happy new years eve

today was a fantastic workout. any workout with a kettlebell to me is an absolute blast. i started out with a 16k and thought it was way too light. by the 2nd round, it felt like the heaviest kettlebell i had ever lifted. i really enjoyed it even though i was crying during the whole thing.

workout:
warmup X 2
med ball complex 20lb
10 pushups

skill:
(this particular skill set made the wod more challenging)
dead hang pull ups
heavy kb swing 32k/36k
handstand pushups


Wod
(5X5 each hand)+5 burpee pull ups)X 5 16k kb
swing
high pull
snatch
clean and press
reverse lunge
thruster

forgot to do reverse lunge in last sets and went back to it after i thought i was done. oops.

Diet:
8am: lean body shake

decaf morning

remind me never to do another workout without coffee. i fell asleep early last night and forgot to get coffee ready for this morning. its enough that i gave up ibuprofen but i still need my coffee or at least some yerba mate. I actually get more of a buzz from yerba mate then i do from coffee. and yerba mate is mega high in anti oxidants. I read an article a long time ago about how Arnold Schwarenegger used to be really unhappy with his calves. He used to pose for all his photos standing in knee deep water or tall grass to cover his calves. To remedy this, he decided to expose his calves to the world by cutting off the bottoms of all his pants so that his underdeveloped calves were always on display. A year later he had the best calves the world had ever seen. Well, I'm thinking about turning my shirts into crop tops to see if the same strategy works on my midsection. i'd certainly think twice about eating that 9th cupcake or that 3rd burrito if I knew i wouldn't have shirt material to cover my midsection. I searched online and i can't find anyone making any mens crop tops that i like. i may have to make my own.

workout
pvc stuff
inchworm

skill
weighted pushup 10@51lbs/9@51lbs
dips 5X20#/5@bw
Lsit for 30 seconds(only did one set)

WOD 45/15 for 3 rounds
planks
double kb clean (16k)
renegade lunges(45lb)
side to side jumps
xchop to halo (16k)

Diet:
8am Lean Body Shake
11am Lean Body Shake
1pm turkey sandwich with greens
5pm half Amy's og veg pizza
10pm Lean Body shake

good to be back

i felt like it had been months since i had been to the gym. and to make it worse, i feel like i've done nothing but eat too much food. Saturday was the hardest workout of my life. i honestly thought i was going to die during it. I'm certain nobody else felt it was that bad. i'm just not fit in that kind of way yet. Today, my body felt the same way except with today's workout, i could see light at the end of the tunnel of each set. i think i might see if David or Evan will let me tag along on some swims sometime soon. I think it would complement Recfit training nicely.

Workout
kb halo
goblet squat
downward dog to arch thing
spidermen

skill
5 sets of 5 each
kb push press
5 weighted pullups
16k(press)/20k(press)/24k(press)/32k(push,3+2)/32k(push2+1)
pullups all with 25lbs dead hang

wod
1min db thrusters 30lb dumbells
1min 2hand kb swing 24k
1min ball slam @ 20#
rest 3 min
Totals: 72/85/87
went below parallel on all thrusters but first set went butt to hams which led to early redline.

Diet:
8am Lean Body Shake
10am Lean Body Shake
2pm Lean Body Shake
5pm Lean Body Shake
8pm 2 damn good chocolate chip pb cookies
9pm 1 Amy's OG cheese pizza

merry christmas

so the last video game i played was super mario bros way back in the day when a controller was called a joy stick and only had 1 button(maybe 2). Well today my brother presented us with a Playstation 3 and a game called rock band. he said this game changed his life so he's giving them to all his close friends(and me) to change their lives too. he set it up for us and showed us how fun it was. i think i might be hooked. melissa was singing, hannah was playing guitar, and i was playing drums. i suck but hope to get better. i guess this play station 3 is also a blue ray dvd player so thats pretty exciting too. Looks like we're going to have a lot of fun with this new toy. I got my brother a 35lb kettlebell. turns out, he got himself one after his last visit to portland. melissa got me some great gifts too; a super warm coat, skateboarding gloves, and OK GO concert tickets. i'm not usually this materialistic. i just am in that feeling like a lucky little kid at christmas right now. merry christmas friends.

workout:
Shovel snow in my new coat
play rock star drums

diet:
dont ask

oatmeal brulee

so on one of our recent snow days, i was stuck home watching tv shows on hulu. We watched one of those reality shows called biggest loser. Its kind of fun to watch. I read that many of the people on the show gain all or most of their weight back after the show is over. Easy to lose weight living on a campus stocked with sugar free jello and a 250K grand prize for losing the most weight. well anyway, one of the sayings i heard them say on the show was "nothing tastes as good as thin feels". Well today i was reminded that the saying isn't true. i've been thin and i've eaten the Oatmeal Brulee at Gravy on Mississipi Ave. i can honestly say that the oatmeal brulee tastes a lot better than thin feels. i was actually full and just took a bite of hannah's. i could not believe how amazing it was. Ate the whole thing. i think i may have tried to describe it in a previous post but i realized it doesnt do it justice to try and describe how good it is with words. I don't have a big enough vocabulary to describe it. As Trevor knows, i hardly have big enough vocabulary complete whole sentence my blog. :)
Today's workout was my first EVER without coffee. i thought it would be hard but somehow i got through it. i dont like med ball cleans. They hurt my forearms a lot. i have small bones and i think they can't handle the weight. if the balls had handles, i'd be fine. its the fact that you're hands cant get completely under the ball so they have to squeeze the ball as you're pulling up. the pain reminds me of when i used to arm wrestle guys stronger than me.

warmup:
pvc pipe stuff

Skill:
med ball clean and press
50/75/75/75/75

Wod:
Row 500M one time
1:30.3
lay on floor crying holding cramping butt for time: 7min


Diet:
8am Lean Body Shake
10am 2 eggs and half a roast beef hash and hashbrown breakfast.
10:30am: 3/4 oatmeal brulee
2pm: Blue Thunder protein drink
6pm: 4 slices veg pizza
10pm lean body shake

so much for my calorie restriction plan.

its easier to be strict with calories when i'm not locked inside with a freezer. i thought watching the biggest loser on hulu would have inspired me. apparently not. ate ice cream for breakfast. I may have to start next week on my calorie restriction plan. Or whenever the ice cream runs. whichever comes first.

my abs are super sore from those weighted situps. wow. haven't been sore in the abs for years. was sad to miss this mornings workout. Oh well, more time to eat ice cream i guess.

Workout:
none

Diet:
ice cream
cupcakes
pizza
shame
lean body shake
lean body shake

lets try that again

so i said yesterday that i was going to try a calorie/carb restriction diet. then i went out for 2 dinners last night.(didnt even log the second dinner. it was a bowl of carbs). darn. i'd like to blame the weather. when its this cold eating is about all i can think about doing. today, i'm off to a little better of start today. today's workout was good. it was a leg circuit with pushups. it was similar to yesterday's leg/pushup workout but slightly different. The snatch test was pretty cool. glad I made it to the gym and back safely. looks like a mess out there right now.

workout:

kb complex
500m row

wod
5 min kb snatch test 16k 109 reps

4 leg circuits with atomic pushups.

Diet:
8am Muscle Milk cal:360 fat:17,pro:34,carb:15
11am Muscle Milk cal:360 fat:17,pro:34,carb:15
1:30pm: 1/3 Amy's og veg Pizza cal: 310, fat: 12, pro:12, carb:39

Running total for day
cal: 1030
fat: 46g
protein:80g
carbs:69g

winter diet experiment

today was my first day back since Friday and i missed last thursday so it felt like i had been out longer than i had. i also didnt leave the house much over the weekend which made the weekend seem even longer. it was good to be back. it was a good workout for getting back into the swing of things. i havent let up on the eating since the burrito eating contest. i think i'm going to experiment a little with calorie and carb restriction for a while. I have 6 muscle milks left. When they are gone, i'm going to switch back to the lean body shakes. they taste like crap but they have more protein, more fiber, and less carbs. i'm going to try a modified version of the body opus diet. Mostly fat with a little bit of protein during the week. I will make friday night through sunday morning 80% carbs 20% protein "cheat days". we have tons of flax oil peanut butter and coconut butter for fat. I've done this diet many times for 12 weeks out of the year. however, i've never trained like this while doing it. This will also be a good diet for me since Melissa is doing the Zone diet. I wont do that diet but at least i wont be eating cupcakes and burritos in front of her. The body opus and zone at least have some foods that overlap. we'll see how it goes. As John reminded Jonas today, its 6 months until swimsuit season.

Workout
warm up:
pvc pass thrus
pvc squat
inchworms

Skill:
2h kb swing with partner (35lb)
wall squat 10 (no weight)
plate squat 10 (10lb)

plank rows 5 ea size (16k/24k/24k/32k)
weighted push ups x 12 (51lb/51lb/51lb/51lb)
weighted situps x 15(35lb/35lb/35lb/35lb)

Diet:
8am Muscle Milk cal:360 fat:17,pro:34,carb:15
12 Muscle Milk cal:360 fat:17,pro:34,carb:15
3:30pm Muscle Milk cal:360 fat:17,pro:34,carb:15
6pm: Chipotle Steak burrito bowl cal: 835 fat32, pro:55, carb:81


Daily running Total:
Calories 1915
Fat: 83
Protein: 157
Carbs: 126

Happy Birthday Devon!!!

Happy Birthday Devon!!

So, I took a vacation day today since school was canceled for Hannah. The roads in our hood are totally fine but i've heard there is still a lot of ice out there. today is day two without a headache. i'm pretty excited about that. in your teens and twenties, you can shrug off a headache or even a lump, bump, rash, etc. but when you're in your early thirties, you start to realize you're not invincible. Having a headache for 2 weeks was starting to worry me. i'm not usually paranoid but i was sure was feeling it last week.

Workout:
Nothing

Diet:
1pm: 2 eggs, 3 corn tortillas, 4oz beans, 2oz cheese
4pm: 1 corn tortilla, 4oz beans, 1oz cheese
6pm: 1 large cupcake
6:30pm: 1 large burrito
6:45pm: 1 small plate of nachos
10pm: muscle milk(haven't had it at time of posting but will)

headache is gone!!!

yay!! Today, i woke up and my 2 week headache was gone. I think it really was ibuprofen detox. It was so bad last night i almost gave in to some ibuprofen. Hannah and Melissa were very supportive and reminded me to be strong and break the cycle. i'm so glad i did. i slept 12 hours both nights. wow. life is a lot better without a headache. we're snowed in but i'm thinking about getting on the bike and braving the roads to the concordia or arbor lodge new seasons. not sure which one to try. i've never taken my bike out in the snow but i think it can handle it. not sure if i can but the bike should be ok. Our fridge is completely empty. we were planning on going to the store today so i really need to try to make it.

Update: So Hannah and Melissa pointed out how bad of an idea riding my bike might be. We drove slowly to new seasons sliding all over the road the entire way. Scary drive. My co-workers at that store said they were getting pulled over by cops for not having chains. we learned that chains are required on all roads. guess we're staying put for the rest of the day. Glad we have food. also, i dont need benchmark workouts to see if our workouts actually work. I was a able to carry 5 bags of groceries and a box of juiceboxes up stairs by myself today. that was all the proof i needed that this stuff works. :)

Workout

Diet:
11:30am: Muscle Milk
1pm: 6 buckwheat & rye pancakes with butter and maple syrup
7pm: large salad with tofu and 1 artichoke
8pm: 2 cups popped popcorn
9:30pm 4 buckwheat & rye pancakes with butter and maple syrup

(Lots of comfort food today)

lazy saturday

got off the couch once to eat and am back on it. i've had a headache for 2 weeks so i'm starting to worry a little. i read that it could be ibuprofen withdrawal. i thought it was stress but i dont feel that much stress lately. strange. might see a doc soon.


diet
noon: muscle milk
3pm: 4 eggs, 1 boca fake sausage patty, 1 sprouted bread slice
3:30pm 3 pancakes with maple syrup.
6:00pm 1.5 burritos from laughing planet and 1 big oatmeal choc chip cookie
10:30pm Muscle Milk

Its the little things...

As I get older it doesn't take much to make my day. Today the scale at the gym(24hr) made my day. One of my recent goals has been to deadlift 2.5 x my bodyweight. John suggested I weigh myself after today's deadlift. I went to 24hr fitness and weighed in at 178 which made my deadlift EXACTLY 2.5. I was so excited. I think people in the gym were looking at me funny as I got excited about my weight. I don't care about my weight in general but I was super excited about my weight today! I'm glad we ran around the block today before dead lifts. I was having a real hard time waking up and that was just what I needed.

warmup
walks,run, inchworm

workout
dead lifts
1 rep max of 445lbs(2.5 X BW)

think I'm going to celebrate with a burrito today. :)

diet
11am: 1 muscle milk
2pm: 2 fish tacos, 1 cup rice, 1 cup black beans, small bag of chips
5pm: 3/4 muscle milk
6pm: 12oz Latte
6:30pm 4 pieces of sushi
8:30pm 1 piece of pizza
8:40pm Steak Sandwich and Salad from Hopworks

i'm so tired

i'm so tired i could almost cry. Had another late night at work. During a break though, i helped a friend(one of our company nutritionists) set up her home with wireless. I then installed skype so she could see her new baby niece. She broke down and started crying when she saw her niece in the live skype video. It even made Hannah and I a little teary eyed to see how happy this woman was. I wish every technical effort was that rewarding. it was pretty cool. it made up for the fact that i had to cancel tomorrow's reservation. work has been crazy busy this week. im loving it but i've been getting really tired lately. Hannah heard me telling the nutritionist about how much ibuprofen i take. Hannah came home and hid the bottle while telling me she doesn't want me taking any more drugs. i sure hope i dont get a headache. if i drink enough water, i wont get headaches. and if i get a headache, i'll treat it like a reminder to drink more water. No more ibuprofen. i quit a few weeks back but got on it again. i want my liver and gut to last a long time. i'm bummed about not working out tomorrow. :( i always enjoy thursdays.

Workout:
get out of bed at 9, get dressed fast and ride bike in cold to a 9:30 meeting

Diet:
9am: Muscle Milk
1pm: 1 donut
2pm: 1 donut
4pm: Muscle Milk
5pm: 1.5 pieces of sprouted bread
8pm: 1 bowl og split pea soup
10:30pm Muscle milk

power endurance

so i think today was what they call a power endurance workout. It was pretty hard. I cant even remember all that was in it. i've been really tired from work. i have another late night tonight. not as late as monday night though so i should still be ok for tomorrows workout. we got a puzzle at home. i forgot how fun puzzles are. ok, i better get to work. As everyone knows, i've been a horrible pacer. these long workouts have been good at forcing me to pace. I read about a guy who recently decided to go to "good form" and basically started over with all his stat recording. i think that's where i'm at with things. I expect my next round of squats and thrusters to be a lot lighter than i've been moving before(maybe not)i am a lot slower and weaker at most things but i feel like i'd rather build a good foundation and work from there. i'm very aware that i'm missing some of the cardiovascular benefit when i focus too much on form because of how slow i end up going. My thought is that if I slacked on form, i'd go a little faster but then burn out and not be able to finish. As it is now, the workouts take me twice as long as everyone but i feel like i'm getting a lot stronger with this approach. Form is what forces me to pace myself. i've heard buzz about some other folks in the gym doing the next portland marathon. i know marathons are so bad for you and are really a bad bad idea but i think it would be fun to run it again. i don't drink, smoke, or use drugs so I figure one marathon a year wouldn't be too bad. Evan and David have been swimming and its got me thinking that i want to get in the pool. i was on the swim team for so long that i burned out and became bitter towards swimming. i think its time to get back into it. finding the time is the real thing. Plus, i'm always on call and they dont yet make an underwater cell phone. :)

workout:
long one. i cant remember the details other than that there were lots of everything.



diet:
8:30 muscle milk
1:00PM muscle milk
3pm: 1 maple glazed donut
4:30pm: muscle milk
6pm: 1 piece of coffee cake
7pm: chips and guac.
11pm: muscle milk shake

i stayed up later than Todd today(i think)

i just got home from work. its 3am. at around 2am, i realized my chance of being functional for a 6:30am workout was slim. i had to saw through thick metal with a hack saw. i turned it into my workout. the technicians were impressed. i have the gym to credit. i actually pretended it was a WOD. i would saw has fast as i could for 30 seconds and then rest 15 seconds and repeat. we have some network upgrades that have to be done after hours. im so bummed that i'm missing tomorrows(today's) workout. ok, i had to drink coffee just to stay up as late as i did. time to watch dexter and try to go to sleep before the sun comes up.
diet
3am: muscle milk
11am: muscle milk
2:20pm muscle milk
4:30pm starbucks toffee bar
5pm: yellow curry with tofu and rice
8pm: pad thai noodles with tofu
10:30pm Muscle milk


workout: saw through lots of thick metal with a hack saw

crazy week ahead.

i'm about to begin the craziest 3 weeks of my work ever. Every night this week, we'll be working until the wee hours of the morning. i don't expect much of myself at the gym this week since i wont be sleeping much. We have some compliance deadlines soon approaching and have a lot of final projects to complete. We're in good shape but have a TON to do. :( I'm going to need a lot of burritos to keep my mental health in check this week. i also need to ride or at least look at my bike a lot this week too. i also want to weigh myself this week. I was 175 2 weeks ago but i'm feeling like a hefty 180 with my recent burrito weight. i havent heard much from evan. i hope he's out of the fetal position and walking with the living again. i've been telling all my co-workers about him like he's a super hero.


warmup:
kb gobsquats
2hand swing
pumps


6 rounds
1 arm KB push press x 5: 16/20/24/28/32/36(3L,5R)
8 ring pullups(bw legs on box)
5 spidermen


5 rounds
20 seconds each no rest between all double kb
cleans
high pulls
lunges
push press
squats
bent over rows

Diet:
8am: Muscle milk
11:00am chile relleno burrito
1:30pm salad
2:00pm Pizza slice
4pm: 2 string cheeses
5:30pm: 1 chipotle vegetarian burrito
9:00pm: muscle milk shake

Jimmy Carter has a Rivendell

i don't have much to say today. i did learn that Jimmy Carter and I have the same bike. i've been running into lot of Rivendells lately. Been considering a new handlebar style but i'm not sure which one yet. May pick David or Ben's brain a little for some ideas on what to go with. The Rivendell site has a few non drop bar styles i'm considering.

workout:
not a damn thing.

Diet:
11:30am tofu scramble,toast, potatoes
12:00pm corn cake with mapple syrup
8pm: chicken sandwich and potatoes
8:30pm ice cream sundae

Tribute to the champ

for a victory we can't dispute
i write this small tribute

he entered the tourney late
as if it were no big thing
but when he left the competition
he was declared the Burrito King

when he started to fall behind
he quickly picked up his pace
and to prove he wasn't too full
he said "i'll eat your phuckin face"

Matty G was a good competitor
I thought he'd be the one to beat
cant blame him for dropping out early though
he had more tortilla to eat than meat

maybe i could have trained better
maybe i could have skipped that diet coke
at one point in the competition.
i thought for sure i was going to choke

we strutted in to pepinos
four proud competing friends
we exited the back door
wishing we wore Depends

for Orion's trip home
we were genuinely concerned
i think he spent the trip thinking
about the painful lesson we learned

next time, we do cupcakes
or I will sit that one out
when it comes to eating cupcakes
i'll show you what its all about.

congrats to evan
for a job very well done
but when we sit down for cupcakes
It will be no games and fun.

It will be all bizness!! :)

oh, and Melissa can vouch for me that i had 2 scoops of ice cream on a waffle cone right after we dropped Courtney off. If the burritos could have been swapped out for different food, i think i could have kept going. Not saying i could beat Evan though. he did good. Thanks to all the officials and fans for coming out to support a very important(and disgusting) event.

found an old baby pic

so i was going through my baby scrap book and came across this pic of me just 1 hour old.

Today was dead lift day. i was inspired by a crossfit video of a super fit friend of the gyms lifting 2x his bodyweight 15 times. He made it look so easy that i thought I could maybe do it. Well, it didn't happen. I only got 4 reps of 2x my body weight. i think it might take years before i can do that 15 times. oh well. long term goals are good to have. I did 46 consecutive double unders today! Just 3 weeks ago, i couldn't do even 1.

Warmup
(my favorite kind of warm up for deadlift day)
kb around the body

Skill:
dead lifts x3
135/165/185/360(x4)/415(x1)

Wod:
play day
this is when i got my 46 double unders.

Diet:
8am: muscle milk shake
2pm: 3 large slices of pizza schmizza pizza
7pm: 2.79 heavy burritos
9pm: 2 scoops of cool moon ice cream on a waffle cone

eye of the tiger

so many of you may have heard that our good friend John has been invited participate in very prestigious climbing competitions. Well many of you may not know that i've also been invited to participate in something pretty special. The 1st Annual Recreate Fitness Burrito eating contest. i've thinking a lot about how to handle myself during the contest. i had a learning experience when i was 16 that i think i need to keep in mind tomorrow. when i was 16, my swim team was invited to compete in a local country club swim meet. We wanted to show the rich kids how fast we were so for the 400m mens freestyle relay, we all swam breaststroke. Freestyle events are ALWAYS done as crawl stroke because its everyone's fastest stroke. When we finished in 1st place, we were strutting around thinking we were so cool and impressive. Our coaches and our parents have never looked more angry and disappointed. they said they had never seen anything so disrespectful or immature. I felt like scum after that. Needless to say, we were never invited back to that country club again because of our cocky exhibition. i'm going to try to approach tomorrows event with more tact and integrity than i had back at that swim meet. I want show respect for my competitors, for myself, and most of all for the burrito. I want to show you this video of some real life heroes. they aren't firefighters or EMTs but they are the wind beneath my wings.


in proofing my blog, i see how one might think english was my second language. i omit so many words. i'm too tired to edit them and i know the missing words make Trevor chuckle so i'm going to leave them missing. good night.

i was a wimp today

so today i was being a whiner at the gym. everything felt hard to me. i only got through 2 rounds of the warmup and 2 rounds of the skill. The workout was great though. Devon helped me with my squat. She said that Tina has a perfect squat so i guess i need to come to night class to see Tina's squat again. It was really freakin cold today. i did like it when it was all said and done though. got the heart rate up without really killing any muscles. good stuff. i asked Devon if my early complaints and whining could be stricken from the record since i felt pretty good once we got moving. :)

warmup
inchworm
10 gob squats(25lbkb)
10 cossack lunge
(oops cant remember the rest)

Skill
partner kb swing 16k
5 swing/high pull/snatch each arm
10 wall squat
10 plate squat
5 negative pullups

wod(3 rounds)
run around block
20 ball slams
15 16k kb snatch each arm
15 double unders
15 pushups

Diet
8am: Lean Body Shake
9am: Rocket Muffin baked by Kelly at work(not sure whats in it but tasted yummy and healthy)
1pm tofu soup
2pm tofu soup
3pm 5 newmans cookies
4pm 1 sw green chile burrito
6pm builder bar
8:30pm 4oz steak

deep squats and butt cramps. just another wednesday

every time i row hard my butt almost cramps. i have issues. People have been telling me that my squat is maybe lower than it needs to be. I'm blaming Steve for that :). Actually, Im squatting low so that i can hang out in the street like these guys with my friends. Thats all. :)

warmup
kb complex

skill/wod
Section A
6min kb clean and push press 16k x 109reps

Section B
2hkb swing x 20 reps. 32k
row your ass off for 250m
rinse and repeat for a total of 3 times

Section C
let circuit
12 k2e
everyone got 3 rounds. i barely got 2(think i only did 8 k2e on last set)

Non fitness related blog post

New Seasons Market Blog Post

might miss my pull up goal for 2008

today was max pull up day. One of my goals for the year is to be able to do 20 pull ups. there aren't many days left in the year so unless i get on a good roid cycle or lose 20lbs, it may not happen this year. Today i got 15 and that felt pretty hard. Im going to try again before the new year but i think i may have to accept that this goal might reach into 2009. thats ok. im realizing that the kettlebell cert improved my mobility and desire for increased mobility more than my kettlebell skills. We live across the street from a gyrotonic center and i've been thinking about checking it out. supposedly it really helps with mobility. melissa brought home some cooked flat iron steak from new seasons deli last night and i swear it might have been the best meal i've ever had in my life. To think i was a vegetarian only 7 months ago and now i'm raving about a steak. i asked her if we could have it every night for dinner. Its zone friendly for her and taste friendly for me. its a win win. might not be a win for the digestive system though. i'll have to think that one through. Shannon brought the best workout mixtape EVER!

workout
plastic stick stuff

skill
max pullups/90 sec rest/max ring dips/90 sec rest/max l sit(rinse and repeat for total of 3 rounds)
pull ups: 15/10/10
rind dips: 11/7/4
L sit: 40/32/5(started to cramp)

Workout(4 rounds) 35sec work/25sec rest
row(169m/180m/170m)
jack knife
wall ball(20lb)
figure 8 to hold(35lb)
box jump(tall box)

I really liked this workout a lot. the short work time kept me from pacing too much and allowed me to work a lot harder. i think this is way better than 40/20 format for me.

Diet:
8am: muscle milk shake
10:20: muscle milk shake
3:30pm muscle milk shake
6pm 1.5 chipotle burritos
6:30 pm 1 bag of chipotle chips
7pm 1 seattles best chocolate chip cookie
7:30pm 2 large slices of cheese pizza
(ok i started out ok and went down hill fast)

the proof

Here's our guy Jonas making 205lb look easy. Nice job.(sound effects provided by me. If i knew i was going to post the video, i might have tried to be quiet or at least sound cooler)

Hurcules! Hurcules!

today Jonas push pressed 205 as if it was nothing. It was so impressive. I had a weekend of binging on too much food. Yesterday, I ate a chile relleno burrito, walked to starbucks, had a piece of lemon loaf, walked to Ben & Jerry's and had a Banana Royal sundae, then came home and ate half a pint of chunky monkey ice cream. Today i'm back to my meal replacement drinks. i try to reserve the crazy eating to the weekends. Depends on my work schedule though. sometimes i need feel good food. i dont have much to say this morning because i'm still in a food coma from yesterday.

warmup
walks

skill push press
165# 1 rep max. felt really strong pushing 165 but when i tried for 180 it wasn't happening.

WOD
how many rounds in 12 minutes
5 Burpees
10 kb snatch (24k)
15 mtn climbers
20 2h kb swing (24k)
4 rounds

Diet
8am: Muscle Milk
3pm Steak Sandwich(should have been with Evan for this one)
6pm piece of AMAZING steak from new seasons
6:30 5 sesame crackers with sesame hummus.
7pm another piece of steak and an orange
9pm 1 string cheese

i love sliders

We had a wonderful time at dinner last night. I really enjoyed getting to chat with some of the folks i dont get to see too often in person. That was the latest i've stayed up(working doesn't count) in years. Guess the 5 cups of coffee and 2 hour afternoon nap helped. We had 15 people sitting at a table fit for 10. Mark and Nathan were kind to share the corner of the table for me. i'm still new to meat eating so the stew meat cubes in my meal were a little strange for me. Nothing strange about the meats in the sliders though. i could have eaten 10 of them for sure. on another note, I wish i would have paced myself better with ruby jewel ice cream sandwiches. i got a call at 4:15am from our web site host in Ireland reporting a problem. So of course, i'm wide wide awake and there's nothing handy to eat like a Ruby Jewell or even a leftover slider. guess i'll drink a muscle milk even though i prefer to keep those as my weekday meals. ok, i'm going to try going back to sleep now.

worked out on a saturday

i havent done a saturday workout in a long long time. it was fun and it felt needed after all the eating i've done. i pulled a jerk move and bought 10 Ruby Jewel ice cream sandwiches last night. i didn't do it to tempt melissa but i dont think it was easy for her to watch me have one ice cream sandwich in each hand as she ate her apple wedges or whatever the zone allows. i'm REALLY proud of her though. She's done an amazing job and has been very organized about it. i'm not smart enough or organized enough to follow the zone. Seems like a lot of work. Melissa is in the shower now so i may eat the last ice cream sandwich to be a good guy and get it out of our freezer. tonight is dinner at 8:30pm. This might be another one of those nights where i have to nap and drink coffee before going out so that i don't feel old and tired by 9.

warmup
i honestly cant remember

skill
pistol squats(i can do these but i cramp if i do more than 2. its always the non squatting leg that hurts too)
pull-up

WOD 4rounds 40/20
Heavy Jumprope
sprints
rope whips(heavy rope. one round kept movement continuous)
super plank
ball slam(20#)
sandbag shoulder(66.6#'s)(jury still out on what i think of this one)
h2h swing(20k)

Diet:
1pm Huevos Rancheros Zone style. Best i've EVER had! Melissa has perfected this one.

mad libs. help me Trevor

so yesterday, i left something like 9 words out of my blog. guess my brain wasn't working all that well. i decided today that i'd do the same thing but ask for Trevor's help in completing my blog. kind of collaborative blog i guess.

Mad Lib Blog for Trevor to complete :)
So today was a (adjective) morning. After a great warm up of (verb ending in ing). I was really looking forward to the (noun). Then my phone went off and it was (person) telling me that there was a (noun) at work. I excused myself and ran to the (noun used for transportation). As I (mode of transportation) as fast as i could towards the situation, i thought to myself "what would (celebrity) do in this situation?". Fortunately, as i pulled in the driveway of the (location), I received a call from (person) saying that the issue was resolved. I was happy to hear the (adjective) news but i was bummed that i had to miss my (noun) this morning. (exclamation) Oh well.

Meals
8am 1(brand name) shake

my new goal

i'm starting a new goal at work. My goal is to get this guy to come to a meeting wearing a t-shirt before the end of the year. I'm trying to get people to place bets on whether or not i can do it. I think I can but we'll see. Maybe i should just stick to working on my muscle up instead.

forgot about egg nog

so my new friend Clint(partner from Kettlebell Cert) reminded me about EggNog. My burrito addiction reminded him about his EggNog addiction. I totally forgot all about EggNog. I'm afraid its all over for me now once i start on the eggnog this season. Fortunately, i've never really done real eggnog. i've always done the Silk Brand Soy Nog. Most soy knock offs taste like crap but Silk Nog is actually pretty freakin amazing. I think it might be a little less calorie dense which is good because i'll still have room for burritos. I took Robert to the airport today so i couldn't make the 6:30am workout. Going to the night workout instead. The office is quiet today. Everyone is out in the stores helping with the holiday craziness. Its a pretty exciting time. The energy in the store is pretty good this time of year. New Seasons Market is the greatest company on the planet. They schedule massages for every I scheduled some meetings today. One of the guys I scheduled a meeting with is like a real life Michael Scott. It was so entertaining and uncomfortable at the same time. He told me i was way more intelligent than i looked. Somehow it didn't sound as mean the way he said it. I could tell he was trying to compliment me so i wasnt offended. I think guys in suits think that guys wearing shorts and t-shirts can't be smart. By the end of the meeting he was trying to be "hip" by saying things like "hey man", "bull crap", and something else that was funny. I'll try to picture of me with him today to share with you all. i never talk behind people's backs. i hope nobody thinks i'm a jerk for doing so today. it was just too funny and i had to share.

Diet:
6am Muscle Milk Shake
8am Muscle Milk Shake

zone support

Melissa has been on the zone for a few days now and is doing an amazing job. It just occurred to me yesterday that i couldn't be less supportive with my eating behavior. i think on day 2 of her zone diet, i ate 3 cupcakes and 2 burritos for dinner. i'm on a mission to be better. i have it easy. i just drink my shakes and i dont have to think about it. My thinking is that if 3 out of my 4 meals is a shake, i can screw up big time on the 4th meal and not ruin my diet too bad. i'm going to work on making that 4th meal a little bit better for 3 reasons. One is that it will be more supportive to Melissa, two, it sets a better example for hannah, and three, i'll get leaner. One of my new goals that John got me thinking about is a crossfit total score. If i understand it correctly its max deadlift, max back squat, and max shoulder press divided by bodyweight. The 3 lifts need to be done within an hour. He said a score of 5 is pretty good so i've been playing around with the math to see what it would take to get a score of 5. The easiest way is keep all my max lifts exactly where they are and just lose the last 10 pounds i've been trying to lose. i'm not one to care about scores or times too much but i think goals are important or at least fun to have. my real objective is to get lean and fit. figured setting small goals along the way will just make the journey more enjoyable. i made a spreadsheet to track goals. Some goals might be for the week, some for the quarter, and some for the year. It will be a work in progress and i may adjust the goals if i feel they are unrealistic.

workout
warmup with pvc

skill
push presses. worked on generating force from a 2 inch dip in the knees
5 reps at 45lb, 5 reps at 65lb
worksets: ended at 3x155(don't remember weight for first 4 sets)


WOD x 3
leg circuit
20 double kb clean and press(35lbs)(push pressed 4 reps out of 60. Was trying to go strict on all)
10knees to elbows
time: 18:32(i think)

Diet:
8am Lean Body shake
11pm Chile Relleno Burrito from La Bonita
5pm Lean Body Shake
8pm Lean Body Shake
9pm 3 fortune cookies

Gary did a muscleup

so today was worth getting up at 5:45am to see Gary do one of the most graceful muscleups i've ever seen. i dont even think he needed to kip. it was amazing. i dont think he's even been working on it that long. He walked in knowing he was going to get it. It was as if he figured it out in his head and brought the solution to the puzzle with him to the rings. Pretty cool. oh and we did dead lifts today. last week i watched a Youtube video of a guy demonstrating chi running on an ice rink. He was doing sprints back and forth on ice. i thought he was a little crazy. i thought i was crazy too for wasting minutes of my life i'd never get back watching a guy run on ice. "what benefit comes from watching this" Well today it paid off. I thought of that guy through every stride of my 2 laps around the block(That wasn't a typo. we really ran 2 laps around block today). What made the run similar to ice rink running is that i was wearing converse chucks with no traction on wet leaves in the freezing cold. yesterday i had a dentist appointment and i just have to describe how amazing the place is. you walk in and it feels more like a naturopathic office. Dim lights, nice music. comfortable couches. Then you're greeted by a genuinely friendly person who walks you to a station where she applies essential oils to your hands. You then dip your hands in a hot paraffin wax bath. You take your hand out and they are immediately wrapped in plastic and heavy insulated oven mit style mits. Next, they present you with silver platter with several ipods you can listen to during your cleaning.They have Jazz, hip hop, classical, pop, and many others. did i mention that you listen to the ipod through Bose headphones. so just when you couldnt be more relaxed with your hot paraffin covered hands in mits, the soulful sounds of Teddy Pendergrass coming through the Bose headphones, she kicks on the massage function of the chair. They have state of the art high tech tools too so they can do the job very gently and quickly. Felt more like a spa treatment than a dental visit. has nothing to do with fitness but it does have to do with well being so i thought id share.

Workout:
warm up med ball complex(i like kb complex more)

skill:
deadlifts (sets of 3)
225/275/315/345?/385

Wod
run around block 2 times
30 box jumps
30 kb swings 20k
time: 6:03

Diet:
8am: lean body shake
10am: chocolate bar(gift from hr department)
2pm: lean body shake

40/20

today was a 40/20 day. it was a pretty good workout. I tried to work on just moving through the sets at a steady pace with good form. Steve Maxwell said that you can get a great workout with 16k kettle bells and that he doesn't often use anything heavier. That was interesting to hear. I think my focus needs to be on metabolic conditioning. I have a descent amount of strength but I hit walls. i think i'll get more benefit keeping a 16k kb in motion with good form than i will muscling a 20k or 32k. I'm really focusing my energy on being very present through every movement I make. On olympic bar days, sure, i'll go as heavy as i can. However, with many other movements, i'm going to stick with 16ks and just focus on good range of constant motion. When appropriate i'm going to focus on negative and static strength too. I think static and negative strength offer so much more bang for the buck. Mainly because you have to get beyond positive strength failure to even train negative and static strength. I don't know if thats all counter to our gym's(or Crossfit's) philosophy or not but I do think there's something to it. Melissa has been Zoning this week. I took a picture of her meal prep requirements compared to mine. She'll probably live longer but i sure do have it easy when it comes to meal prep.

workout
warmup
row 1 min
kb round world
kb halo

skill
skill sandbag getup(LOVE THESE)66.6LBS
Pullups

workout 40/20(forgot how many rounds)
16k kb deadlift sumo high pulls
jacknife
figure 8 to hold(35lb)
plank holds
something lunges(side to side deep, heels stay down)
rest 90 seconds.

Diet:
8am: Lean Body Meal Replacement Shake
1pm: Lean Body Meal Replacement Shake
6pm 3 cupcakes
7pm 1.5 burritos

i've had 8 burritos this week and its only wednesday

i have a love/hate relationship with burritos. Actually its mostly all love. they are so freakin delicious and i cant stay away from them. my new rule was going to be that i only eat burritos on weekends. i've been in meetings this week and all anyone wants to eat are burritos. if i try to pass and say, i'm going to drink a muscle milk, everyone gets awkward and i end up feeling weird and have to explain what a muscle milk is. i'm not complaining. i love the burritos. i just dont love what they do for my body. My body gets lean from opposite ends and the mid section is the last. You may ask how i know this. well, i learned this trick a while back when i was obsessed about being lean.(it works best for men) you take your shirt off, flex every muscle that you can and jump up and down(dont do this in the Baja Fresh restroom. Its a tough one to explain if someone walks in on you). Anything that bounces is bodyfat. I've been doing my bounce test since starting at Recreate and i've noticed a lot less bouncing. I do notice that I still have some burrito and cupcake fat continue to jiggle on my sides. I'm trying to be strict with sleep and exercise but those darn burritos are my weakness. now you know why i started by saying love/hate. Today's workout was a great one. I dont think it qualifies as a chipper since exercises are repeated but it was similar in that its one time through a long list of exercises. Its a great mental strengthener too. too much to write down but I did enjoy it. i've been spending a lot of time at home in a squat position. Trying to work on my flexibility. Wish there were more hours in the day so i could try yoga or swimming or anything else. Heck, i can barely sneak in a 6:30am workout without being paged. Not sure i can fit in a new sport just yet. been riding the bike a lot lately and thats making me pretty happy.

workout
monster power endurance workout.

diet:
8am muscle milk
11am chicken burrito(og small frozen)
12:45 sw green chile burrito form laughing planet
3pm chicken burrito(og small frozen)
7pm lean body meal replacement shake
8pm piece of cheese

learning to pace

theres a fine line between pacing and slacking. i try to pace myself sometimes and i feel like i'm slacking. so then i go harder and want to puke. someday i'll learn. Today i tried to pace the wod. i did better than normal for me. usually with this workout, i go all out on the first round and cry about my butt of feet cramping on the next 2 rounds. i enjoyed today's workout.

warmup
kb complex

skill 3x
2hswings x 12 24k
1 leg dead lifts 35lb/45lb/45lb
ring dips x 8

WOD(4 rounds)
row 250m
20 ball slams(20#)
sprint to corner
2:05/1:56/1:53/2:11(got dizzy and pukey feeling on the last one)


Diet
8am Lean body shake
11am marion berry pastry
12pm bread pudding
1pm pecan roll
2pm leftover sweet potato fries

Calgon, take me away

its been one of those months at work. never a dull moment. my friend who's 1year old's bday party we attended on Saturday sent this picture of Melissa and me at the party. This is pretty typical of our weekends or weeknights too. Me off in the background on a phone. Not sure whether the picture makes me want to laugh or cry. we got a Dyson vacuum cleaner last night and are pretty freakin excited. It has more horse power than our car and is AMAZING. I never in my life thought a vacuum would excite me but a Dyson is something special. WOW!! I took today off from the gym but will be back at it tomorrow. Might use it as an excuse to do Saturday workout since i haven't done one in a long time.

Workout:
rode bike quickly to work

Diet:
12pm 1 sw green chile burrito

burrito day

today i got lost trying to drive us to a friends bday party. ended up discovering another fabulous taco truck behind a gas station though. sounds funny but all of the best burritos i've had have come from taco trailers behind gas stations in North Porrland. It was unbelievable. The taco trucks don't skimp on cilanro, onion, or avocado. I can't stress to you enough how important those ingredients are. we got to the party for our 1year old friend camben and it was like no 1st birthday ive seen. 5 bajillion people, kegs of beer, a live band, and a live donkey. I dont think my 21st bday or any other was that eventful. Work has been busy even today. spent much of the party in their back room using their computer for work. felt like a jerk but this friend is also a vendor i work with so he totally understood. we're getting loaded up on coffee now for a double date. we want the other couple to think we're cool and can stay up late so we're drinking tons of coffee so we can at least make it until 10. Truth is, i could sleep right now(5:15pm) if you told me it was bed time. we are meeting the couple for burritos before going to a play. not a bad day when i get to eat two burritos and pet a live donkey.

workout:
pet donkey

diet:
1:30pm burrito
2pm 10 pretzels
3pm 20 peanuts
5pm lean body shake
6:20 2 cupcakes
6:30pm burritosw green chile.
11:30pm one slice of pizza
12am: lean body shake

deadlifts

Today was dead lift day. My lower back has been tender from the kb cert on Sunday. im 30somehting so i dont recover as quickly as i used to. its not a bad pain but it does feel like it needs some time before i go too heavy with dead lifts. I learned to do double unders today and did 90 of them(not in a row). i could only do 5 last time i tried. That was the hi-light of my day. Next hi-light will be the burrito i have at lunch if i get a lunch today. been so busy at work, i've had to live off my shakes lately. i guess thats ok though because its keeping my waistline in check. In fact the other day, i put something in my pocket that was a little bit heavy and my shorts fell down. i was so excited. Joel has inspired not only me but so many people at work to focus on their diets. I pull up his Success blog entry to anyone walking by and they are like "oh my god, sign me up for whatever he's doing". I tell them that he eats very good and works hard. He's one of my role models for sure. Even Hannah will say "Dad, did you notice how good Joel looks!" ok, time to go to work. im starting to babble. Handsome Stephen was back in the gym today and it definitely changed the energy. Everyone was smiling and awake. was good to have him back.

warmup
pvc pass thrus
squats
jumprope

desd lifts
5X185
5X225
5x255
5x285
10x305

play time: ring holds: 45 seconds, 90 double unders(not in a row) Did get 26 in a row and 24 in a row.

Diet:
8am: lean body shake
12pm: kombucha
12:30 real food bar
4pm lara raw food bar
8pm 2 hushpuppies
8:30 bbq tofu po boy with slaw from miss delta mash potatoes
9pm: pecan bread pudding

got called out of class :(

so i got through the warmup before i was paged out of class by work. its been one thing after another lately. i was bummed. The only bright side is that today's warmup was actually harder than some workouts i've done. :)

Workout:
great kb complex(goal was not to set kb down)

Diet:
8am: Lean Body shake
12pm: Lara Raw Food Bar
1pm: Lean Body Shake
5pm: Lean Body Shake

new shakes

so i got some more meal replacement shakes which means i wont be eating donuts for lunch anymore. i got a new kind of shake. i use to drink the muscle milks because they taste like a damn dream and they have a lot of fat in them. I switched to the Lean Body shakes for 2 reasons. They have more protein, more fiber, less carbs, and still have a descent amount of fat in them. They dont taste as good as muscle milks but i'm thinking the nutrient ratio might be worth trying. people tease me all the time and give me crap for drinking my meals. they take all the guess work out of eating an "ideal" meal. if i do them most of the time, i can go nuts around a burrito or pizza when i want to. today's workout was the kind i like talking about at work. There were some bodybuilding guys at work and they asked what i had been up to and how i lost weight. i described today's workout as an example of the stuff we do. I told them that today's workout for some was under 5 minutes and we had fit guys almost puking. These guys lit up with excitement and said they wanted to come. They said they wanted to workout a bit more first so they could get fit enough to come check us out. I told them that i'm still not fit enough to finish most of the workouts and i couldn't be happier. John reminded me today that its all about the big picture; The world outside of our workouts that makes it all worth it. He couldn't be more right. i don't even have another sport yet and i'm so thankful for all that these workouts have done for my mental and physical health. i feel so much more confident and energetic. ok, i'm babbling. i'm still working and needed a little distraction.

workout
fran: 7:49

diet:
3 lean body meal replacement shakes
2 pieces of pepperjack cheese

i dropped my first barbell.

so i recently commented about how i've never dropped a barbell before. lastnight in front of the entire class Nathan ordered me to drop the bar. Its a lot like trying to pee in your wet suit when you're surfing. Its ok to do but you're conditioned not to pee your pants so it becomes difficult to do while surfing. Well, dropping weight is similar for me. I have been conditioned not to do it for so long that doing it felt really uncomfortable. One of my classmates said i drop weight like a girl. You'd think after an entire day with Steve "Rambo" Maxwell i'd be dropping weight in a very manly way. I guess not. I thought dropping the bar would be similar to breaking plates at a greek restaurant. nope. instead it was like trying to pee your pants on purpose. oh well. i ate a donut for lunch today and that's all i had. I'll blame the sugar for why my blog has gone into the gutter. i'll try to get back on track tomorrow. i ran out of meal replacement shakes and all i know how to eat are donuts and cupcakes. I went to my first night class in a while and i'm glad i did. Got to see all my evening friends which was such a treat.

workout:
none.

diet:
2:30pm: apple fritter

cert

so yesterday was our Steve Maxwell Kettlebell Cert. it was quite valuable and entertaining. i've learned lots of things. One memorable thing i learned is that "you don't put your tongue in your grandmother's mouth" Steve put things in terms we could relate with. That certainly helped me with my lunge. Steve was a great guy. I'm glad i attended the cert. i thought i'd be more sore today so i didn't work out today. i feel surprisingly good today so i probably could have worked out. oh well. A day off never hurt anyone. Fun group of people too.

Looking forward to Sunday's Cert

i remember 10 years ago when i was way into bodybuilding magazines reading about this mysterious new russian gym tool that was yielding amazing results. it was the kettlebell. from that day on, i've been fascinated by them. I love everything about them. The raw primitive design, their versatility, their effectiveness, and most of all how graceful they can look when used correctly. when Rhonda introduced us to Recreate i think that was the first thing i got excited about. Then i fell in love with all the people and have been hooked ever since. On Sunday we'll be meeting a kettlebell celebrity. I met Sam Beam of Iron & Wine a few years ago and just today Hannah was asking me if he was the only famous person i've ever met. I think Steve gets to count as the 2nd famous person i'll get to meet. Today's workout was a good one. It was deadlifts and i think i went up too fast. I was sharing a bar with Hercules John and thought id stay on the pain train as long as i could. :). Next time i need to remember that he's way fitter than me and i need to go up a little slower. We worked on muscleups today. i swear it feels like its years away for me. i can pullup to my chest, i can dip to my armpits but i can't even come close to a muscleup. im not bummed or obsessed about it. would be cool to check it off a list of accomplishments but its certainly not haunting me. I figure it will come when it comes. 20 deadhang pullups is still my goal before the end of 2008.

warmup(i only got 2 rounds)
10 pushups
15 goblet squats 16k
20 2hkb swings

wod
2 warm up sets of 5 deadlifts both at 225
5 sets of deadlifts with 5 deadhang pullups between
225/275/315/345x3/345x3

Skill:
muscle up attempts

i feel like i've been on candid camera

So other than the best news ever tuesday night, this week has been a rough one for me. Fallen trees, power outages, phone issues, etc. Work has been one thing breaking after another and much of it has been completely out of my hands and unrelated. I keep expecting someone to jump out from behind a wall and say "smile you're on candid camera. This has all been a practical joke" Hoping today is a smooth one. Today was a GREAT WORKOUT. Thursday sessions often seem to be some of my favorites. We spent a lot of time on the rower today but it was broken up which made it tolerable. Today's workout was a good variety that i felt worked the whole body pretty evenly.

warmup 3x
pvc pass throughs x10
pvc overhead squat x10
5 spidermen

warm up 3 sections

SectionA (i think i did 5 sets)
sandbag half moons x 10
10 k2e(surprisingly this was the hardest part of the workout. had to break them up)

SectionB(I think i got 3 rounds of this(did it after section c though)
mr. spectacular with 45lb kbs x 7
10 ring swings(10 seemed like too few reps and i'm never one to say that)

Section C(as many rounds in 10 min)
Row 250m
db push press 35lbs x 10
got 6 rounds and about a 100m of rowing into the 7th.

happy halloween

Great workout. not much too type today. got lots of work to do today and need to not work too late so i can take kids trick or treating in the rain early.
happy halloween


Warmup:
walk stuff

Skill
2 warm up thruster sets
5x3 Thrusters with 10 k2e between each set of 3
95/115/135/155/couldn't budge 185.


WOD
30/20/10
35#kb snatch L
35#kb snatch R
20# ball slam
pushups

Diet:
meal replacement shake


Time: 12:32

can barely type after that workout

the grind was back and this time we had to do 5 sets of 12 dead lifts. the dead lifts weren't so bad but they are taxing enough that everything following them seems twice as hard. it was a great workout. the clock on the wall took 25 seconds for the second hand to move from the 8 to the 10 on the clock. That was painful to watch while doing "1 minute" of heavy 2hkb swings. :). The morning classes have fluctuated from being overflowing to very small. only 4 at class this morning. Maybe they are all at bikini coffee. or it could just be that winter makes getting out of bed pretty hard.

Warmup.
med ball complex (went light)

Skill/Wod
Station 1(did 5 rounds)
12 deadlifts (135/185/205/225/255)
15 ring pushups
rest one min

Station 2(did 5 rounds)
xchop halo(12k)
2 trip shuttlerun(short garage door and back)

Station 3(4 rounds completed)
weighted situps with plates (35/35/35/45)
1 minute 2hkb swings 45/45/45/45 (that weight was just right. any heavier would have been too brutal)

Diet:
8am meal replacement shake

bikini wednesday

todays workout KICKED my butt! wow. i couldn't push through it. had to lower the weight after the 2nd set. we rowed 3 500m rows before the WOD. I was aiming for a really low stroke count which ended up making my row pretty anaerobic. By the time the wod came, i couldnt move much weight. Once again, 6:30 managed to find some interesting conversation topics. Never a dull moment at the 6:30 class. For 12 people that just woke up, there are some pretty interesting conversations. Bad TV shows, politics, hot wings, silly bets, ufc, shoe company rivalries, SILFS, and today BIKINI COFFEE. Surprisingly the guys in class had a lot of questions about this place. This topic may have generated even more interest than Kid Dine-O-might and sandwiches we'd like to have relations with. Well guys, i know you already had it googled before 8am today but in case you didnt,here's an article link about it. Thanks Nadine for another eventful 6:3oam conversation starter.

http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_062308_news_bikini_baristas_portland.3156873d.html

For the record, i've never been

Warmup 3x
5 inch worm
10 pushups
15 squats
20 situps
run lap one time

skill:
3x row 500m rest 3 min
1:54/27 stroke cnt
1:54/27 stroke cnt
1:51/20 stroke cnt

wod:(35lbs round 1 &2. 25lb 3-5)
double kb 5x
hi pull -6
clean + press -6
squat -6
thruster -6
time:13:06

Diet:
8am Meal Replacement Shake
11am meal replacement shake

Partner Day

so today we did a partner workout. haven't done one of those in months. thought only saturday folks got to do those anymore. i always see blog pics of saturday workouts and it looks like a party. Everyone is laughing and smiling. and its often a partner workout. Well today, we got to have fun too and do a partner workout in the 6:30 class. it was fun. I always worry that i'm letting my partner down with my tendency to get last place. Scott was a great sport putting up with me. Scott is very fit so i was trying hard not to slow him down. It was good having him as a partner because he kept me moving. today was a very small class. We all got our own rowers.




KB complex
2x
8 halo
around world
kb swing
hi pull clean + press
reverse lunge cross chop


4x KB snatch followed by 7 dips
25#/35#/45#/24k(didn't get my fifth set. i snooze, i lose)

Partner
row 1000M (one time(broke into 250s)
10 thru 1
Box Jump(tall box)
2 hkb swing (32k)
ring rows(had to do table top style. legs bent)

Diet:
8am Meal Replacement Shake
12pm Meal Replacement Shake
7pm Meal Replacement Shake
8pm 4 corn tortilla bean burritos
11pm Meal Replacement Shake

monday

today, i woke up ready to go to the gym and remembered i had forgotten to register for class. I registered at a stopsign 5 blocks form class at 6:28 and go the last slot available. Talk about cutting it close. :) today was front squats. i think i want a session dedicated to dropping weights. I've never dropped a weight and i think the fear of it is keeping me from going heavy on the oly lifts. If i could get over the fear of dropping a bar, i think i could to a little harder. Anyway it was good workout.

warmup:
15 pass throughs
15 overhead squats
15 2hkb swings 12k
(i finished only 2 rounds of 3)

skill
2 warmup sets of squats at 45lbs
5 sets of 3 front squats followed by 5 spidermen
135/155/165/185/205

WOD
run around block once
21/15/9
db clean jerk press half lunge

(i don't remember what my time was. it was probably 20 minutes or so)

diet:
8am meal replacement shake
1pm meal replacement shake
5pm piece of pizza
7pm 2oz piece of cheese
8pm 2 green chile tamales

Good Times

So Stephen was talking about an episode of Good Times where JJ tripped the guy the sister was marrying or something like that. What was funnier than hearing about the episode was hearing how certain Stephen was that Nathan would remember that exact episode. Stephen: "Remember episode 9 of Season 4 of Good Times when..." So then of course i go home and youtube that episode. Stephen's telling of the episode was a lot better than the real deal. All 70s and 80s TV shows are best left in our memories. We should not revisit them. It only ruins it. I bought the Greatest American Hero box set because as a kid, that was the greatest show on earth. I would often think back about the show and smile so big. It would take me back to such a great time. Then when i watched them earlier this year on DVD, i was embarrassed that i ever watched such a crappy show. On a serious note, Stephen was quite the entertainer today. Brought a great ipod mix in and even breakdanced for us. It was amazing. People don't know what they're missing. 6:30 has all the entertainment. we did thrusters today. I think whenever John's in the room, those who share the bar with him lift a little more than usual. In fact, i tried to rack the bar early today and he encouraged me to pick it back up and finish. i'm glad he did. i hate cutting a set short but sometimes, i hit that wall(maybe mental wall some times). i noticed i'm not as sore lately as i used to be after workouts. My shoulders used to hurt in a bad way after thrusters but now they dont. i'm pretty happy about that. i'm starting to really understand the power of the hips. It took me awhile but the other day i was doing some 2hkb swings and was thinking, gosh this is SO much easier if i just let the hips do all the work and just pretend that my arms are ropes attached at the shoulder. Same with thrusters. Not quite as easy past the 135lb mark though. After a certain weight the thruster becomes a squat and shoulder press combo.

5 1 hand swing L12k
5 1 hand swing R12k
5 windmills L 12k
5 windmills R 12k
50 jump rope
(Finished 1.5 rounds. I was late)

warmup 2 sets of 5 (65/75)
5 sets of thrusters followed by 8 ring rows and 8 xchop halos
thrusters:
95/115/135/155/165(3)155(2)

play/practice
ring rows
dips


Diet:
8am Meal Replacement Shake (while i watched good times on you tube)
10:30 powerbar(it was free)
12:30 chicken burrito
4:00pm meal replacement shake

great workout

Today was another one of those workouts that I love. My goal i set for this year is to be able to do 20 dead hang pullups. I was pretty happy to get 14 today. its not 20 but it was more than i thought i was capable of so i'm good with that. I used to spend so much time working on negative reps that I could probably increase my pullup max if I come down a little faster. I love graceful pullups so i've alway focused on a slow 2 count negative. I'm curious to see how my reps increase by going to a 1 count negative on the pullup. I worked until 2am last night so i was surprised i even stayed awake for the workout. The sprints were awesome too. they were just short enough that we could go all out. Kind of a mind game. if they were 40 second sprints, we all would have held back a little(or at least i would have).



Warmup
band walk
squat walk
monster walk
bear crawl
frog hop
inch worm

skill:
15 2HS on the minute. 6 minutes
24K for all 6

max pullups/pushups rest 3 min
14/33 (did dead hang pullups and chest to floor pushups on all sets)
7/13
7/21 (rested in pike position on pushups for last set)

shuttle run 30/30
8x


Diet:
8am Meal Replacement Shake
10:30am Meal Replacement Shake
1pm Powerbar(because it was free at work. Yuck though)
4pm Powerbar(yuck again)
6pm quinoa and pinto beans with tofu
8pm 2 corn tortillas with green chile
11pm 1 meal replacement shake

needed sleep from late shift

been working some crazy late shifts at work to do some OS upgrades store registers. makes getting up at 6am tough. Hoping tonight goes well so i can get some sleep before tomorrow's morning class. melissa says i missed a really fun workout. darn.  oh well. 

WOD:

rode bike to work(not much of a workout)

Diet:

9am meal replacement shake

1pm 2 fish tacos 1/4 cup of rice

5pm bowl of wheat cereal with rice milk

7pm string cheese

love mr coffee's delayed brew feature

life is so much easier when coffee is waiting for you in the morning. Melissa taught me how to work the mr. coffee last night. pretty cool. woke up to stumptown. Well actually woke up to a work call hours before that saying something went terribly wrong with an upgrade. Fortunately that worked itself out and i got to go to the gym today. Was great to see Devon again. No funny t-shirts today. Today's workout felt good. First day that i havent been sore in a while. Didn't push it too hard today. Not sure why. i certainly worked hard but felt like maybe i held back a little on weight choices. was definitely beat when it was over though so i dont feel like i cheated myself too badly.


Warmup
3x
Medball Complex
10 pushups

Skill 4x
Ring Dips (7/7/5/5)
10 KB something(forget what its called. The ones where you go above your head)
35lb for all these

WOD 40/20 x 5
shuttle run
left kb clean and press 35lb for all
rigth kb clean and press 35lb for all
L sits. did them from bar with knees bent
Renegade Rows. 35lbs for all
H2H kb swing 35lbs for all

Diet:
9am meal replacement shake
2pm meal replacement shake
3pm donut
6pm bowl of organic wheat cereal
8pm quinoa with tofu and black beans
9pm donut
12am meal replacement shake

SILF

Today was a good monday. My ego has healed a bit since friday. we did front squats and every weight including the warmups felt heavy as hell to me. Not sure if i was fatigued from my bike ride in, out of lifting shape from the marathon, or just simply having an off day. Still enjoyed the workout though. We did a partner workout and i'm really surprised that nobody wanted to be my partner after my rockstar performance last friday. ;) i rode my bike today and left my rain cape at home. im camped out at a coffee shop working here until the rain lets up. Actually get WAY more done when i work from coffee shops. It looks like the rain is letting up though, so i may head in shortly. I almost dropped a dumbell on my head today when i saw jonas's(can't spell it) shirt. It had a sandwich on it and said SILF. I dont laugh easily at t-shirts but couldnt stop laughing. I want one that says BILF. It can either have a burrito on it or a picture of my bike. This may be too much information but i actually do get a bit arroused when i look at my bike. and the same is true with some burritos.

Warmup(I only got 2 rounds)

10 passthroughs

3 curis p's

5 spiderman

Skill

2 warmup sets of front squats(45lbs/95lbs I might be wrong about this i cant remember)

5 X Below

3 Front Squats 135/155/185/185/205

5 dead hang pullups

8 xchop halos

WOD

Row 1 min

Ball Slam 1 min

Add total ball slams to total row calories

Total 74cal + 111 Ball Slams = 185 total.

Noticed that when i had a partner for this workout last time we did it, i went out way harder because i didn't want to let the partner down. Not sure why i couldn't work that hard for myself. Guess thats why we do the partner workouts sometimes.

Diet:

9am meal replacement shake

1pm meal replacement shake

4pm meal replacement shake

6:26pm meal replacement shake
8:00pm 3 eggs 2 corn tortillas, soyrizo

new gym for sean and pregnant women

Thanks John for the referral. After today's workout results, I was thinking about checking this gym out.

  Its designed for pregnant woman but i thought i could petition for a spot.  If I eat enough cupcakes and push my stomach out i can look pregnant. Ok, I actually just looked at some of the WODs and i'm not even sure i could do those with much success. Crap. Guess you're stuck with me Recreate Fitness. You may need to start adding hour and a half classes to the schedule if I dont start completing the WOD's in the allowed time period. :) Thanks.

DFL today. But I'm ok with that :)

today was a brutal workout for me. As Todd puts it, I was DFL. Whenever my ego gets inflated or I am feeling fit, a workout like this comes along and brings me to my knees(well actually my back). I could simply not keep up today. I was trying hard too. Wow. The funny/sad thing is that this was my first day without taking lots of ibuprofen. I want to keep my kidneys so I may switch pain meds soon. Shannon suggested aspirin. Wondering if ibuprofen has been the only reason I have ever been able to finish a WOD. Todays experience sure made me wonder.

warmup
10 gob squats
2h kb swings
5 in place inch worms I think
5 pullups

Skill 5 sets
5 2H KB clean/squat (24K for all sets)
10 knees to elbows

WOD: 30,20,10
wall balls
2H KB swing (24K)
Ball slam
time:11:46

diet:
burrito
kombucha
burrito
more to come

great workout today.

today was one of my all time favorite workout formats. Plus we got to
see Johns blue toe and have our pictures taken with it. Pretty cool.
Todays format is my favorite. I like that each section only had 2
exercises. It allowed me to give each one a little more. I really
enjoyed it.

Skill KB complex 2x
8 round world
8 other way
8 high pulls right
8 high pulls left
8 clean and press right
8 left
8 rack lunge left
8 right
8goblet squat
8 push ups
8 spidermans

skill/wod 1 min rest between sections
sec A
10 deadlifts (135/245/245/245)
2 sprints

sec B
KB get up situps(25/35/35)
6 burpees 8 inch off the ground

sec C
6 ring rows
Overhead KB walk(35/45/52.9)

Diet:
1 apple
1 12 oz NF Latte
1 betty lou's almond butter ball
20 blueberries

1 oreo type cookie(the newmans organic kind)

3 mini snickers bars

4 sprouted corn tortillas with 2oz refried beans and green chile

2 garden burgers(no bun or sauces)

1 spoonful of peanut butter with flax oil.

Jackie

Today was jackie. Its funny how such a short workout can kick your butt so good. I feel so good until it comes to the pullup. i have some dead weight i'd like to lose. i have no money today so eating crap shouldnt be a problem. i feel like my range of motion and joints have really benefited from a week off with just stretching. Everything felt much more fluid today.

Warmup(3x)
10 passthroughs
10 squats
100 Jump ropes

Skill
leg curls on rings
pushups on rings (only did sets of 5 since thrusters were coming)
5 windmill
10 cross chop with halo. ( love these)

WOD:
Jackie 10:12
1000m Row(3:42)
50 Thrusters(straight through)
30 pullups(10,5,3,2,3,2,3,2)

Diet:
1/3 cup of almonds
Coffee with cream
Mini clif bar(sample size)

4 corn tortillas

6 oz refried beans

8 oz green chiles

meal replacement shake

i'm back

it was SO good to be back in the gym this morning!!! Felt pretty good. Was a bit intimidated coming back imagining myself being way out of shape. It wasn't easy but it never is so i think i'm about where i left off. I feel totally inspired by Joel's success and feel recommitted to making a change in my body. I want to try the marathon again next year and think i'd like to maybe try a half iron man triathlon. I dont think i could run 26.2 miles after biking 100miles but i do think i could run 13 after biking 50. We'll see. i'm sure its much easier said than done. The swim in most triathlons is never very long. I dont plan on doing long runs or even long bike rides. I want to try the whole crossfit endurance philosophy out. I didn't realize how much i missed the gym but i can tell my mental health has improved. Nice.

Today's workout:

Warmup(2x)

Medball complex

10push ups

5 SpiderMans

Skill (3 rounds)

Handstand pushups 4-5 each round

LSit (30 seconds each time)

Ring Dips(6-8 each time. Focused on going very low)

Workout(4 x) 40 sec work/20 sec rest 90sec between

Box jump(moved up to tallest box for last 2)

Renegade Row(30lbs)

Rope Wave

Jump rope

Sprint Runs in driveway

H2H KB swing(45lbs) Focused on using hips.

Diet:

Meal Replacement Shake

1/4cup of mixed nuts
1 cup wheat berry feta salad
1 cup cake
1 bean cheese and rice burrito
meal Replacement shake

I can walk again

today was a lot better than yesterday. i can't walk fast or walk well but i can walk without too many people asking "what happened??"  I met a friend at the seven corners store who was all taped up and limping more than me from the marathon. Even in all that pain he was glowing with excitement when he talked about doing it again.  On the day of the marathon, i swore to myself i would never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever do that again. Yesterday i woke up saying "i'm 99% certain i'd never do it again. Today i woke up saying "i think i might want to do it again".  By 4pm i was saying "i can't wait until next year".  Maybe i'm crazy. I think Triathlons might be a lot more fun so i'm going to start swimming more starting next week. I might make Thursday my first day back at the gym.  i'm feeling pretty good but think i'd be worthless if i went back any sooner. i'm using this time to stretch and recover. Not much else to type about. 

Exercise: None other than a short walk this morning

Diet:

9am RTD Meal Replacement

2:00pm one handful of kettle corn

3:15 pm 3 small burritos

5:00pm Apple Fritter

Very little water today. Bad sean. 

feeling thankful

so, i was telling melissa that this whole marathon thing was an experiment for me but that i'm not sure what to conclude from the results. I wanted to see if someone with very little running practice or running history could successfully run a marathon. I wanted to see if Recreate Fitness and an occasional run were enough to prepare me for the marathon. The reason i say that I don't know what to conclude from this experiment is: I don't know what successful means when it comes to my marathon. I beat Oprah which is good(but also isnt saying much). Didnt' beat P.Diddy which was too bad. Finished which was good. Hurt like i've never ever hurt before which is bad. Still hurt today and can barely walk which is bad. I probably should have better defined"success" for myself before starting this experiment. I was trying to think about what good came from what seems today like the worst idea i've ever had in my life. I am reminded of how thankful i am for the wonderful people in my life. At mile 20 when i was thinking about how badly i wanted to die when i looked over to see my family with my gym peeps smiling and waiving their hands. It was such an incredible feeling and allowed me to form my only genuine smile during that whole run :). I felt really fortunate to be a part of the Recreate community. I think its something very special and out of this whole experience, i think that's what i've come to appreciate and value the most. If it weren't for the support of all the Recreate folks, i'm not kidding when i say i probably would have quit. Seeing that so many of you got up early to cheer me on was so appreciated. Another thought that kept me going is that I thought i over heard Nathan and John make a 100 burpee bet about whether or not i could beat Oprah. I couldn't stand to have John lose that bet. Shirley was an amazing running coach for the 9 training runs i did in 2008. I was also reminded that I work with the most amazing group of people ever too. I received many emails from co-workers congratulating me only minutes after i finished. People have been helping me up and down stairs at work all day. Its been great. Accounting even gave me some cupcakes. :) And Melissa has been amazing too by nursing me at home. I told her I feel really guilty being so pampered since i brought this on myself. It would be one thing if i was sick or in an accident. But i signed for this. Nobody made me do it. Since i can't walk normal, i probably wont be back at the gym for a few days. Looking forward to getting back into the gym and seeing my favorite people. i'm going to leave today's diet out of the blog since this is going to be the biggest cheat day of the year. :) thank you Melissa, Hannah, Shirley, Recreate Family, and NSM folks!!!

can i come back to the gym now? i'm bored and getting flabby

so i havent' been to the gym and my mental health is starting to slip a little. when i took my shirt off in the front of the mirror today, i had to avoid making eye contact with my body. When im not going to the gym, i start to feel like i'm turning to flab and am afraid i'll see myself way out of shape. i know i have issues. i'll be the first to admit it. I guess if i don't like being flabby, i should cut out some of those cupcakes and burritos. Guess its all about balance. I was thinking about finding a debate party to go since we dont have tv service. i also am thinking about buying a new ipod today. Not sure which i'll do yet. its 4:54 so i should probably decide soon. i haven't had a lot to eat today either. Going to pick up my bib tomorrow with shirley downtown. yay! I've been continuing to roll on the foam roller. feeling pretty good. Todd reminded me not to change too much about my routine going into the marathon. May do some hammer gels with caffeine during the run. i've done similar gels so i'm not to concerned about my stomach not liking them. Trying to decide whether to wear my hydration belt for the run. Would love to not carry the weight but I am pretty used to my electrolyte glucose drink. I'm sure its better than any corn syrup based sports drink. I think i may opt for the corn syrup drink in order to pass on the belt. If we get some of this cool weather on sunday, i'll be very happy. i can tough out most things in the cold but in the heat i become such a whiny weakling. I showed hannah chi running last night and she laughed her head off. She's doing a run tomorrow for charity so i was trying to tell her my secret trick for running a long distance. i'll be curious to see if she actually does it. i committed to a 50 cents per lap charity donation. Was going to go higher but i have no idea how far she can run or how big the track is. Didn't want to go broke if i found out the course was only 100meters long and she was a natural distance runner. :) Ok, time to go by an ipod or watch the debate somewhere. i'll let traffic decide.

Workout:
none. carried a printer upstairs was kinda like a workout.

Diet:
1 Ready to Drink Meal Replacement Shake
1 bagel with cream cheese and tomato.
more to come..

watch what i eat

so i once had a friend tell me that when he wants to quit smoking, he tells as many people as he can. That way, he feels accountable and knows people will be watching him. Well now, i have my friends at work looking at my blog too. They like to see what weird things I eat. I figured if more people are watching what i eat, maybe i'll eat better. Or maybe it will be just the opposite. maybe i'll eat worse just to entertain them. Today felt really good to sleep in past 5:45am since i'm tapering. Melissa has been making Yerba Mate in the mornings which totally makes my day. i love mate. i've been rolling on the foam roller for an hour every night. Focusing on the quads, lower back, and IT bands. Trying to drink lots of water too. Miss the gym and all the good peeps already and its only been a day. Miss hearing Cofy sing along when Jayz comes on the ipod, miss John and Nathan arguing about who lives in a rougher hood. Miss Stephen saying "respect" in a really cool way that i could never replicate. Miss seeing Nadine's blue bike by the bushes. Miss Evan's hilariousness and great urban adventure stories. Miss all the other people too who see me each morning with the slime in the corner of my eye and dont laugh too much. ok, i'm getting sappy now. I need to toughen up for the marathon. Trying to decide between gu or gel brands. There are some that taste better than others but there are also some with Cafeine. i think Cafeine could go a long way. Heck, if someone under a bridge is selling anything the day of the marathon that will help, i may even consider that. i'm kidding. i don't want to be accused of cheating if i do end up beating oprah. i'm going to try eating good carbs the next couple of days. i've cut down on coffee and up on water. i'm still at work keeping electricians company as we put a super fancy surge protection system on the building.

Workout:
may go buy a new ipod and then watch Dexter

Diet:
1 large Enchilado Style Baja Fresh Vegie Burrito
1 fantastic cookie.
Crap, thats all i've had all day. i need more. Melissa is at her performance class and Hannah's with Rhonda tongith so maybe i'll go get a burrito on my own.

Tapering for reals now

Im blogging from my cell phone while Hannah's in with her reading tutor. I felt so grown up today. I actually sat on a park bench with soccer moms while we watched our kids play after school. Now all I need is a minivan. Hannahs new school is way cooler than her last school. And john would be proud. Its in the hood. ;) Today was my last workout until next monday. I am feeling more excited than bitter about running this week. I had a great run this weekend and held a good pace. Shirley judges a good run by pace and how much I talk. I was able to talk this last run so that's good. So im waiting for a nickname to stick with me. I've been called Keen, Joe Cocker, cupcake, flame out boy, and most recently 4916. 49 is the number of push presses I did in the first set of FGB and 16 is the number I did in the last set. So now I have a gym record. Biggest performance degradation ever in a Fight Gone Bad workout. Nothing to be proud of but hey, its something. ;) im under a ton of pressure to meet some huge deadlines at work. I needed some feel good food today so I ate a german chocolate cake today for lunch. If that was wrong, I don't want to be right. It was amazing. Plus im carb loading for the run. My thumbs are cramping so im going to end this one now.

Warmup 3x
10 pvc Pass throughs
10 pvc squats
50 jumpropes

Skill 4x
5 dead hang pullups focused on negatives
5 ring dips focused on depth and negatives
5 one arm push presses(25lb DB)

WOD 3x through 90 sec rest between rounds
35sec work/25 sec rest
Sprints
Jumping rope pullups
Ball slams.
Kb clean (25lb would go heavier if no marathon)
Jump rope

Workout was good but intentionally held back which felt weird to do. Folks were really kind and wished me good luck as I was leaving. Reminded me again of why I love this gym and the sense of community its created.

Diet
Meal replacement shake
Meal replacement shake
German chocolate cake
Veg Burrito

Apple Fritter

Fruit Smoothie with 30g Protein

Body Gone Sore

i had a great run today with shirley. Ran 8 miles and felt really good. However, the soreness from FGB has kicked in and im hurtin!! Not injured hurtin but super sore hurtin. My traps, shoulder, and butt are aching. I don't often workout Saturdays so i just realized that i should take tomorrow off to let my body recover. Especially since i ran today. Enjoyed the client appreciation party. was fun to see everyone in one place. since i go to the morning class, most of the people, i only get to see from the blog or briefly when i meet melissa after night class. The food was AMAZING!

Workout:
8 mile run in 69 minutes.


Diet
3 meal replacement shakes
1 fruit smoothie
1 reeds cherry gingerale
1/2 of a vegetable calzone
1 chicken burrito from baja fresh
1 large bag of peanut m&m's
1/2 of a bean and cheese burrito from baja fresh
1 GU gel
64oz water

fight gone sad

well, finished my first fight gone bad. in some ways it was better than i expected and in many ways it was harder. i'm the type of guy who has to break the med ball complexes into small parts because they are hard for me. When i used to go to the traditional gyms, I would go in, lift as much weight as i possibly could for 1 set of 6 and then be done. Nothing more, nothing less. I did that for 15 years. My muscles have been conditioned to go all out and then they just die. i had a personal trainer once accuse me of faking it saying that he "knew muscles" and that he knew for a fact muscles don't hit walls like mine but instead they gradually get tired. When all you've ever done is short sets of heavy weight, your muscles don't know what fading is. They only know failure. Its clear to me that it will take some time to develop some more endurance. melissa counted for me today and she said she couldn't even warn me when to pace myself because i went from looking super strong and smooth to near death within a matter of reps. No fading. Just a brick wall. Nathan is convinced more than ever that my marathon will go just like that. i don't blame him. The only reason i know it wont happen that way, is because i don't know how to run fast. Running with Shirley tomorrow. Ready to party. Hannah was inspired by Evan's drawing of me and offerered her own drawing of me. She drew me lifting two deer overhead. She thinks i'm much stronger than i am. Thats one of the many reasons why she's my favorite daughter. Maybe she doesn't think i'm that strong. Maybe she thinks my ego needs a boost after seeing me lying on the floor of the gym crying for my mommy after fgb. Either way, i like the pic.

FGB score: 270
Don't think that qualifies me for olympics or american gladiators but its a place to start and it sure was a good workout. :)