Notes from Robyn O.
“I am currently doing this Rickshaw Run! Two girlfriends and I are driving 3500 km across India over a span of two weeks to raise money for charity. Our charity is Made by Survivors, a non-profit organization that educates and employs survivors of slavery and other human rights abuses. We have already raised over $6000!
Basically, we showed up in India almost three weeks ago, had 1-1/2 days to learn how to drive this thing and we were off! Sputtering across India at a blazing 40 km-per-hour! The traffic is terrifying, but we have found our groove and are making progress while enjoying India and all of the lovely super, friendly people! All while averaging about three breakdowns a day. We have two more driving days left to make it to the finish line party. Wish us luck that we make it in time!”
GOOD LUCK, ROBYN!
CFSBK Closed Next Weekend
We are hosting Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength Seminar again and the gym will be closed next Friday night through Sunday night (4/25-4/27). But dry those teary eyes, friends! As an alternative, we’ll be offering some super fun off-location workouts for all our members adventerous enough to take their fitness outside the box. Stay tuned for more details!
Have you ever had a reoccurring dream?
Understanding Sleep for Optimal Recovery & Productivity Catalyst Athletics
In Defense of CrossFit T NATION
The Mental Life of Plants and Worms, Among Others The New York Review of Books
A Five Step Plan to Feed the World National Geographic
crossfitsbk@gmail.com says
Snatch
Fitness: Clean Segment Deadlift + Clean + Jerk
If you have a hard time organizing the pull off the floor then perform the clean from the mid-hang, after the clean segment deadlift.
Performance: Clean and Jerk 1-1-1, then 90% x 1 x 2
Work up to a heavy clean and jerk in 3 attempts, then perform 2 singles at 90% of today's best lift
_________________
Front Squat
Fitness: 3×5 LP
Start light enough to leave room to go up by 5-10 lbs for the next 5 weeks.
Performance: 70%x8x4
MattyChm says
When I was a kid I used to have this dream that a big scary giant was making me count tennis balls. There was a tiny room filled with these tennis balls and I couldn't get an accurate count because there was nowhere to put the balls I already counted. And I couldn't leave the room until I got the number right. Very traumatic.
Stella says
Cleans: a shit show. Not even going to talk about weights. At least today I just rolled with the punches — I have been known to lose my shit and actually cry over failed cleans, but today I just recognized that something, for whatever reason, was off, and that was that.
FSQ 135x8x4. Oh man, I had to work for it, even in the first set. Not that I ever thought I would fail, but in the second half of each set I found myself taking several breaths between reps instead of banging them out.
Accessory work: 28kg KB and hollow rocks (since I needed to get to work and I figured I'd be there all day if I did T2B). Glad I went heavy on the KB.
Linda says
6am with NickDowell. Came in to do Sat's work this morning since I'll be out of town tomorrow. I found it harder to get the bar moving this morning compared to last Sat at 10am. Worked up to 113#, and just tried to focus on form. Again got some great tips from McDowell and need to move the knees back so the bar doesn't swing out in front. He also suggested keeping my knees soft before going for the split jerk, which made a big difference right away.
FSQ – 135 x 3×5. These moved easy, so will probably move up 10#s next week. Cash out with the 24kg kb, but probably should've gone with 28kg in retrospect. Worked on knees to elbows in hopes of one day doing toes to bar.
Matt Cohen says
That National Geographic article + the interview with Whitney earlier this week + Margie's ongoing series about agriculture = a lot of my thinking about diet these days. (Some of that thinking had been out loud, as Coaches Noah, Fox, Jeremy, and McDowell will attest after our spirited discussion last week.)
I've found that adopting a paleo-ish approach to diet (the "-ish" is because I am unwilling to give up burgers, fries, and tacos entirely) has been really helpful in terms of putting a halt to my +2lbs/year bodyweight trend and maintaining energy levels during the day. But I'm increasingly convinced that while such a diet may be a solution to a lot of people's individual health issues, it isn't a feasible solution to anything at the global level. Because it doesn't seem possible for 7 billion people to eat 3 meals a day consisting of mostly animal protein.
So my thoughts these days have been along the lines of "if 'we' need to eat less meat, then *I* need to eat less meat." My baby step is to try to eat less beef, given that it's the most high impact environmentally. But I'm trying to explore other options as well. I bought one of Brendan Brazier's "Thrive Diet" books, which I'm finding useful as a resource for thinking about how to keep eating a high fat and high protein diet without relying quite so heavily on meat, eggs, and dairy (even though I have no interest in going full vegan or even vegetarian, and am pretty skeptical of some of his recommendations — macca root? chlorella? agave nectar?!). Cricket flour seems like an interesting possibility, though I'm not entirely sure what it is meant to replace in terms of a real diet: I like eating actual meals, ideally with other people, and the idea of embracing a dystopian "nutritional goop" future is pretty appalling.
I am curious what others' thoughts are on this. The coaches last week all jokingly (?) toed the Spencerian line, though I suspect that some of them (like me) are closet Kantians. So what are we to do if we want to "act only according to that maxim whereby we can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law"?
asta says
Climbing out of a well. I would always start in the same place and never be able to climb out before I woke up. I was always terrified of not making it out. I had this same dream for months as a kid, over and over and over. I finally climbed out of the well and saw swallows flying around and there was absolutely nothing else there. I never had the dream again.
Peter says
6am. Clean & Jerk: 225, 235F, 235, 210, 210. 10# less than last week, but I'm feeling a bit beat up after this week and only came in today because I can't make it tomorrow. Dipped and drived on the failure at 235, but never even attempted to get under it. Interesting experiment though, because with almost zero pressing from my arms the bar reached forehead height. The successful rep at 235 was a bit ugly on the jerk. Right leg kept wanting to turn out all morning. Front squats: 185x8x4. Already starting to feel sore from that.
Charlie says
Asta- awesome!
As a child I was petrified of wolves, real and imagined. I had a recurring nightmare in which I was being chase through the woods near my house by wolves. Now wolves are among my favorite animals.
I often dream of my teeth crumbling out one by one. It's always a relief to wake up from that and run my tongue along my teeth to make sure they are all still there. This has been recurring for about ten years.
Another one is that I am back in Ireland and nobody believes that I ever lived here and all of my things including my cat and husband are still here and I have no way of communicating with them.
Or I get stuck on the wrong side of immigration in Dublin airport and I am not allowed back here. That is probably the most realistic one!
Just back from an hour mobility session with Le Fox. Lots to work on and think about. Thanks Fox!
Great to see Gracie and Cass back in the gym today. Welcome back!
Fox says
I've had and continue to have a few recurring dreams. The one that impressions me the most involves running around the empty skeleton of an unfinished building with scaffolding around it. It's very high and kind of dark and cloudy, and people, some who I know and some who I don't, are yelling loudly at me from every direction. There's a loud echo of every sound. I'm not so much scared as disturbed during this and can't seem to get away or really go anywhere in the dream, I just keep trying to.
KMo says
I have recurring nightmares where I'm being chased under a variety of circumstances but where my pursuer is always trying to hurt or kill me. Often I'm trying to protect a loved one and/or I'm unable to move – like I'm in quicksand. I heard this awesome radio program on lucid dreaming (Radio lab probably) where this guy was able to cure his recurring nightmares by learning lucid dreaming. So maybe those of us who are plagued with recurring nightmares so try that and report back ๐
JakeL says
I have had a recurring dream for almost a decade now. I am either at the beach or the shore of a lake and there are waves. At first they are small, but they gradually grow bigger and bigger until they are enormous tidal waves that threaten to swallow me. I begin to run and the wave is behind me getting gaining in size. Buildings are collapsing around me but I keep running. Sometimes I am not even near a body of water, and in the distance I see a wave hundreds of feet high bearing down on me.
When I first started having this dream I was terrified. However the more often I had the dream the more I realized that the wave never broke and i began to enjoy them. I would watch the waves in awe (I have always been fascinated with huge waves) and even enjoy running from it, knowing I had these super powers of jumping from building to building. I still have these type of dreams now and then and when I do i usually know i am dreaming and I love them.
Margie says
@ Matt Cohen – I'd love to talk more about your musings, and likely will in the next post.
By the way, Jonathan Foley, author of the National Geographic article, is a big voice in the ag and climate change world. His institute does really important, holistic, global-scale modeling/mapping of ag impacts. I had the pleasure of hearing him speak to my grad class and I'm glad to read he's is more actively talking about pasture-based livestock production now.
mirandabogen@gmail.com says
I was going to come in at 7 but woke up exhausted and decided to try again later. Made it back at 10 with McDowell for snatch+front squat and I'm glad I did!
63×1
83×1
88×1
93×1
98×1
103×2 (PR!)
FSQ at 85x3x5. It felt good, but I really need to work on this if I want to keep progressing on the cleans.
After meeting with Fox a few weeks ago I switched up my diet to add more food-based protein (read: eggs and chicken–no vegetarian for me) and back off an overload on fruit, and so far it's been paying off, at least in terms of progress with lifts. I started doing some interval workouts on my own to add some cardio work, so ran intervals twice while I was out of town at gym without fun weights to drop. Hoping to do this more in the park as the weather gets nicer.
Whit H says
I used to have three different recurring dreams when I was a kid:
1. I'm a some sort of natural history museum or something. I'm walking through mostly on my own, but my brother is there with me and a few other people I know. At some point, shit starts to get weird. Dinosaurs come alive and start chasing people. General chaos and mayhem. Running, screaming. The most vivid part is when I'm running away on my own and escaping, I go past a giant (GIANT) crocodile head. Once motionless and agape, it is now chewing up my brother :-/
2. Giant tidal wave, similar to Jake's. I'm on the beach and suddenly it's just there. It's hundreds of feet high, dark and looming. I don't think I ever run. I'm just stuck in place staring at it in awe and fear. But, similar to Jake's … it never breaks. Had this dream well before I ever started surfing… and don't think I've had it since.
3. I also used to have an irrational fear of sharks. Like really irrational. I wouldn't be able to touch my hand to a page in a book or magazine if it had a picture of a shark on it. I also used to come running out of a pool if I suddenly got an image of a shark in my mind. Or I just wouldn't go into the pool, much less the deep end, in the first place. I trace this back to a recurring dream I had when I was a kid of being in a swimming pool, stuck in there with a bunch of sharks. And I think this was probably from watching Thunderball late at night as a kid.
Anyway… all things considered, the mind is powerful. Sometimes when I surf I get big hits of fear that a shark is going to come up from the deep and eat me, which is of course a much more realistic scenario than any of those dreams. But I figure if that's how I'm supposed to go, then so be it.
Lauren says
Great day. Why can't every day be a noon class day?
Performance C&J
Not great at 128, but the drop backs at 113 felt pretty special.
Cash out was a good challenge – 5 rnds of 10 kb swings 20kg American, 10 strict T2B straight legs
Lauren says
Forgot about front squat. 110x8x4
grace.leigh.d@gmail.com says
Guess who's BIZACK?….with training wheels on of course
Popped in today for a noon class with Lady Fox. Rocked the rope climb. It was lots of fun, and I surprised myself with reaching the top each time. Good to see that some of my upper body strength has stayed with me.
Did today's fitness WOD as a NFR. Good to be moving, but DAYUM am I out of shape.
excited to be back, puppy was happy to see everyone. I look forward to working hard and getting better.
recurring dream: senior year of college–final trimester–missing some unknown credit and not being allowed to graduate.
Alexncox@gmail.com says
Makeup post from yesterday
In the morning at home:
Warmup and dumbbell presses: 55lb dumbbells x 3 x 3
This is heavy for me but manageable. Trying to fit these in once a week to get more shoulder strength.
Later on: 6:30pm class with Whit and Ro
Some rope climbs: I think I'll have the hang of it (so to speak) if I practice a couple of times.
WOD Rx with no abmat, finished two reps shy of my eighth round. Was a lot of fun. HSPUs were the limiter, they started falling apart in the 5th round and I was doing singles by round eight.
katharinereece@gmail.com says
I didn't work out today or last night because work ate me alive, so, there's that. Also I'm doing Flex in the City tomorrow! Eep!
All of your dreams are fascinating. I've had a few different ones that reoccur over the years, and like Asta's, eventually something kind of climaxes and then I stop having them. Certain places still show up often (mostly the house in Montana I lived in the longest, always with the staircase missing and just a rope hanging to get from my room to the upstairs), along with people I've never met (and who don't exist). And for at least a decade starting whenever Jurassic Park came out, I dreamt that dinosaurs were taking over the tiny town of Bigfork where I lived. T. rexes and raptors would come barreling down the hill to our house. Pretty sure that kitchen scene with the kids gave me PTSD.
Also, if anyone sees this before 10pm and knows can make a GIF out of photos and would be willing to help me cobble something together, will you email me at katharinereece [at] gmail? I'll be your fan forever. ๐
Todd says
Lightish OG session and recovery squats:
High hang snatch double
40×1,1 50×1 55×1,1,1 60×1 65xM,1 67×1 70xM,1 (PR)
High hang clean – push jerk – jerk
50×1,1 60×1 70×1 75×1 80×1 85×1 90×1 92×1 (PR push jerk)
Hbbs
135×5 225×3 255x2x6
Weighted planks
45#x3x1:00
Glad to make it through these this week.
—
Recurring dreams:
From my childhood, I'd always have a nightmare that I was walking around where I grew up and I'd stumble upon my parents' van on the side of the road and somehow I knew it was my responsibility to get it home, even though I was like 8 and didn't know how to drive and couldn't reach the pedals.
More recently, dreams that I am back in high school but don't remember my locker number or combination or class schedule. Or back in college and I have a final for a class I haven't been to all semester.
Don't analyze me. ๐
Laura Mc says
OG tonight. Feeling super sore and beat up from the last few days, and felt like I wasn't totally tuned in tonight.
Started off with some practice for the upcoming mayhem in the meadowlands comp with Jess and Melo. 45# and 55# overhead walking lunges across the gym a few times. Then strategizing and practice with squats and speed benching and barbell maneuvering at 95#.
Clean and jerks: 83-113-143-153fff (failed twice on the clean and once on the jerk)
Kept landing the cleans in a weird too-wide power squat. Dropped to 113# to practice the jerk. Good tips from DO. Need to stay upright and tight on the dip and then land lower. Then 2 c&j at 133#. Jerks felt better but cleans not so good.
Front squats 123x8x4. This rep scheme makes me want to die.
I have a recurring nightmare that I'm in a post-apocalyptic world, hiding in a house or alleyway from the hordes (usually zombies, sometimes nazis, and occasionally just dinosaurs) who are searching for me to kill me. I always wake up in a cold sweat from those.
Back when I was waiting tables, I had a recurring nightmare that I was in the weeds, and that a table needed something but I didn't know what it was or how to get it to them. I would actually get up out of bed and sleepwalk around my apartment in search of something that I could bring to these angry customers. Really glad when that one stopped recurring.
Laura Mc says
@kate r – dinosaurs definitely featured prominently in many of my adolescent nightmares thanks to Jurassic Park and that kitchen scene in particular. Traumatizing.