J.T. Kalnay's Blog, page 19
November 25, 2012
Proof Of The Apocalypse, Browns Beat Steelers
The Mayans only missed by about a month. Or, maybe this is the first sign that they were right….
CrossFit, Lift This, So You Can Lift THIS
These two pictures say exactly what’s on my mind this morning. Work hard in the gym, so you can lift your girls up on your shoulders at the beach. Train “so you won’t suck at life!” Nuff said. I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be…
So You Can Do This!
November 24, 2012
2012 Ohio State Buckeyes National Champions
12-0. With quality wins over Nebraska, Michigan, Michigan State, and UCF. You know who’s the big unsung hero in all of this for me? Luke Fickell. Here’s a guy who held the program together during the 2011 season, and who welcomed Urban Meyer as the head coach. He didn’t complain, he didn’t explain, he just kept on being a Buckeye. It’s a shame that the NCAA decided to punish the program, when it was a couple of players and one moment of weakness for Coach Tressel that caused the problem. To be fair to the NCAA, however, when the coach violates a rule, perhaps the entire program needs to be punished. If it was just TP (whose name I can’t even say out loud anymore) and his free tats, then the penalty would have been inappropriate. But having the head coach try to cover it up, or at least not report it, is, in fact, a violation for which a program wide penalty should have applied. Now, having said all that, the Buckeyes are 12-0, even with the scholarship penalties still in place, and with the recruiting difficulties associated with not being able to go to the Big 10 title game and the BCS title game. In my mind they are the national champions, and I will cast my AP vote. My vote won’t be unprecedented either. Does anyone remember an 11-0 Auburn being a co-national champion in 1993? They too were serving out a penalty and could not play in either the SEC championship game or a bowl game. Is it any coincidence that Notre Dame was co-champ that year? And should be this year if they win out? Especially over the SEC champ? Congratulations to the Buckeyes, to Coach Meyer, and to Coach Fickell. A special thanks to the seniors who decided to stick with the program when the going got tough. And to all you recruits who are considering Ohio State. Coach Meyer has done it twice at Florida, and now he’s done it at Ohio State….
CrossFit Murder, Now Angels Are Doing Thrusters…
57-year-old Joe Lengel was murdered in front of his box in Toledo on November 19.
Last night I went to Norwalk Fitness and Training (NFT) to do the Memorial WOD in his honor. It’s been moving to see how many boxes are doing the Joe WOD in his honor. We all hear about “The CrossFit Community.” Some of us feel it, and it keeps bringing us back, and drawing us deeper into this thing called CrossFit. Last night, doing the memorial WOD, I felt it in a different way. When the suck was at its worst, I took a quick look at my partner, and a quick look around the box, and then a quick look at the name of the WOD on the board. Maybe it was the lack of oxygen, but just then I had a crazy visual of Joe showing angels how to do thrusters, “stay on your heels, don’t use your wings, good job…”
I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be…
November 23, 2012
Jets Are Terrible!!! (video of Sanchez as “worst QB ever”)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVgmv_laiQs
Sanchez and the Jets are an object lesson in how to ruin an NFL franchise. Before Sanchez, the Jets ran the ball and played defense. They ran and ran and ran and played defense. And they won, a lot. Then they got Sanchez and decided they would win games by throwing the ball more. It hasn’t worked. They run less, they throw more, they lose more. They give up a lot more points on defense b/c their defense is on the field a lot more. Their coach is a rough and tumble guy who did fine with the ground and pound offense. Also, when everyone else was throwing it all over the place they were different, they had some real matchup problems. But now they’re trying to be something that they aren’t, and the result is what we are seeing this year. The Jets don’t need to fire Sanchez and Ryan for being bad, they need to fire Ryan for trying to be something he’s not.
November 21, 2012
CrossFit, It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…
The best? A quadruple PR day.
The worst? Being pulled aside and lectured.
The best? Being pulled aside and lectured.
The quadrupe PR happenedunexpectedly and kinda sorta by accident. I showed up at the box with little energy, little enthusiasm, and a lot on my mind. But the whole “community” thing that some people refer to as a “cult” happened. Almost all my favorite people were at the box, and two guys I really like working with were FIRED UP!! Man it was infectious. Before I knew it I’d busted out a PR of 29 consecutive dubs. 29! Me? Really? Then it was dead lifts. Busted out a 10# PR and then went crazy and tried for a 60# PR. While I didn’t lift it, I did lift it off the ground. It actually cleared the ground for a dead move PR (I know, only I keep a PR for a dead move…). I was jumping around like a wildman. Then it was snatches. 12-9-6 of 115# snatches followed by OHS. I was doing the OHS with PVC, which is still hard for me. Anyway, the 115# went so easy I added ten, then ten more, then ten more, then ten more and kept adding. I was in the zone. I was destroying my PR, I was approaching the weight that would have won the Games for my age group. I was going to get the final five pounds that would win the Games, and then I got pulled aside and lectured. I wanted to get back to the bar. I wanted to crush another PR. It was the best day of lifting ever. I didn’t want to listen. I was in the zone. But I pay to be coached, in fact I pay to be coached by this specific guy at this specific box, so I stopped and listened. I didn’t want to. I wanted to keep going. While my victory sweat pooled at me feet I listened while he went on about beautiful houses being built on crappy foundations and houses collapsing into their basements and something about a bumble bee and something about a horse. I think my quadruple PRs were the beautiful house and my deteriorating or bad form was the foundation. I don’t know who the bumble bee was. So I stopped. Shut it down. And now, an hour later, it was probably just in time. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and maybe shutting it down and thinking about technique was a far far better thing to do.
I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be.
November 19, 2012
CrossFit, It Never Gets Easier!
Got a green band pullup? Great, gimme a red band pullup. Got a red band pullup? Great, gimme a no band pullup. Got a no band pullup? Great, gimme 5, then 10, then 21. Got it? Great, get ready for 21-15-9 of pullups and ring dips. Or back sqauts and push presses, or thrusters, or double unders, or kettlebell swings, or wall ball shots, or pushups, or burpees (OMFG). Got 21-15-9 of PU and RD? Great, get it under 5 minutes. Got it under 5 minutes? Great, give me a muscle up. And on and on and on. Got a 205 push press? Let’s work on getting 225. Got a 150 snatch? Let’s work on getting 175. Got a 35:34 Murph? Let’s work on getting under 30. Got a perfect split jerk technique? Great, start showing the next guy and helping the next guy and cheering for the next guy. It never ends, and it never gets easier.
I went back and I looked at the definition of CrossFit. There’s lots, but one of the first one I recall, and which I think is still valid is “that which optimizes fitness, comprising constantly varied functional movements performed at relatively high intensity.” Buried somewhere in those 14 words is “it never gets easier,” because as you move the bar on how hard you work, you have to work more and harder to attain “relatively high intensity”. It never gets easier. At least let’s hope not.
I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be….
November 16, 2012
One Thousand Downloads (Without Mentioning Patreaus or Broadwell)
Thanks everyone who took time out from watching the disgrace in Washington to download The Pattern. The story about the programmer who made a mistake while writing autopilot softwware had over 1,000 downloads in the the past three days. On another note, while writing Wounded Warriors, I thought I’d gone too far and made the story unbelievable. Now, having followed the four ring (star) circus that exists at the top of the military, maybe I didn’t go far enough. Perhaps Jesse and James have some more work to do….
November 13, 2012
Triple Free Day for eBooks on Amazon
Dear Friends,
I am asking for your help. Will you please consider reposting this, tweeting it, pinning it to Pinterest, mentioning it on Google+, and basically spreading the word any way you can via social media? Will you consider asking your friends to repost it? I have THREE books free today on Amazon.com.
G1.1 is a young adult, coming-of-age story about a girl who was bullied as a child. Now she is a world-class triathlete, but still haunted by the tormenting she endured as a child. In the book, she faces a crisis and must decide whether to become a bully, or to become an up-stander. This book is rated PG-13 for bullying-related violence and a few curse words.
The Topsail Accord is a contemporary romance where a damaged middle-aged woman meets a damaged middle-aged man on North Topsail Beach. They approach each other so cautiously that they may not be able to break through the barriers they have erected. This is not a Harlequin, it is a modern day “romance” that deals with people we all know. This book is rated R for adult language, adult themes, and adult behavior.
The Pattern is a technothriller about the outbreak of plane crashes in 1994. The story follows a programmer who makes a terrible mistake while writing autopilot software for airliners. He accidentally cuts and pastes some code from a video game into his work code! After telling his boss about the mistake, he is fired. This leaves Craig out there on his own to try to remedy the unfolding crisis. This book is rated R for adult language, adult themse, and adult behavior.
November 12, 2012
CrossFit Pheezy Veteran’s Day (Remberance Day)
Like Coach says, “There’s plenty of guys who’d rather be here doing this hero WOD…”
Three rounds for time (25:26) of: …
5 Front squat 165
18 Pull-ups
5 Deadlifts 225
18 Toes-to-bar
5 Push jerks 165
18 Hand-release push-ups
U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Philip P. Clark, 19, of Gainesville, Florida, assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, died on May 18, 2010, while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He is survived by his wife, Ashton, father Mike and stepmother Tammy, mother Rosmari Kruger, and brothers Tyler, Kyle and Ryan Nordyke.
