The Rewards of Fatherhood, Fitness and Frugality

My "computer" bag.

CrossFit teaches us to be ready for the unknown and unknowable. I guess I’ve taken that to heart somewhat. My computer bag contains everything but the computer. Unless you count the iPad. But it does contain everything I might need in an low-grade emergency. Bandages, athletic tape, books, pens, ground coffee (yes, ground coffee), weapons (non-lethal), overnight garments, toothpaste, ibuprofen and can forget the gymnastics rings and jumprope. You never know when a wod will jump off.

What’s in your bag?

An apple a day to keep the happy to stay

Make someone’s day by doing something small and sweet. I know this doesn’t go for everyone but for me the little things mean a lot. Something as seemingly little as leaving a healthy snack out with a little note attached can remind someone their are loved and thought of. Can you argue this?

Of course, there are those gestures, the big ones that can say a lot as well. The trips to St. Tropez or the shopping sprees at Neiman Marcus. Who wouldn’t appreciate those things. But I know I’m just a sucker for the occassional call or text just to say good morning. The surprise Chuck Taylor sneakers left for you at the gym. Or the seasonal sweet potato pie baked with you in mind. It’s the small gestures for me that seem to have a deeper and more lasting effect. I assume there are others that feel the same way.

So I say, share some sweet as much as you can. Do something nice for someone just because they exist in your life. And likely if they’re in your life, they’re bringing something positive even if it’s not always apparent. Shout them out. Give them a hug. Treat them to coffee. Buy flowers. They smell good and they’re pretty. Treat someone to a full tank of gas. Root someone on in some challenge they are undertaking. It feels good to give and to get the little things. So share.

111026: Wednesday
Skill/Strength: 8 rounds, 2 snatch complexes @ 135#, 4 hand stand push ups, 6 burpees (1 snatch complex = 1 snatch grip deadlift, 1 power snatch, 1 squat snatch).

111025: Tuesday
Metcon (am): 150 double unders, then 21-15-9, chest-to-bar pullups, ring push ups, then 150 double unders. Metcon (pm): row 500 meters, rest 10 minutes then, 21-15-9, overhead squats @ 115#, toes-to-bar.

111024: Monday
Strength: Press 3×10. Metcon: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 of Deadlift @ 225#, Box Jump @ 24″.

111023: Sunday
Metcon (am): “Fran”, 21-15-9 of Thruster @ 95#, Pullups. Strength (pm): Resting 60 seconds between sets: Squat 2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2

Childhood is passing. Adolescence is in full swing. But worst of all, so are school dances. T-One had her first experience yesterday with a school dance. And reports have it she had to endure the advances of at least five different boys who wanted the honor of escorting to the after school affair. It is no surprise to me she is popular. She’s got the 3 G’s: gorgeousness, greatness and gregariousness. And I’m not at all nervous about the boys sniffing around her. They know I carry a big stick. But I must admit I’m a little dispirited.

As she shopped her closet for dresses and bemoaned, “I have nothing to wear”, all I could think about was how she won’t be dancing with dad anymore. Yeah, maybe I’ll get a few more in at her sweet 16, and possibly her wedding, but from here on, those dances will be few and far between.

*Sigh*

But instead of feeling sorry for myself (woe is me) I’ve decided to dance with her while I can. And, if I play my cards right, down the line when she’s “all grow’d up”, maybe every now again she’ll throw her old man a bone and let me cut a rug with her.

Metcon (endurance):
Row (Concept II): 5:00 on, 2:30 off, 6:00 on, 3:00 off, 7:00 on

Warm Up:

Metcon (am):
“Camille”
AMRAP 8 min
3 Snatch Complexes @ 125#
3 Wall Climbs

Metcon (pm):
Teams of 2
AMRAP in 5 min of:
5 Push Jerks @ 155#
Rest 2 min
AMRAP in 5 min of:
5 Deadlifts @ 225#
Rest 2 min
AMRAP in 5 min of:
5 Supine ring pulls

Result:
AM metcon: 27 reps
PM metcon: 317 reps

Over the last two years I’ve really struggled with the amount of time I spend on thinking about and engaging in Crossfit. The time I want to spend on it is not the time I have. I’ve struggled with this balance for over two years. My time with my girls is hard to come by and I find myself having to sacrifice other things, especially Crossfit, in order to just hang with them.

I was supposed to meet friends at the box to do the pictured wod. But I also had to get my girls ready for school. To be able to do both I had to enlist the help of my father to drop the girls off to school. Feeling guilty about my selfish decision to Crossfit instead of dropping my girls to their school steps, I dilly-dallied this morning, hanging out with the girls a few more minutes before I left for the box. As a result I was late to wod with my homies. So instead, the wod became my warmup, greatly modified.

Instead I decided to re-do “Camille”. The first time around I did it with friends at Brazen Athletics sort of half-assed. In fact, I wasn’t even going to do it then. But it was something about seeing my friends attempt the wod, suffer through it, miss some reps and then be blasted at the end, that made me want to jump in. It’s one of the weirdest things about this Crossfit community. Things you never have done or just unlikely to do, you do because this community provides one of the greatest support systems I’ve ever seen.

This morning for instance, I had no plans of re-doing “Camille” but my cronies stayed behind just to cheer me on while I did the wod. I had to do it at that point. Within in the wod I wanted to stop several times saying to myself, “I don’t want to do this.” But the voices in the background saying, “C’mon Ben!” motivated me to continue. In football we call the crowd The 12th Man. When the 12th man is making noise he can motivate the team to extraordinary feats. In every Crossfit box around the country, there’s the 12th man. Some voice or voices you hear bellowing from the corner urging you to keep pushing. I love this community. Sometimes stealing a little time away from parenting feels worth it.

This girl has so much confidence. I wish I had half of what she has. I could learn from her. Confidence is such a big part of our success in life.

I often tell the girls, speak up! Folks tend to believe and respect those who speak with confidence. I hope they will remember that as they get older. Seems they’re off to a great start.

The ropes at Guerrilla Fitness

All the cool kids are doing it so I figured I’d join in on the fun.

Today’s wod:

Strength
Front squat at 5 – 5 – 3 – 3 – 2 – 2

Metcon:
4 rounds
3 rope climbs, 15′
15 static lunges @ 95#

Result:
Strength: 255/255/275/275/305/305(1)
Metcon: 6:30

I haven’t done any sort of strength based squat in a while. So this felt good. But it’s clear I need to build my strength back up in this area. I think a strong squat is essential in Crossfit as well as life.

I failed my last rep and I could feel my knees buckle in a little. My coach pointed out that little flaw to me. So next time I’ll bring my feet in a little and hopefully that will help me out with my knees.

The lunges in the metcon were a challenge especially after the squats. But I’ve worked hard on my footwork with rope climbs and feel comfortable with the movement now. It used to be I could only climb the rope using all arms. It goes to show you a little perseverance goes a long way.