Joining a gym

Yesterday I finally signed up for a summer gym membership. I am joining Sierra Athletic Club for the summer. A great gym with great management and staff as well as members. This will allow me to lift heavier weights and work on other lifts such as the power clean and snatch.
I have not had access to a rowing machine all winter. I really missed training on this machine. Rowing is a great cardio-vascular and strength building exercise. Rowing works all the major muscle groups of the core, arms and legs and believe me will challenge any fitness level.
In the Scandinavian crossfit challenge I competed in last November we did Tabata intervals on the Concept2 rower. 20 sec of max out put followed by 10 secs of rest X 8. A total of four minutes worth of work left me, and I am sure I can speak for every other competitor, totally wasted.
Missing this impact in my training I was eager to get back on this machine and see what I could do. I set the clock at 12 minutes and decided I will row 2,000 meters as fast as possible and with the remaining time do as many double unders as possible until time runs out.
I finished the 2,000 meter row in 8 min 6 secs and performed a total of 157 double unders with the remaining time. I think the best thing I could say about this work out was that I was able to keep a consistent pace through the whole distance. I have never actually rowed a longer distance like this before. So mentally I figured i would just focus on 500 meters at a time. I think this approach helped out because my pace times were consistently at 2 mins. I am happy with this
The double unders were another story. I forgot my jump rope at the house prior to leaving for the gym. The club did have a couple of other ropes laying around and they were the old school kind with the little plastic pieces of different color on the rope. I thought this would be great because I am so used to my rope that maybe this would add a little extra challenge and it did. This rope was slow and awkward. Honestly speaking I don't think I would have managed very many more with my jump rope vs the gyms rope. I was just that tired in the arms and the legs. Overall a great work out that left me lying on my back for a few minutes after.
Below is a video of the tabata row in the Scandinavian Crossfit challenge November 1st 2009.

Primal on the Beach

Today the weather was fantastic. I would normally be out climbing however circumstances would not allow it today. I called up my friend Mike to see if he was interested in another training session at the beach. We both really enjoy training outside. Especially if you can go to the beach. You have the mountains , the lake and the beach to look at. The energy levels are usually so much higher when training outside under these circumstances.
At Kiva Beach there is a very large and heavy tree that has been laying around since I moved back into town. The last time we trained together at the beach we used this tree for 50 push presses in a chipper. Today we decided to use the tree for push presses again just a little different format. The wod went like this.
For a warm up we ran to the end of the beach and back ( about 1200 meters) stopping every minute to do 10 push ups, 10 air squats,10 sit ups, 3 burpees. Running in the sand with these dynamic movements really got the two of us warmed up. Next was the business.
15,12,9,6,3 for a time of Push presses and burpees. Moving back and forth between the two movements.
My time was 4min 57 secs, Mike's time was 7min 25secs.
I managed to do all of the sets unbroken. The most difficult part coming between the 15 burpees and the 12 push presses. I am getting more acclimatized to the altitude which is making things easier for sure. The first set of burpees still gassed me and I was sucking air the rest of the wod.
Mike chose to go first, which was both inspirational and motivating. After watching him push himself as hard as he did I was really psyched up and ready to grok it out.
Another great training session at the beach and with a good friend. Cant get much better than that.

Summer Sports

The weather has drastically improved this last week here in Tahoe. Temperatures in the high 60's , with blue skies and the warmth of the sun. Perfect climbing weather. I have taken full advantage of this amazing weather.
This last week I have been packing as much climbing and hiking in as humanly possible. At least for me.
The sport of climbing requires an extraordinary amount of physical skill. Stamina, Strength, Flexibility, Power, Coordination, Accuracy, Agility, Balance are all required of you when you go out climbing. As well as the mental fortitude and confidence that comes from your success on the rock. As a result of all the climbing that I have been doing lately I am crazy sore. My whole body feels like I have been hit by a car. Everything is sore from my fingers to my toes. A rest day is definitely in order. Which I hate because I really want to go climbing. In the interest in productivity I should definitely rest for a day or two.
I have got a couple of workouts in in the last week. I finally had a go at a crossfit w.o.d. named "Annie" .
50-40-30-20-10 of double unders and sit ups for a time. My time was 6 min and 1 sec. I did not really push my self very hard in the beginning of this wod so I feel like I could definitely take a half minute off from this time. I managed every set of the double unders unbroken until the last set my shoes were untied and I broke set with just three to go. After this wod I did a quick set of Tabata push ups. 20 secs work with 10 secs rest X 8. My score on the push ups was 86.
I also had a really great work out at the middle school track here in South Lake Tahoe. I did four rounds of run 400 meters and 50 air squats for a time. My time was 15 mins 16 secs to run a mile and do 200 air squats. I am getting more and more acclimatized to the altitude. Feels pretty good. My times for the 400 meter runs were 1:20 , 1:29, 1:49, 1:49.
I am planning on spending a good amount of time the next day or two just laying around resting. That is the Idea anyway. I say it here now but it probably wont happen.