Test Run - Friday 05/30/2008

Our first official Cowbell WOD will be this Friday (due to the underwhelming support from Homer, Naylor, etc).

First order of business: Everyone send in your most recent CrossFit Total score...with individual scores for each activity as well. I'll keep track of things/progress of the Total and the Bruce Lee week results in a handy dandy spreadsheet if that's OK with everyone.

Second order of business:

Friday WOD: suggestions? I was thinking this:

For time:
75 Push-ups
95 pound Sumo-deadlift high-pull, 50 reps
50 Ring Dips
45 pound Weighted Pull-ups, 30 reps
25 Handstand Push-ups

Bruce Lee Week...

The Bruce Lee Week starts in less than a week...hopefully we're all ready.

If anyone is wondering why it's named the Bruce Lee Week instead of, say, the Chuck Norris Week or the Hard Routine or anything else, need only watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLO1YIWQuXE

and this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8QAeoFdM5g&feature=related

and this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIgey9NLdhk&feature=related

Anyway, enough of Chuck Norris. Is there any interest in doing one structured workout this week as a group? By structured, I mean we all do it and report on the website our results like we will do next week.

I was thinking of a CrossFit Total (squat, press, deadlift) if only because that, along with what we're doing next week, will provide us with a good baseline to note our progress over the next 5 weeks.

Jake and Rocky...Twins Separated @ Birth

Here is Rocky's imitation of Jake.

on one ankle

25 swings, 25 situps, 25 snatches, 15 knees to elbows. it took like 24 minutes. those knees to elbows are time killers. After we were done we did a max bench press set. I finally broke 200, first time in my life, i landed 205. it's funny, we rarely do bench press but our max keeps going up. I had a spotter so that helps to know that he will lift it up if i can't get it up.

We've got a new member, Josh Shepherd, who crossfits with me on monday, wednesday and friday, he will be joining the blog soon. He's brand new to crossfit, but a natural. He has great form in all movements, he has allready made huge strides and will be surpassing me shortly. He has those 'biker legs' for a solid foundation and pushes me to go faster and harder than i would on my own. So watch out the janesville crew looks to conquer.

hey, that dr naylor was supposed to introduce himself, we're still waiting!!! hey dr naylor are you related to they guy who makes the famous udder balm?

Permaculture - Michael Pollan

This is today's talk of the day. Listen, enjoy, learn what you can...

today's inspiration

There are no stupid questions, but there are a LOT of inquisitive idiots

Just because you're necessary doesn't mean you're important.

When you wish upon a falling star, your dreams can come true. Unless it's really a meteor hurtling to the Earth which will destroy all life. Then you're pretty much hosed no matter what you wish for. Unless it's death by meteorite.

Consistency: It's only a virtue if you're not a screwup.

It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.

Potential: Not everyone gets to be an astronaut when they grow up.

Crossfit Total

tuesday evening crossfit total, deadlift 265, squat 205, press 125 for a total of 595. i'd like to see where tommy is at. the mister i can lift a house can probably deadlift 900 pounds. tania did it with me, she was at 135 deadlift, 75lb squat, 50lb press for a total of 260.


this morning i did a modified donkey kong. 21-15-9 of 65lb oh squats, 53lb swings, double unders and inclined pushups. finished in 13:39. the oh squats are very hard. i'm not sure how i'm going to make it through the nancy coming up next week that has 5 sets of 15 overhead squats at 95lbs.

tabata

7.0 at 10% 20:10 x 8 ---

WOD - Elizabeth

did an elizabeth today, it's supposed to be 21-15-9 of 135lb squat cleans and ring dips. i was barely able to move 105lbs for the clean, i don't know how those brutes do 135lbs. but i did 105 and finished in 19 minutes. ill be doing crossfit monday, wednesday and friday this week, and then just taking it easy and getting fat the rest of the week. i'm not going to be lifting no small houses into a u-haul that's for sure.

Do Not Attempt Alone

I made the mistake of trying to load this beast into the truck by myself Saturday. Some friends gave it to us for free...by free they meant I had to pick it up and take it home by myself (mind you, they have 4 teenage boys who were in the house, likely laughing their tails off or absorbed in some mind-numbing video game, at the time of this attempt).

I removed the thing from the ground, but by the time I tried to tip it into the truck I could feel the weight compressing my spine and I could feel myself sinking like quicksand - except I wasn't actually sinking, I was just getting shorter.

I was too lazy to take it apart, so this was the most "time efficient" way of bringing it home. Now my back is all out of whack and it's a good thing the Chuck Norris Routine (CNR) doesn't start until June 2nd.

Fran-- post time in comments

So I tried the Fran today-
I had a little help for the pull ups.
time: 17:03

compliments from brian

"I totally and completely understand what you are saying... And I hope you understand what a pleasure it has been to not only coach and watch you grow, but to meet you and understand how important your family is. It is a rarity these days to meet people like you. Continue on, you help make this a better place."-- Brian


Brethren, i feel completely blessed and lucky to have the knowledge we have. we have families, responsibilities, but for as little as 4-6 hours a week we can train and have better results than ironmen and also compete sucessfully in ultra events. the sky's the limit with our knowledge and future training!!! as you can tell from brian's note i have stopped with his training. we are now on our own. i feel saddened and liberated at the same time. it's been very beneficial for me to report to and post my times, and i hope that we can all get the same happiness and benefits by doing the same wod's and the same running schedule together. kudos to you guys for recognizing the value of this training brian has offered, i think we will find success together.

One last note, tommy and i have agreed to take about a month off from running(there are serious benefits in stepping away from activities for periodic times, i will post a link about an article with information about this in the near future). So we will not have any postings for running right now. The only running i will do is in the regular crossfit wod's. We could simply follow the crossfit endurance site, but it think we should continue our weekly running schedule if only for the fact that we're on the same page and the CFE site does that 3 days on and 1 day off running loop and that doesn't fit us very well. We always want our heavy day on saturdays. So look for a simple running schedule to be posted sometime at the middle to end of june.

Welcome to the Land of the *Rich* & Famous...

1st order of business...congrats to Jake for this: http://www.crossfitendurance.com/about/articles.php?id=18

Jake is now an official member of the CrossFit Endurance website...Brian MacKenzie just posted Jake's article on the Ice Age Race for all to see. Well done.

"I don't need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better." - Plutarch

"People are like dirt. They can either nourish you and help you grow as a person or they can stunt your growth and make you wilt and die." - Plato

B3-Ho Hard Routine (week of June 1st)

Here is what the Hard Routine will look like:

06/02 (Mon): Nancy (5 reps for time: 400m run, 15 OH Squats @ 95lbs).

06/03 (Tue): Tabata Something Else (20 seconds on; 10 seconds rest w/ 1:00 break in between exercises - Pull-ups/Push-ups/Squats/Sit-ups - in that order). Keep track of totals for each exercise and add them up for total score.

06/04 (Wed): Helen (3 rounds for time: 400m run, 21 KB swings @ approx. 50lbs, 12 pull-ups)

06/05 (Thur): Rest Day

06/06 (Fri): Fran (21-15-9: Thrusters/Pull-ups), for time.

06/07 (Sat): Monsoor (3 rounds for time: 10x135lb clean, 15xBW Bench Press, 25xDips, 40x24" box jumps, 60x53lb KB swings, 85xAir Squats).

The Saturday WOD looks like it will be the beast of the week...

Then, starting the week of 06/08/2008, here is who will be responsible for posting/creating the workouts for the week:

Week 2 (06/08): Homer

Week 3 (06/15): Berb

Week 4 (06/22): Jake

Week 5 (06/29): Same exercises as those listed above...with the goal of besting all of the times you recorded in week 1.

Please read the article in the May 2008 CrossFit Journal for more information on the Hard Routine (I can email it out if you need a copy).

Here is the Hard Routine (ClifNotes version):

Week 1: wean yourself of caffeine, sugars, etc. Increase water consumption to at least 5 glasses/day. Take 2 fish oil capsules at breakfast and 2 at dinner. Record sleep patterns.

Week 2: commit to 4 training sessions/week. continue no caffeine, no sugar and increase fish oil. increase water consumption to 6 glasses/day. regulate sleep patterns according to "early to bed, early to rise" theory. Follow warrior/zone diet.

Week 3: commit to 5 training sessions/week. continue no caffeine, no sugar, maintain fish oil intake, and increase water consumption to 7 glasses/day. Regulate sleep. Follow warrior/zone diet.

Week 4: commit to 5 training sessions/week. continue no caffeine, no sugar, maintain fish oil intake, and increase water consumption to 8 glasses/day. Sleep well. Follow warrior/zone diet.

Week 5: conduct same 5 benchmark workouts as prescribed above. Plan for next 30 days and focus on weak performance areas, focus on "macronutrients" and eating good.

By the end of week 5, we'll need to reconvene with race dates. Workouts then will be selected from the girl and hero WODs through our fall race dates...with running added in starting in July. This will give us a couple of weeks off from running to avoid burnout and will allow us all to become Cowbell Warriors. This should just be a confirmation...I believe Jake informed everyone of this program, if not, ask questions now before June 1st.

Proposed Schedule

Here is the new proposed schedule (as devised by B1 (Jake)):

May 15th-May 31st:

• Recuperate and/or rest and/or workout what/when you want
  

June 2nd through July 5th: The Hard Routine (details to follow)
July through September: ramp up for a fall race (a race of your choosing)

September/October: Race

New Blog

This will be our new blog amigos...

Team B3-Ho was officially christened last week...with Ho and B1 finishing the Ice Age Trail 50. B2 finished a respectable 43+ miles while B3 struggled mightily to finish 26.2. Here are the results:

Danny Homer (Ho): 11:34:03

Jake Buchanan (B1): 11:35:06

Brett Buchanan (B2): DNF - finished 43.2 miles

Tom Buchanan (B3): DNF - finished 26.2 miles in 6:15.

This new blog will be where we post our weekly workouts, post our results (accountability never was a bad thing) and post our training/running/racing information.

So, for those in search of more cowbell, you've found your home.

I'll post a new schedule here in a couple of minutes...with commentary expected.