Well, week one is in the books.  5 more weeks left until Ouachita 50.  It was a great week.  The Crossfit Games Open started, I held a running clinic at Faction, and got some pretty good training in.  Next weekend I will be attending the Crossfit Endurance Trainer Course at Crossfit Mayhem in Cookeville, TN!  I am super stoked about that because Brian Mackenzie will actually be there.  It’s kind of like meeting Michael Jordan when I was a kid.  Meeting one of my heroes!!

The Open

I ended up taking a rest day on Thursday so that I could be somewhat fresh for the first workout of the Crossfit Games Open.  13.1.  This was the WOD:

13.1

AMRAP in 17 Minutes

  • 40 Burpees
  • 30 Snatches (75#)
  • 30 Burpees
  • 30 Snatches (135#)
  • 20 Burpess
  • 30 Snatches (165#)
  • 10 Burpees
  • 30 Snatches (210#)

I expected to get to 135# (100 reps), and then I was unsure how many of the 135# snatches I would get through.  Last year in the open, I got 4 of the 135# snatches.  I redid it back in December, and was able to get 11 of the 135# snatches.  So I didn’t really know how far I would get with this one after doing all those burpees.

I made it through the the first 40 burpees in 3:00.  I was going at a slow and steady pace.  The 75# snatches were easy and I got through the next 30 burpees with plenty of time left.  I think I had 8 minutes left or something.  I tried a few 135# snatches and missed them all.  I just don’t train this lift enough to be any good at it.  This doesn’t really bother me.  I’m not trying to be competitive at the sport of Crossfit.  I’m an Ultra runner and that’s what I want to be good at.  That and squatting a ton of weight.  Anyway, I ended up getting 3 of the 135# snatches.  I finally figured out how to get myself up underneath the bar.  I ended up with a score of 103.  At the time of this writing that puts me at 3105th place in my region!  I’ll take it I guess.

The Running Clinic

So Faction has been doing these 30 minute clinics on Saturday mornings on various topics.  Rope climbing, weightlifting, etc.  Last month I told them I wanted to do a couple running clinics this month.  Saturday was the first one.  There were probably 10 people there.  More than I thought would show up for sure.  I did a brief little speech about what Pose Running is, and showed the group a few of the pose drills they could do to help them with their running technique.  It was great, and more importantly people were pretty receptive to all of it.  I had a couple of ladies come up to me afterwards and ask a lot of questions.  They seemed to be pretty excited about running and training for future races and events.  I really, really enjoyed doing this.  It was great for me to get in some group coaching time, and share some of the knowledge I’ve picked up over the last few years with some other athletes.

The Endurance Course

I can’t tell you how excited I am to get to go to this course!  This is HUGE!  Not only will I gain a ton of knowledge, but I’ll have the opportunity for one of my favorite coaches and Crossfit Endurance founder, Brian Mackenzie,  to put his eyes on me while running!!  That’s a big deal, and I am a lucky dude.  I’m like a little kid on the week of Christmas.  I cannot wait to get to Crossfit Mayhem next Saturday.  Me an a buddy of mine are going to drive there next Saturday at 3 am.  Probably not the best idea, but whatever.  I’m going and that’s what matters.  In addition, Crossfit Mayhem is supposed to be a pretty awesome gym.  I’ts Rich Froning’s gym, and I’m really hoping we get the opportunity to do the next Crossfit Games Open workout there.  Last year during my Level 1 cert course, we had the opportunity to do the open workout one day at lunch.  I’m hoping it works out that way next weekend.  That would be aweSOME!

Today’s Training

10K on a Treadmill.  Awful.  That’s it.  I hate treadmills.