The Many Faces of Fran

So thanks to Tommy Mo and the good people at CrossFit Milford, I have this long list of workouts that one can do while on vacation. While I am not technically on vacation, I do not have weights at my house and do not have the means to purchase them (If I did, I would just go to the gym. Der.) Anyhow, on this long list of fabulous workouts, I noticed a familiar name: Fran [insert scary music here].

Now if you're a CrossFitter, you know exactly who Fran is and all about her diabolical plan to make you hate your life in 10 minutes or less. For those of you who don't know Fran, let me introduce you:

"Fran"

21-15-9 reps for time of:
Thrusters (40 kg for men/30 kg for women)
Pull ups

Fran here is a staple workout for CrossFit, so it shouldn't come to anyone as a surprise that one would want to hang out with her for a little while on vacation. As a result, "Invisible Fran" was born.

Like her visible counterpart, the reps are the same and the workout is for time. However, you're supposed to substitute air squats for the thrusters and push ups for the pull ups. Sounds great right? Wrong. You can't kick someone that is invisible. Nonetheless, I took on "Invisible Fran" yesterday and finished her off in 2:30 and then ignored the fact that some CrossFitters can finish regular Fran in less than 3 minutes. I felt okay about my "Invisible Fran" time mostly because my push ups are getting stronger. On the other hand, I was not as pleased with my time on my own variation of vacation "Fran."

Like I said, I decided the other day to do another variation of "Fran," which I dubbed "Franny" because I imagined this is what a younger, more innocent Fran was like. I substituted chest to bar jumping pull ups (stupid pull ups - ugh) for regular pull ups and did thrusters with a 10 pound bar to practice my form. For the record, yes, I lied a little bit about not having equipment. I have an Iron Gym (the only "As Seen on Television" thing ever worth purchasing) and a 10 pound bar from my cousin (Which is pretty much nothing; we all know that kids.) I also intend to make a homemade wall ball out of an old basketball and some sand. I'll let you know how that goes. Anyhow, I digress. You know what I found out though? I found that Fran was not very nice when she was younger either. I finished this workout in 3:40, went "eh" and felt just a little bit disappointed in myself primarily because I felt that I should have completed the workout more quickly than I did. Oh well. Room for improvement, right? Right.

Well, there you have it. There are just a few faces of Fran, even though one is technically invisible. I'm just hoping that someone makes up a French version that we can call "Francesca." It's just fun to say.

The Happiest Place on Earth

My coaches, Bill and Jennie, were out of town on their honeymoon in Costa Rica (so jealous…) for about ten days and so I decided to stop back into the Fort their first day back to chat and see how their trip went. To be honest though, I was just as excited to go to the Fort as I was to see Bill and Jennie. It had been two weeks since I had been there, and I missed the place more than I ever expected, which is a lot to say considering how I used to hate to go to the gym.

Yes, I said it. I used to hate to go to the gym. I actually almost actively avoided going to the gym unless I was shamed into it by my basketball or volleyball coaches in college, and when I was done playing collegiate sports, I was never too keen on going back for a number of reasons. First, I disliked lifting weights; it never appealed to me. I didn't want to get bulky and I found it horribly boring. Second, I disliked the indifferent/snooty/overly perky (pick your adjective) employees that didn't really seem to care about what you did or your progress. Third, I disliked the guys (and sometimes girls) who stood in front of the mirrors to check themselves out; and finally, to add to my gym misery, the treadmills were usually full and there was always something bad on TV. All I ever wanted to do when I went to the gym was zone out with my iPod, run however many miles I was running that day, do some ab work, and then leave. In fact, I disliked the gym so much that the only time I went consistently after I stopped playing sports was during the wintertime, when going for a run in 30-below Minnesota weather seemed just a little extreme. Other than that, I stuck to my regular running schedule and mixed in yoga, Pilates and the occasional aerobics video. At least if I got sick of the instructor on the video, I could press the mute button. CrossFit changed all this though – for the better.

I now love going to the gym (and miss it a lot), primarily because the Fort is everything Globo Gym is not. There is an energy about CrossFit that is infectious. There is a competitiveness and camaraderie that accompanies this type of programming compels you to work harder and to share in not only your own successes but also of those around you. I no longer want to drown out the people beside me with music. There is also no artificial one-on-one relationship with a trainer. It's a coach, who makes it his or her priority that you get the most out of every workout and who actually cares about your progress rather than just counting your reps. In addition, my former hatred towards weight lifting has changed completely, and I've discovered that I love lifting heavy s&%# off the ground or pressing it over my head. Pull ups are still not my friend, but that's another story and I'm working on that…

I could go on but I think that you get the overall idea, and I think that Jennie summed it up perfectly when she said: "[The Fort] is a magic place where people get sexier every time you see them, friendships are made, and successes are celebrated." Seriously? Who wouldn't want that? It sounds like Disney Land - only better.

Just Don't Kick the Dog...

Long story short: The recession is not my friend. I lost my second job almost two weeks ago and after some thought I decided that I would take a break from the Fort. However, mostly because I am addicted and can’t bring myself to work out like I used to (aerobics, yoga and running just aren’t as fun anymore), I am not taking a break from CrossFit. I’ve decided to go back to many a Forts' CrossFit roots and have been primarily working out in my garage and completing workouts posted on both the main and different affiliate sites. I have also had some help from my pals at CrossFit Fire (Yay! I haven’t been forgotten!).

Tommy Mo(hr) sent me the workout below. It was his own creation, and I imagine him laughing evilly when I told him I would do it today. The workout, which I’ve rightfully named after the legend himself, was:

“Give Me Some (Tommy) Mohr”

100 Single unders (Sub: 25 Double unders)
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 of:
Burpees
Sit ups
Push ups
100 Single unders (Sub: 25 Double unders)

I did sub the 25 double unders for the single unders and then plowed through the workout in both my driveway and basement. It was wicked for me (Pairing burpees and push ups – ugh – I was having flashbacks of the burpee-jumping squat-push up workout) and for my dog, Boo. I accidently kicked him Round 6, mid burpee and sent the poor little guy flying across the room. (I’ll send you the vet bill, Tom). I finished the entire WOD though in about 11:40, which I thought was pretty decent when I saw that he did it in 9:38. For those of you who don’t know this, Tommy Mo is an animal and gives nothing less than 110% at every workout. He is kind of my hero *tear*.

Overall, it was a nice, quick metcon and one that I’ll probably do it again in the future sans dog kicking. Keep them coming though, Tom; we won’t get to the 2010 Games by taking it easy.

My dog, Boo, taking a much needed rest after today's WOD.

Catching Mara

The clan at CrossFit Twin Cities

I went on a little pleasure cruise this past weekend to the Twin Cities to visit some friends. While I was there I decided to check out one of the local CrossFit gyms. There were a number of them to choose from but CrossFit Twin Cities [CF TC] won out when I realized it was only about fifteen minutes from my friend’s house. I arrived early and was greeted by a couple of the trainers. I quickly introduced myself, signed the waiver form (they were having an open house and made all participants fill one out), and waited for the workout to begin. As I was sitting there I was looking about the gym when I noticed a small group of four or five kids, probably anywhere from ten to thirteen hanging around by the mirrors on the far wall, checking out the posted workout. This group quickly grew and soon there were probably twenty or so kids filtering in and around the space. I knew that this place taught Taekwondo from their website but didn’t know that there would be so many kids present. This was my first introduction to CrossFit Kids.

One of the coach’s quickly went over some of the basics of CrossFit before explaining the workout. Those who were there for the time were going to do 100 wall balls (or a scaled version of Karen) while regular CrossFitters were doing a variation of Barbara. The workout, which was to be named after whoever had the best time, it ended up being called “Harco” (a combination of Harrison and Cole who finished the workout in 21:06), for that day was:

“Harco”
4 rounds for time of:

200 meter sprint
20 jumping pull ups
30 push ups
40 squats
50 sit ups

Let me just say that this was a killer workout. I’m sure the combination of lack of sleep, a bad food hangover and seeming 800 degree gym didn’t particularly help me but to be fair, the people at CF TC don’t mess around. For one, these kids were AWESOME. It was amazing to see so many of them working at such a high intensity and dedication that up until that point I had only witnessed in adults. They all completed the prescribed workout, some even doing kipping pull ups instead of the jumping ones, busting their butts the whole way, passing by all the adults (myself included) and completed killed it. In fact, during my third round I was going head to head with a twelve year old girl on my sit ups with the coach yelling: “Don’t let her catch you, Mara. Keep going.” On a side note, I have to admit, I hated Mara a little bit for being ahead of me. Please don't tell her mom...

Secondly, I have to say something too about the coaching at CF TC. All of the coaches were great and their type of coaching (with maintaining appropriateness to the kids), with a combination of encouragement and a bit of banter, was motivating and continuous throughout the entire workout. There were about three of them walking around the room and each one of them had their say while I was busting through the workout. One made sure that I kept my toes on the ground while I was doing my sit ups, another did push ups side by side with me on my last round just to make sure I wasn’t sandbagging it, and the third continually yelled at me to be sure to “Represent Illinois.” All three of them were everything I expected CrossFit coaches to be: Knowledgeable, motivating and ready to jump on your a*% if you were doing something wrong or they felt you weren’t working hard enough.

All in all, I had a great experience at CrossFit Twin Cities. If you want to check them out, I've included a link to their website. I suggest you look them up if you're ever in the Cities area: http://www.crossfittc.com/. Anyhow, the overall experience was everything I hoped it to be and more, even if I didn't catch Mara (She beat my by a few reps! Argh!) and was beaten by a bunch of twelve year olds.