Erika Bucheli

I drove up today to San Ramon to train at California Strength, a gym well-known for their coach Glenn Pendlay, their athletes (youtube Donny Shankle if you want to see a strong mofo) and their Olympic lifting. I had been debating for about two weeks whether or not I should call the gym to come up and train. I finally decided to call yesterday, and boom, there I was at 7:50 AM on Highway 120 driving (well, speeding) to get to San Ramon before 9 AM.

I got there around 8:30 (please don’t tell my mom that I turned an 80 minute drive into a 50 minute one), early like I always am. I first met Lindsay Taylor, who owns CrossFit CenCal with her husband in Stockton. Then the guys started to roll in around 9:15. Then we got to lifting. Guess who worked with just the empty barbell? Guess who smacked herself in the forehead with that same empty barbell? Guess who learned a lot of great stuff and is going to join the Cal Strength weightlifting team? If you answered “Erika” to all of those questions, you get a gold star. Coach had me working with the barbell for a good 45 minutes before I even got to put on 5 kilos. I smacked myself in the forehead because my grip was too wide on the snatch. And... at the end of the day, I decided that I wanted to be a part of the team.

That means I’m the rookie. But it also means I was invited to stay and have lunch with the group. Coach’s tri-tip was phenomenal. I think I could write an entire essay on that alone. I was handed a slab of meat stuck to a fork and a plate. I ate like a dude. But, apparently I didn’t eat enough. Coach said they needed to get me eating like a weightlifter. I said, “I ate what you gave me!” and Donny Shankle said, “The Lion doesn’t throw meat to the cubs, the cubs must learn to take it.” That Shankle, he’s a philosopher.


Jeff L putting his head through the window at the top of a plate burpee


Workout Of The Day

Skill:
Rope Climb 10 min

MetCon:
15-12-9-6-3
Clean & Jerk 135/95
claping Push Up

Foam Roll 10 Min

Do you have bad habits? Have you ever found yourself nervously clearing your throat when you enter a room, how about chewing your nails, misplacing your keys or mindlessly driving for miles while ruminating about someone else's annoying habit? Don’t be embarrassed, everyone has a bad habit or two and although not all bad habits are equally “bad” for you, some habits fall higher or lower on the scale of severity depending on the the impact they have on one’s life. Guess what? Good habits, bad habits, all habits start and end in the same way. Would you like to know what that way is? I’ll tell you. It’s called REPETITION. The word practice also illustrates my point beautifully. In order to build a habit, we consciously or unconsciously repeat or practice an action. It really is a simple process and not nearly as complicated as we often tell ourselves that it is. Now don’t misunderstand what I am telling you here, the process is simple, but it ain’t always easy.
Tomorrow, 21 students and coaches are going to be entering the paleo “cave” to break “bad” eating habits, among other things. I am looking forward to actually following through this time. Hey, what can I say, I have a problem with quitting. So this time, with the accountability and support of my fellow cave people I am determined to be a different kind of quitter this challenge. How about you?



Workout Of The Day

Chin Ups
3x3 strict
3x3 5 sec Neg
3 sets max hold at top

Front Squat
3 x 5 @ 40-50%
3x5 @65%

MetCon:
7 Min AMRAP Of:
7 Squat Cleans 155/105
7 C 2 B Pull Ups

Ever heard the term “Bank run”? Sounds like it could be kind of bad. Brings up images of the the stock market crash of 1929 or in our current economic crisis, the Occupy Wallstreeters and all those tents blocking the way to the banks and lack of sanitation, all that litter and broken glass. Whew. Okay, not that kind of a bank run.
Berry Worden, our morning boot camp coach and his friend Christine Mount are organizing a team to participate in the 5th annual Stair Climb with The American Lung Association aptly named, Stairway to Heaving. Don’t let the name fool you, it’s supposed to be a lot of fun and we know that a lot of you won’t mind heaving for a good cause. The run takes place in the Bank Of America Building in San Francisco on Saturday, March 31, 2012. The time is from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM, which is a good thing because I might need all three of those hours to run up and then walk down all 52 stories of it. If you are interested in participating in the run or donating please follow the link provided to the event page on facebook. It would be really cool if we could get a group together to support this important event and maybe do a little sight seeing too.

Talk about heaving. Have fun with this WOD.



Coach Berry Worden and his 5:30 AM Crew

200 Meter Run
80 push ups
70 Squats
60 sit Ups
50 Dbl unders
200 Meter Run
40 SDHP 95/65
30 Box Jumps
20 Plate Burpees
10 Pull ups
200 Meter run

I am looking over the approved food lists for the paleo diet. I happened to notice, there isn’t any chocolate cake on the list. Or pancakes, or muffins or cookies or bread or any type of traditional processed dessert. Pasta isn’t listed either. Has anyone ever made “Paleo Spaghetti” with the spaghetti squash in place of the spaghetti? I did. A couple times. It didn’t taste like spaghetti. Even when I closed my eyes. What about all those “ paleo muffins “ a bunch of us made last time? Or paleo “rice” or mash potatoes out of cauliflower? Bleck! Cauliflower still tastes like cauliflower. None of those substitutions tasted like the real thing. How disappointing! I found that I spent more money and more time trying to recreate these other dishes, which somewhat defeated the whole concept of simplicity and the beauty of less preparation. So this time, instead of trying to parody favorite foods, I plan to learn new ways to prepare and enjoy the foods on the approved list in a simpler more paleo manner. What will be on your plates this February?


If yu just have to have pie, I believe these would count as real paleo pies

Wprkout Of The Day
Good Mornings
5x5

Dead lift
5x5 @65%

MetCon
4 Rounds of:
100 m farmer walk, pinching bumper plates with fingers
20 Wall Balls
10 Pull ups

In a few days, 25 of us will embark on an epic journey of CAVE DWELLING that will last THIRTY DAYS! Mike, Denise, and I are all participating. We’ve got ONTHERUN sponsoring it and there’s a chance to win some cold, hard cash. I’m excited to see what happens in the 30 days!
This will be the third paleo challenge we have hosted over the past year and a half and is shaping up to be the most exciting one so far. We have learned a lot with the past challenges and with the sponsorships CrossFit Modesto has from local businesses like ONTHERUN they just keep getting better and better. The cash and prizes available for this challenge is at about $400 and we expect that to grow closer to $600 by the time the challenge is over. Doing challenges for the obvious physical benefits is great but isn’t it just a little more motivating with some cash on the line?

We have just two more of the 2012 CrossFit Modesto hoodies left and about a dozen shirts get in quick as they will be gone this week for sure.

Please note that the Paleo Challenge FAQ Workshop is tomorrow at 10:30 AM. You got questions, I got answers.

See you all there!

Todays Partner Workout:
50 Push Press 115/80
Run 800 With Med Ball
60 Burpee Med Ball Toss
Run 800mWith Med Ball
70 Toe To Bar

Today is a partner workout, only one person working at a time on push press, and toe to bar.
What’s a burpee med ball toss? you will have to come in for the workout to find out the details.