Today’s CrossFit and Emergent Fitness Workout.
Stretch
Warm-up
Workout of the day:
Run 400m then…
4 rounds of:
- 6 Deadlifts (65-70% of 1 RM) #165
- 12 Push Ups
- 12 Pull Ups
…Run 400m
Final time: 13:33 – I’ve been off for 2 weeks, I’ll take it.
My sissy hands didn’t like the pull-ups much and I have 5 blisters to prove it.
Gotta love it,
Andy B
twitter.com/outsideallday
The last 3 weeks have been hectic. Eating like crap, no training, lot’s of airports hectic.
Kicked off Sunday on trail with Jobe. Hot and dusty run requiring lot’s of Cytomax consumption.
This week’s plan:
Monday – CrossFit at Emergent Fitness
Tuesday – Short trail run
Thursday – CrossFit at Emergent Fitness
Friday – Short Mountain Bike ride at Bobcat
Sunday – Long run, location TBA
Also starting a food log again with a Whole 9 eating mindset. Need to jump start accountability.
Let’s do this thing mang!
Andy B
twitter.com/outsideallday
Race info at: http://www.bighorntrailrun.com/50K/index.html
Quick race report…
- Most beautiful race I’ve ever done.
- Running downhill for 6,729 ft was harder than I ever expected.
- The weather was beautiful.
- Interesting dynamic to have 100 mile, 50 mile, 50k and 30k racers on the course all at the same time. Makes you feel like the low man on the totem pole.
- Feet/shoes were SOAKED for the entire race. 25 streams, mud, 5 snow sections, crazy WET! Could not avoid water.
- Cytomax is an amazing electrolyte.
- Due to life, I really wasn’t ready for this race and paid the price. I blew up miles 21 – 24. Lost 30 minutes from this.
- My wife doesn’t want to me do this race again due to how far away it is from Fort Collins, but I REALLY liked it.
- So fun to have my wife, kids and mom with me on the trip.
Overall, raced as well as I could have, the blow up hurt but I was happy in general.
Final time: 6:30:43
Photo gallery at: http://thebrazeltonfamily.shutterfly.com/3707
Back to CrossFit at Emergent Fitness this week, enough eating like crap and being lazy 
Next up:
Bent Rock Trail Race – 15 miles – July 17
Aspen Backcountry Trail Marathon – 26.2 miles – August 27
Run Rabbit Run – 50 miles – September 17
Andy B
twitter.com/outsideallday
There’s a few things with my health I’ve figured out and even more that I haven’t.
Stretching is a BIG gap in my fitness. I stretch and focus on movement twice a week at Emergent Fitness for 5 minutes. Sometimes when watching TV with Julie I’ll grab the yoga mat and do some light stretching. Other than that, I’m an inflexible old man. Most of the day I walk around feeling stiff and and bulky.
There’s hope. I’m found a blog dedicated to the power of stretching.
It’s called, The MobilityWod.
This blog is intended as a jump off point for athletes to systematically begin to address their nasty tissues and grody joint mobility. Use at your own risk and stop if you think it’s gonna hurt you, your spine is going to come out your throat, or your face goes numb. But, understand that you should be responsible for your own business. Don’t wait until you need a new knee. Pony up.
Kelly Starrett, the founder of the site, provides descriptions and video’s to get you loosened up.
This tutorial focuses on improving hip flexion. I NEED THIS!
Book mark this sucker!
Andy B
twitter.com/outsideallday
9 days until my next race (June 17). This time it’s a 50k in Sheridan, WY. The Bighorn Mountain Wild and Scenic Trail Run is an up and down course taking place on a blend of fire road and single track. Looks rough and starts at elevation. 2218 ft of climbing over 31.22 miles.
A link to a pretty dang good photo gallery of the course:
https://picasaweb.google.com/tony.mick.photos/BigHornTrailRun50MilerJune2010
More info on the Bighorn Mountain Wild and Scenic Trail Run:
http://www.bighorntrailrun.com/50K/index.html
Not feeling totally prepared but I think I’ll be fine. The wife, kids and my mom will all be joining me for the adventure. Hopefully the base from Emergent Fitness can carry me thru. One long run planned this week but other than that it’s small stuff and stretching.
Looks like the Leadville 50 in July is off the calendar due to finances. These races are expense. Next year.
Andy B
outsideallday.com
My buddy Doug sent this photo of me from around 2001. The beautiful lady with me is my mom Katie.
Weighing in at around 230 in the photo.
Perfect picture of life with CrossFit at Emergent Fitness and life without it. I weigh around 170 as of today thanks to Emergent Fitness and the lifestyle they promote. My wife Julie challenged me early in our marriage to begin taking my health seriously. I’m glad she did.
Andy B
outsideallday.com
Last week was a major bummer with a head cold that took me out. Compound a cold with traveling for work on Friday and Saturday and you have a zero training week. This week WILL be different.
Monday - 4 mile treadmill run
Tuesday - CrossFit at Emergent Fitness
Wednesday – Short run with Jobe at Devil’s Backbone
Thursday - Long run up Round Mountain for 2.5 hours or so after work.
Friday - CrossFit at Emergent Fitness
Saturday - MTB ride in Lory State Park with Matt Smart
Sunday - Long run at Bobcat with Matt Smart
The Wyoming Trail Marathon is on May 29. Normally I wouldn’t be nervous but based on my past week’s of training I really am a little concerned.
Need to have a few good weeks of consistency…
Andy B
outsideallday.com
The North Face Endurance Challenge Championship – GORE-TEX 50 Mile
San Francisco, CA
December 3-4, 2011
Situated in the visually stunning Marin Headlands just north of the city, The North Face Endurance Challenge Championship course has surprised runners with both its scenery and amount of elevation change. Participants are encouraged to train for repeated uphills and downhills of several hundred feet at a time. A majority of the course covers run-able fire road (very little technical single track) overlooking the Pacific Ocean with occasional glimpses of the Golden Gate Bridge.
More info at: http://www2.thenorthface.com/endurancechallenge/
I’m seriously considering this race to finish out the 2011 running season. The Steamboat 50 is on September 17. Tackling this race forces me to stay in running shape for October and November, which would be a good thing. I figure between Emergent Fitness, the treadmill and warm GoLite jackets I can make training happen in the late fall. For some reason, this race just looks unreal, I’m pretty sure I need to do it. The 50 mile race has a 14 hour cut off, which is reasonable, if I stay focused on training, I hopeful I could make this happen.
Here’s to not being fat in the fall!
Andy B
outsideallday.com
Last summer, Andy B convinced me to join a gym in Fort Collins called Emerfit, and I think it’s changing my life. When you think of the gym, you probably think of treadmills, mirrors, and awkward old dudes in spandex maxing out on the bench press. Emerfit is probably unlike any gym you’ve been to.
I spent a lot of my life immersed in sport specific weight and agility training, which progressively got more difficult and had a competitive element. However, I found that this type of training was hard for me to find in a local “big gym.”
When I first sat down with Chris Brown at Emerfit, he explained to me the model of fitness they followed. What is fitness? How do you know if you’re fit, or if someone else is physically fit? It’s something that humans have spent at least the last century trying to figure out, debating, researching, and citing medical journals and studies. An easy way for me to understand the Emerfit model is this – you may have a guy who can bench 500 lbs, but would fall over dead running more than 400 meters. You also may have a guy that places top ten in the Boston Marathon, but has to have help out of the
Workout of the Day
grocery store because he can’t lift his milk jugs into the minivan. Emerfit is all about the pursuit of overall fitness. It’s not about how you look. It’s not about how much weight you can lift, or how far or fast you can run. It’s about you pushing the envelope of fitness for you. For me, I had done some short distance running, and a little trail running. I didn’t have any really specific goals in mind when I started, but I have fairly chronic disc issues in my lower back, and feared my body was slipping rapidly into the middle-age abyss. I, like most people, had tried lots of programs, and gyms, but ultimately faded away once the new wore off.
So what do you do at Emerfit?
Each class is scheduled for an hour with a trainer assigned to lead the group and provide individual coaching. You start with some stretching, warm-up, and then move into some strength work. Each day you also do a “Workout of the Day” (WOD) for conditioning. The WOD is a short, intense, competitive, timed workout that is designed to push the edge of your fitness limits. Most of the class participates in the WOD, and results are posted on the board. This adds a level of competitiveness and accountability that makes me push way harder than I would otherwise. There is a ton of thought and effort put into the programming of these workouts, by the certified training staff. They also have some customized strength regiments, a climbing-specific program, nutritional coaching, and much more.
Craig D - Deadlift
In 8 months, I’ve seen significant improvements in my strength, speed, and endurance. I feel better. I’m accomplishing personal and professional goals, and my cholesterol and blood sugar have moved from high-risk to healthy levels. I’m running my first trail half marathon on May 29th (Wyoming Trail Marathon). There are a number of reasons why the Emerfit model has worked for me, more on that in the next post.
For more info, go to www.emerfit.com
Jobe L
Saturday morning, Andy B and I hit the trail at about 8 o’clock. I had not eaten properly, had not gotten enough sleep the night before, and was dehydrated. Not a good start. But Fort Collins is a great place to be, if you love being outside (and you know we do.) It took a few minutes, but I was up to speed after about 15 minutes. We started with a long steady climb for about 45 minutes, with lots of switchbacks and timber. We broke out of the trees, and the view of Horsetooth Reservoir made the climb worth it. It was a great way to start a Saturday morning!
Single Track in Lory State Park
This was a perfect longer trail run, my first of the season, and good initial prep for the Medicine Bow Half.
This week’s training included:
Tuesday @ Emerfit - (500 m row + 15 Ball Slams) X 4 Sets
Wednesday – 6 Mile trail run on Devil’s Backbone
Thursday @ Emerfit – 50 “Man Makers” (Push up, DB squat clean, push press 35 lbs) for time
Saturday – 9.58 Miles in Lory
Sunday – Intervals at CSU track
Jobe
Jobe and I getting crushed during a Work Out of The Day at Emergent Fitness last week.
15 rounds for time:
* 1 Front Squat at 75% of 1RM
* 100 ft Farmers Carry (32 pood kettlebell’s, 141 pounds total)
Brutal!
Andy B
outsideallday.com
So, with some amount of hesitation I have put my hat in the ring for my first half marathon. I’m a former collegiate athlete who has since taken a leave of absence from physical activity of virtually all types. But, thanks to Andy, I’ve been pursuing fitness in a few creative ways over the last 6 months, including Emerfit and moderate trail running. Recently though, I started to notice that my trail running was inconsistent at best. I’d go out with Andy once every other week and die. So, I did what anyone who’s never run more than 6 miles at a time in his life would do; I registered for the Medicine Bow Half Marathon, in Wyoming.
Andy will be running the full marathon as shown above. Luckily, I only have to do half of that. This race is a “hilly out and back” that starts at 8700 ft. The temperature is typically between 40 and 60 degrees. It will be a good test of my ability to train and discipline myself leading up to an event. I will be posting some of my training regimen throughout the weeks ahead, which will include comments on diet, Emerfit, and hitting the trails around Northern Colorado.
74 days till race day!
Jobe
