J.T. Kalnay's Blog, page 21

CrossFit Winners

Lately I’ve taken on the role of a cultural anthropologist of CrossFit.  For the past two days, I was competing in and observing a Master’s CrossFit competition with age groups 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, and 50+ (I am 50+).  Here are my observations about the winners.  They can all do the gymnastics skills (e.g., muscle up, pistols, handstand pushups, handstand walks).  This takes strength, practice, and co-ordination.  A muscle-up is a learned skill.  They can all work near their redline for over four minutes, with one specimen actually being able to work near her redline for nearly five minutes.  The middle of the pack competitors seem to only be able to work near their redline for about two minutes, and the newbies around thirty seconds.  They are all strong on bodyweight exercises (e.g., pullups, burpees, toes-to-bar, ring dips), being able to do at least ten unbroken reps, and frequently twenty unbroken reps.  They are are very lean.  None of them are crazy-strong, but all of them can do the main lifts at least 10% over their body weight (e.g., 170 pound, 51 year old winner front squatted 205 pounds).  They all have the 170 pound wrestler build.  None were 240 pound football players and none were 150 pound marathoners.  They are all under 6′ tall (male winners around 5’8″, female winners around 5’3).  They were all able to run at about an 8 minute per mile pace, even after just completing a hard lifting AMRAP WOD.  They all had a super-power that no other competitor could touch, which enabled them to win at least one event.  For example, they could do ten unbroken muscleups, or they could lift well over their body weight, or they could do snatches with perfect form.  Their super-power was so super and so powerful that it took people’s breath away.  It was so strong that once revealed the athlete had a competitive advantage in every other similar event.  And here’s the one thing that really stood out: they are all very quiet, reserved, and dignified people.  There wasn’t a braggart or loud show-off in the bunch.  One possible explanation for this is that it is so hard to practice all the skills, takes so much discipline to eat to stay that lean, takes so much dedication to get to the box and work hard with the regularity required, and hurts so much to work near the redline day after day to keep moving how long you can work near the redline, that anyone who isn’t comfortable and proud of their own space simply cannot excel at this activity.

Thank you Friendship CrossFit in Columbus, Ohio for hosting the spectacularly-well run Master’s Championship this past weekend.  I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be…

Bacon, Bacon, Chicken & Steak

Day one Comp Menu?

Bacon for breakfast.  Bacon for lunch.  Chicken & Steak for supper.  Just in case anyone was wondering why I do CrossFit!

I wonder what tomorrow’s menu will be….

CrossFit Competition, Day One

Competitions reveal your weaknesses, that’s for sure.  They also reveal other things.  Like friends who travel three hours to watch you compete and to help you out.  Like fellow competitors who “get it” and who cheer for you in between their own competitions.  Like competition organizers and volunteers who do an amazing amount of work to set up and run the competition.  If only the comp could have gotten the license plate number of that truck that ran me over a few times, or a picture of the guy who injected concrete into my thighs after turning off the oxygen….

Day 1 Events and Results

AMRAP, 7 minutes, 115#, 4xDL, 8xHPC, 12STO, 3 rounds plus 17, 2nd place

rest 30 seconds

500m run, last place

Skills Ladder, completed 1 one minute goblet squat, 1 20 second bar hang, 1 30 second front plank, 1 30 second right plank 1 3o second left plank, 3 44# TGUs in one minute, 6 strict pullups in one minute, 4 ring dips in one minute, 5 44# KB OHS in one minute, 4 skin the cats in one minute, 1 20′ rope climb (20′ is INCREDIBLY longer than 12′…)  5th place

Chipper, 20 “shoot throughs”, 40 20″/10′ WBS, 20 “shoot throughs”, 20 53# KBS, 40 bar facing burpees( I got 23), 20 53# KBS (i hit the 12 minute cap during the burpees).  5th place

Push a sled loaded with 180″ 50 yards.  Crushed it.  Tied for first place.

Fifth place overall after day one.

Day two starts soon, with 10 minutes of work broken up as follows:

2 minutes max effort Toes to Bar

6 minutes to establish 5rm front squat (have to take it from the floor, not a rack)

2 minutes max effort 53# KB snatches.

I want to particularly thank Megan and Chris for travelling down to support Larry and Heath and Randy and me.  Your help was very welcome and very effective.

I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be…

First CrossFit Competition

This weekend I will travel to Columbus, Ohio to participate in a Master’s CrossFit competition.  They have a division for people over 50 (like me!).  Before hip replacement, triathlons, marathons, rock climbing, and mountaineering provided lots of excitement and challenges.  Since hip replacement, there’s been this gaping hole in the psyche of this once-upon-a-time athlete.  I am very lucky to have had patient and enthusiastic training partners (Tim), patient and enthusiastic coaches (Carl, Larry, Jason, Annie), and tolerant folks at the gyms (Jeff, Mike, Monte, R.E., V, Deb, Kim, Laurie, Sara, all the Corries, Kenny, Christopher, Jennie, Katie, Dawn, Greg, Jen, Karen, Katie, Randy, Shawn, Felicia, Antwant, Joe, Bill, and Jill).  I have been extremely blessed with a close friend who sat outside in the sun with me this week and just talked and listened and was the best friend a guy could have.  Thank you also to my family, especially my amazingly tolerant, patient, and accepting wife who has been through all this with me, and who always says “do whatever makes you happy and come back with a good story.”  Thanks everyone, I’ll try not to let you, or me, down this weekend.  I wonder what tomorrow’s WODs are going to be….

One out of ten drops out due to bullying

It’s national bullying prevention month.

http://cwru-daily.com/news/?page_id=186/community-postings/national-bullying-prevention-month/

I encourage you to talk to your children about handling bullying.

Hincapie Affadavit, Lance Armstrong & USADA

This affadavit is, to me, the smoking gun in the hand of the killer straddling the body.

George, I applaud your courage in finally coming out but cannot begin to describe how disappointed I am for your decade of deceit.

I am profoundly disapointed in myself for having believed in you.

Hincapie-Affidavit

Mysterious Trading Algorithm Infects Wall Street

This sounds like something right out of my book, The Trade (or maybe The Pattern).

http://www.cnbc.com/id/49333454

 

CrossFit, Don’t Poke Bears With Sticks

There are certain words that CrossFitters just don’t want to hear.  These include, for example, Fran, Fight Gone Bad, Nasty Girls….  Well today we added one to my list: Bear Complex.  My close friends know where the scar is from the bear attack.  Now everyone at CTown CrossFit knows what it feels like to be run over by this WOD.  We did 5 rounds of 7 bear complexes (power clean, front squat, push press, back squat, back push press).  If you were really feeling good, you could do power clean, front thruster, back thruster).  Either way.  Did I mention that after each round you got one minute of rest?  Oh yeah, during that minute you were supposed to ADD WEIGHT to the bar.  WTF??  Are you kidding?  Adding weight after 14 thrusters is just like poking a bear with a stick.  At the time it might seem like fun or an adventure, but the problem is that the sleeping bear might just wake up!  I’d like to report something clever like “Bear Complex woke up my sleeping animal…” or transcendental like “Bear Complex aroused my spirit totem.”  But that’s not what happened is it?  Nope.  Bear Complex just kicked my *ss.  I wonder what tomorrow’s wod will be…

Federal Reserve Direction

I encountered this street sign while walking past the Federal Reserve today.

Really? I can only use those two streets?

Apparently, if you get this close to the Federal Reserve, you are subsequently only allowed to walk on one of two streets.  Don’t even think about walking down to Lakeside or up to Euclid.  It’s Superior or St. Clair for you!  I’m curious about what this sign says about society.  The sign could have said “sidewalk closed” and assumed that pedestrians would have found a way around.  Or the sign could have side “sidewalk closed, Superior and St. Clair are available,” which would have left the pedestrian the option to choose one of those two streets, or even other streets (e.g., Lakeside, Theresa Ct., Euclid, Vincent).  But, the sign didn’t just announce the problem (sidewalk closed) or provide alternatives.  Instead, it dictated the only two streets you were allowed to walk on.  So, just on principle, I reversed my path and took a different route.  Yes, I’ve been waiting for the secret police for the rest of the day…

Back in Ohio

I actually get to be home this week after (and before) so much travel.  Have been to Canada, Minnesota, and the Pacific Northwest in the past three weeks.  Am going to Dublin, and California in the next two weeks.  Busy, busy, busy.  It’s been excellent to see so many great people and places.  Thanks to everyone whose been buying the books, I really appreciate it.  You might like to know I’ve started on The Crooked River, a story about a man who moves to Cleveland from New York after the LIRR shooting and WTC bombing.  He takes over a tugboat business that subsequently goes broke.  He’s a little crazy, so he busts out a shovel and decides to straighten out the Cuyahoga River.  Part boy meets girl(s), part social commentary, part political commentary, it’s kinda all over the place right now, but the characters are definetly taking form.  Am hoping for a new year’s eve release.