A Tale of Two Weekends Part II: The Belmont Stakes 2008

So this weekend was very different from the last, other than than the fact that both involved sweating profusely.
My friends and I headed out to Belmont Racetrack to watch yet another possible Triple Crown. We have now seen every extreme of weather in Mother Nature's early June arsenal. A few years ago it was 50 degrees and piss raining all day long, this year it was 100º heat and sun. Much sun, no shade, and much sun. I want to emphasize how much sun I was exposed to that day. I do not burn. I have gone to Puerto Rico in December and not burned after a day on the beach. I burned at the Belmont. 9 hours in the sun. Horrible. All day my rally cry was "Never Again." I wanted Big Brown to win so we could say we saw a Triple Crown and then never go to the fucking Belmont ever again. If there was another possible Triple Crown in the future we could go to a bar (one with a roof and AC) and watch the race in comfort. This was also the first year I was sober for the Belmont (a combination of the heat and the no BYOB policy enacted this year) and let me tell you if you're going to watch horses run around in a circle for 9 hours it's better to do so while drunk.
So after hours of placing bullshit dollar bets on the other races, sweating, drinking more than a gallon of water, and doing serious damage to my skin, it was time for the big race. In case you haven't heard he didn't win, or place, or show, he came in DFL (Dead Fucking Last). What a payoff.
All that said, it was fun. We laughed our asses off all day, we had a great time, and after we dropped some people off in Queens we had some kick-ass Czech food at Zlata Praha. Misery may love company, but good company trumps misery anytime.

A Tale of Two Weekends Part I: The Crossfit East Coast Challenge

Yeah, I know it's late.

2 weekends ago was the East Coast Crossfit Challenge hosted by Albany Crossfit. The contest was composed of 3 events, the Crossfit Total, a 5k run, and a hopper style WOD. The total was a great experience, I had never lifted in a competition environment before and it is amazing how much the pressure of competition and people watching can drive you. The squat went well hitting an easy 355 on my first, a solid 370 on my second, and getting red flagged on my 385 attempt. I thought the last one was clean but after watching the video, the judge, Liz Darsh from Crossfit Waterford (good blog btw), was right to red flag me, I hit parallel but didn't break it. Next time that won't be a problem. The Press went well, easy 185 to start, 190 on my second which went much smoother than usual, unfortunately that led me to be a little too aggressive and go for 200 on my third, should have gone 195. The deadlift was where it all came together. I opened at 500, easy lift. I decided to try for a new PR 515, a weight that I have been chasing for months. 515 went up smooth, I have lost it on the lock out twice before, but today no problem. I celebrated a bit after that (I head butted a wall at one point). After smiling and laughing for 15 mins I realized I had to lift again, I got my head back in the game and attempted 520. It came off the ground well and came past the knees smooth. It stalled for a moment as it came to lock out but I had it tight to the body so I knew it wasn't going anywhere. Locked it out and set it down, 10 lbs over my PR going into the day. My total was 1080 a new PR and the highest total on the day. I won my weight class (181, I weighed in at 177), the CFT event, and the pound-for-pound strongest lifter.
The run wasn't quite as fun. It had rained for a bit before but then the sun burned through making for a warm muggy run. It wasn't too bad at 24:29 but it made me realize I need to throw a little more running into my training.
The group dinner was awesome. BBQ ribs and chicken, very Paleo, very primal, and just damn tasty.
The next day's hopper WOD was a beast:
1k Row
then 5 rounds of:
21 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls @95lbs
15 Burpees
9 Thrusters @95lbs


They capped it at 20mins I finished just shy 4 rounds, it was fun in a not fun way.

All in all I took 6th in the competition, met some very cool people and had a blast.




Video from the CFT, my 520 DL is about 6:19 in.