Albany was a pretty nice little city from what I saw of it. I guess I really didn’t see TOO much, though. At the very least, I found one good place to eat (The Barnsider Restaurant). The people that I came here to work with were really nice. I know I posted a rant about offices just a few days ago and, for the most part, I do really feel all of that stuff, but I didn’t really mean for it to reflect on the people there. They were really a pleasure to work with.

Big thanks to Crossfit Albany for letting me drop in while I was in town. Here are the WODs that I got while I was visiting…

Monday (4/12/2010)

• 30 Snatches for time
• 1 Mile Run – Untimed

We started out with some Bergner warm up, which is always good. I got the 30 snatches done in 2:26. The Rx weight for this was 135lb but I opted to go with 95lb instead as I wanted to work on my form a bit. I have never tried to snatch more than 105lb. Last time I tried that much, it went up easy, but I still think I can get better on my lifts. Getting that down is more important to me than throwing around 135lb at this point in time.

I know you will be surprised to read this, but I felt very sluggish during the run. I started out sort of quick then died off. I never really got into that groove where it became easy. I tried to focus on pose the whole time and I think I’m getting better at it. Still, though, it came and went. At least now, I know when I am swinging my legs with my hip flexors.

Wednesday (4/14/2010)

Before I left the hotel for the office, I hit up the “workout room” and used the treadmill for some Tabata Sprints (Slight Incline 10 mph)

Later, at Crossfit Albany, we did the following:

3×5 Strict Presses

Followed by:

“Running Cindy” (AMRAP in 20 minutes of {400m run, 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 air squats})

Followed by:

3×10 Hang Squat Clean with no dip (45lb Bar)

Starting off with the presses was pretty cool, actually. It was fun to have a little strength WOD built in before the actual WOD. My weights were 95lb, 115lb, & 135lb. They were all easy. I guess I had no frame of reference as I haven’t done much strict pressing since starting Crossfit. It reminded me of the old gym days doing military presses. At least now, I know for next time, I can probably start with 135lb.

Incidentally, the warm up for this WOD took it out of me, a bit. It was 3 rounds of {7 (ring rows, lunges, ring dips)}. When I woke up this morning, I was sore  in my upper back and chest… I think this is why. Ring dips kill me every time.

Anyway, moving on.

Running Cindy went well for me. I didn’t take any breaks, which makes me happy. Well, it didn’t really make me happy during the workout, but thinking about it now does. I am getting to the point, I think where I am starting to rest less. Sometimes you need to just keep moving even if it’s not at the pace you really want. I didn’t take any walk breaks on my runs, which is kind of amazing to me. In total, I got 6 full rounds + 200 meters. When you think about it, in 20 minutes, I did:

• 6 – 400m runs + 200m = 2600m … that’s 1/2 a 5k, which is a little over 1.5 miles.
• 30 pull ups
• 60 push ups
• 90 air squats

Pretty good…

The last part of this workout was what they referred to as the “tall clean” drill which is basically a hang squat clean but without the “dip & shrug” part. The object of this is very similar to a “snatch balance”. You have to get under the bar without moving the bar very much, if, at all. Obviously, this is more difficult as you have to get under the bar when it’s at your waist as opposed to getting under it when it’s racked across your back. It took me a few tries to get the idea, but eventually, I got it and could see how this could really help with the squat clean technique. This was particularly challenging too as I was really worn out from all the previous stuff.

Regarding the rest of the stuff about the trip… mostly, it was pretty good. I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express which was really nice and very comfortable. They had a hot breakfast every morning which is always good for someone like me. My rental was a Hybrid Toyota Camry. I had never driven a hybrid before, so it was pretty interesting. Honestly, the best part about this car was that it had bluetooth integration. It’s so great for your car to just be your hands-free device the moment you get in.

The trip home… well, that didn’t go so well.

If you were reading any of my Facebook posts yesterday, you could probably tell that I was in a bit of a mood. All of the problems stemmed from missing my connection in Newark. I was supposed to fly from Albany – > Newark, then Newark – > Austin. The flight coming IN to Albany was 1.5 hours late. That means, no connection for me, and that’s the LAST flight coming out of Newark to Austin. Awesome. All I wanted to do was be home.

Anyway… at the desk in Albany, I asked the Continental rep what the best thing to do for my baggage was. It was clear that I wouldn’t make my connection so, he recommended “short checking” the bag so that I could pick it up at the baggage claim in Newark.

When I got off the plane in Newark, I hauled ass to the continental desk where I got a bit upset. They informed me that they would not cover my hotel as the plane delays were due to ATC (air traffic control). I had a few words for the woman behind the desk, but then realized that their policies are not her fault. Oh well. Turns out most of the hotels in the area were booked as this whole volcano thing caused lots of flights to be cancelled which, in turn, results in, you guessed it… people getting stranded in Newark and needing a hotel.

Luckily for me, I am on business travel, which means, (sorry Ben) my company gets to pay for continentals incompetence.

Back to the lady at the desk. She called a few hotels in the area and they were all booked. Finally, she called the Hilton and they had rooms, so, to the Hilton I would be going. I asked her, then, what would be best for my bag. She said to leave it and it would be on the plane tomorrow morning. OK.

Now, I take the monorail thing 3 stops over to P4 which is where the hotel shuttles do their pick ups and drop offs. I wait. And wait. And wait. Finally, I call the hotel at which point, they inform me that they pick up at the bottom of the hour. It was 9:10. Awesome.

Just for grins, I called Continentals baggage services to see what was up with my bag. I had a feeling that it was spinning around the carousel back in Terminal A (4 stops away on the monorail). I was right. I asked if they could pick it up and re-route it back onto my flight for tomorrow. The rep said that I could NOT and that if I didn’t go and pick it up, I would have to file a lost baggage claim when I got back to Austin, and that they would send it.

Argh.

So I get back on the damn monorail and go back to Terminal A where my bag is in the baggage services center WITH A TAG ON IT THAT HAS INSTRUCTION TO RE-ROUTE IT FOR MY FLIGHT IN THE MORNING. I am about ready to scream at this point. Also, it’s past 9:30pm and if I don’t get back to P4 (4 stops away, remember?) in time for the shuttle, I will have to wait another hour for the next one.

At this point, I just took a cab to the hotel. I was done dealing with people’s gross incompetence at well, everything.

I got to the hotel, checked in, ordered room service, talked to V for a bit and went to sleep. No, my room service was NOT paleo. No, I don’t care. It was the only time on this trip whe
re I didn’t make a great food choice and I’m OK with that.

Now, I am waiting to board my morning flight. I had better not have any more problems.

P.S. My flight landed 35 minutes early! It’s good to be home…