Events – Page 80 – SNORIDGE CROSSFIT

Run Forrest, Run!

Today was the Snoqualmie Railroad Days 5k/10k and kids 1k race. We represented well with the following group of runners. Results haven’t been posted so will share when they are up.

5k Race:

Deb L. (with Porter in the stroller), Deb S., Jim M., Jim D., Jorge, Jana, Lyndi, Amanda, Lucy, Leigh, Michelle, Tom

10k Race:

Sherry, Travis, Jenna

Kids 1k:

Max (and his cousin), Skye, Ashley, Finn, Grace, Jenna

One of these kids is doing his own thing:

PR’s were set, first races were run and many had their family members running so there was a big turnout for a really fun, fast, and scenic course. We especially want to thank Rob and Curtis who watched kids, handled photographer duties and cheered everyone to the finish.

Afterwards we headed back to the gym and our house for a great BBQ with not only the SnoRidge crew but also many friends from around the Puget Sound. Thanks for everyone who stopped by including the gang from King CrossFit, CrossFit Olympia, and many of our close friends from the Dupont area.

Next year’s is already on the books for Sat. August 21st. Plan on running it again!

Go Pound Sand

In a team of two complete the following workout.

3 Rounds for time of:

10 Sandbag Clean and Jerk (50#/32#)

500m Sandbag Trail Run (50#/32#)

Trail run is a 250m trail with a steep climb up and 250m back down
First 2 rounds team members alternate. (One goes while one rests)
Third round both team members complete the C&J, then run together with one sandbag. Both finish together.

Results

View this photo

Final day of our “Week of the Games”. This was inspired by WOD#3 (Sandbag Hill Sprint) of the CrossFit Games. Today was all about getting out of our comfort zone and truly varying our training. Using the techniques we learn in the gym with practical application is what we train for. Heaving sandbags and hauling them up hills is functional fitness. Plus it’s just fun.

Big thanks to Rob for kid duty and Curtis for photographer duties after his WOD.

This week was really fun for us programming workouts that followed the CF Games. It provided some new opportunities for all of us to mix it up a bit. Stay tuned to our next challenge soon!

Lucy telling us what she thinks of the WOD

WOD Highlights:

Stadium Chipper

Day 5 WOD of our “Week of the Games” was the Affiliate Cup Stadium Workout. Check the link for video highlights from the CrossFit Games of this WOD.

For Time:

30 Wallballs (20#/14#)

300m Row (or 200m Run)

30 Box Jumps (24″/20″)

30 Kettlebell Swings (53#/35#) *53 lb. clarification for Gregg

30 Dumbbell Push Press (40#/25#)

30 Deadlift (225#/135#)

Results

View this photo

(Whiteboard asterisk: Curtis says was due to an advantage of having a “fan” in the heat)

As far as chipper’s go this was relatively quick (sub 20 minutes for everyone). It was not easy however. Great WOD that progressively got more challenging as it wore on. Thanks to Curtis for sticking around, making fun of my socks (Skins) and coaching his coaches through it!

Notes:

Meet at the gym tomorrow at 10AM for the Saturday WOD. It will be our final workout to close out the Week of the Games. Bring your running shoes and prepare for some friendly team competition.

Slideshow of the chipper:

The Triplet

Day 4 of our “Week of the Games Inspired WOD’s”. This was WOD #7 and featured parallette handstand push-ups, heavy kettlebell swings and GHD Sit-ups. We modified it and extended the time and it worked well. Only two more days!

AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) in 15 Minutes of:

4 Push-ups

8 Kettlebell Swings (54#/35#)

12 AbMat Sit-ups

Results

View this photo

Amanda knocks out her first push-ups as RX’d:

This WOD allowed for jumping to the next level either in push-ups, a heavier kettlebell, or both. With a short rep count it allowed for several people to make that next progression.

A few notable highlights from today:

Congrats to Amanda for her first RX’d WOD and moving to full push-ups, Leigh and Lorri completed their first class WOD, and Jorge for moving to a heavier KB. Everyone seemed to like this one as it allowed for speed, progress and pushing to an all out race to keep piling on the rounds. It also was bearable considering the heat.

One other note. On the right hand side of the page is a link to the Snoqualmie Railroad Days Run. Click and register if you haven’t yet.

Sherry demo’ing broad jumps as part of movement prep:

"Blue Collar Workout"

Week of the Games Day 3:

Inspired by the CF Games 2009 WOD #4 by the same name. Instead of sledgehammers and a 4 ft. spike we subbed in ball slams.

For Time:

500m Row

100m Sprint

100 Ball slams (20#/14#)

100m Sprint

500m Row

Results

View this photo

The med ball slam subbed as a sledgehammer. The sprint kept the heart rate up after the row and simulated running with the hammer to pound in the stake. The competitive spirit certainly came out today. It was nice seeing some of you go head to head while cheering each other on. Big props to Jorge edging out his fiance Jana by a second. Every second counts!

Notes:

We have 10 plus people signed up for the 5k Snoqualmie Railroad Days Race. We suspect some more of you and also a few friends from down south will join us. Potluck BBQ at the house afterwards. Make sure you register for the run! Run details can be found here.

Trail Run and Deadlift Ladder

Day 2 of our “Week of the Games”. This WOD was our take on WOD#1 and #2 in Aromas. Our version featured a shorter run. We did throw in the brutal heat, and the deadlift ladder afterwards with minimal rest working towards your one rep max (1RM).

For Time:

2 mile Trail Run (2 loops 1600m, plenty of small hills, and one log obstacle on the trail)

* Rest approximately 5 minutes after the run and complete:

Deadlift Ladder

5/4/3/2/1

Take 1 minute rest between rounds to load bar.
Progressively add weight to get to your 1RM.

Results

View this photo

Deb and Adriana on the trail loop:

Jim on his way to 325#:

Today we mixed it up. The run was new. The trail was a challenge and capping it off with some heavy deadlifts was different. It gave us all some new perspective on the Games 7.2km trail run and 20 bar deadlift ladder workouts.

Everyone pulled a good amount of weight and kept their form. No rounded backs and strong PR’s all around. Before we know it you’ll all be crushing these numbers.

"Big Balls and a Good Snatch"

Vulgar maybe. Accurate, yes. Welcome to our week of the Games! Each day will be a WOD inspired by this year’s CF Games. Today is CrossFit Games WOD #4.

3 Rounds for time:

30 Wallball (20#/14# ball at 10 ft. and 9 ft. target)

30 Hang Squat Snatch (75#/55#)

Results

View this photo

The (squat) snatch, hang snatch and power snatch are all pretty new movements. So is the Burgener warm-up. What better way for you to learn them than to pile them on in one day! As Lyndi said “I should be better after 90 of them.” Everyone did well today learning a highly technical lift. Many scaled to get the technique down and for most the hang power snatch was the norm over a squat. That’s great too as we will be doing plenty of these in WOD’s to come.

The bigger challenge was the heat. It was Africa hot. Or Aromas hot (site of the Games). It was oppressive. It sucked it out of you. It was almost a third part to the WOD. In tonight’s class I had the privilege of watching all of you overcome the effect of it. Curtis ignored it and simply asked “what weight did Michelle do?” and then gutted it out with power snatches. Jorge asked for more weight each round despite being gassed, and Amanda fought off a bout of nausea for the last two rounds and did not give up. It was inspiring to say the least. Only four more days to go and Wednesday is supposed to reach a 100.

Here’s a slideshow from today:

Notes:

Saturday WOD for all. It will be the final WOD for “Games Week”. We will meet here at the gym and head over to the site on foot. Don’t worry, it’s really close.

Don’t forget to register for the Snoqualmie Railroad Days Race (either the 5k or 10k) on 8/22. We have a bunch of you now committed. To register go here. Potluck BBQ at our place afterwards and we will show “Every Second Counts” the CrossFit movie, let the kids run amok, and all share in some paleo beer and mixed drinks (Paleo only because we will hunt for alcohol and gather to drink it).

Let The Games Begin!

This week will be WOD’s inspired by the 2009 CF Games. A little tinkering here and there due to equipment limitations such as 20 loaded deadlift bars, the lack of a GIANT 7.2km hill climb, no sledgehammers and spikes to drive, and other minor details have led us to get somewhat creative.

Don’t worry though. We promise you will get a workout, have fun, and not do them all over two days!

Picture taken by Curtis after a great family hike to Twin Falls.

"Harder Than It Looks"

This was the unanimous quote today.

5 Rounds for Time:

20 Box Jumps (24″/20″)

20 Kettlebell Swings (54#/36#)

20 Kettlebell Sumo Deadlift High Pull (54#/36#)

Lots of fun with the kettlebell (subbing a dumbbell also works). Congrats to Lucy for moving up to the 20″ box jump! And Jim for using the 54#. This one was no joke.

Notes:

This September (9/26) we are planning to participate in the Fight Gone Bad Challenge. Affiliates across the country are going to all host this WOD on the same day and raise donations to help Athletes for a Cure and The Wounded Warrior Project. As a SRCF team member all you need to do is show up on that day and workout. Pledging for a good cause is a bonus.

Details can be found at the FGB IV site. Donations to the SnoRidge CrossFit support for the cause can be made here.

We are planning to have a park team WOD this Saturday if enough of you are up for it. If you want to swap a day from this week to come Saturday it’s looking like 10am will be “Go” time. Plan to meet at Swenson Park (down the street from the gym in Deer Park). Let us know if you are in.

The Proof Is In The Pudding

“Every time I suffer I am a better man because of it.” ~ Lance Armstrong

I have a new found respect for trail running. Particularly trail races. Today I ran the North Face Endurance Challenge 10k in Bellingham with a good friend. It was no joke. Basically for me it was an hour long WOD. Kind of like “Murph” without pull-ups and push-ups but the trail pounded my body anyway. It was a beautiful course, highly challenging, fast and constantly winds it way up and down. I think I prefer this type of running to pavement.

The course description was “Elevations bounce between 200 and 2,500 feet, but do not include any huge, sustained climbs. Rather, the course is always heading up or down. Traverses of broken ridgeline require nimble feet while highly technical sections demand mountain goat skills. Overall, an impressive trail-running test that delivers a balance of fire roads, single track, and double track”.

I would agree with all of that description except the part about not including any huge, sustained climbs. If you say a section of a mile and half of steep, sustained, hill climbing midway into the race that induces the effect of having just completed 100 squat cleans doesn’t count as huge and sustained then you must be one of the people who ran the marathon and ultra marathon distance!

That said I wanted to write this post really to share some observations I received and my reflection on how CrossFit benefited me. Previously being a more disciplined runner that tried to keep my running schedule and weekly mileage consistent I have recently found less time to run daily or to run far. I have relied more on CrossFit for the cardiorespiratory endurance benefit it provides knowing that it would serve me well when needed.

I finished well with a time that for myself was pretty satisfying (40th place out of 179 runners at 1:01). I was smoked at the end of the race with pretty tired legs from the pace coupled with the pounding of flying down sections of trail to try and either catch my running partner or briefly keep him behind me. He easily beat me by a minute and was a very respectable 33rd. The difference between us is he doesn’t CrossFit but is a long distance runner. He most recently was training for a marathon and had up until a couple weeks ago been logging very heavy mileage preparing for a race. I was not. This is not to take anything at all away from him as a runner. Actually it’s the opposite. He really dominated the race well. He is runner that excels in longer distances. The fact that I could keep up with him is a testament to CrossFit knowing I have been relying on running from WOD’s sprinkled with the occasion 2-4 miler here and there.

Which is what leads me to the point of this post, CrossFit works. It specializes in not specializing. It prepares you for a wide range of physical challenges. It’s ability to increase your functional fitness and work capacity such that you can tackle a race, a sport, or physical challenge is amazing. The effect the daily WOD has on your mental toughness is powerful. CrossFit prepared me well enough as an athlete that I was able to accomplish this race today with minimal running preparation and to do it competitively. When I needed it today it was there.

Notes:

That said, we have Curtis and Deb in for the Snoqualmie Railroad Days Run with us on August 22nd. Who else is with us? Race info is here.