mjj34

I just read an article today on crossfit...the one about the 75 year old guy...I feel like I read an article about a guy that's from the same planet I'm from. I've tried to conform to life and have been successful but it has been and still is and will always be extremely challenging to do so. I guy my age that I recently met that still skateboards told me that he often times feels like a caged animal in life...he was preaching to the choir. I've conformed to zoo life a good part of my life because I felt that it was the best way to have the right balance...how else can you stay married and raise kids, help them with EVERYTHING, and hold a decent job that allows you to be safe? Anyway one example of the article: It's Sunday, and a football game is on. Wildman gestures toward the screen. "The problem with most of these coaches -- they're not inspirational," he says. "You see this guy from Seattle, Holmgren, who's supposed to be so great -- and he's got a forty-inch waist! Three chins! What the hell is that about?" JEFF- your Mom gave me a hand typed smaller piece of paper (like a bookmark) when I got baptised it read: "You can't teach what you don't know. You can't lead where you don't go". That has inspired me ever since. I remember seeing Endless Summer II in Germany...I think you might have seen it in the theater with me Jeff? That was an intro to another dude from our planet - Laird Hamilton. That movie was so cool it reminded me how awesome life could be. Anyway the article was motivating and now I'm planning on starting the new week tomorrow as fast as I can.

mmj33

This is a special edition post...Jen and I got into a wrestling match today and she was freakishly strong compared to any other time since I've known her. I could definitely tell that she has been benefiting from crossfit but this was a "real world" application and I was/am really impressed. Edited some home video from this last winters sledding...there was a lot of snow this year and it was great snow. Blogs are so much cooler when there are pictures/videos. I'll attach a clip today and maybe next time that I hope will be somewhat entertaining and motivating to do something active and fun but be warned I'm kinda cheezy in them. We hiked up and down that mountain so many times that day. Smoke is worse than ever today...the Terminator (Schwarzenegger) was here yesterday to check out the fires 10 miles or so from our house where we swim in the summer! He said I was looking buffer. No I didn't see him but everything else is true.

mjj32

Wednesday off.

Thursday did crossfit warmup finally did 45 dips again. Caught up on WOD's...also did snatches, push presses, box jumps, rows, wall balls (substituted with a rock up in the air in the backyard...don't really catch it once I get going), and sumo deadlift high pulls. Was my first time doing snatches...they were challenging but felt cool and I can tell they are going to do wonders for my strength. The smoke had finally cleared for the most part by the afternoon when we were working out but then another fire started about 30 miles from us. It looked liked it doubled in size in about 30 minutes. Took a picture of it from our backyard and will post it.

Friday smokey again outside due to yesterdays fires but seemed to be mostly in the sky because we couldn't smell the smoke like we've been all week so we cleared back a bunch more blackberry vines and got two more big bowls of even better blackberries than last time. I was sweating like a pig. Still pretty tired and sore from yesterdays workout. Everything worked out at work today...was a pretty crummy week but I came out on top.

mjj31

I can't remember the last time I couldn't sleep this bad (tonight) this may be the most extreme case ever. Work totally sucked today. Don't want to talk about it let's just say that I'm an honest man in a dishonest world and am going to continue to be honest even if I'm crapped on because of it.
Saturday- spent about 3 hours clearing blackberry vines...they were growing out of control. Was cool because Jonah and I cleared a lot and the girls picked about two big bowls full. You should've seen this snake I saw in there like a month or two ago it was so long I couldn't see the head or tail and it was seriously like 3-4" in diameter. Can't remember but like Fri night and or Sat morning we had some showers and major thunder and lightning. Think it's been national news that we've got a lot of fires around here from it. It's so smokey that it's considered unsafe to do stuff outdoors so no outdoor fitness since Saturday (took Sunday and Monday off- was really tired for unknown reason Monday). Even inside our garage smells like I just had a campfire. Had to workout today (Tuesday)...was feeling like I needed to coupled with today's workday...did Crossfit warmup (only 30 dips), 2 sets of Thruster's with 45# bar- as many reps as felt good, and jump roped. Hadn't jumproped in awhile and was struggling at first. Tried to do some double unders and couldn't get past 2. Started getting frustrated and then paused and turned my frustration to focus and did 6...was pretty cool - I Mr. Miagied myself. Life stinks sometimes but I feel better and even get stoked working toward and slowly but surely achieving my fitness goals...it makes everything seem alright.

mjj30

Sunday off.
Monday woke up at 0545 (was supposed to wake up at 0500 but mistakenly set the alarm for PM - I hate non military time) stretched and biked to the skatepark with Jonah. We skated the park for awhile and then biked back home...then I went work. I was totally sweaty but didn't care I just changed my clothes and underwear and called it good. I only actually meet with people every so often and it wasn't in the plans that day so yeah. After lunch I drove to Sacramento for work for the following day. My cool boss oked my family coming with me and so we all drove to Sacramento around noon. That evening we met with Jen's family and kayaked and swam at Folsom Lake. It was cool and a decent workout but Folsom Lake is a dookee lake compared to our Whiskeytown Lake.
Tuesday off.
Wednesday combined 3 days of WOD's into 1. Did max crossfit warmup except only did 30 dips. Did overhead squats, front squats, back squats, sit ups, jumprope (very little - my stomach kept cramping up after like 8 jumps - I did eat a big old burrito like and hour beforehand but felt fine doing everything else? Must've been in a part of my digestive tract that wasn't cool with the jumping?), burpees and shoulder presses. I just did enough of everything to get a good workout.
Thursday biked home from work 2.9 miles mostly uphill. It was at least 50% easier that the last time and it was fun.
Friday biked to work. Did max crossfit warmup except only did 30 dips. Did the WOD from yesterday sort of. I did the lifts but just pyramided up and am still getting used to my new olympic weights. 125#deadlifts, 95# shoulder presses, 75# squats. I need to get a squat rack down the road. I could've done more on the deadlifts but am still getting used to them and am not a fan of overdoing it. I was too tired to get heavier weight off the ground onto my back for squats. Was a really good workout though.
I'm really digging learning and doing the lifts with the olympic weights.
JEFF- Public Domain was the last video I was into before I quit skating. I remember liking it a lot - Ray Barbee was cool.

broccoli....

The weirdest thing happened on Friday night. I got home from work & I just had this urge to eat something that was a little better for me & natural. So I went to Wal Mart & bought some broccoli & yellow squash cooked it up & have been eating it ever since. It's weird, I love the stuff. Yesterday I had a great chest workout. After work I just couldn't bring myself to go running so I went to the soccer field & did sprints up and down the field kicking a goal at the end. I had my heart monitor on & I got my heart rate going up to 170. Maybe that just shows what a wuse I am. It seems to be easier to chase a ball down the field then just plain running. So today at the gym I had a good arm workout & then did a yesterdays crossfit exercise. It was a bit watered down though. Instead of sit ups I did crunches & instead of the 50 double jump rope things I just did a 100 normal jump ropes. The double jumps I have not been able to master yet. I was really digging the burpees. Those things are way hard but I love em. After about an hour & forty five I got on the bike & just pedaled easy as I made some calls on the phone. I figured I might as well be doing something while I'm talking. I talked with Boot Camp (Heidi) for a bit. She is gonna be coming up this weekend to stay at her families cabin that's somewhere in the woods around here. I'm excited to go do fun stuff with her again. So today after work I'm gonna head to the skate park & soccer fields to goof around. This morning I was on Amazon .com & I ordered the Public Domain dvd. Do you remember that Powell skate video Mark? That's cool that you guys are making it to the skate park. I miss the Vegas skate park I used to ride.

mjj29

Sunday off (always)
Monday rode my 24" (only 1 gear) bike home from work about 3 miles mostly uphill. My legs were so shocked (haven't ridden a bike like this in a LONG time) that after I would pedal real hard so that I could coast for a few feet uphill I had to lock out my leg because it was shaking so hard it was unstable on the pedal. Hence the beauty of crossfit/crosstraining - if you don't crosstrain you can be the man in one area and a total turd in another. I don't want to be a turd in any area if I can help it. That night I morphed the crossfit warmup and burpees - worked out hard but didn't count reps or sets or time.
Tuesday biked to work - almost all downhill - didn't even sweat and got to work as fast as driving.
Wednesday killed it. Did max reps on crossfit warmup- did the 45 rings dips and hammered them out in 2 sets each round (3). Did deadlift with my new olympic weight- felt great- only did what felt easy about 85 lbs cause I then skated 3 miles to the skate park and then skated till I was beat.
Thurday and Friday off. By the way- with the exception of Sundays I strech everyday even if I don't workout.
Saturday dug a hole (planted a blueberry bush). Biked to the skatepark with Jonah, skated hard and biked back. It was about 100 degrees and I was having a good time but my body wouldn't let me go 100 percent...it was weird it was as if my body had a mind of its own (a second one? anyway) and due to the heat it overrode my motivation. Guess I'm not 100 percent acclimatized to the hottest time of the day heat yet.
JEFF- loved your post. I know "loved" might sound a bit over the top...I've been like Tom Hanks on Castaway on this blog and your the first time in awhile the volleyball has talked back. In all seriousness it was cool and motivating to hear from you. We had Stake Conference today and something the Stake President said I mentally applied to working out he said: If we do the same things we will get the same results.

I'm finally on here.

So I have finally made it on here. I meant to during the last eleven days I was working but I some how found other things to do. So last week I did one of the crossfit work out things. It was the one where you do 15 pull ups, 30 push ups & 45 squats. You do as many sets as you can in 20 min. I did 3 sets in 21:40, so there is a bit of room for improvement there. This past weekend I was down in Phoenix to hang out with some ladies. This one girl, Heidi, teaches a "boot camp" class that's an hour long & I did that. It kicked my butt. After the class we went back to the climbing gym & did some more climbs. I did a 5.9 with out falling which was cool. Don't ask me what a 5.9 is cause I really don't know. That girl Heidi is a rock & can climb like a monkey. She is also a massuese which may come in handy at some point. I went running last night for about 30 min last night, for the past two weeks I have slacked on the running so I need to get back on that more regularly. I have been working out but I don't do the crossfit thing entirely, I'll do some of the workouts when I can & then do other stuff too. In time I'll do more of the crossfit stuff. My goal for these next 10 days on is to work out at the gym everyday & then do some sort of extra cardio after work each night. I liked what you said about skating Mark. Well I'll write more later.

mjj28

Change of plans #7473...kinda stopped doing the WODs...kinda. Just felt like a total change plus have a lot of chores to get done that require physical work and have been too tired doing the WODs to want to do anything else. Wed got wood racks squared away to put the wood for this winter. That evening we did the Crossfit warmup. I did max of everything except ring dips. Only did 30 instead of 45. Went shooting for like 5 hours in the hot sun on Thurs. When I was out of shape 6 plus months ago my hand and forearm would be pretty sore for a few days after shooting that much...not any more. JEFF- I remember reading on Mikey's blog about you when he posted his rad frontside grind photo of you in that bowl...he said something about how you never seemed happier as when you were skating or biking. It choked me up a bit and brought back a flood of happy feelings and memories...Friday I went skating again for the first time in a long time. I rode for about 3 hours. It was so fun and happy. I've been on probation 4 out of the past 6 years due to job changes/promotion and the weight of that against the risk of getting hurt has been a heavy weight...I'm off my "final" probation now as of May and am going to ride as often as I can. There are very few things that workout your body the way skating does not to mention the agility, balance and crazy quick reflexes it naturally gives you. I felt like my muscles were heat shrinked onto my bones this morning...everything felt tight and sleek - it felt great. Skating makes me as happy at 32 as it did at 13. Our free weights came in Friday...going to start crossfitting with them at my own pace. I'm overwhelmed in a great way with awesome exercise stuff to do.

My niece is visiting and has some good clean punk music I was listening to...it got me pumped up and at about 2115 tonight I did the Crossfit warm up max reps - I subbed dips for push ups and then did 15-15-10 olympic bar shoulder presses and 15-15 olympic bar shrugs - baby step weights break in - feeling good.

mjj27

MAN I FEEL GOOD! Have been resting since Wednesday...we all felt as though we had pushed ourselves to our limits and were all thinking we needed a long rest. Not going to try to catch up with the Fri, Sat, Sun WODs just going to get back on track Tues when the WODs start up again.

ROB- Thanks for the prompt emails. I was thinking after we talked yesterday how cool it would be if you guys ended up moving here. We would both have to be in great shape because otherwise we would kill ourselves working out together - it would be awesome.

JEFF- If you're reading this your here - stoked! Looking forward to hearing from you.