The Impossible Fire

Some people have natural ability and they excel rather easily. Sometimes, these people flame out because they fail to learn dedication and discipline, and they fail to learn how to maintain intensity.

Others are more diligent in the work they do, and their fire burns most brightly after considerable education, experience and effort. They become masters at discipline and intensity. Their dedication is unwavering. They apply themselves to their ability, and when you see that fire burn, it is amazing, rich, and mesmerizing.

I am surrounded by that fire right now. As most people know, I coach CrossFit at CrossFit Cedar Park (Texas) and our motto is "Dedicated to Changing Lives." Living up to that ethos is intimidating, but as with anything worthwhile, it is a challenge cherished.

Eight weeks ago, we started a competition at our Box called the "I Do The Impossible" challenge where 5 of our coaches were assigned 6 challengers each. Those 30 challengers each set 5 goals that were unique and personal to them - things they wanted for themselves.  (Let me stop for a moment and thank David, Robin, Nikki and Fio for including me as one of the coaches on this challenge!)

As coaches, our task was to help these individuals achieve their goals using the principles of CrossFit and good nutrition (paleo or paleo-zone). We designed specific training/workout programs for each challenger that included things like one-on-one training, "homework" WODs (outside of the WODs we do at CFCP), meal planning, nutrition assistance, food log feedback, etc. - all to help people reach their goals.

The results have been absolutely amazing.

The power that these people have is truly inspiring.

They have reached inside themselves, changed their diets, accepted challenging workout plans, pushed themselves into areas that they were not experienced or comfortable, and they accepted that if they wanted success, they were responsible for the work.

About a month ago, we (coaches) started comparing notes on how people were doing and were astonished. Speed, strength, stamina were all way, way up, and weight was dropping. This was no longer an "I Do The Impossible" challenge, this was an "I Got This" challenge.

It has been an absolute honor to see my team achieve this better vision of themselves, and I want to thank each of them for letting me be a part of this process.

Congratulations to everyone who put themselves out there on this one and shared their fire with so many people.

You guys are real corkers. 

What an honor.

Thank you.

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WOD BLOG
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The spring is nice. I'm not going to write much here about myself today. This week is about my team.

3-2-1...GO!

PS - Hi Wladi
PSS - Oh, and for what it's worth, I don't think Carson should have shaved the beard.

Two Hands and a Vision

I rarely watch television. For one thing, we only have one. We will always only have one. My sisters and most friends think we are crazy, but the reality is that no matter how many stations they tell you they can give you, 99.9999% of the programming is garbage. There are, however, exceptions. One of those exceptions is a program called "Treasures of the Trust," which is a program that features stunning cinematography and great historical storylines about some of the 1500-1900 era estates that British families have given to the care of the National Trust. Essentially, the houses were too massive to be supported, so they are now properly maintained through public and private support.

I love that program.

Henry Hoare II is a hero of mine. Henry was born into money in the 1700s in England, and inherited early when his mother died. Henry took his fortune, bought about 1,000 acres in Wiltshire (South West) England and set about developing Stourhead, now the most recognizable feature in the National Trust's showcase of estates and gardens. Indeed, many of you may recognize the property from the film (and in particular the Temple of Apollo and Palladian Bridge) "Pride and Prejudice" -- and yes, I am a fan of Keira Knightley's cheekbones...

The thing I like about Henry more than the masterpiece is the path he chose. Henry had never so much watered a plant when he set about developing Stourhead with its fantastic reveals and brilliant surprises. In fact, developing the massive garden was a challenge that he did not need to undertake. Henry was somewhat of the father of the British Garden "movement" of the 1700-1800s, and people much more known such as Capability Brown did some of their earliest work at Stourhead before making their mark elsewhere.

Henry set about the task with a vision (and some money!) and saw it through. There was no heavy machinery for Henry to use when he had to dig the pond and fill it with potter's clay to keep it from draining off. He had to employ people to help his vision become reality. His finished product resulted in a 5-mile walk through some of the most beautiful park like and "picnic ready" landscaping you will ever see, and his legacy thrives after nearly 300 years. There are no crops to speak of, but his garden fetches nearly $10,000,000 a year in "foot-traffic" and millions more through donations to the Trust, merchandise sales, licensing, etc. Overall, a very sustainable model, I'd say.

Henry's vision inspires me. His finished product amazes me.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that Spring is coming. It is about time to get my hands dirty. I hope I see you in the garden...



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WOD BLOG
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I don't know if you could tell, but I had a rough couple of weeks staying motivated on the CrossFit front. It wasn't too tough to stay on task helping my folks in the IDI Challenge, but something about that cold weather just sucked the life out of my sneakers and I was down to 3-5 WODs a week instead of the usual 5-10. I think I was also a little frustrated that I did not compete this spring, but the reality is I don't really have time right now... But don't worry Robert -- I'm coming after you!

Anyway, this week has been better.

SUNDAY:

FRAN!

I hit a new PR. Still about a minute off my goal, but I'm closer than I used to be. Besides, I did FRAN by myself. Give me some friggin' credit!

MONDAY:

Skill work on my pistols, and helped out coaching in the evening class.

TUESDAY:

GWEN -- I still wasn't feeling it, so I just did 135 lbs. on a dead sprint. It was way too easy...

WEDNESDAY:

CLARITY!!!

8 rounds of 7 reps (touch-n-go): Deadlifts at 275 lbs.,
then
2 sets (one of 25, one of 30 reps, non-stop): Push-press at 135 lbs.
then
5k with a 25 lb. weight vest - 30 min.

THURSDAY:
(this one sucked!)

5 rounds of

25 lunges w/OH 1.5 pd kb - left hand
25 lunges w/OH 1.5 pd kb - right hand
25 goblet squats
5 Hand-stand push ups

26:32

FRIDAY:

Too early to tell, but this weather sho is nice, ain't it?

3-2-1...GEAUX!

How to Make a Rainbow




I reckon I always wind up a little too weird for the normal people and a little too normal for the weird. But it is all perspective and perception, right?

At the beginning of the year, David asked all the coaches at CrossFit Cedar Park to start blogging, and I thought it would be a great idea. A bonus was the fun I've had watching some of my fellow CrossFitters and coaches also jump right in -- it has shown me just how differently we all look at things, and what makes us all tick, and how little our differences matter when you get to the important stuff.

I've enjoyed following everyone's blogs for different reasons: Nikki (because she's just an ass-kicker of a woman), Carson (because he does 17 wods and then blogs 14 pages a day...with enthusiasm), Fio (even though I have no idea what the hell he's talking about most of the time (neither does he, I might add)), Liz (I don't know many people as ate up with food as she is -- and plus, she's a hell of a lot easier on the eyes than Carson and Fio, right?), and everyone else who, like me, needs to update a little more often...

Anyway, getting a peek into my friends élan vital makes me feel a little more comfortable about this journey. If you read each of our blogs, other than the fact that we all dig CrossFit, you might not gather we'd ever know one another, much less be back-slapping friends... But, we do, and we are.

Enjoy the rainbow. Turns out, you don't always have to wait on the rain to see one...

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WODBLOG
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This weather has been absolutely crappy and I've had a ton of work to do for school lately (oh, I did pass my teacher certification test ~ Yay me!), so I only did four WODs last week -- and they were the easy ones:

1)  1 mile time trial:  first time in about 3 years I've run a sub-seven mile.
2)  Double-tabata row (40 seconds on / 20 seconds rest: 8 rounds) and measure calories. I had a 17 calorie total difference over the course of the row, so I had some pull-ups to do. Sucks for me.
3)  8-8-6-6-5 Clean and Jerks (80%)
4)  50 Doubles / 10 burpees; 40 doubles / 10 Burpees, 30/10, 20/10 -- 3:56. Deric is the only person who beat me on this one. Approaching 40 years old and weighing in at about 240, I'll take it...

Like I said, the "D" is for "Deceptive"...brah.

3-2-1, GO!