The Crossfit Community Grows

I've been trying for literally years to get some of my coworkers to join Crossfit. I've searched long and hard. Who is tough enough? Who would want to do this to themselves? We all know that it takes a certain person to not only enjoy being a Crossfitter but also embrace it!

I was thrilled a few months ago when my roommate started. I thought my mission had been completed. I had brought someone into the cult!

Then the unexpected and unthinkable happened this week. I found out that another C-SPAN'er was also drinking the Kool-aid. A guy who works in the programming department recently started at Crossfit BWI. He said his first visit to the affiliate was a little intimidating. There were all these military types there and skulls and crossbones plastered across the wall. Sounds like my kind of place! He had been doing olympic lifts and decided he wanted to add a little more cardio in his workouts. Crossfit was a perfect fit.

Then the truly shocking happened. I learned that not one, but TWO C-SPAN'ers have been partaking in the WOD, and this person has been sitting literally feet away from me for over two years. My BOSS has been Crossfitting! It's a little different than what we do at CFOT. She's been working with a trainer who buys into the Crossfit philosophy. Yesterday, she came up to my desk and proudly announced, "I did Cindy last night." Now, if she had said that to anyone else they would have stared at her with shock and confusion. Not me.. I knew. She had been converted! Her trainer had told her to tell me that she had done the workout during her training session. I was in awe!

A third member I'd like to welcome to the CFOT community was a solo Crossfitter, who started coming to Old Town just this week. He found out about us through my blog, and decided the Old Town family was something he wanted to be a part of. He joined the 6am this morning for Murph and he seriously represented. He was the first back to the room after the mile run, and he fought through some bloody callouse tears to finish Murph with a sub one hour time. Nice! He'll fit in well at Old Town. Welcome.

Saying Farewell to a Friend

I've been dragging my feet on putting this post up. It's probably because I hate it when good people move away. Last week, someone who I place pretty high on my list of good people moved out of town. I was totally shocked when Jenn told me she was leaving. I'd been keeping up with her on Facebook, but I hadn't been speaking to her as much as I would have preferred.


She told me last Thursday that she was having a going away party Friday evening. What?! I had to get caught up on a few months of catching up. It seems like the move had been in the works for a while, but she had just finalized the details and started letting others know. She's actually heading up to Connecticut (my old stomping ground). For those of you who want to keep up with her, she'll be coaching at Crossfit Watertown.

I'm really proud of her for making the decision and making a big move, but sometimes you just have to do big things to make changes in your life. Jenn's really been a big part of my Crossfit story. I met her way back when I was working out at Crossfit DC. She was the first girl I ever saw do a muscle up. I thought she was incredible! Her strength and energy floored me. She was always so good at getting in my face and pushing me to go harder, because she knew I could.

When I was looking for a new Crossfit affiliate, Jenn mentioned CFOT. I'll never forget it. She said, "they're all psychos over there." I knew I'd fit in. I was thrilled when she started popping in on classes in the blue room after her shoulder surgery. I was amazed watching her recover. I'll never forget this one workout she did. She was subbing out all of the movements we were doing, but she added jumping slamballs to her WOD. She took that ball over her head, made a huge arch with her back. Her feet and arms were way behind her. She slammed that freaking ball down like it made her pain go away. I couldn't believe she was doing that so soon after surgery. After having similar surgery on my shoulder, I really couldn't believe she did that! Every time I do slamballs I think of her, and I try to make myself jump higher and slam harder. I can never quite match up to Jenn's gusto. Not many can.


Farewell Jenn. I'll miss you a ton. Good luck, and get some my friend!

A Good Old Sweat Out

Wednesday, May 20;

I've been saying how much I've been missing those good workouts that really make me sweat. Well, I got what I was asking for. This morning we had a good old fashioned burner. No barbells. Just kettlebells and pullups.. oh, and massive box jumps. God, I love these workouts.

WOD:
5 rounds
400 meter run
15 KB swings - 35lb
12 Box Jumps - box + 45lb plate
9 Pullups

Time: 20:56

WOD II:
3 rounds
30 Double unders
30 situps

I can actually do double unders. Finally.

6 month checkup

Tuesday, May 19;

Met up with the good old doc this morning. He checked my shoulder mobility and strength and said everything looks good. Then he asked me if there was anything that I wasn't doing that I wanted to do. He would probably be shocked if he saw what I've been doing. I've been pain free, so why stop?? Anyway, he asked if there was anything I wasn't doing that I wanted to do. I said, "a muscle up." He asked me what that was. I just smiled and shook my head. I've been cleared for all movement. Get ready Trouble here I come!

Workout Round up

Friday, May 15;

CFOT First Shoot from CF1 on Vimeo.

5 Rounds
5 Deadlifts - 165lb
10 Pushups
20 Air Squats
Time: 8:??

Lost form on the deadlifts. Rounded back. This hurt. Body is begging for a break.

Monday, May 18

The Snatch
1, 1, 1, 1, 1
65lb

This tests my shoulder strength. I have avoided the snatch because it's such a dynamic movement and I don't trust my stability. I think I should work on doing high reps at a lower weight... maybe 45lbs. Get confident and then get heavier.

Getting Strict

Thursday, May 14;

I was excited about hitting this workout. I really wanted to know how heavy I could go and I wanted to see if I had improved my numbers over the last time we did a single rep strict press max. It looks like we did a similar workout in March (about 3.5 months after surgery). I failed at 65lb. Today's numbers were significantly higher, which means I'm getting stronger! Yay.

I was also able to do the weighted pullup. I'm no Elise who did a pullup + 50lb! I didn't get that impressive, but I was happy to get a pullup + 25lb. Not too bad.

WOD:
Heavy Strict Press
72lb max

Weighted Dead hang Pullup
body weight (~130lb) + 25lb

I'm Just a Dumb Jock

Wednesday, May 13;

I'm still confused about how this whole thing happened. I am waiting to see what was posted on the white board and maybe I can figure it out. This confirms my thoughts that sometimes I'm just a dumb jock. I often have difficulty adding up the weight of plates on barbells, subtracting time for workouts, and how far I should go for an 800 meter run.

Usually, I blame my absentmindedness on the fact that I workout early in the morning. I shouldn't be expected to do math right after waking up. I have no excuse for yesterday's mathmatical blunder. I woke up at 5am to get to work early. I did a full 8 hours of work and then headed to Crossfit. My mind should have been up and running. Right? Not so much.

This workout looked nasty too. I must have misread the board (or not really read the board at all). We were doing front squats and the elite weight was 105. I knew that was too heavy to do multiple times. I thought I'd do the pro weight, so I loaded my bar and weighted for "go."

Danny walked over and asked what I was lifting. I had 85 pounds on the bar. For some reason I got confused and asked Danny to put on 5 more pounds so I would be lifting 90lbs (what I thought was the prescribed pro weight). I did the workout, which looked like this...

WOD:
90lb Barbell "Pro" weight

800 meter run
15 front squats
30 pullups
600 meter run
12 front squats
24 pullups
400 meter run
9 front squats
18 pullups
Total: 24:48

Looks normal. Right? After my workout, which freaking killed, I headed over to the white board. That's when I realized that I had done so much more work than I needed to. Pro weight was actually just 85lb. That means I did the extra 5lb weight for no real reason. Other than to get stronger. It never hurts to go heavier in terms of working out, but it hurts your muscles. My legs are in a world of pain this morning and there's not much walking happening. Not much at all.