Author Archives: bgoldstein

Crossfit Doom

I must be going through withdrawals of Crossfit, video games, or both. I had a dream last night that was really vivid and just flat out weird.

From what I can remember, the dream started out with the whole CFCP gang gathered on a hilltop overlooking some lake. I want to say it was lake Travis, but I don’t know. The Dave came out and pointed out where our WOD was going to be which was really far away. Why didn’t we just gather there, I wonder.

We then were at this place. It was a dilapidated building in some city at night. Dave says “anyone here ever play Doom?”. I raised my hand because, duh, I used to play that all the time.

Then, he describes the WOD which is 6 20-minute rounds of Doom. While he’s describing what exactly “Doom” is for the people that didn’t get it, he’s telling us to do things like crouch-walk a lot, do lots of rolls, and to do lunges whenever possible. I’m thinking it’s pretty hilarious that this dude wants us to think about lunging when we are being shot. Oh well, guess I’ll probably win.

We got 5 minutes to take positions, then the clock starts. I remember only a few specific things about the actual WOD/game. I remember at one point Dave sitting on a car on a roof top signaling me to “come over and check this out”. Whatever, man, not fallin’ for that one. Say hello to my Uzi and see you next round, Mr. Tillman BWWHAHAHHAHAH!

At another point, one of my parents friends named Russ was on one of the floors in some crappy run down building and he was trying to break through the floor to get at something in between the floors. He asked for my help… nice try. Good thing I had that shotgun in my back pocket. Better luck next round, sir!

In between these things, I remember just doing a lot of running and dodging through various different hallways, staircases, secret passages, and buildings. It was all very frantic.

At some point ( I am assuming 20 minutes later in dream time ) the round came to and end and we all gathered. In this dream, even though everything seemed like live ammo, if you were tagged, you didn’t die or splat or anything, you were just “out” for the round and you got to come back for the next one.

As we got ready for the next round, Dave explained that there was a new area added but we’d have to figure out how to get there (fly, duh). The goal of that island was to get to the 5 smoke stacks that had letter pods on them, and change the letters to say something. I can’t remember what we needed to change it to, but this clearly required team work. One to toggle the letters on the inside and one to verify on the outside.

As soon as the round started, I ran to the edge of the map (which happened to by my parents back yard in Staten Island”), jumped over the back wall, did the Neo thing from the Matrix (you know, that thing he does before he flies) and took off headed for the new island (which was in the middle of NY harbor… a city built on a giant island of ice… go figure). What’s weird about flying in my dreams is that it never seems fast. It always seems like I am floating and drifting towards my destination as opposed to superman style flying, if that makes any sense.

Anyway, as I am drifting slowly towards this weird island, someone comes up next to me. I don’t know who this was, but I know it was female and she volunteered herself for my team. Sure, whatever, I was going to do it myself, but don’t get in my way. I have like 8 weapons somewhere on my person.

When I land on the island, it’s got this wild west theme, but there are barriers everywhere made out of destroyed cars. Interesting.

In don’t really remember much else and the dream ended shortly after this, but I do remember that the people on this island were just straight up assholes. I remember walking into a saloon type building with lots of people in and they were all just mean, horrible people.

Yeah… I don’t know where that dream came from… must be the MS water =)

Team Workout

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The Holly Jolly Challenge for 2009 at Crossfit Cedar Park came to an incredibly fun conclusion yesterday! Thirty days of strict paleo eating, food logging, and many many workouts (maybe a few too many) are now behind us and I have to say that, other than the feeling of being overworked (I think that this is also due to all of the holiday prep activity on top of the probably too many workouts), I feel really good. A few days of rest and relaxation are definitely in order and hopefully, I will come back stronger and ready to go.

We had a really great team (Me, V, Paula, and Jody)! We all did really well with eating with really minimal cheats. I think that we all learned quite a bit about paleo eating over the last month as well. Personally, I would say that I have about doubled my knowledge in this area from reading and listening to Robb Wolf’s podcasts (sorry, I know I don’t shut up about them). If you haven’t listened to them, you should… they are amazingly informative.

I would say that Paula and Jody carried the team in the “extra points for workouts” area. In the end, I think they probably did 20-30 more mini workouts that V and I did. Way to go, ladies!

The coaches at CFCP wouldn’t really tell us what the workout for the final day was going to be. Nikki hinted at it earlier in the week by saying “bring your running shoes” and “no pull ups, no sit ups, just one small piece of equipment”. Needless to say, Victoria and I were both nervous on Friday night. We had no idea of what was in store for us.

The workout wasn’t really all THAT terrible. We had to run 2.6 miles as a team carrying a 25lb plate between the 4 of us. They didn’t care how the plate made it back to the gym, who carried it, or for how long, etc. At the last 100m, the whole team must finish at the same time, but only 2 sets of feet can be on the ground at once. If you fail to do this, you have to repeat the last 100m until you get it right.

The time it took our team to do this was 30:31 and I thought we did a really awesome job. Jody, who I am naming the MVP of the WOD Quad, I think carried the plate the longest. The worst thing about it was just that plate is awkward in shape and size. 25 pounds doesn’t seem like a lot when you pick it up, but man, try running with a plate that’s a little over a foot in diameter. It bounces, it does’ stupid things to your balance, and other annoying crap.

The nice thing about worrying about what to do with the plate was that it made the run go by really quickly. From constantly jacking with the plate and trying to figure things out, by the time we knew it, we were turning around the last corner and on the home stretch. When we got to the door of the gym, he had to then figure out how to cross the finish as a team with only 2 sets of feet on the ground at any given time. Although we pondered the idea of wheel-barrowing, we decided on piggy back. Jody got Paula and I got Victoria. We broke the garland finish line all together as a team. We then hung around and cheered on the last team to come in.

Unfortunately, the winner was not known yesterday due to the amount of work that needed to be done to figure it out. Hopefully we will know soon. I think we are in the running for one of the top three places, but I am not sure where we will place.

Overall it was a fun challenge and I think, very beneficial to all that participated and tried to actually eat paleo (as opposed to cheat at every meal, then do 6 WODs to make up the points). My only regret is that I didn’t record and “before” data like pictures, my weight, measurements, etc. For the next challenge I certainly will. There will be a next one, right? Can’t wait…

Squats & Stuff

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This week has been particularly hard on the legs. Being already sore from “Nancy” on Monday, I came in last night expecting to do 100 burpees. That’s what was posted on the CFCP blog. We had been asking for some sort of max rep WOD, so Nikki was nice enough to let us do a 3 RM on back squats. Our workout last night was this:

3 – 3 – 3 – 3 – 3 Back Squat
Weighted Squat Ladder (65lbs)

My back squat 3 RM went up 45lbs to 270. My sets came out like this:

135lbs
185lbs
205lbs
225lbs (previous max)
250lbs
270lbs (I know this is the 6th round, but I knew I could do more than 250lbs)

To top it off, we polished the night off with a weighted squat ladder. Ouch! I got through 18 total rounds with a 65lb barbell on my back. The last round was by far the hardest as I felt what I would describe as “searing pain” in my quads with every rep. Others would just call that “lactic acid” but lets not split hairs.

I am pretty sure that I went somewhere else during round 18 as I had to actually ask Ryan today how the bar got off my back.

I went back to KF class on Tuesday night which was a blast. I finished up one side of the Hsing-I 2 man set and got in a really good review of tiger and spear katas both before and during class. We even got a good workout at the end consisting of 100 push ups, 100 crunches, and 30 frog leaps (which did not help the leg soreness from Monday, but hey, what doesn’t kill you… right?).

This Holly Jolly Challenge finally ends this weekend. I think that we ( my team ) have all done exceptionally well in terms of both eating and working out. I am really curious to see what the final results will be and what craziness CFCP has planned for us on Saturday. Hopefully it will leave my hands and feet intact for the 10.5 hour drive to Mississippi.

I am really looking forward to having the week there to relax and let my body rest. I am sure that we will get in a few small workouts here and there, but overall, the net output should be lower as we won’t need to be getting points for the challenge.

Negative Nancy

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I always make the mistake of checking the blog at some point during the day before I go for a workout. I definitely had some reservations about going last night when I saw “Nancy” listed.

Cedar Park Crossfit had just finished their “Caveman Nancy” challenge when V and I joined, so this was my first go at it. As I have been Rx’ing more workouts, I have that “should I or shouldn’t I” debate before almost every workout now.

When we got in, I saw the bar and gave a few OH squats a go to see how it felt. Heavy, but OK. I decided to go with it.

Again, the workout was “Nancy”:

5x { 400m run, 15 overhead squats (Rx 95lb) }

My time was 19:23 which shocked the hell out of me. Honestly, I felt great on the first run and did the first set of OH squats unbroken. The sets got consistently harder and my running (if you even want to call it that, I’d call it "walking really fast”) got worse and worse. I got a really bad cramp on my right side (again) in both my side and in my shoulder.

I am going to back to KF class tonight! I haven’t been in, I would say probably over a month for various reasons, mostly schedule conflicts, work, and just the general busy-ness of this time of year.

I have been thinking quite about my goals in this area. Sometimes, I wonder if I really need to have hard set goals for KF, then I remember that you can’t really be good at something if you just sort of float down the path of said thing. I think I do need some goals for KF and I have lost sight of that. I need to re-evaluate what I want out of the kung fu and tai chi programs so that I can feel like I am working towards something and making progress.

Are goals really necessary all of the time? Is it possible to just go along for the ride? Yes, I think it is and I think you can do that for a long time. Eventually thought, you might reach a point where you feel that you are at a crossroads. Do I continue floating along or do I do something else? Why am I doing this, anyway? I have done this with a few things throughout my life. The most notable example that I can think of is music.

At the risk of sounding like a braggart, I was really good at the French Horn and I didn’t really have to put all that much effort into it. I didn’t really have to practice all that much as it mostly came very naturally to me. I never really had clear set goals with music. When I was in high school (at the HS for performing arts in NYC), I had very vague goals like “play in a professional orchestra” and for a while “play in groups for soundtracks” or “study with <so and so>, but they were very abstract and I never really implemented a plan for achieving these goals.

When I graduated high school and started out at Manhattan School of Music, it became really clear to me that I couldn’t really just be along for the ride anymore and still succeed in this area. No, if I just stayed on the ride, I would end up with a bachelor’s degree in French Horn performance with no leads on a job, living from gig to gig, miserable with my existence. It was at this point, that I had to make a decision. Do I suck it up, control the ride, figure out what I want, and get it? Do I just stay on the ride and hope for best? Do I bail out, re-evaluate, and choose a new path? Clearly, I chose #3.

I have been going to Shaolin-Do for close to five years now. I have met amazing people and made great friends there. I have learned so much information that I could quit right now and have enough material to practice, perfect, and analyze for the rest of my life. Do I want to quit? No. I don’t. But…

What I have been feeling, I’m guessing is this transition between being along for the ride and choosing my goals and what I want to get out of this. In that vein, I have a bit to think about.

When I first joined, I never thought that I would get in as deep as I am. I didn’t think that I was getting into something that would have such a large influence on my life. I joined the tai chi program so that I literally would not kill someone when I worked for big blue. I was stressed out and needed an outlet to calm me down. That eventually blossomed into almost five years of physical activity, learning (A LOT of learning in many areas), friends, and other various positivities (I know that isn’t a word).

Can I continue being along for the ride? Yes. Do I want to? I am not sure. This is something to think about. Do I want to be good at it? Yes. I certainly don’t want to do something looking like a schlep being out there just b/c I feel like I have to. These are the things that have been on my mind.

I think that one of the things that is making this difficult is progress tracking. I am not sure how belt ranking goes in other arts, but in ours, when you first get started, your tests are pretty close together and you have this semi-constant feedback on your progress. You learn stuff, you test on it, you pass or fail (no one ever fails, but yin has to have yang, right?). When you pass, you get that feeling of accomplishment to fuel the fire of the next round. When you get past the “every 6 month or so” testing plan, you move on to no testing for two years, three years, or more. I suppose this is the time where you are left alone with the art to really get to know each other. How do you measure your progress during this time? I’d love some feedback on this from the 2 people that read my blog =).

Are your katas better, faster, more graceful, more powerful, less taxing on your system i.e. more output for less perceived effort? Can you do more push ups, more sit ups, more knee bends? Can you hold a plank longer? Can you retain your information (katas) better? Can you learn new katas quicker? Can you apply the concepts that should be internalizing from katas? Can you hold your own in sparring or “not get your ass kicked as bad”? Can you fight your way out of a 12 man attack when previously you would have been bested by one dude?

Do you even need to measure progress or again, is it OK to just be on the journey? Is measuring progress important in this respect? Maybe it is to some people. Maybe it isn’t. I don’t know.

When compared to a traditional workout plan, for example, if you track your numbers it’s really easy to see progress or slide backs. If you have ever been a gym rat (like I used to be), you know that if you write down your weights and reps for every set of curls you ever do, you can do some stuff to manipulate that raw data. You can make fancy charts that show you if you are progressing, staying stagnant, or decreasing in strength. It’s right in front of you in plain sight. How do you measure this with a martial art? Is it even important? I don’t know.

To be clear, this is strictly a personal question and something that is completely up to the individual. If you don’t have specific goals for your training and you just go along with the journey because you like it and it’s fun, that’s great! There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. I also don’t think it’s up to the particular institution to push clients/students to have to make goals or evaluate their needs (unless that is part of the services they offer and something that the client is expecting from them, of course). If they are paying and are happy with the product they are getting, more power to them. This is something that is very personal and differs quite between individuals.

Well, as you can see, I do have some things to think about and you have just read what I would a call a stream of consciousness that I wasn’t even intending t
o have come out in this post. I would love to get feedback from my friends/readers on this and what they think about some of the ideas here. If you’ve made it think far, thanks for putting up with my pontification.

Shoulder Burner

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I wasn’t planning on working out last night, but given how the rest of the week is shaping up, it became apparent that I needed to go. I guess it was a good thing as the soreness of Tuesday’s workout hasn’t yet set in.

I don’t normally put the warm up in here, but hell, since it took so much out of me, I will. It was:

3x{

10 Jumping jacks
10 Squats
10 Push ups
10 Sit ups

}

2000m row. (!!!)

I have never had to row that much. I can’t really say that I pushed myself as much as I would have if the clock was running. I paced myself and came in just under 10 minutes (for just the row) at around 9:39. Not too bad.

Last night’s fun time workout consisted of:

15 – 30 – 45 {

Squat
Push up
Push press (Rx 65lb)

}

My time was 11:58.

This one was pretty damn hard. The first sets aren’t bad at all. The “suck” factor comes in the last set when you have to do 45 of everything. I think I had to do my push ups (after about 10) in sets of 2 and 3. I was able to get 8-10 per set on the push presses. When I started the last set, the clock read close to 8 minutes. I was really shooting for a sub 10 minute time last night, but it just wasn’t in the cards.

In other news, my parents are here visiting! It’s so nice to have them here. Although the visits are always too short, I am trying to make the most of it amidst all of the other things that have to get done like house cleaning, house decorating, Christmas shopping, cooking, etc. Oh, and work… did I mention work? Thank goodness there are just two days left until vacation. Maybe then I will have some time to do the things I need to do to get ready for Christmas.

And then I remembered…

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… that we have only been doing this for about 4 months and the progress has been amazing. I remembered this while pondering my last post.

Starting To Rx More

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First off, thanks to Dave and Wladi for not letting me wuss out and drop the weight on this workout. I had a feeling I could Rx this one when I saw it posted on the blog. That changed a little when I got to the gym.

I loaded the bar up with 135lbs and tried a clean. Not too bad. It was heavy but not too bad. Then Dave says “you know… Rx is just 10 more pounds…. that’s just like 5 more on each side” (whilst grinning).

I agreed to give it a go.

The workout was:

6x{

10 cleans (from the ground, 145lbs Rx)
10 pull ups (Rx)

}

My time was 27:11.

It was weird to be working out when everyone was done. That isn’t usually normal for me, but then again, I am just getting into doing workouts at their Rx’d weight. I think I was still going for a good 10-15 minutes after everyone else finished.

Usually I would feel sort of self conscious about people watching me struggle with this 145lbs. I had quite a few wasted reps that I did pop on or get the technique just right. I didn’t count those. I did get frustrated a few times during this WOD. If there’s anything that I am not happy with, it was my internal attitude at a few points.

There were some times where I really wanted to drop the weight, but Wladi wouldn’t let me. I really appreciate the encouragement that they let me borrow tonight because there were certainly times where I didn’t have the will to keep going at that weight.

I feel like Paul Bunyan…

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… after he did a really, really hard workout.

Today was a really cool day, I have to admit. I have never done one of these challenges for crossfit, so admittedly, I was pretty nervous. I have no idea of what to expect. But, let me back up for a second.

A month ago today, one crazy son of a bitch decided to up an go on a killing spree in Fort Hood, Killeen. He managed to take the lives of 13 people were going about their business in what is, essentially, their home. This posting isn’t about him, so that’s all I’ll say.

The crossfit community is one of the most amazing things I have seen. What happened today was a prime example of this fact.

We woke up early today, about the same time we normally do during the week. It was really cold out so we made sure to wear lots of layers.

We got in the car and drove over to Tillman Training where we met Dave, Robin, Jody, Ryan, Johnny U, and Tiffany. We then caravanned up to Fort Hood for this event. What is this event, you ask?

As I started saying above, a month ago today, Crossfit Lumberjack lost 4 of it’s members to this massacre. The Crossfit community came together to raise money for the families of these four guys.

We got to the base, went through check in, then proceeded to the wellness center. By this time, I think we were all pretty nervous with anticipation. We had all seen the workout and what we had to do. Scary.

When we walked into the giant gym, they had 10 weight classes set up. So, you had to pick the lane that you wanted to start on, then there would be heats. I really wanted to do the men’s Rx which would have consisted of 275lbs for dead lifts and a 2 pood kettlebell for swings. Being that my back is still on the mend from Tuesday’s workout, I decided to take the cautious route and do the women’s Rx.

Shortly after we got there, we were called together. They gave us a description of how things were to play out. The Chaplain said a quick prayer and then we were off to get into our lanes. I made my way over to lane #4, women’s Rx.

A woman (who I recognized from Facebook) came over and asked my name. Lucky me, I get to go first. After she made her way down the rest of the line, we stood around in anticipation waiting for this crazy workout to start. I got my hands chalked up and ready to go.

Finally, the countdown began.

5, 4, 3, 2, I bend down to grab the bar, 1, GO! 20 dead lifts with 190 lbs unbroken! Time to run. I stumble out the door, now remembering that it’s like 30 something degrees outside. This SUCKS. I think I got through this first run without stopping. The cold air burned the shit out of my lungs.

Ok, back in the door. Time for 20 kettle bell swings. I did 10, then 5, then 5, gasping for air. Stumble out the door again. I run for a bit, then have to stop to walk as my legs are giving out. I hear “LET’S GO BRYAAAANNNNN, PICK IT UP!!!”. That’s Jenn, my lane coach yelling at me. I start running again. This was pretty much the pattern for every 400m run.

Ok, back in the door again, time for overhead squats. I dead lift it, power clean it, then press it. Again, I did something 10, 5, and 5. Another run as per above, complete with Jenn yelling just as before.

Next up, burpees. Easy peasy right? Well, sorta kinda. I did them without stopping, certainly not as fast as normal. At this point, I am dragging myself through every movement and basically feeling like I am under water. I can’t breath.

Another run, complete with yelling, screaming, and more walk breaks. I see Victoria coming towards me, so I start running. Can’t let her see me walking =).

Next up, pull ups. I think to myself, “how in the fucking hell am I going to do these, I am shot?!?”. I tell myself to shut up and grab the bar. I don’t completely remember, but I think I did them mostly in sets of 3. I DO remember that I wanted to do 17-20 unbroken. My brain said yes, but my grip said no.

More running. FML at this point, why in the hell did I sign up for this?! Oh yeah, fundraiser. That’s right.

Now, for box jumps. I have never jumped a 24″ box feeling good, let alone a 24″ box when I can’t feel my legs. There’s no way I’m jumping. I should have at least tried, but I stepped up for all 20. I did them unbroken and kept a pace.

What? Another run. Kill me, please. Yelling, screaming, lack of breath, maybe some crying, but I’m not saying for sure… all of that.

Last one, OK, here we go. 20 hang squat cleans with 30lb dumbbells, GO! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 AND STOP! Throw the dumbbells down like a baby. At this point Robin came over and was helping me through the last 15 reps. Every time I got down into a squat, I wasn’t sure if I was getting back up, but by some miracle, I did. The horrible thing is that I forgot about the last run. Fuck.

Last run… run, walk, run the rest and see my time as I come in. 32:33. Not too bad.

After walking in the door to finish the workout, I stumbled around for a bit and recovered relatively quickly. After about a minute or two, I went directly to the food area, got some water, and inhaled a banana. I also picked up some paleo trail mix which was awesome. Then, we stood around and cheered for the people that were still going.

It was great to go around and cheer on our Crossfit CP folks that were in later heats. We even helped out Ryan on his last 400m run. He was working really hard and rightfully so. The harder you work, the better the rewards, right?

So, to recap, the workout is named the “Lumberjack 20” and consists of the following:

20 Deadlifts (190lbs)
Run 400m
20 KB swings (1.5 pood)
Run 400m
20 Overhead Squats (85lbs)
Run 400m
20 Burpees
Run 400m
20 Pullups (Chest to Bar – Kipping)
Run 400m
20 Box jumps (24" – I stepped)
Run 400m
20 DB Squat Cleans (30lbs each)
Run 400m

My time was 32:33.

All in all, this was a great experience. Together, V and I raised about $300 for the families of the men that were lost. It was great to be able to contribute and be with people who are so positive and uplifting. The more I participate in this community, the more I love it.

Taking it Easy

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I went to work out today and decided that with my back still sore and the monster workout staring me in the face tomorrow, that I would do a “nice & easy” workout. Here’s what we did:

21 – 15 – 9 – 6 – 3:

Push press (I used 65lbs. Rx was 95lbs)
Ring push ups
Box Jumps (I stepped up on a 20″ to avoid impact)

My time was 6:50.

After the workout, we did a red line run which, I think in total is about 200m. Then we did the “ab wheel” which consists of a partner throwing a medicine ball at you in various sit up or rotation sets.

My back is feeling a lot better today. It’s still tight, but not as bad as yesterday. I hope that I wake up feeling even better tomorrow.

Holly Jolly Challenge Days – 12 & 13

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My lower back has been bothering me terribly since Tuesday’s workout. Those 55 dead lifts really did the trick on my lower right side. I spent most of the day feeling the tightness there and trying to work it out.

I went to crossfit last night in the hope of working out, but one of the great things about this place is that they are a physical therapy center as well. Michael helped me out quite a bit basically making me do some different stretches. I felt a lot better by the time I left.

When I woke up this morning, I couldn’t believe how much better I felt. I am still tight and I can still feel all of those muscles engage whenever I lean slightly forward but it’s not nearly as bad as it was yesterday. I am working on stretching out more during the day. Hopefully I will feel better enough to do this fundraiser at Fort Hood tomorrow.

I finally don’t feel sick anymore. As you (and by “you”, I mean imaginary reader, b/c I know maybe like 2 people actually read this) can see, my eating has become much more stable when compared with rest of the week.

I have stayed paleo and haven’t had any cheats. Here are the sheets.