Broken

"... the feeling that I'm feeling well it's feeling like my life is finally mine."
While I wasn't as mentally prepared as I would have liked for today's workout, I was happy to be able to go to bed early last night and wake up at my usual 4:40am to begin readying myself for Crystal's class. The reduction of stress from recent changes I’ve made is already being felt inside. I feel lighter in step and in mind and consequently can probably be better to my friends and family because of this.


“I didn't know what I was missing. I guess you've been just a little too kind.”
We’re all susceptible to taking things (and people) for granted. Being removed from CrossFit for several weeks was not fun. It was disheartening. I became full of self-doubt and anger. I started picking myself apart in the usual self destructive ways. I was scared I’d find an excuse not to return. I was terrified that if I did return, I’d be failing at everything and that I wouldn’t fit in as I once did.

I pretty much thought my flirtation with CrossFit was over and that only the hardcore people ultimately stay with it. I guess I didn’t realize how much the CF community had meant to me. The people. The conversations. The grueling workouts. The butterflies in my tummy. Turns out, none of the spiraling thoughts over the course of those weeks were even remotely true. Go figure.


Crystal’s 5:45 AM Class
It was partner day and I got to be partners with the birthday girl, Iron Cheerleader Stacey Doyle!


First up...
SDHP (Sumo Deadlift High Pulls) 16kg Kettlebell
Start with 2 and increase by 2 for a minute.
We capped at 18/min as partners. Great job, Doyle!


Then, 3 rounds with your partner swapping 38 Russian Twists with the 5, 7, 9s:

• 38 Russian Twists: Okay, I screwed up here. I double-tapped to count as one so my first set was 76. Fortunately, I was using a 6lb med ball. The remaining 2 rounds were done as single tap count. It didn’t matter as my abs and arms were already feeling squishy.
• 5 Squat Cleans (16kg KB)
• 7 SDHPs (because the ones we did earlier were simply not enough)
• 9 thrusters.

Rounds 2 and 3 I scaled down to a 12kg KB… bah.


And now with sore, tight calves from Tuesday’s workout and freaky ape arms from today’s WOD, I lumber off to bang out words in Hell’s software of choice, PowerPoint.


“Without you I was broken. But I'd rather be broke down with you by my side”.

The Boys Are Back In Town

"Guess who just got back today?"
In honor of today's WOD "Lizette" I thought I'd pull a headline from Thin Lizzy. C'mon...you know you want to see their official web site. (ugh).

Yeah, so...welcome back to CrossFit Central, Erin! Here's today's WOD for ya:

Crystal's 5:45am class

• 800m run
• 21 thrusters (I figured I’d go light with 15lb dumbbells…and I’m very glad I did)
• 21 sit ups
• 400m run
• 15 thrusters
• 15 sit ups
• 200m run
• 9 thrusters
• 9 sit ups

My time: 11:16 (the only time it's ever forgivable to be one second less than my birthday digits)

Let me go ahead an point out that Iron Cheerleaders Mel and Blake did 25lb dumbbells and crushed this workout. How sad is it that my weak ass was only using 15lbs and I was still shaky. Round 3, I experienced what Crystal refers to as the “stank leg” going into my squats on the thrusters.

However, when all was finished, I felt pretty damn good. I started bouncing around to the music in the gym and thought we were going to stretch it out. I felt spent but really good.

"You know that chick that used to dance a lot. Every night she'd be on the floor shaking what she'd got."

Then Crystal writes this on the whiteboard…

(4 rounds)

• 15 wall balls (I used the 12lb med ball)
• 12 box jumps
• 9 Spider Man push ups 

**Erin scratches head.** "Umm... buh, buh, but I thought we were donez.. "

My mind sped back to the moment on Saturday when I looked Mel square in the face and said, "As long as we’re not doing box jumps on my first day back, I’ll be good." And there they were, right along with the dreaded wall balls. With our time remaining I managed to complete 3 rounds… and then promptly prepared for the possible event of puking.

While I may talk trash about my less favored movements, those are the challenges that keep me motivated to head into class. I have great disdain for what I cannot conquer. I have unsettling nerves for what I cannot perfect. And I cannot stand avoiding what I fear.

Wall balls in action courtesy of Diablo CrossFit

As I sit writing this out, I ultimately feel so much better for waking up early, getting back into the gym, seeing Crystal's brilliant smile and the shiney happy faces of the 5:45am class smiling, sweating and crushing today’s WOD. I feel incredible.

Yay! Welcome back, me.

Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta

To clarify, the kinda "gangsta" designed to kill Zombie thugs...

What better way to get back into CrossFit after 5 weeks off since my surgery than by joining Mel, Dave, and Blake Halloween morning to take on Mel's amazing ZAP workout. Driving downtown the morning of, I had the same butterflies in my tummy I usually get heading towards one of Crystal's classes.

The results? Well, Mel naturally did a better job posting about it than I would have. Checkout how 4 people kept the Zombies away from the good citizens around Town Lake.

From left to right: Executioner Erin Clare, Bash'n Brains Blake,
Murderous Rampage Mel, and Death Dealer Dave

And now begins the excitement and tummy butterflies as I mentally prepare to roll into CrossFit Central's gym tomorrow morning.

This Is The Soundtrack Of Your Life

Once upon a time a designer, a content strategist, and an IA had a few minutes to kill.

The rock star content strategist decided it was time for everyone to loosen up a bit and jam out to a favorite TV tune of hers, the theme song to NCIS. Now...I love music...and a good theme song. The trashy sound of Sanford and Son's saxophone set my laid back mood many nights as a kid. But I may have drawn first blood when I barked out that the theme song to NCIS was, in fact, weak -- especially in comparison to the intro for Damages. And thus a war began between theme songs. (Yes, This is, in fact,how we spend some of our free time at work.)

I present to you...NCIS (extended version)




That was lovely. Now here's a real theme song...
Damages (extended version):




So what makes a good theme song?

Has to set the mood for the entire season

Must be appropriate for the tone of the overall show

Should set your personal mood for the evening to the specific episode

Should not be annoying (unless it's SpongeBob then all bets are off)

Examples of such winning themes:

Good Times

Miami Vice (almost rivals that of Damages)

Felicity - Season 1 and 2 only (Okay. Okay. I know it's Felicity. But it was still a good musical intro to the college drama, so shut it!)

Weeds (Every intro is executed differently with the same lyrics or musical overtones using guests musicians)

The Simpons (obviously)

Six Feet Under

Dexter














CSI - Miami, NY, Las Vegas...all of them (I don't know what Jerry Bruckheimer's obsession is with The Who but I like it)

"And if if ignorance is blessed..."

For every good theme song there are a gazillion terrible ones. But there is usually that special one that stands out as a pure assault upon eardrums. As far as I'm concerned, the WORST theme song composed has to be Farscape. Sweet merciful crap. I've never heard a more wretched organization of musical notes in my life. Whoever got paid for that orchestral catastrophe should be rubbed bloody raw in the groin with resin. So, enjoy!



In conclusion, and probably way too late to avoid a ground and pound from Mel, Damages is the better theme song. NCIS in all fairness is a good show. It does have a pumpy beat. And in the end, it did it's job by giving our 3 minutes of work freedom that night club feeling.

But Mel, when you do decide to kick my ass at tomorrow's Zombie WOD, be sure to listen to the Damages song first. It will at least fill you with motivation and verify my justification for why it rules all.

This post took way too long to write and is not of any particular value to anyone. My work here is done.

Today's WOD: Fighting Zombies! Brought to you by Melicious

Zombie Attack Preparedness Workout (AKA: The ZAP) One of the best ideas and creatively executed workouts I've seen.

Credits, props and cheers to my dear friend Mel and her hubbie Dave. Check it. How awesome is this tribe of Iron Cheerleaders to come up with more "cleaver" (har har) ways to workout hard and have fun. I was sad to have missed out on the fun, but it brought my heart absolute joy to read it while fueling my testosterone to swing around a sledgehammer and scramble over obstacles. Is there any question why I love these people?







In short, BEST F'N WORK OUT EVER! Way to go Blake, Paul, little but mighty Pai, Weston, Dave and Mel.