Viva CrossFit Las Vegas!

It's probably not an entirely healthy thing that one of the things I was most looking forward to about my first ever trip to Vegas was the chance to try out the CrossFit there.

CrossFit Las Vegas has a pretty sweet facility, probably about 5000 square feet. (Pictures later, once they're downloaded). The clientele that I saw there was a lot less demographically varied than what we have at CrossFit Regina. Most seemed to be in their 20s and 30s, and all seemed to be starting at a reasonably good level of fitness. Everyone was very welcoming and patient with me when I asked to take a few post-WOD group photos.

I was told they have around 130 members, which surprises me, given how big Las Vegas is, and this is the only official CrossFit affiliate there that I know of. Does everyone else train MMA or something?

The owner, Zach, definitely knows what he's doing and ran us through a good warm-up, which included a breakdown of each component of the squat clean. I liked this because when the time came to lose the PVC and pick up the actual weight, it seemed like second nature.

The workout was five rounds, for time, of
9 Hang Squat Cleans - 135lb is the rx'd weight, though I did 115.
7 Handstand Pushups - Most people used an abmat or two, I managed to do it to the floor with kipping HSPU.

11:00 was my time.

I am very much looking forward to going back, and any CrossFitters who pass through Vegas without stopping in for a workout are really going to be missing out.

Plus, doing a CrossFit workout helps relieve some of the buffet-and-beer-related guilt that Vegas begets.

Painstorm XXXVII

As many rounds as possible in 30 minutes of:
100 M run
10 Hang Power snatch/Lunge/Lunge 75lbs
10 Pull ups

The "Painstorm" series of workouts started in the UK when a bunch of CrossFitters from different places gathered - some of whom had travelled quite a distance - and wanted to do something that wouldn't be over in 10 minutes. So, basically, they're designed to be really tough.

The HPS double lunges was the hardest of the three exercises. Not so much the snatch part, as it was only 75lbs. However, the holding it overhead while you go down for the lunges was killer on the shoulders.

My result was 7 rounds, plus the 100m run, plus 9 more HPSLLs. I managed to tie Darcy L. -aka "D3" - which doesn't happen very often.

Oh, and my car wouldn't start today, so as I was waiting for the cab, I did 45 salt bag thrusters. Then I got to CFR, I did another 10 wall ball as part of my warmup, and 34 more (lost a race to 30 against TallTerry) at the end. So I've got today's WB done, plus an extra one.

"Summer in the City"

"Summer in the City" Chipper:

For time:
Buy in of 500m row
20 Wall Ball
30 Burpees
40 Pull-ups
50 Bell Swings -55lb
60 Abmat Situps
70 Box Jumps - 20"
Buy out of 500m row

Time, as rx'd: 21:27. Spent most of the workout trying desperately to stay ahead of Chris T, which would normally be out of the question, but he did a workout called "Three Bars of Death" yesterday so he was pretty worn out from that.

Prediction: Franz will get sub 18 minutes on this one.

Oh, and I did another 75 wall balls, which totals 95 for the day. Since I did today's quota last night, I'm gonna say these are for Monday. Now I just have to do tomorrow's and Sunday's, and then I can coast on the 400 I have banked until Saturday.

Harlan plans on doing 1,000 WB today. 10 per minute for 100 minutes. He was going to start this morning, but slept in, so he's going in this afternoon. I sure hope someone takes pictures and, more importantly, is there to call 911.

Self-Sabotage; New "Harley" PR; F**king Wall Balls

I have a knack for self-sabotage. This morning, I hopped on the electronic scale and saw 174.9.

Getting under 175 once seemed like a pipe dream, considering my weight was at one point north of 210.

Today wasn't the first time I've been that low. These days, I normally range from between 175 to 179. But every time I dip below 175, it's a reminder that a big goal of mine has been achieved.

And then I go and pig the fuck out.

It's not a conscious decision. It just seems to work out that way. Today, at a staff BBQ, I consumed three hot dogs (one bunless; the others were, uh, bunful), plenty of potato chips, a couple of two-bite brownies and a couple of generous chunks of rice krispie cake. And a Diet Pepsi.

To make matters worse, I followed that up with a medium Chocolate Xtreme Blizzard from DQ. It was a charity thing and had been ordered on Tuesday, but I still ate every last bit of it.

So, even though I'm going to CrossFit tomorrow, I headed out to the garage for a little penance tonight.

First, I thought I would go for max pull-ups. I got 20! That's only one less than my PR at CrossFit Regna, and three more than my previous "Harley" max.

Then I did tomorrow's walballs, 92.

4 x 800m Sprints

I think defining this as a sprint, especially at the pace I use, stretches the definition of the word.

3:07
3:09
3:15
3:18

Plus 91 f**king wall balls.

F**king Salt Bag Thrusters

It's Day 90 of the Wall Ball Challenge. Instead of actual wall balls, I did 90 salt bag thrusters (the official subtitute) for time.

4:54. It was sets of 30-13-17-15-15.

Pictures of "Harley"

Two four-foot tall metal triangles are hung from my 12 foot ceilings, anchored into a pair of boards laid across four joists, allowing it to hold a lot of weight.

A bar with a diametre of 1.5 inches is inserted through the loops at the bottom of the triangle, and secured into place via bolt.


Harlan secures the boards to the joists.


And the fun begins. Harlan and I both jumped on it, which is about 440lbs total, and the thing didn't even budge.

Have I mentioned yet how much I love my big German CrossFit life partner?

Pull-ups

I got 16 in a row on my garage bar, "Harley" since I learned to adjust my grip on the fly.

I did 21 consecutive at CFR, so I finally got that monkey off my back.

F**king Wall Balls

I owed for Saturday, Sunday, and today. Hell, let's throw in tomorrow's, too. That's 345, so let's round up to 350.
F**k.

Harlan joins me. He hasn't done any for a week. He does 450 and is still behind.

Serves him right for making me tap out on my own trampoline on Saturday.

4055

According to the Wall Ball Template that TallTerry created, people up-to-date in the Wall Ball Challenge have done 3570 so far. I've done up until tomorrow's, which is 3655, plus the 400 in the Wall Ball Vacation Bank.

4055. By the end, we will have needed to do 5050, so I've got less than a thousand to go.