These last few weeks have been a super busy time for me: climbing on great local projects, adventures in the Cascades and even a quick tour of the Canadian Rockies with Team Harro(thanks Dan & Elisif!). Thank you to Kris, Craig, Nick, Stacy and Greg for helping me cover the WODs and keep the 1200 running smooth in my absence. Alas, the blog has also been somewhat neglected during all of these hijinx. So, here's some of what's been happening...
This last weekend on a trip up to British Columbia I got to briefly visit the local affiliate, Crossfit Vancouver. It was a small, but clean and bright facility tucked away down in the industrial district. Their 'benchmark boards' were packed with some solid times, and that evening they were holding a competition event. One night each month they do multiple WODS(say Fran & Helen back-to-back), work on PRs and challenge each other all in the spirit of everyone reaching a personal best. I was an hour late to my own WOD(can anyone say 'daylight savings time'?), but really look forward to visiting them again in the future.
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All hail the Ladies of CrossfitHEL!!! I have seen some real improvment lately from some gals around here and they definitely deserve a shout out. Leslie struggled forever to gain her first complete pull-up. These days I see her crank them out like clockwork: good kip, good form and(when she feels like it) full range of motion. Way to go, Leslie! And Morgan also has started to put in some real effort lately: beginning to apply herself harder in the WODS, moving beyond what's comfortable and toying with what is possible...keep it up! And have you met Jennifer Kellams yet? Straight outta boot camp this newbie has drank the Kool-Aid big time right from the get-go and her effort already shows. Every day she's asking questions, watching the big dogs and stepping up for her own piece of the action.
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The Clean and Jerk...learn it, love it, make it your best friend. The complex and challenging Olympic lifts(C&J and snatch) are cornerstones of our whole crossfit philosophy. Utilizing speed, power, coordination and agility simultaneously, these testpiece movements can take years to master and should be a regular part of every serious crossfitter's regular practice. So get started on your introduction or learning them more deeply. With numerous timeslots available for this month's lifting seminars and the clean also being our 'focus lift' this month...what's your excuse? Train your weaknesses, get stronger fast!