Archive for Live

Great job this weekend MBS! Here are some team highlights!

What… happened… (ugh). I was on vacation for 9 days and came straight home to a 3 day CrossFit competition that we have been using as a source of motivation for our workouts since January. Suddenly they are both over and I feel like I got hit by a truck.

The team worked hard this weekend but ended up 9th of 27. You had to finish top 3 to go to California and we wanted one of those 3 spots We fought for it but other teams did better. Simple as that. What made the weekend great is that we still remembered to enjoy ourselves and celebrate our victories. And now whoever wants it has a new source of motivation for the upcoming year.

team_croppedandbrightTeam highlights:

1. Rob and Rich who both have told me they hate rowing cranked out their 750 meter rows at around 1:40/500m pace and then did 21 handstand pushups a piece. I knew Rob was good at rowing but had never seen Rich go quite that fast. I knew Rich was great at handstand pushups but didn’t know Rob was right there with him. Very fun to watch.

2. Getting to do a workout in a 21-15-9 rep scheme with only heavy dead lifts and box jumps. No push ups. No Olympic lifts. Just two simple things in one of my favorite formats. Awesome.

3. Being in 13th place and finding out 30 seconds before the last event on Saturday that we had to be in 10th to move on to Sunday. Leah did more chest to bar pull ups than most guys could ever hope for (like 30 at a time or so). MJ did around 200 of 250 double-unders with only 1 break. Johanna absolutely crushed both the kettle bell swings and the overhead squats maintaining incredible form. (Soooo jealous!) And the result was that we stole that last spot at the last minute!

4. Watching Leah do muscle ups faster and better than nearly any female in any region around the world. I’m pretty sure on a fresh day she could crank out about 10 or 11 unbroken in under a minute.

5. Climbing our way back to 9th place in the Southwest region was something for our team to be proud of. Great job team!!!

6. Sitting in the stands with the 50 or so people from MBS who drove all the way across town to sit in 90 degree weather and support us and our fearless and amazing leaders from the individual competition, Dan, Sean, and of course Pat who walked away with 1st place in the region and will go to California to compete for the $250,000 grand prize and title of The Fittest Man on Earth!

Leave a Comment

Day 3: The Lodge, The Tour, The Ride

Thursday, June 2, 2011

7:00am Todd’s ulcer is acting up. 🙁

9:00am Breakfast on the porch overlooking the garden. Walked the grounds again and checked out the huge suites up on the hillside while Todd rested in the room. Beautiful morning. Tried to stay an extra night but it didn’t work out with the other hotels.

12:00pm Todd feels pretty sick so I decided we should not to do the raft trip out. He stayed in our amazing bungalow and tried to rest more while I went with our new friends on the canopy tour. Saw bullet ants (poisonous, over an inch long, bite feels like being shot)!

20110603-064346.jpg

20110603-064332.jpg

1:30pm Left our paradise at Pacuare Lodge. Crossed the river in a rough made cable “car”. Locals grab ropes hanging down from a tiny metal bench you sit on, run down the hill, and throw it so it skids across the cable to the other side. Saw a gigantic dead boa constrictor. Yikes.

4:00pm Four-wheeled out with the locals and our guide Antonio for about 45 minutes. Really rough on Todd’s stomach. 1 hour in a van to pick up our luggage. 3 more hours to the volcano.

7:00pm Really beautiful drive. Went by fast except when stuck behind huge trucks trying to get by each other around tight corners on a narrow road. Checked in to Tabacon Resort by Arenal volcano. Showered, ordered room service, and relaxed in our room.

Leave a Comment

Day 2: Rafting to jungle lodge

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

5:30am Up at 4:30 to head to the river.

8:30am 90 minute drive. Traditional Costa Rica breakfast of rice and beans and eggs at a restaurant high in the jungle overlooking the hillsides.

10:00am Another 90 minute drive to the put in. Can’t bring luggage. They store it in a warehouse and bring it to you the next day. Can only take what fits in a small bag on the raft.

12:30pm An hour or so of easy class II and III rapids today through gorgeous jungle. Short break to swim at a waterfall by the river. Arrive Pacuare Jungle Lodge.

2:00pm Only people here are the couple we rafted with, a few staff, and us. Unbelievable paradise in the middle of nowhere. Small 3 course gourmet lunch over looking the river.

5:30pm Walked the beautiful grounds taking pictures of flowers and wildlife. Hiked to a waterfall. Long overdue 2 hour nap in our amazing bungalow during the rain. No electricity in the rooms! Lit with candles! Gorgeous rooms though. Very comfortable.

6:00pm Walked the dimly lit path through the jungle checking out the fireflies along the way. Sitting in the bar by the river drinking margaritas and looking at pictures. Our guide Antonio is the nicest guy ever.

5:45am next day. Incredible gourmet dinner last night. Total blast chatting with our guide and the honeymoon couple. One too many margaritas. Ouch.

20110602-062843.jpg

20110602-055825.jpg

20110602-055854.jpg

20110602-055841.jpg

Leave a Comment

Day 1: Costa Rica

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

20110531-091808.jpg

4:00 The Super Shuttle picked us up at 3:30. Yawn.

7:10 They just announced a flight delay due to mechanical issues. We only have a one hour layover in Houston. Hope we make our connection.

10:30 Pilot made up some time. Watched I Am Number Four on our new iPads. Landed in Houston just a bit late.

11:45 Just reached the gate in time. Boarded. Flight delay due to mechanical issues. Someone broke the toilet.

2:00 Slept through parts of Iron Man 2.

2:30 Made it to San Jose but can’t get off the plane. Mechanical issues with the jetway. Don’t care at all. Happy to be away.

4:00 Hotel El Rodeo has really nice rooms. Beautiful. it’s pouring rain. Time to hit the mall!

5:30 Visited very cute baby puppies and a kitty at the pet store. I have a weakness for hot churros and we found a place that dips and stuffs them. Split one covered in white chocolate and nuts and stuffed with dulce de leche. Mmmm. Also bought a ring and Todd a new iPhone case for $8.

9:00 Dinner back at El Rodeo steakhouse. 100 pushups 100 back extensions while Todd was in the shower. Good thing he showered quick. The firm bed is exactly 24″ high and I was starting to get ideas about jumping on it.

20110531-091754.jpg

Leave a Comment

Perspective

Day: 6
Weigh-in: 140.5

I was thinking about my own personal goals in my own little life this morning when Todd sent me videos of the earthquake in Japan. The first one was a views from a helicopter of the waters completely taking over a town. The second included what it is like in people’s homes and at work. In grocery stores and at school. There is one of an oil refinery on fire. They are even having issues at their nuclear power plants which could turn out to be an even worse problem. Terrifying. I cannot imagine what those poor people are going through. My heart goes out to them. I think I really need to get some kind of training in disaster recovery. It bothers me that I can’t do anything to help.

Leave a Comment

The Wedding

DSCN3034 My cousin Mark’s wedding was last night at Mount Vernon Country Club. Great wedding. A lot of personal touches. The bridesmaids made the centerpieces. The homemade peach cookies were a huge hit (especially when people kept pointing out they look just as much like tiny rear ends covered by fig leafs as they do peaches). The cake was delicious. (Don’t tell my CrossFit team). Both Mark and his new wife Jesse are very musically talented so the bride did her own musical arrangements for the ceremony. Mark’s younger brother David wrote and performed a song especially for the wedding. They had an incredible nine piece band that kept the dance floor full all night. If you needed a break from the dancing you could go to the photo booth and put on a feather boa and ridiculous hat for the wedding album. The toasts were hilarious. And the mother of the bride walked around placing strobe light filled tulips down the fronts of ladies’ dresses. What a great time we had! I can’t believe my little cousin is married! Time goes by so fast, doesn’t it?

DSCN3036 Mark and Jesse

DSCN3033 The peach cookies

 

Leave a Comment

Sting at Red Rocks

Last night we saw Sting at Red Rocks performing with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Just Sting or just the orchestra would have been amazing but together, at Red Rocks, spectacular. When I saw Sting with my aunt as an 11 year old I remember a guy leaning over as he walked by and saying ‘Aren’t you a little young for this?’ The funny thing is that 20 years later I was still among the youngest in the audience. The whole crowd grew up. Todd took this picture from our seats in row 26. Unbelievable.

sting

For some reason I was never a big fan of the original version of Roxanne but his newer versions definitely grew on me. Epic.

He has performed many versions of ‘Fragil’e including one in 2001 that was dedicated to the victims of 9/11. He lived in New York awhile and lost a close friend in the tragedy. He also did a famous version that appeared in an Imax film about the depletion of the ocean. I was surprised last night that he never mentioned the oil spills but I am sure it was on people’s minds.

Leave a Comment

Road Trip Day 9: Headed Home

We headed home from Telluride early even though it was hard to leave. Beautiful place. I highly recommend a visit if you have never been. As we were driving around Blue Mesa Reservoir by Gunnison we decided on a whim to stop fish for a little while. Didn’t catch anything but it was still a really nice morning. For lunch we stopped at Coyote Cantina in Buena Vista like always. Even with the stops we still managed to be home by 3:30. It is bittersweet. It is always nice to be back home but now the vacation is over. So sad.

Leave a Comment

Road Trip Day 7: Telluride I

bridalveilfalls This morning we took a nice drive by Dunton Hot Springs on the way to Telluride hoping to check out their cabins but it was rented out for a wedding. The drive was still amazing. In Telluride the waterfalls are gushing. Locals have been telling us they haven’t seen the water that high in over 50 years. First we checked in to Mountain Lodge, the same place we stayed during our wedding two years ago. When we told them it was our anniversary they upgraded us from a studio to a condo and gave us yet another spectacular view. I love this place. The condos are amazing. I will definitely post pictures later. We shopped a bit today and then drove into town for a closer look at these falls. Then we sat in the Jacuzzi did not do much else. Another relaxing day in paradise.

Leave a Comment

Road Trip Day 6: Mesa Verde II

The original plan was to hike around this area today but it was upwards of 90 degrees with no shade. It was a perfect day to do nothing. We spent time in the shops and took a short drive. Most of the mesa has been burnt to the ground by fires started by lightening. It is sad. The trees around here took hundreds of years to grow just 10 or 20 feet and are not likely to make a comeback. It looks dead everywhere. But our tour guide said the fire is not the death of a mesa, just a stage in its evolution. If you look closer it is teeming with life. Just below the grey dead branches the wildflowers are blooming everywhere. And there are over 200 species of birds here! _DSC2093_cropped

Our guide also told us is that Mesa Verde is just a small side show of the ruins protected by the park. The area open to the public displays about 40 total sites out of 4800 ruins they have actually found! So the fires have not done nearly as much damage as it would at first appear though the damage covers 3/4 of Mesa Verde itself.

In the afternoon we took a long nap in our room. We went on a nice walk to an overlook of The Balcony House ruins and Soda Canyon. We ate dinner at the delicious restaurant up here again, a little later this time. At about 11:30 we drove away from the lights of the lodge and did a bit of star gazing. It is so dark and the sky is so clear you can see everything. And the temperature is still 72 degrees so it was a really nice evening.

Vacation Workout 6:  I took today off.

Leave a Comment