Sorry for the delay in getting these posts up guys….it has been a hella crazy past few days.

For those of you following along at home, the workout yesterday was a doozey!

400m run

3-6-9-12-15 Ball Slams

15-12-9-6-3 Pull-ups

400m run

Essentially, after the first run, you’d alternate back and forth between ball slams and pull-ups, and then end with another run. No need to run between every round….that’s FAR too much running!

Strength work yesterday was single rep max on cleans. Audra, Mark M. Lean Jeanne, EJ, Chris Sutter, Brian A., Taryn, Scott and Charlie all set new clean PR’s.  Now, looking back at the picture from yesterday, you wouldn’t even know that Charlie participated in the clean strength work….because he’s a workout ninja. He doesn’t write his numbers on the board. I’ll let you know that he cleaned 106 kg’s like it was NOTHING! Good work Charlie,  you sneaky ninja!

Friday night was a great night. Want to know why? Well, despite the fact that Charlie cleaned 106 kg’s, our September ramp-up went through their last class together! It was the most fun ramp-up I’ve had in a long time. They laughed at all my jokes! J Ok, they were fun for other reasons too. Prepare for 10 new faces at the Fort! Make sure to introduce yourself, and help out our newest CrossForters so that they feel at home.

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EXCITING NEWS! Kirsten got her very first pull-up yesterday! She has been thiiiiis close for a couple weeks now, and she has been practicing diligently both before and after classes. Congrats Kirsten! Your hard work paid off!

The workout yesterday was

12:00 AMRAP
5 handstand push-ups
7 body rows
9 box jumps

Amazingly, we had a LOT of people get 12+ rounds, and Pete somehow managed to get 16 full rounds! WOWZA!

The strength work for those of you following the “general” programming was overhead squats 3-3-3-1-1-1. Trish, Season, EJ, Taryn, Dr. Kathy, Sarah, Neil, Brianna, Heath, Kim and Amanda all set a new single rep max yesterday! Great job you guys!

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Most of you are pretty good at burpees. And by "pretty good" I don't mean that you're lightning fast. I mean that you are able to execute the movement with good form, and without risking bodily injury to yourself or those around you. Know who hasn't always been good at burpees? My buddy Brian A. There was a time not too long ago (like, yesterday morning) that he wasn't able to do burpees because he got too dizzy. When you're as determined to finish a workout as Brian is and you're dizzy, now what that means is you're crashing into the floor over and over. For a long time we didn't have Brian do burpees because it was too hazardous for him, so when he came last night, I was prepared to have him substitute ball slams for burpees in this little workout:

7:00 AMRAP
15 calories row
15 burpees

I casually mentioned the ball slams, and he casually mentions back that he was going to try burpees. Much to my amazement, he went through the entire workout doing nice, controlled burpees! Hooray for getting better at burpees! Good job, Brian!

Hannah was playing DJ at the 6PM class last night. She brought in her ipod, and much to my chagrin her whole ipod is full of dance music.  Just a little tidbit for ya...

We have lots of fun stuff going on this weekend! Saturday is Fight Gone Bad 5, and we'll be having heats from about 9AM - 11:30AM. Anyone and everyone is welcome to participate in this amazing workout!

Saturday night is our Girl's Night In starting at 4PM. If you haven't already done so, can you pop over to the event page and RSVP for me? I need a head count so I can make sure there is enough wine.

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Yesterday we put everyone through 2 rounds of fight gone bad. The idea was to go at a pace that was 75% of your score from the other day when we did 1 round at max effort. I think Wild Bill might be onto something here. Round 1 wasn't too bad, but round 2 was definitely hard. I don't know about you guys, but if I maintain that 75% pace for the first 2 rounds, and then give just a little more effort in round 3, I'm going to PR by 10 reps. The temptation is to come out of the gates like a MANIAC, but if you get 35 wall ball shots in your first round, you're probably going to bonk. Let's give this pacing a try!

The evening classes had to scramble around when a HUGE storm blew in right as I called 3, 2, 1, GO. Thank you to Ryan the Lion for helping us get the rowers into the front room of the Fort so they didn't get destroyed by the water.

I have some VERY exciting news! Ryan Fain has reached a very big milestone....as of this morning he has lost 100 pounds since starting at CrossFit Fire and following Bill's nutrition advice!! That's 100 pounds in 20 weeks! WOWZA! He has been keeping track of his progress with pictures, and we'll definitely be posting them to our testimonials section, but we'll wait until the conclusion of the Better Body Challenge III before we do that. Congratulations to Ryan for all your hard work!

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Maybe at some other gyms you'll be finishing your birthday workout solo, but not at CrossFit Fire! Yesterday was Brian Smith's birthday and Tommy Mo offered up a little extra encouragement.

Not surprisingly, Brian wanted to run on his birthday. I won't actually say the name of the workout that he chose out loud...it's kind of like that spooky spirit in Harry Potter...don't speak its' name! I'll just let you know that the workout that shall not be named had 2 miles of running in it! Yeesh!

In order to ensure that Brian safely made it back to his car, we decided to switch up the workout a little bit, and just do "Helen" instead.

3 rounds of
400m run
21 kettle bell swings
12 pull-ups

Just for a little perspective on my next statement, let's reverse back to July of this year. Kristan Clever is currently the reigning CrossFit Games champion for the ladies. She has the fastest female Helen time on record within the CrossFit community. Her Helen time is 8:45...Ok, now we're back to yesterday. Ivy did Helen yesterday in 9:20. 9:20!! That's blazing fast, and darn near as fast as the fittest woman on Earth! WAY.TO.GO! We expect to see sub 9:00 next time. TINY POWER!

Congrats to all the other deadlift and Helen PR's! Lean Jeanne, Katie, Matt S. and Taryn all rode the deadlift PR train!

Happy Birthday Brian! Here's a high-five for you!

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I don't own a gym. Sure, there are weights, rowers, barbells and medicine balls....but it's not a gym. When I unlock the door, turn on the lights, and press play on the iPod, I'm not just opening a business, I'm setting the stage for CrossFit. And you know what? CrossFit is so much more.

CrossFit isn't your Fran time. CrossFit isn't how many consecutive pull-ups you can do. If there's one thing I have learned about CrossFit, it's that first and foremost, CrossFit is a therapeutic release for adults. Second to the therapy, is the physical strength and wellness of the body. Third would be the community of encouragement that surrounds you each and every time you walk through the door.

In a sense, CrossFit is an essential nutrient to your body. We'll call it vitamin "C". A quick Google search returns the following result as the definition of an essential nutrient:

Any substance required by living organisms to ensure normal growth, development and maintenance.

For anyone who has tried CrossFit, I'm sure you'll agree that it becomes an essential nutrient. If you go too long without your dose of vitamin "C" you'll start to feel like there is something missing, am I right? This type of vitamin "C" can't be replaced with jogging through Moraine Hills, or a trip to the globo gym to put yourself through a CrossFit type workout. You see, it just isn't the same. It would be like renting a mouse costume, dressing up in your backyard, and trying to convince your kids you're at Disney World. The magic just isn't there.

The magic lives inside the place we call The Fort. It lives inside the people who walk through the doors and make it their therapy session. The CrossFit magic is YOU GUYS and all the encouragement and positivity you bring with you every day. Thank you for making CrossFit Fire so much more than a gym.

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Ah, Team Saturday....how I love thee! The workout wasn't one of the ones that makes us all meet Jesus, in my opinion it was just the right amount of work. What did you guys think?

4 rounds of:

:30 push press
:30 ball slams
:30 push-ups
:60 rest
:30 row
:60 rest

Teams were made up of 3 or 4 people, and each team member went through the workout in the same order. There was one minute of space between the start times of each team member so things didn't get all jammed up. As long as your team could keep track of your :60 rests, things were cool. I was NOT one of those good-rest-trackers, and I even convinced other people that we shouldn't be rowing, we should be resting. Tommy Mo was too smart for me though, and wouldn't be led down the path of confusion.

Bill drew our teams randomly, but "Tom and Charlie" were listed on one slip of paper together since they had to defend their title. Unfortunately, Team Bridesmaid was no match for Team 3 Clydesdales and My little Pony! The score was SUPER close though...I think we only won by 9 reps!

SAVE THE DATE!! We are working out the details of the next Meatzza-off! The date is tentatively Sunday, October 10th at 11:00AM. This amazing festival of meatzza will also be combined with a noon kickoff for the Bears. Sound like a fun Sunday?! Once I get all the details figured out, make sure you RSVP through the website so we have a head count, and then get working on your meatzza recipe!

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