June 30, 2009

Not quite there

Rachel and I did the 2nd Renaissance this morning but I wrote it on the board incorrectly.  I left off the 50 jumping pullups and the 25 double unders...no wonder I did it 14 minutes.  The Bear Complex at the end was awful.  I came to my senses in the afternoon and fixed it...well, when Alex pointed out the error to me. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 10:11 p.m.

June 29, 2009

Fast Day

Road Rage first and Alex ate that one up.  Lisa wanted to go again.  Brandon did it with the big tire and still had a stellar time.  Uma followed and as usual the length of time does not beginto portend the level of suffering...unless of course you come to understand that short = hurt. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 7:30 p.m.

June 28, 2009

Stairmaster Change

The Stairmaster crown returns to the fellas but Lisa put all but Alex to shame.  Her 18:42 wholloped Alex's previous 19:11 but he improved to a scalding 18:11 today and Derek improved by 3 minutes.  My efforts on the stairs are as successful as the Gremlin, TARP money and Obama campaign promises.  Colin had a brilliant retort to my wailing wall of complaints as I struggled along in misery, "This is why they have rest days."  Excellent observation and one I should try out.  Brenda ran 4 miles with a sneaky 1000 feet of elevation change very well hidden int the terrain.  She's got her eyes on the Grand Columbian long course race in September that she is going to prepare for.  Something spilled on the floor of the Suburban and Brenda gave me a very alarming response to my offering of napkins from Frisko Freeze to clean it up..."Oh this is way beyond napkins sweetie."  Way beyond napkins.  The way beyond part of that has great workout name potential. 

I've had my fill of the stairs for today, I've gotten my double cheeseburger and hot fudge shake, I need a shower and a nap and I'll be ready to start my day. 

Sheri, Brandon and Andy in the afternoon and all three did different workouts. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 11:55 a.m.

June 28, 2009

Saturday the 27th

Brenda and I went off to Dupont to meet up with the South Sound Trithletes tri club for a group ride and found that for my 2nd ride of the year riding with a bunch of A-type racers...even those recovering from races just a week ago, is a mistake...well, a mistake for those not wanting to hack up a lung.  I also learned that Brenda can still beat me like an ugly red headed stepchild with Tourettes, club feet and bad hygeine the moment there is the slightest measurable bit of upward elevation gain.  I am a total weanie on hills...except for downhills, gravity works on me just fine.  We went 30 miles and averaged 16 mph though I saw a lot of 24 mph time on my bike computer tucked in behind the fast guys who seemed bent on making my legs or lungs explode. 

Colin tore up Helen in 8:56 for his best time ever and Mike spent 46 minutes in the clutches of Brenda.  Tomorrow we are doing a stair trip again but unless I have a truly miraculous leg recovery by 10:00 tomorrow morning (it is about 12:30 am right now and I limped when I got out of my car) I am going to be hard pressed to hang with anyone.  I really do want a Frisco Freeze double cheese burger and a hot fudge shake though and a trip thorugh the stairs is the entry fee for that treat.

Posted by Eugene Allen at 12:27 a.m.

June 26, 2009

Traffic Control

Spent the day in UP directing traffic for a construction company that was putting in a gas main for the city.  It wasn't even hot and I was hot and sucked dry a 100 oz Camelbak.  It is not difficult for me to resist going to work in Phoenix or Las Vegas.  But it's a dry heat they say.  Right, I'm sure it's pretty dry in a smelter too.  I wonder if I should grow me a mullet. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 6:45 p.m.

June 25, 2009

Ouch

Morning class was Corey, Linda, Rachel and Phil and they all went after the Hot Gait.  Just before class Alex, Lance, Brenda, Danielle and I ran the stairs and Alex churned out the top time for us all at 19:11.  When we told Lisa in the afternoon she said she had to go back and beat him stamping her intentions on the affair by saying,"It's on."  The combination of finishing the stairs at 3:30 and starting Thermopylae at 4:45 or so is enough to make you question your sensibility. 

Jennifer Block is a local triathlete who did a couple Ironman races last year and is going to do Coeur de Alene next year.  She showed up today and almost plowed me under in Thermopylae.  We both said that we would not have gone as hard as we did if not for the other. I was a tiny bit better on the jumping dips and a few steps in front of her on the run.  That's all I had. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 8:30 p.m.

June 24, 2009

Unholy Alliance (L)

Holy cow, Unholy Alliance was a killer.  Everyone that did this thinks that the workout ought to be an Epic.  I agree.  The Epic definition is not just a workout that is brutally long (in excess of 45 minutes) but also just plain brutal.  Unholy Alliance is definatley just plain brutal. 

A message from Colin:

I ran the stairs in 20:54 today! My buddy Mango got 18:45, I had a feeling he'd show me up.

Posted by Eugene Allen at 8:01 p.m.

June 23, 2009

Root Canal

Some signs can be so, well, revealing. 

Brenda did a 13 mile ride, got a Root Canal and then rode 7 more miles.  Most of us did the brutal Root Canal and most of us were miserable throughout.  Gwen used 185 for the deadlift.  Lisa smoked me on the stairs, Gwen used tha same DL weight as me and you should see Rachael do back extensions (she can get her body 90 degrees to her legs) and the most amazing back bend.  Don't get me started on little Sammie.  I need to recruit slower, weaker people.  Maybe pregnant women, maybe I can still beat them.

Posted by Eugene Allen at 9:11 p.m.

June 22, 2009

Helen's Absolution

Scott's back.  He has been busy with his own schooling and also coaching Lacrosse and going to Jamaica to come smoke us in the gym.  He has kept up his training though as his Helen time reveals and he even brought one of his Lacrosse youngsters, Colby, and he had a good go with Helen too.  While I was sleeping Brenda snuck out and got a Finger in The Eye in just under a half hour.  Ben had the best dance with Helen finishing in 8:23. 

Next Stair date.  The next stair trip will be Thursday afternoon at 3:00.  Anyone that wants to carpool can meet at the gym at 2:30.  This will give us enough time to do the stairs and still be back at the gym in time for the workout. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 3:49 p.m.

June 21, 2009

The Stairmaster

Lisa told us she had never done the stairs before.  We are suspicious.  We are pretty sure she has been sneaking out to the stairs several times a week.  We are thinking that mostly because we don't like the idea that she just walks on and on-sights the whole bowl in under 20 minutes first time out.  She was hoping for 25 then she smoked ua all.  After the stairs we ran a lap then lunged the length of the football field.  Then we did 4 x 100 on the minute and after that lunged the length of the field again.  Killer. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 4:03 p.m.

June 21, 2009

Cascades Duathlon

Brenda did a 40k bike 10k run duathlon in Enumclaw starting from Nolte State Park.  Took her 2:17:30 and she was 3rd in her age group, 4th overall and had the 2nd fastest bike time amongst the women.  Great first race with minimal endurance training. 

I'll have to be reminded what else what else went on today.  It's Saturday as I make this entry and we did the stairs today, I hardly remember my name. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 3:56 p.m.

June 19, 2009

Friday

Post stair day workout with Danielle and Brendan doing Heavily Armed and the rest of the crowd opting for The Big Dripper, so named for how much you sweat when you do it.  Sheri had the quote of the day when I asked her what her time was when she held up one finger (index in this case) and huffed, "I'm breathless".  What a great name for a workout.  Sheri is still waiting for "I threw up in my mouth" which is another of her quotable quotes.  

Posted by Eugene Allen at 8:31 p.m.

June 18, 2009

Off to the Stairs

Sean is a pilot friend of Ben's and he stomped us all.  Alex had a great day too and went under 20 while Ben was the only other that made it under 21.  With Jennifer gone it was up to Danielle to share the love.  On set 14 Danielle let me know how happy she was to be there, how much she cares for me, you know, "I hate you Gene."  That's not what she really meant though...it's code.  After we finished the stairs we started at one end of the football field and lunged our way to the other.  That was miserable.  Upper body tomorrow for sure. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 8:55 p.m.

June 17, 2009

A Runny 300 (E)

It was Epic day but everyone turned in a sub-Epic time for the workout so I'm going to have to move this one from the Epic board to the Long board.  Lisa did a great job as usual but the real contest was between Ben and Brandon.  Brandon was faster with the lifts but had to walk part of at least one run and that was Ben's opportunity.  Not one to lay down and die Brandon kicked it in and though Ben was in the gym first Brandon was right on his heels and in the door in the same time.  Though nobody liked it while they were doing it the 60 lb sandbag get up was quite a hit. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 8:30 p.m.

June 16, 2009

Pre-Epic

Epic tomorrow so today needed to be a quickie...or as it turned out, several differnt quickies.  We are doing a Runny 300 tomorrow and then on Thursday we are meeting at Stadium HS to do the stairs.

Alex did some band runs and made up a great leg killer of a workout consisting of 40 Air Squats, 40 Wall Ball shots and 40 Box Jumps.  It took him 7:28 and I think I will put that on the short board with 50 reps each.  No name in my head yet.

Posted by Eugene Allen at 7:35 p.m.

June 15, 2009

Oww. Damn. Drop the bar.

So there I was wrestling 2 bears, a T-Rex and Mothra.  It was really quite an epic battle and when Mothra threw me at one of the bears I caught a knee in the back and that's how I hurt myself.

Yeah, that's it, that's the ticket. 

OK, Grace with 125 on the 29th rep.  I tweaked my lower back at the belt line between my hip bone and my spine on the right side.  Hurts when I tilt my pelvis forward as if to put that nice arch in my back.  Not a bad tweak I don't think, should just be out of sorts for a couple days.  I hope. 

Phil came back and cranked out a 3:28 but had 20 in under 2 minutes...still strong but his endurance has waned a bit.  Brandon won the day with 2:23 but I was most impressed with Alex who did 125 in 3:57 which was way faster than me.  Colin did Vest of Tribulation yesterday which has 160 push presses in it so he did a squat workout instead.  Then after watching Ben, BIG Ben crank out some very nice looking muscle ups, Colin mumbled how he just couldn't do it and kept getting stuck at the transition and POW he throws down and does a very nice muscle up with ease.  He didn't expect it to happen and he did it easily.  Then to be sure it wasn't a fluke he did it again and said, "You're right Ben, it is all about technique." 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 6:51 p.m.

June 14, 2009

Sunday

Lance and Alex ran the stairs today then did 100 yards worth of lunges and more lunges up the big benches of the stadium.  Their legs were trashed so they did some bench and overhead work.  Lisa tore up D2I and Colin founc much discomfort when he put on the Vest. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 9:09 p.m.

June 14, 2009

Saturday June 13th

Overachiever Brenda did a 33 mile bike ride in the morning and Overachiever Colin did a 2.5 mile run before their meeting with the Infidel.  Brandon and Sheri joined them but I was gone because some guy on a motorcycle left the roadway and took on a tree.  He lost.

Posted by Eugene Allen at 12:05 a.m.

June 14, 2009

Friday June 12, 2009

Posted by Eugene Allen at 12:01 a.m.

June 11, 2009

Thursday June 11th

Rachael in the morning doing FRA while Brandon was Rudely Awakened.  He didn't write down his time but it was 21 something.  In the afternoon Brenda went across the street to the track with Emily to do the Green Mile and some running to help Emily prepare for an upcoming 5K.  I cranked out a hilly 5 mile ride on the CT and then did FRA with Colin and Lisa.  Lisa is becoming very difficult to beat with aerobic and bodyweight movements.  Were it not for the pullups she would have beaten me.  Orlando had the top time though in spite of being very slow with his pullups.  He was so fast on the run and the other exercises he beat us all. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 9:37 p.m.

June 10, 2009

That Thing Was Huge

Allow me to set the scene:  Josh and Emily 1 come to the gym to visit a bit since Josh is dong the Sound to Narrows on Saturday and Emily worked out in the morning.  He likes it at the gym.  Gwen had just finished Vest of Tribulation and greeted Emily, "Hi, I haven't seen you and that big butt in a long time.  That thing was huge." 

Josh must have been thinking what I was thinking, "Here we go.  Emily is going to throw down.  We got us a brawl brewing."  Emily said, "Umm...thanks?"  Maybe it was a sideways compliment, maybe she was saying, "Your butt used to be huge like this, (she held her hands wide apart) and now it's not."  As it turned out what she said was mutt, not butt and she was talking about Titan the Labradoodle that she brought to the gym a few times.  That thing WAS huge.  We all had a good laugh about that one when we told Gwen what we thought she said. 

Matt picked a bad morning to do heavy presses with 225...he did Vest of Tribulation today but I'm betting his shoulders were a bit knackered from the heavy work.  Colin had a great time with Rude Awakening, that one suited him well. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 8:50 p.m.

June 9, 2009

Vest of Tribulation

Josh swam with me this afternoon before our we got our Vest on, and he was having a rather aggressive confrontation with the water with just about every stroke.  But, he got better and became much smoother and more efficient as we went through our drills.  He wants to get into triathlon races so we are working on his swim.  The Vest was very demanding with the push presses being the hardest part by far.  Brenda ran a 5k and then later did a 25 mile bike ride.

Posted by Eugene Allen at 6:50 p.m.

June 8, 2009

Smashed Fingers

Smashed Fingers.  That sounds like a good workout name.  But this time it is a description of Corey's fingers because he had a bit of a gravity + large rock incident.  On the calendar was Fran but he was unable to close his hand or pull so that left thrusters and pullups out.  We mulled over a few things and came up with Ivan the Terrible but changed the 100 singles to 50 double unders, 40, 30 and so on descending with the other reps.  After that Corey did 100 benches with 135 in 6:21...that's 2 mintues faster than I could do 50.  He thought 100 was the number, missing entirely that we did only 50.  He did 40 in the first minute.  Emily got her kip on and was working it after the workout.  She'll have her chin up over that bar in no time.  Oh...Rachel did 2 handstand pushups with me holding her ankles and walked over to the bench, took 135 off the rack and did half a rep.  I thought it was cool that she just yarded it off the rack and lowered it to her chest without hesitation. 

My legs are sore.  The bowl made me really sore.  I was demonstrating the One Leg Stand during a DUI arrest last night and I winced while standing on one foot.  Fortunately the driver was too drunk to notice that I was under the influence of CrossFit. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 3:31 p.m.

June 7, 2009

Stairway to (somewhere other than) Heaven

Lance, Jennifer, Alex, Kyle and Sarah (the entire Milton Clan) invited me along for a trip to Stadium HS for a meeting with the stairs.  The HS has a bowl around the football field/track that has 21 sets of stairs with as many as 60 and as few as 55 steps per set.  It is a concrete bowl that is pretty steep and not friendly to a fall.  Running the stairs means to do the entire bowl by running up and then down each of the 21 sets of stairs as quickly as possible.  Our times were Eug 20:25, Alex 21:31, Lance 25;30 and Jennifer 46:30 with several time outs to curse my name...though I reminded her that she brought me to the stairs.  Back at the gym Lance and Alex got a wild hair and set out to do 100 benches with 135 for time.  Lance had already done 20 before they came up with the idea and 30 or so reps into the 100 he thought 50 sounded better.  Lance did it in 6:40, Alex in 10:33 and I made it through in 8:03.  We just didn't want to do anything with our legs.  They added some power cleans and got up to 155 for reps. 

Brenda went out to Gig Harbor for the Penninsula Century which also had a 44 mile route that she turned into 48 when she missed a Dead Henry which is what the painted roadway markings are called.  She did it in 3:18 and did 5,251 feet of climbing and almost the same amount of descending...I wouldn't have minded the descents.  Brenda is a much better climber than me.  I work really well with gravity on my side. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 8:53 p.m.

June 6, 2009

Colin Sweats

Brenda went in early and did Nancy on her own to test out her legs.  She went light as she has a 40 or 60 mile bike ride tomorrow.  Colin did Freefall and finally broke a sweat.  I was worried he had no sweat glands.  Brenda stayed and accompanied Danielle through Ivan the Terrible with jump rope, air squats, lunges and situps.  Allister did Linda in 27 and a little bit and I set up the new rack, bar and metal plates I got from a guy up in Lynnwood.  Craig's list rocks. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 6:20 p.m.

June 5, 2009

Haz Mat Done

Rachael's knee is bugging her so squats are out.  She did 5 rounds of 20 pullups, 30 pushups and 40 situps in 36:06.  Valuable those knees are.  While she was doing that I was at Boeing Field finishing a week long Hazardous Materials Technician course.  I am a trained Haz Mat tech.  Next time I see an over turned tanker truck with some toxic goo flowing out of it, I can look at the placard on the truck and know what it is I am running away from screaming like a girl. 

Ben and Sheri and than Lance and Alex did Freefall this afternon while Lisa, Derek and I did KB Workout B which is a bunch of various KB lifts like the walking DARC swing, swing flips, presses, push presses, snatches and the like and the workout Swing Dancing. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 9:53 p.m.

June 4, 2009

Freefall

Hot day today, well for here, it was 80 in the gym and we all really had quite the lather worked up with this workout.  Even though he used more weight I just couldn't keep up with Matt.  He is much stronger and his endurance is good too.  Matt is a senior at West Point and is here doing training with the SF guys at Ft. Lewis.  He's about 200 lbs and maybe 5' 5" tall, maybe 5' 6".  He runs fast, lifts heavy and has great endurance.  Tough to beat for sure. 

Brenda and Emily ran in the morning prepping for a 5k Emily wants to run soon.  They did an 800 in 4:34, then another one in 4:37.  Then a mile in 9:12 and two more 800's in 4:54 and 4:31. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 8:17 p.m.

June 4, 2009

Let's Party

Matt and Grant locked horns today with Party with the Girls and the lighter Grant with the same weight as Matt hung tough but was edged out by 13 seconds.  Great effort by both of them and everyone else with a difficult workout. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 4:33 a.m.

June 2, 2009

The 400

Ow.  Just, Oww. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 7:44 p.m.

June 1, 2009

Blackjack and The Green Mile

Blackjack was first today and Brandon beat us all and Orlando was last.  Then we did The Green Mile and Brandon moved toward the bottom and Orlando was first.  Just for fun I added the two times together and the Ben - Josh fight was a real interesting one.  Ben did 9:26 and Josh 9:28 for Blackjack then during The Green Mile Josh did 13:21 and Ben did 13:23.  Go ahead, do the math.  They both got 22:49 and both came in 3rd.  Brandon was 2nd in 22:23 and Lance whooped us all with a very impressive 20:29.  I was 4th in 22:54, Stuart was 5th in 24:27, Derek was 6th in 25:05, Colin was 7th in 23:23, Danielle 8th in 25:29 and Orlando was 9th in 30:08. 

Way to go Lance. 

Posted by Eugene Allen at 7:17 p.m.