Most of you  have heard the story about Zachamole telling me I have a big butt, right? Well yesterday was a GREAT day to have plenty of junk in your trunk, because we did a LOT of sit-ups. For those of us who have it goin'-on when we put it in reverse, sit-ups are fun and amazing. On the other hand, if you don't have a motor in the back of your Honda, you'll probably get the dreaded "sit-ups raspberry" right on your tailbone.

KTUCK might have found a way to avoid this though...she actually SAT on her ab-mat with more of her butt on it, and that seemed to have helped. So there you go, Zachamole-who-has-no-butt, that's how to avoid your raspberry.

The strength work was snatch balance. I was glad to see people starting to drop under the bar a little more aggressively. This makes me happy, all the way to my insides. Dropping under the bar is how you get better at cool things like overhead squats and snatches. Yeah snatches!

The metcon was:

5 rounds
10 body rows
15 kettle bell swings
20 sit-ups

This may have seemed like a lot, since it was 5 rounds, but most people finished in under 10 minutes. Great job you guys!

Have you signed up for the Better Body Challenge III yet? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? Sign up! This is a great opportunity to give yourself that extra boost that you need. And please, please don't spend the next 2 weeks eating Cinnabon and Taco Bell....that defeats the purpose of the challenge. We don't want people to just re-do the same progress from last time, we want people to make NEW progress, right? Ok, cool. Now go sign up.

This is Kristy - she's new! Make sure to introduce yourself to her and her husband Tim!

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I have to share a funny Facebook moment with you guys. I was scrolling through Facebook, and I saw a comment from my friend Lisbeth Darsh, and what it basically came down to was that someone out there didn't think the CrossFit Games were a true enough test of one's fitness. Since I have to be part of EVERYONE'S conversations, I jumped in with a comment,

"Maybe they should call Kris Clever and ask if she felt tested...she's probably STILL sleeping, covering herself in icy hot, or in an ice bath somewhere."

This seemed like an appropriate response, but about 15 seconds later one of Kris Clever's buddies from Valley CrossFit replied:

"@Jennifer - not likely! Kris was in the gym again on Monday doing multiple WODs"

Can you imagine?! I sat there, feeling first deflated, and then amazed. I guess this changed my perspective a little bit on just what it takes to compete at the Games. (But I'll save that for another post)

Ok, back to reality. Our buddy KTUCK gave us a good little nugget yesterday. She said "Thrusters are right up there with snakes and spiders...I'm scared of them, and I just don't like them." Good stuff, KTUCK! Your quote will live at the top of the whiteboard until someone else comes up with something funny and witty.

The workout yesterday started with some dead lifts, and ended up being 3 rounds sets of AMRAP of box jumps, dumbbell cleans and knees to elbows. Unfortunately, the majority of you spent your time jumping and cleaning, and didn't get to play with the K2E all that much. You'll just have to get faster!

Jeanne will probably kill me for sharing this, but she told me that over the weekend she put on a dress for the first time in YEARS. One thing that made me giggle the rest of the night was that she told me that she didn't even need her SPANKS anymore thanks to CrossFit Fire! HA! Atta girl Jeanne! I'm so proud of you for pushing yourself so hard every day, and for being such a good role model to your girls. (HUG!) Best of all, your shoulders and arms look AMAZING in that tank top.

Lookin' FABULOUS Jeanne!

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I can tell a lot about how you're feeling by what your face looks like during a WOD. I can tell if you're injured, exhausted, on the verge of vomiting, or just in the normal land of discomfort. Land of normal discomfort is ok, but any of the other options are NOT ok. Yesterday opened up doors to new faces though, so I was confused. First things first, let me tell you the workout:

Press 5-5-5

followed by three separate events:
With 3:00 (3:30 ladies) on the clock, row 500m's and rest the remaining time

AND THEN
with 7:00 on the clock
3 rounds of
21 double unders
12 thrusters (70/50kg's)
(get as far as you can)

AND THEN
Immediately after finishing the 2nd event, do a max set of pull-ups

In case you're confused, take a look at the weight for the Thrusters. Now take ANOTHER look. Those are damn near the heaviest thrusters Wild Bill has EVER prescribed in a workout. WOWZA. It made my soul hurt just to see him write those numbers on the board. I honestly thought it was a typo! Our buddy Taylor from Derby City CrossFit had NO problems handling that weight though. She is such a strong girl! Thanks for the shirt, and thanks for making the rest of us look like sissies.

Take a look at Tom's face, and tell me how you would interpret it:

Is this the face of someone in pain? Should we scale back his weights? OMG! WHAT'S HAPPENING!? I'M SO CONFUSED! Turns out Tom is ok, he was just loving his 70kg thrusters.

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Whenever I watch people do slam balls, all I hear in my head are those stupid song lyrics. I couldn't even tell you who sings that song! And what does that mean

Any who....

Thank you to everyone for the warm welcome back to the Fort. It sure does feel good to be home even though we are dog-tired. We had 17 people at our evening classes, and having you there made it all worth it!

The strength work was heavy sets of backsquats (do I have to say heavy? Isn't it assumed that weights will be heavy?) followed by 3 rounds of:

21 ball slams
12 pull-ups
walking lunges (from the door, to the street and back)

There were scaling options written on the board, yet some of you chose to ignore them. I love you guys and your "can-do" spirit! I am going to gently remind you that those scaling options are meant to be followed as they are written on the board. The scaled walking lunges were only supposed to go to the street, and you walk back normally....some of you opted to walking lunge all the way back inside. Are your fannies a little sore today? Mkay, that's because you did too many walking lunges. I love you guys anyways.

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I'll be honest. This weekend was an absolute blast, but we are all looking forward to getting back to the Fort. The Games is an amazing experience....and being together with 4-5,000 CrossFitters in one place is really a spectacle. Alas, there's nothing like the 100 people who work out at the Fort...sigh...miss you guys!

In case you missed it, the 2010 Games champion for the ladies was Kristan Clever, and Graham Holmberg for the men. Kristan was a favorite going into the weekend after her stellar performance last year, but Graham came out of NOWHERE. I only watched him a handful of times over the weekend, as my attention was directed to the competitors like Khalipa, Spealer and Matt Chan. I'm blown away by how much more intense the competition was this year!

Ok, Zach's getting restless, so we need to get him something to eat. I'll see you guys tomorrow night!

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Yesterday was a very long day, but absolutely amazing! I spent the day volunteering at the registration tables, getting the athletes checked in for their workouts. I also spent a couple hours filling sandbags.....is that a sign of things to come!? Anyways, I am officially liberating myself of my volunteer duties so that I can fulfill my responsibilities to the Affiliate Community page. I'm supposed to be playing "Where's Jennie", but if I'm hidden in the registration tent, it's not a fair game.

I hope you guys are having fun on your 5K run! Again, thanks to Garth and Audra for organizing it. For those of you who didn't participate on the run, here's your homework:

150 burpees for time

You can thank Alicia for this one. She was my inspiration.

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Does anyone know who Lewis CK is? (thanks Liv for showing me the video) He reminds all of us that "everything in the world right now is amazing, and nobody's happy". And for the most part he's right. Your CrossFit Fire coaches are sitting in chairs...IN THE SKY right now, and do any of you think that's amazing?

In case you missed it, your coaching staff is heading out to LosAngeles to watch (and judge) the CrossFit Games. It's quite possibly the biggest event of the year for our business, and our sport. Fortapalooza was cool and all...but this is like, the OLYMPICS of CrossFit!

Yesterday was a busy and fun day. We welcomed one of Morgan's friends, Michael to his first day of ramp-up. Great to have you! Michael is an early riser, so that means that yours truly paid a little visit to the GYG to snap some pictures and marvel at their awesomeness. Has anyone peeked at them lately? David is looking AMAZING. I mean really, you should SEE his biceps. And Ryan Fain is on the fast track to having lost 60lbs in just 12 weeks! Read that again....60lbs in 12 weeks! Atta boy Ryan! Keep up the good work!

The skill work yesterday was handstand holds. This could mean that you're kicking up against the wall, or even trying free standing handstands on the floor. All of us now have a greater appreciation for gymnasts, I think. It's always funny to be upside down, because you don't even really know where your butt is. Right Ivy?

The metcon was another named workout, and her name is Elizabeth. We had almost a complete re-arrangement of our record board! Zachamole crushed this workout, and took the top spot, Tommy set a super duper new PR, and Ryan Z made the board. Great job fellas! Stacy maintains the fact that she's the ONLY lady at the Fort who can do all those ring dips unassisted, and she set a new PR too! So strong....so cute.....

Know what else is pretty cool? Yesterday was Les' birthday. Happy Birthday Les! This is another one of my new favorite pictures. Dad finished his workout, and he instantly transformed into the barking, encouraging Dad that we all know and love. He wasn't going to let Les finish his birthday workout without a little help!

Happy Birthday Les! Here, have some ring-dips.

CROSSFIT HOMEWORK FOR 7/15/10

I'm SUPER sorry that there won't be any classes today, Thursday July 15th. For those of you looking to get in a fun workout on your own, do the following and post your times to comments:

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 of:

broad jumps (5-6')
push-ups
sit-ups

Scaling options:

A: 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

B: 10- 8-6-4-2

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