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.

Kiva Beach Chipper

Today in Lake Tahoe the weather is really bizarre. It is the very end of May and it has been snowing for most of the day. This did not stop my friend and I from going back to the beach for a good ol fashion primal workout. The last time I was at the beach doing stone dead lifts I noticed several natural elements laying around on the beach. More than a few stones large and small, a fallen tree, a very very large fallen Sequoia tree, and several handy pieces of drift wood and logs. Plenty of sand to make movement more challenging as well.
In my last visit to the beach my brain started cataloging all of Kiva beach's available resources. The ideas started to pile up. The w.o.d. went like this.
For a time:
200 meters run in the sand carrying a 10 kg stone
100 mountain climbers ( Left/Right=1)
50 Push presses with a fallen tree
25 meter log flip
10 Burpee double box jumps ( Burpee, get a running start jump on a tree stump then jump higher to a fallen Sequoia tree)
25 meter log flip
50 Push presses with a fallen tree
100 mountain climbers ( Left/Right=1)
200 meter run in the sand carrying a 10 kg stone

I was really unsure of myself going into this workout. However I was really excited to do something like this on the beach.
I finished in 20 minutes and 16 seconds. The Burpee double jumps being the most exhausting part of this workout. The altitude is such an issue for me. However I did break sets on the push presses a couple of times as well as with the mountain climbers. The first 200 meters run was difficult but I did not push myself that hard because I didn't want to "Blow my W.O.D." in the first minute. Which is exactly what it took me to run 200 meters carrying the stone. 1 min 7 sec. The second time running 200 meters was pretty hilarious. I started out good because I just wanted to finish under 20 mins. After the 100 meter mark I think I could have walked faster. I was just wasted.
My friend Mike finished in 27 minutes 01 second. Mike was really impressive the whole way through running fast and killing the mountain climbers. He got really hung up with the Push Presses. Chipping away 5 at a time until he finished. With a little more strength training he will be able to cut some serious time off of this work out. Mike had a very impressive showing and I enjoyed being there to help push him the way he pushed me.
Training at the beach in low 40 degree temperatures and snowing like crazy on and off was really inspiring. We even saw a bald eagle today. I will take that over sports center at the gym any day.