Atlas stones

Taking advantage of the what Lake Tahoe has to offer. And that is beaches, steep trails, big cliffs, large rocks, trees to climb or lift and stunning views in every direction. I could be paying $50 a month to go to a gym and lift weights. Honestly I will most likely be a member of said gym in a few weeks. However, right now I am really enjoying getting a workout in the outdoors in one of the most beautiful environments on the planet.
The last time I was training at the beach I noticed a very large stone sitting in the sand. I remember watching a video of Blair Morrison of http://crossfitmobile.blogspot.com/2009/09/morning-and-afternoon-in-sicily.html getting a workout in while he was on vacation in Sicily. Blair found a very large stone and did 30 dead lifts with the stone for a time.
I always thought that looked like so much fun and I have always wanted to try the atlas stones from the Worlds Strongest Man competitions. I am also reading the book Primal Blueprint. So, in a way I was pretty motivated to go Primal.
So I went back to this great beach to lift this rock. I did a pretty solid warm up doing thrusters with smaller stones and push presses with downed trees giving me some pretty good ideas for another workout at the beach.
The first time I lifted the stone I did not think that it was heavy enough. I can only guess that the stone weighed 120 lbs. I am probably way off. My legs and back felt strong when lifting the stone from the sand. However my arms were fatigued really fast. This stone was really awkward and very smooth making it really difficult to get a good purchase with my arms. The more I lifted the stone and dropped it the more of a hole it made in the sand thus forcing me to get farther and farther down in my stance.
So I performed 30 stone dead lifts for a time. I finished in 5 min and 39 secs. This was so much fun. To work out on the beach with stunning mountain views in every direction is very inspiring. In a way I felt like Mariusz Pudzianowski the worlds strongest man. I am really looking forward to the next session on the beach.