Wedding Day

We managed to fit in a workout in the morning before the wedding. Ralph joined us for, four rounds for time:

Run 400m, 50 squats

I subbed push ups, dips and pull ups so as to save my patella tendon. That said, it is getting much better.

Matt: 13:33

Donna: 12:43

Ralph: we are not sure of his time, but he seemed to enjoy himself.

THE MAIN EVENT

Then it was time for the big event that we travelled all this way for. My sisters wedding.

We made it on time (just) despite the best efforts of the taxi driver to take us somewhere different. The speeches were unique, to say the least, my Dad has an interesting turn of phrase.

Dad, Briony, Brian (the preacher) and Geoff

Briony (my sister) looked lovely in white (yes white) and the pink and orange gerberas went with the whole Dr Seuss themed wedding cake.

Food was great! Very paleo except the cake which was a dense moist chocolate creation.

Music was very Priscilla Queen of the Desert, think ABBA and 70's and 80's disco straight out of the juke box.

Pre wedding beers and the other happy couple.

We spent some time out on the deck over looking the ocean before heading home full of food and drink.

Now we are free to enjoy the rest of our trip. We will slowly head north, riding as much as we can and enjoying the scenery.

It's all a Blur............

Yesterday we managed to get out and ride some local trails. My friend Brent from Burkes Cycles in Wellington hooked Donna up with a nice Santa Cruz Blur Lt and we headed to Makara.

Donna on the Blur

Matt's SS and Donna trying it out.

Matt trying the Blur

The skills area there is much improved since we were there last and we had a blast on the tight windy trails.

Donna using her Chawel, works well!

Then we headed back to the apartment for another family dinner before the wedding today. Weather is not the greatest but rain on your wedding day is supposed to be good luck. We shall see.

Long day on the road

Yesterday started well with a workout at CFNZ. We all did JT, 21-15-9 Handstand Push Ups, Ring Dips and Push Ups.

The question was asked, "how long do you think it will take" my answer "longer than you think" turned out to be very accurate. This workout is a beast, my arms and shoulders are happy for the rest day today. Donna: 16:20, Matt: 16:35, Darren 17:11, Taz: 16:30. We all had to modify at one point or another. Donna also hit her 20 rep back squats at 110#. Thanks again to Darren and Taz for hosting us at their box, we had a great time and will be back before we go if we can squeeze it in.

After working out we hit the road for Wellington, just under 400 miles in 7 hours with one stop for coffee on the way.

But we made it in time for the family BBQ and got to meet my sisters husband to be. Geoff is a policeman so was well able to cope with his house being invaded by a whole tribe of Dyson's. Along with me and Donna, my brother Dan, his wife Kat and their baby Esme' my Dad was there as well as my Mum and her husband Ralph. More than enough for anyone to put up with.

Today the plan is to get on our bikes and ride. That and find a cafe with free Wi Fi not $10 an hour!!!! WTF.

Another workout with CFNZ

After a very pleasant evening with Chris and Rache we headed back to CFNZ this morning for another session with Taz and Darren.


We worked up to some heavy deadlift singles. We shared what we learnt with Rip regarding deadlift setup and that helped Darren to a new PB of 162.5 kg. I pulled 160 kg but stopped there as it was starting to look ugly. Donna and Taz worked up to 90kg.

Donna helping Taz out with the new set up.



Coaching works both ways, Darran and Taz critique my form.



Darren 162.5kg New PB


Then we did a strict pull up ladder, one pull up in the first minute, two in the second minute, etc. Donna did similar,but used a 45# bar to do presses, she managed 10 rounds completed.



With the pull ups, up until minute seven things looked good, but I struggled to finish eight and couldn't get the nine done in time. Darren and Taz both cranked through a couple more rounds. These two are strong, watch for them at the Australasian CrossFit Games Qualifier in April.



Then we did a swap of T-Shirts and Hoodies before heading off for some sight seeing and visiting friends.

The new CFNZ shirt, hot off the press.

MaD visit CFNZ

Today we headed to Auckland to check out CrossFit New Zealand. After an encounter with the local constabulary (no your are not allowed to speed in NZ either) we made it to CrossFit NZ.

We were warmly welcomed by Darren and Tamaryn (Taz). Darren even made us an excellant paleo lunch of beef and vegetables.

Then we headed to the box to work out, coach each other and meet some the the CF NZ clients. We were there for the 6pm class. Darren and I joined the class as Donna and Taz coached the session.

The WOD was, AMRAP 20 minutes

10 Thruster 95#

10 Pull Ups

100m run

Matt: 10 rounds + thrusters

Darren doing thrusters at the back, while Taz runs the whiteboard and coaches.

On top of that, this morning we headed to a globo gym in Rotorua with my Mum. We gave her some rowing coaching and some squat therapy. Then Donna hit her 20 rep back squat set at 105#.

MaD are in NZ but Donna's bag is still on its way!

We are relaxing at my mom's place, having picked up fresh cheese and some sausages (for a NZ Bacon Explosion) along the way.

Donna's bag didn't make it to LA before we left so it will be here tomorrow, looks like that bag just doesn't like travelling with Donna to NZ, because something similar happened last time she came here.

Weather is great, grass is green, more to follow later................

MaD feel the CrossFit love!

Donna and I both featured on the web on Thursday Feb 19th. Me on CrossFit Watertown and a picture taken by Donna on the CrossFit Affiliate Blog. Thanks to all for the recognition and nice comments.

We are now on our way to NZ so we will catch you all from there soon.

Cheers
MaD

The girls want to come to NZ as well

The packing nightmare!

The girls are ready to go!

Lucky I have a thick skull!

Sometimes I try to be too clever by half. I was looking for a workout that would rest my patella tendons and saw one from last week that I needed to make up. Descending handstand push ups and ascending L Pull ups. So I warmed up and headed into the basement. Point to note: as you begin to do multiple L pull ups you induce a bit of a swing. I did not calculate the space between the rafters very well and pulled my head into them on the 3rd rep, no blood but it still hurts!

I decided not to continue as my HSPU were turning to crap, probably those push ups yesterday or I am just a cupcake today. So I headed back upstairs to the kettlebells. The heaviest we have at home at the moment is 1 pood (16kg/35#) so that is what I used.

50 American swings

50 One arm swings

50 Cleans

50 Snatches

50 Military presses

50 Hand 2 hand

50 Swing releases

I felt much better after that. Lesson learnt, first thing I am putting in the garage when we get back from NZ is a decent pull up bar!

Pull then Push

Donna and I had busy days out and about as we get ready to head to New Zealand on Friday.

We borrowed this workout from CrossFit Santa Cruz Central.

Workout:
Deadlifts* @ 3/4 body weight for 30 seconds,
Push-ups for 30 seconds, followed with 1 minute rest.
10 rounds

*If you are bouncing the weight we will call them rdl’s ( Romanian deadlifts ) which is o.k., but heads up as the bar can sneak away from you causing a poor set up ( see Annie in video ). If you open your hand at the set down of the bar, they will be called deadlifts….the rdl’s will result in higher numbers and a higher met/con component, while the deadlift will build more strength as the range of motion is more complete.

Both Donna and I did Deadlifts.

Numbers:

Matt 135# Deadlifts: 81 Push Ups: 159

Donna 108# Deadlifts: 79 Push Ups: 125

We highly recommend this workout. It is a sneaky bugger, much harder than it first appears (like all good CrossFit workouts).

Passion over $$$$

I am not driven by money. Don't get me wrong, I need money. Food, college, fuel, certifications etc. it is a necessary evil, but it is not what drives me. I am driven by success, yours and mine. Nothing is greater than a client getting a PR, or helping them accomplish their goals.

That said, I will miss the people I trained over the past year. It has been a great experience. Keep training hard and educate yourself. Get your Level 1, go to a specialty certification, read a paleo book, check out crossfit.com each day…..EDUCATE YOURSELF.

I look forward to opening a box when we return from New Zealand. I will be a licensed massage therapist in May as well. I am excited and looking forward to our future as MaD CrossFit. It is going to be a great year! 3, 2, 1….GO!

Donna

WOD - Spin Class, followed by: Back Squat 20 x 100#

Told you there was a silver lining!

After being told my services were not required in Great Barrington I was planning a quiet night of stewing at home.

But as it happened Lis from CrossFit Watertown in CT needed someone to cover her evening classes tonight. So I headed south and coached two sessions of Fight Gone Bad.

Rich and Chris go hard at Fight Gone Bad while Mary keeps score.

The crew at Watertown are great and gave me that warm fuzzy CrossFit feeling. Thanks guys! I am happy to make the drive down there anytime.

After the last person left the gym I hit a nasty lunge and burpee workout. Five rounds for time of:
45 pound barbell Overhead walking lunges, 50 feet
21 Burpees
Let trailing knee gently kiss the ground on each lunge.
Time: 12:23

Silver lining?

This morning I received a call from Mike at BizFit Personal Training. Donna and I are no longer welcome to teach classes there. He thanked us for our efforts but felt that with the increase in clientele that he needed to be there more often.

To put that in perspective, Donna and I taught 5 of the 28 classes currently on offer.

We have had some issues in the last few weeks with the number of new clients in class. Not the numbers themselves but the lack of basic CrossFit knowledge that they possess. It has reinforced for us the value and absolute necessity for elements classes that cover the 9 foundational movements and some of the secondary ones. These classes are not a formal part of the BizFit system.

There has also been the issue of clients regularly coming in late and disrupting classes. Apparently some people have a hard time coping with being chastised and singled out. Obviously they think they are more important than anyone else in the class including the coach.

So just prior to us heading to NZ, we are told that our services are no longer required.

What does this mean? Several things actually:
- We will continue to train CrossFit, whenever and wherever we can.
- On our return from NZ we will be working on converting the garage and sun porch into a CrossFit box, aiming for a grand opening WOD on April 1st.
- We will continue to workout as we have before as I still intend to compete at the North East Qualifier in May, I think recent events add a bit more motivation to do well.
- We will treat this as an opportunity not a setback
- We will go to NZ, have a good break and come back fired up

3, 2, 1 GO.............................

Squat Clinic and Mr Joshua

Saturday's skill session was a squat clinic. We worked on Air, Front and Overhead Squat. Everyone showed great improvements over the session and left with some homework to include in their warmups.

Today we headed in the gym so Trish could try out her new Do-Win weightlifting shoes.

Weightlifting shoes - Top to Bottom - Botev, Do-Win, VS Athletics

Donna and Trish hit a 20 Rep Back Squat session and the 5 x 3 Deadlifts. This is what Mark Rippetoe has to say about 20 rep squats click here

Donna's numbers: Squat 95# DL 135-165-185-185-185#
Trish: Squat 85# DL 135-165-155-155-155#

I took on "Mr. Joshua"
Five rounds for time of:
Run 400 meters subbed with a 500m row
30 Glute-ham sit-ups
250 pound (scaled to 205#) Deadlift, 15 reps
Time: 26:08 PR
(Last attempted Nov 13 with run, abmat situps and DL 190# 28:21)

Good Times at CrossFit Watertown

Last night we headed down to CrossFit Watertown (CFW) to join in on the Beat Dan out of the Gang WOD. Dan, one of the stalwarts of CFW is moving New York city so the workout was held in his honour.

Trish, Jason and the girls came too so the Matrix was pretty full. I also made another Bacon Explosion so people who missed the first one could experience all its bacony goodness.

The workout was in a team format with 5 people in each team, we numbered off so that each team was a mix of MaD CrossFit, CFW, CF Central CT, PowerBarn and anyone else who was there. Donna and I ended up on different teams but it was all good fun. The workout was, for time:

100 Pull Ups

200 Walking Lunges

300 Kettlebell Swings

400 Sit Ups

500 Wallball Shots

(Only 2 team members working at a time)

+ 2000 pounds of Front Squat and Overhead Squat

(Completed by the team, only one working at a time, each member must complete 1 FS and 1 OHS otherwise make up the weight however you need to)

Jason wallballing! Matt swinging!

Lis from CFW won with her team of 6 WTF!

Then it was time for the Bacon Explosion showdown. Greg from CFW had also made an explosion. His was definitely bigger, but mine won the taste test!

Matt and Greg prepare the explosions!

Good times were had by all (as usual). I think Trish and Jason will be down to visit, when Donna and I head to NZ, to get a good dose of CrossFit community.

Lots of interest in the MaD CrossFit T Shirts last night, we will put together another order when we get back from NZ.

Don't be late!

Interesting class at the gym tonight, a real mix of newbies and old salts which made it a challenge to ensure everyone got enough coaching. In the end we both coached and worked out afterwards.


The WOD which I did as well was Hang Power Clean 1 x 7


135-155-175-185-190-195-200 PR


Donna hit a slightly different workout, for time:

45 Double Unders
45 55# Cleans
45 Dips
45 Double Unders
Time: 13.42

This was scaled a lot to save Donna's shoulder. She heads to the osteopath tomorrow for another treatment.




Be warned if you are late to one of our classes be prepared for burpees!

Rest Day - nice to feel the sun in MA

A day off to catch up on all the chores around the house. The girls made the most of the sun and I even managed to open up the sunroom for most of the afternoon.

The snow and ice is melting, I can only hope it doesn't return anytime soon.

Is it Tuesday already?

Donna ran the class at the gym tonight. She even got to call out one client as a clock whore - you know who you are!

Jason blasts out the Thrusters. No Clock Whore here!


I hit the WOD as well. For time:

10 16# MB Sit-ups - 10 Superman 3 second hold - 95# Thrusters, 30 reps - 50 Pull-ups
30 16# MB Sit-ups - 30 Superman 3 second hold - 95# Thrusters, 20 reps - 35 Pull-ups
50 16# MB Sit-ups - 50 Superman 3 second hold - 95 # Thrusters, 10 reps - 20 Pull-ups

Time: 20:54



I also threw down my 39 Birthday Burpees, Yeah Burpee!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Then Donna put together 3 Tabata's (8 rounds 20 seconds work 10 seconds rest) Squats, Med Ball Cleans and Sit Ups. These are just nasty at the end of a long day.

It could happen to you too!

Please support efforts to help those affected by the bush fires in Australia

http://www.redcross.org.au/default.asp Red Cross

http://www.salvos.org.au/ Salvation Army

http://www.bendigobank.com.au/public/ Bendigo Bank has a Fire and Flood appeal

The Long Trip Home

A long day spent in rental cars, airports and aircraft culminated in teaching two classes of Over Head Squats at the gym.


Great work with big classes at both 5pm and 6pm. The new guys are coming along well and both Jason and Donna put up some good weight even after their long day on the road.


Thanks to Trish for pug sitting this weekend, much appreciated we couldn't do this without you.


A little more about last night we had planned to hit a Texas BBQ restaurant but Lis from CF Watertown led us astray and we ended up at dinner with CrossFit HQ including Greg Glassman the founder of CrossFit. Great food and conversation was had at a Brazilian all you can eat meat BBQ Joint. A great way to round out the weekend. Thanks Lis!

Meat, meat and more meat! Very paleo.

Day Two - The FilFast - I mean Fest

A long morning in the meeting room as Coach Glassman answered a lot of questions. We started with a motivational talk from Kyle Maynard who was born without lower arms and legs. He is a CrossFitter, Wrestler and soon to be MMA fighter. Think you can't do this stuff. Think again!

At about 2pm we headed to "Hooters" for my birthday lunch. it included fried pickles, who knew they would taste so good?

Hooters Fried Pickles

Then it was back for more speakers. Then with a special invitation we finished the day at a Brazilian BBQ Restaurant with Coach, Lis and the rest of the CFHQ Staff.

The "Girls" with Kyle. Tracey (Concept 2), Lis (Affiliate Blog & CF Watertown), Donna (MaD CrossFit), Kyle, Jen (Potomac CF), Lynne (CF Message Board), Kelly (CF Specialty Certs).

Day 1 of the FilFest

Yesterday the FilFest started off with a lot of talk about insurance and liability, thanks god for the Starbucks in the lobby to keep us awake.


We hung out with Lis from CrossFit Watertown and Jen from Potomac CrossFit and had lunch at an Irish Pub with them and Keith and Sam from CrossFit Virtuousity. We sat with Justin and Travis from CrossFit East Sac. Donna met these guys when she was out in CA visiting Paige.

MaD CrossFit's new wheels?


Once we got into the Affiliate presentations things got better, Craig Patterson from Crossfit Vancouver and Freddy Comacho from Crossfit One World spoke on building community. Tuck from GSX talked about paying trainers and Skip Chase from Mt Baker CrossFit spoke on getting and keeping clients.


We heard from Coach and John Welborne (NFL Linebacker) CrossFit Balboa introduced CrossFit Football.


CrossFit Central from here in Austin ran a great group workout in a nearby park. Neither of us were up for it but we cheered everyone else on.

FilFest WOD warm up!


Then it was time for a great video from CrossFit Overload and Dinner before the main feature. A preview of the 2008 CrossFit Games movie "Every Second Counts" - this was a great end to the night before heading to the bar to network and drink beer!

Freddy Comacho from Crossfit One World checks out the new MaD CrossFit logo on Jen from Potomac CrossFit

In Texas!

After two flights and a chilly stop in Detroit we made it to balmy Austin Tx.

Turns out that everything is bigger in Texas, our compact rental car turned out to be a rather spacious Toyota Camry.

Now we are enjoying our complimentary continental breakfast of paleo friendly boiled eggs and nuts before heading to the FilFest.

We will try to update with pics and info as the weekend progresses.

Off to Texas!

Donna and I are headed to Texas today to the CrossFit Affiliate Fest in Austin this weekend. Should be a good time with a lot of like minded people willing to share their experiences and help us grow MaD CrossFit!


In the meantime, Donna is working with a local massage therapist David Kelly. I was their lab rat today. I have never been hurt so much by a therapist, sorry to Liz and Rache in NZ but this guy could even teach you a thing or two about hurting me on the table. I think I may have even shed a tear. That said it was a great massage, they worked on loosening up my quads and patella tendons. It seems to have worked :-).


Now I need to do my bit and stretch every day!


I did manage to squeeze in a workout at home in the basement. At least it is warm!
For time:
Power clean 15 reps - 30 Ring dips
Power clean 12 reps - 24 Ring dips
Power clean 9 reps - 18 Ring dips
Power clean 6 reps - 12 Ring dips
Power clean 3 reps - 6 Ring dips

Rx weight is 155# but I only have 105# at home so went with that. Time: 10:44