor) for a great WOD, and for coaching me on false-grip ring pullups, and GI Janes.  John was great at encouraging us to scale as needed, and kept reminding us to keep the thrusters deep."  Remember nooners John will be back again tomorrow, and then Fred will be in on Friday at noon to kick your butts!

Here is Brett's recap of the evening classes:

A Deceptive White Board today (there was a lot up there)!

Lots of people tried something new with their 500 m row during the warm-up.  Trying to establish a peak power output and then reach that output or beat it next time is 1 more way to improve your rowing and your all-around athleticism.  I got to witness some great 500 splits from many.

Also, adding a little more challenge to your CFWU as you go is a good way to grow!  Have you added some weight to your overhead squats?

The true deception lay in the choice between 2 metabolic conditioning workouts.

1 from the main site WODs:

50 sit-ups
50 double unders
50 sit-ups
50 walking lunge steps
50 sit-ups
50 burpees (Yay!)
50 sit-ups

It looked like such a long list, but many didn’t realize that you’re more than strong enough to do 400 floor sit-ups!  The morning crew and about half of the 5:30 gang chose this short chipper.  Best time was a tie between the 2 classes at 19’23”.  As always, burpees were killer.

And the 2^nd, from some evil genius’ hopper of a mind…

Row 1,000 m
50 x 75# thrusters
Row 1,000 m

Yes, this looks so much easier on paper, but the full body hip drive and shoulder work is almost constant throughout this 1.  Some looked like they wouldn’t finish.  This was an especially challenging WOD for our new members who joined us at 6:30, but Kelly, Dave, Anthony, and John didn’t disappoint.  They showed great heart and amazing athletic potential to the end.  It was awesome to meet them and I’m looking forward to what kind of fire-breathers they’ll turn into.  Chad crushed it!  I’m looking forward to his future tournament results, too.

Marley had a great time on the beach in Maine.  She continues to amaze people with how fast she runs and that she keeps going and going.  Today her WOD was 21-15-9 of ball fetching.  Great job girl!

Check out this article from Jon Gilson at Again Faster (CrossFit Boston) – what do you think?

Tim Russert is dead.  The suffer-no-bullshit anchor of “Meet the Press” had a massive coronary on Friday at the too-soon age of 58.  

This was a guy you liked for the same reason you liked Die Hard-era Bruce Willis.  He was funny, he was aggressive, and he saw right through your front.  The only way you got off Tim’s hook was to tell the truth, own up to your argument, and admit your shortcomings.  I routinely felt sorry for his Sunday morning guests—they’d stumbled into a maze where the Minotaur was impossibly smart and every passage was a dead end.

Unfortunately, the otherwise brilliant Mr. Russert fell prey to the plague of the intellectual class, treating his body as an inconsequential vessel for his rock star brain.  His work ethic was notorious–round-the-clock marathons of analysis and exposition, executed for the benefit of a spoiled television audience.  His long hours in the office precluded regular exercise and proper diet, and his heart gave out.

Right now, you’re feeling pressured to put nose to grindstone on your own behalf.  Gasoline is four dollars a gallon, food prices have skyrocketed, and folks in Venezuela are using American dollars to light cigars and clean up after the kids.  Every hard goods provider in the country is ratcheting up prices, citing the astronomical cost of shipping, thinning margins, and the ridiculous expense of raw materials.  You’re getting squeezed, and you need more money.

You’re working harder and looking for things to cut out of the budget, taking big swinging hacks at the checkbook to free up devalued dollars.  Lattes are gone, your Friday night dinner date has gone the way of the Caribbean monk seal, and your gym membership is next on the chopping block.  

Eighty, a hundred, two hundred dollars a month, back in your pocket in one fell swoop, dedicated to more important things like filling the tank, clothing the kids, and keeping the mortgage out of default.  Here’s the problem—Tim Russert is dead.

The tanking economy is irrelevant when you’re pushing daisies. Without properly functioning organs, your idea-rich brain has all the utility of a table lamp during a blackout.  When your body crumbles, everything else takes a back seat. When the bills start mounting and your work consumes you, take a minute to remember this basic fact:  without your health, you are nothing.  

With the boogeyman budget staring back at you, it’s tempting to axe the gym and trade in grass-fed beef for twenty-five cent boxes of linguini.  It’s tempting to let your health go to meet near-term material needs.  Find another way to make it work.  Dig deep, and make it through with your health intact.  Economic woes will pass, but the road to bodily ruin is downhill, and the bottom comes quick.

I am truly saddened at Tim Russert’s death.  He was the type of man that men should strive to be.  He left too soon, and now we’ll never get to see him tear into the next Administration.  If only his all-consuming desire to expose the truth had led him to the gym.  Godspeed, Tim.

Here is a great video of Jon teaching the Sumo Deadlift High Pull (SDHP).  Watch the video and then practice them with some PVC tonight at class tonight.  Watch the video here.