Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Toughest Competitor Alive

6/23/09-Florida Police & Fire Games

Wow, what a fun and unique event this was! I first heard of this competition last fall, and missed the cutoff date for registering. I almost did it again this year, but managed to sneak in at the last minute. I figured my CrossFit training regimen would keep me fairly well-prepared for this competition, but I didn't figure to be able to keep up with the guys that train year-round for this specific event...and I was pretty much right (although I did have a few surprises). It's basically an 8-event competition with a similar scoring method as a decathlon.
The monsoon rains had the event directors shuffling the events around quite a bit, and a few guys mentioned how differently it affected their performances. After the first few events, I was able to start talking with the top guys in my age group, and found out my AG was stacked! I had the top two guys from the 18-29 AG worlds last year, that are now 30; also, the top two from 30-34 worlds last year were here as well, included in that group were the top guys from last year's FLA games. So any thoughts of me sneaking out with a medal quickly went up in flames. Here is a quick (sort of) recap of each event, in order:

20 ' Rope Climb: I didn't even expect to score in this, as I was having trouble when I practiced this event last week at the CrossFit gym. I had :23 to complete the ascent, with the main rule being I cannot use my legs to hold onto the rope. I was really happy to get : 13.5 for my first climb, until I saw everyone else in my AG getting up to the top in under seven seconds. So I tried once again, and did it in about the same amount. Like I said, I was happy just to get some points in this event, but I quickly fell out of contention with this first event.

Three Mile Run: I figured I could cut into some of my defecit with this event, but I was wrong. The course was half-road, half-grass, which didn't do me any favors time-wise. I was still pretty pleased with my 22:08 run time, which gave me the 15th highest run for the day. Unfortunately, I was fourth in my AG. The other three guys finished around the 19:00 mark. Most of the top performers in my AG were small, wiry, military-type built guys that are small and quick.

Bench Press: The rules here were that you were only allowed two attempts, and you have to increase your weight on the second try. I haven't done a 1RM BP in years, and I've only done body-weight BP on a smith machine a handful of times in the past year. Just to make sure I had some points, I did 250# on my first attempt no problem. I was thinking of trying 300# for the points, but since I've never done it before I went with 280#, which would still be my max. I nailed the 280# no problem, and probably could have gotten up the 300# as well. Oh well. I was pleasantly surprised to find out I ended up with the 2nd highest BP for my AG.

100 Yard Swim: The last time I swam was the 2008 Baldwin Park Sprint Tri, June of last year. My plan was to use the Total Immersion swimming method, and not max myself out. Also, I did not want to look like an ass out in the pool. I stayed in the rear of the main group, and ended up with a 1:19.47 for the swim. When I do easy laps, they are in the :55 second range, so averaging :40 per lap for this is quite pleasing-considering the layoff from the pool. I think I ended up 4th or 5th in this event.

16# Shot Put: Given I was bigger than most of the guys in my AG, I thought I might be able to gain some ground with this event. The caveat being I haven't done a shot put since I was in 6th or 7th grade, with my Grandpa coaching me in CYO track. One thing I've learned through CrossFit is how important activation of the hips is, with regards to athletic movements. I gave a practice attempt before I started, and just focused on rapid opening of my hips when I released the shot. Most of the guys in my AG were no better than 35 feet, except for one monster tossing it over 43' (this guy was sick-6'3", 240# solid, and a great all-around athlete. I'm pretty sure he won, plus he's a FF). So I started low, and got a really nice hip "pop" and arm extension...39'3"! Turns out that was 2nd in my AG, but it was also the second-farthest toss of the entire day! Looks like Grandpa Bill's fundamentals are no joke!

Obstacle Course: The obstacle course started with a 140# sled drag/pull for 20 feet, followed by an 8' wall climb. After you scale the wall, you go under a series of 20" hurdles, then to a set of tires (think agility drills), around a set of cones, and then you have to jump over a 36" hurdle. You then turn around and jump three 20" hurdles as you sprint to the finish. The nice thing about this event is that you race two at a time, so you have someone to compete against. Of course, I had the guy that set the AG record at this event last year-WTF! Anyways, I had a minute miscue on the wall climb, which put me behind the guy I was racing. I caught up to him on the high jump, as I cleared the 3' hurdle no problem, and he tripped on the way down. He edged me out on the sprint, but my time was probably 3rd highest in my AG at :35.0.

Max Pullups: I wasn't too excited about these, as the original rules call for dead-hang pullups (no kipping). The event director said she would accept kipping for today, which made me happy; however, the free-standing PU bar they used was kind of flimsy. Most of the top guys in my AG were doing 28-40, and I was hoping for somewhere in the 25-30 range. Once I got on the bar and started moving more than I thought on my kips, I knew it wasn't happening. I ended up with 19 pullups, which erased any hopes I had of placing top three. My arms were pretty shot after the rope climbs, swimming, shot put, bench press, and wall climb.

100 Meter Dash: I had no clue what to expect from my tired-a$$ legs with this event. After the obstacle course, I had quite a bit of relaxing time in the AC of the weight room for the pullup portion of the day. When we went to the track one more time, my hips and legs were tight. I spent some time stretching out, working on my start, and just wanted to finish the day without ripping a hammy. My heat was all the top guys in my AG, so I had a good idea as to where I'd finish. My start was a little slow (although it seemed like two guys in my heat enjoyed a head start), but I kept my strides short and fast the first 50m. Once I opened my stride for the second half, I was surprised I was able to reel in a few guys. My finish time was :13.5, good enough for 4th or 5th (I'm pretty sure myreal time was :13.2, because they gave that time to the guy next to me-who I finished slightly ahead of). I was going to say something, but I didn't want to sound like a douche to these kind volunteers who have been outside all day with us. If I find out I missed 3rd place by like ten points, then I'll regret it.

I hung out after the event for about twenty minutes, but they weren't even close to finishing hand-calculating the totals. I figured I didn't medal, and they were finished with a rough draft of mine and told me I had 4th place....and no I wasn't even close to the bronze medal, either. Once I got home, I was able to calculate my score. My estimated total score is 5262, which seems about right. According to the past year's results, 5262 is still a few hundred points away from the podium. Still not bad for the new guy....
I was able to talk with quite a few guys about their training, and discovered many started specifically training for this event in March/April. Suffice to say, they weren't pleased to hear me say that I just started doing a few things as prep with ONE WEEK OUT! Ha! Not to mention that I haven't swam in a year, thrown a shot since the mid 80s, ran a 100m dash, or set up an obstacle course.
One of the other competitors told me that the World Police/Fire Games are usually held in Orlando, at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex every year. Maybe I'll see how my schedule looks in late-September, and perhaps I can dedicate two weeks of prep for the event!

Friday, April 24, 2009

CrossFit Games Qualifier

OK sports fans, this was on my list of activities I had planned for 2009. The SE CrossFit Qualifiers is a precursor to the CrossFit Games held this July in Aromas, California. The top seven men and women of this weekend's fun get to go to Cali. Since the competitors consist of 94 various guy that either own or are trainers at CF gyms (aka Affiliates), and myself, I don't give myself much of a chance to crack the top seven-or top half for that matter. Still, the workouts planned play more into my strengths that some of the other Qualifiers, so that makes me a bit more optomistic. Here are the workouts planned for Saturday, with Sunday's final workout being revealed about 12 hours before its supposed to start.

The Dirty South Event WOD's!

Saturday AM Event WOD #1

3 min Max Points Suicide Run

2 min Rest

3 min Max Rep Deadlift (275 lb. Men) (185 lb. Women)


All competitors will complete the AM WOD, then after 3 1/2 hours rest begin one of their two afternoon WOD's. Some competitors will begin the afternoon with Event WOD #2 and some will begin with Event WOD #3. The afternoon Event WOD order is randomly predetermined for all competitors. All competitors will be given equal rest between WOD's.

Saturday PM Event WOD #2

5 Rounds for time of:

20 Double Unders

10 Wall Ball (20 lb. Men) (14 lb. Women) all 10 ft. target

1 Rope Climb 15 ft.

There will be a 15 minute time limit for this workout


Saturday PM Event WOD #3

8 min AMRAP of:

5 Clean and Jerk (135 lb. Men) (95 lb. Women)
(From the ground by any recognized clean to full extension overhead)

10 Chest to Bar Pull Ups

http://www.crossfitdirtysouth.com/ Check for updates, scoring explanations, as well as video demos of the workouts. I should be able to write a pretty detailed summary sometime tomorrow (4/25/09) night, in between my overdosing on Mel Kiper's hair product.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

16 more wins.....

That's it-just 16 more wins for my Cleveland Cavaliers, and my hometown will finally break its streak of sports futility. Sixteen wins equals winning all of their playoff series, including the NBA Finals. They start off Saturday against Detroit, and if everything goes as planned will play the winner of Hawks/Heat. The Conference finals will most likely be the winner of Boston/Orlando, KG or not, I think Orlando will be the winner. Orlando scares the crap out of me, for a matchup versus the Cavs. Teams with strong big men always do well against the Cavs, hopefully Big Ben Wallace will channel his DPOY days for the playoffs. The Lakers scare me as well-even though the Cavs have homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs, the Lakers are the ONLY team to win a game at the Quicken Loans arena.

I love this team. I love how they have so much fun with the pregame "photo ops". I love how everyone on the team really seems to generally like each other. Watch how LeBron looks to the bench for approval after every thunderous slam dunk-he's not staring the guy he posterized down, he's looking to see how 9th and 10th men Terrance Kinsey and JJ Hickson evaluate that last move. I really like how Varajeo is fitting in to the rotation, and Delonte West? Delonte West is quickly becoming one of my favorite all-time Cavs, behind LBJ and Dan Majerle (hey he was with us for a year). West is the Cavs BEST on-the-ball defender, a great fill-the-blank guy that will do whatever is necessary at the time. Plus he's a bit eccentric. Whenever he shoots, I always yell out "Redz!" which is his nickname. My wife thinks thats pretty funny, because I do it all the time in front of the TV. I hope I'm not putting the cart before the horse with this Title Talk, but I think this team is really special.

Let's hope they don't "Cleveland it up".

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Mock Draft, Version 2.0-Crazy Trade Edition

Just reading the tea leaves, and projecting a couple of trades....I really hope this doesn't happen, BTW. As always, I apologize if I forget anyone.

1) Detroit: Matthew Stafford QB Georgia
2) St. Louis: Jason Smith OT Baylor
3) Kansas City: Aaron Curry LB Wake Forest
4) Seattle: Michael Crabtree WR Texas Tech
5) Cleveland: Mark Sanchez QB USC
6) Cincinnatti: Eugene Monroe OT Virginia
7) Oakland: Brian Orakpo DE Texas
8) Jacksonville: Jeremy Maclin WR
9) Green Bay: BJ Raji DT Boston College
10) San Fransisco: Michael Johnson DE Georgia Tech
11) Buffalo: Everett Brown DE FSU
12) Denver: Michael Jenkins DB OSU
13) Washington: Andre Smith OT Alabama
14) New Orleans: Aaron Maybin DE/OLB Penn State
15) Houston: Chris Wells RB OSU
16) San Diego: Rey Mauluga LB USC
17) New York Jets: Brian Cushing LB USC
18) Denver (from Chicago): Traded to Browns for QB Brady Quinn
Browns select: Tyson Jackson DE LSU
19) Tampa Bay: Josh Freeman QB Kansas State
20) Detroit (from Dallas): Robert Ayers DC Tennessee
21) Philadelphia: Michael Oher OT Ole Miss
22) Minnesota: Hakeem Nicks WR North Carolina
23) New England: Clay Matthews OLB USC
24) Atlanta: Brandon Pettigrew TE Oklahoma State
25) Miami: Vontae Davis CB Illinois
26) Baltimore: Darius Heyward-Bey WR NC State
27) Indianapolis: Peria Jerry DT Ole Miss
28) Philadelphia (from Carolina): Knowshon Moreno RB Georgia
29) New York Giants: Traded with #91 to Browns for WR Braylon Edwards
Browns select: Alex Mack C California
30) Tennessee: Ziggy Hood DT Missouri
31) Arizona: LeShon McCoy RB Pittsburgh
32) Pittsburgh: Ebon Britton OT Arizona

Browns' remaining picks
Rd2/36) Larry English OLB Northern Illinois
Rd2/50-from TB per KWII trade) Kenny Britt WR Rutgers
Rd3/91-from NYG per BE17 trade) Andy Levitre OL Oregon State
Rd4/104) Michael Mitchell S Ohio
Rd 6/177) BPA

Of course, phone calls to Torry Holt, Marvin Harrison, and Rodney Harrison's respective agents will be placed on draft weekend. Seriously though, I'm trying to figure out if Magini is really smitten by Sanchez, or if he is just trying to get someone to trade up to the #5 spot to get him. It might be only a coincidence that the Browns' new QB coach was Sanchez's QB coach at USC. As much as I like Brady Quinn (and invested big $$ on a BQ game jersey), it's tough to fault the Browns' above draft. The above scenario immediately makes our top receivers Martin Ruck and David Patten, which doesn't scare anyone. I'll continue to be on the lookout for more info, one way or another on this event.

Friday, April 3, 2009

2009 NFL Mock Draft, version 1.0

Hey guys, I'll throw some more stuff on here in the next few weeks; however, here is my first crack at the upcoming first round of the NFL draft. Yes I am a dork. I honestly feel the Browns will trade down from #5, but as of today I'll just go with a straight-up pick and hold my draft philosophizing until the next mocks I put up. I hope I don't forget someone/team.....


1) Detroit: Jason Smith OT Baylor

2) St. Louis: Eugene Monroe OT Virgina

3) Kansas City: Aaron Curry OLB Wake Forest

4) Seattle: Matthew Stafford QB Georgia

5) Cleveland: Brian Orakpo OLB/DE Texas

6) Cincinasti: Michael Crabtree WR Texas Tech

7) Oakland: Jeremy Maclin WR Mizzou

8) Jacksonville: Mark Sanchez QB USC

9) Green Bay: Malcolm Jenkins CB THEosu

10) San Fransisco: Andre Smith OT Alabama

11) Buffalo: Everette Brown DE FSU

12) Denver: BJ Raji DT BC

13) Washington: Michael Oher OT Mississippi

14) New Orleans: Aaron Maybin OLB PSU

15) Houston: Vontae Davis CB Illinois

16) San Diego: Rey Mauluga LB USC

17) New York Jets: Josh Freeman QB Kansas State

18) Denver (from Chicago): Tyson Jackson DE LSU

19) Tampa Bay: Ziggy Hood DT Mizzou

20) Detroit (from Dallas): Peira Jerry DT Ole Miss

21) Eagles: Beanie Wells RB tOSU

22) Minnesota: Percy Harvin WR UF

23) New England: Brian Cushing OLB USC

24) Atlanta: Clay Matthews III OLB USC

25) Miami: Darius Heyward-Bey WR Maryland

26) Baltimore: Larry English LB Southern Illinois

27) Indianapolis: Robert Ayers DE Tennessee

28) Philadelphia: Brandon Pettigrew TE Oklahoma State

29) New York Giants: Kenny Britt WR Rutgers

30) Tennessee: Ron Brace DT Boston College

31) Arizona: Knowshown Moreno RB Georgia

32) Pittsburgh: Alex Mack C California

Cleveland Round Two Selections
37) Jarron Gilbert DE San Jose State
50) Sean Smith S/CB Utah
























Monday, January 12, 2009

First Post of 2009

OK dedicated fans and snowed-in relatives....your Sundance fix is back! Let's see what's on my mind, as well as on my plate, for the early part of this brand new year-in no particular order.

-Obama: Let's see what this guy can do now, even though he's been dealt a sh_tty hand. One thing I learned during the election process, is that he was one of the main senators for our International Union in favor of keeping a collective bargaining agreement. One of the biggest detractors in the Senate? The Maverick. For better of worse, he is our guy for four years, so let's hope he has a clue...

-My Girls: Sweet Katherine Grace is growing with leaps and bounds! Fortunately, quite a few Northern relatives have been coming down to meet her, and instantly fall in love. I hope we can get up to Cleveland, so she can reunite with them soon. Beautiful Bride Shannon has got to be the best mother ever, hands-down. I don't know how she pulls it off, but she does it. I am blessed beyond words with my entire family, but these two ladies? Wow.

-Cleveland Browns suck, and rebuild yet again: After finally breaking out last year with a 10-6 record, I thought fo sho my beloved Browns would challenge for a playoff spot this season. Nope-not even close. What's worse, they looked like uninspired quitters the last half of the season, not scoring an offensive TD since mid-November. New coach Eric Mangini could be on his way to greatness, or garbage. He's got a Cleveland background, so he knows how bad my hometown needs a team to get behind. Still no GM yet, I think they're patiently waiting for me to send them my application. Tangent Alert: Here's how the off-season would go for new Cleveland Browns' GM Dave C.....
waived/retired/not resigned: Shaun Smith, McGinnest, Stallworth, Sean Jones
Free Agents: Jason Brown (Bal-C), Channing Crowder (Mia-LB), CJ Mosely (NYJ-DE)
Trade: Derek Anderson for a 3rd rd pick (Detroit?)
Draft: 1st rd-Gerald McCoy DE/OKL or Eddy Curry, LB/Wake
2nd rd-if McCoy then Clay Matthews Jr OLB/USC, f Curry then best available S
3rd rd-RB or S or OL
Plenty more of these posts coming up in the off-season....

-Baby Bro with a Baby! My cousin/de facto brother Jon and his wife are expecting their first baby. We're so happy for them, as they will make outstanding parents; however, it also kind of sucks that we're so far away from them. I guess the girls and I will have to keep sucking it up, living in FL, while they make yearly visits down here in the winter months.

-Cleveland Cavaliers! Right now, they are tied for teh best record in the NBA. They really need to lock up homecourt vs Boston right now, and my local Orlando Magic are going to be a tough team as well. I'm looking to gobble up some tickets for the two upcoming Magic/Cavs games in the next few weeks-I can't wait. I really like the backcourt of Mo Williams and Delonte West, even if they are a bit on the smaller side. Avon Laek resident Z Ilkauskas is out for a few more games, which means I'll be able to get a better look at rookie stud JJ hickson at the 4 spot. This could be the year-and if not, we'll have room to sign another big name pretty soon...

-CrossFit Games Southeast Qualifiers: So I'm still doing the CF thing, in leiu of triathlons. The wife seems to enjoy me being around the house, as opposed to my days of 6 hour long bike rides, and double-workout days, etc. I still will do a couple of tris this year, but I'll just be a bit more particular about selecting them. Probably no IM races this year, either; maybe a half IM in the later part of the year. Anyways, I'll be competing in the regional qualifer for the CF Games. It's basically a few different CF events/exercises/workouts done for time over the course of a few days. Here's a short video from last years games
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFitMovie_WorkingTrailer1208.wmv
I have no expectations of qualifying (top 5 go to the CF Games), but it will be nice to see how far my fitness has come in just a few months. I've already lost close to 17 # without even really trying....This happens in late April, in Jacksonville.

-Toughest Competitor Alive: This is a decathlon-type event taking place during a single day, and it is part of the Florida Police/Fire Games (http://www.lawgames.org/). Here are the events for the event taking place at the end of June:
-3 mile run
-shot put (16#)
-100m dash
-100m swim
-20 foot rope climb (hands only)
-bench press
-strict pullups
-obstacle course (150 lbsled pull, wall climb, low crawl, cone weave, high jump, hurdles, sprint)
I can't wait for this sh_t to happen, although I need to get going on the ropes and non-kipping PUs. I think this plays into my all-around fitness, and I should be able to keep up with most folks on the runs, while not losing too much ground on the swim or other stuff.

Promotional Process: I decided to take my transfer to a slow station, and try to make it a positive. I spent many days working out, as well as studying for the promotional exam for the position of Fire Engineer (the guy that drives the fire engine). 240 people signed up to take the test, 175 took the first portion, 95 people moved on to the practical portions, and then after all the smoke had cleared, I ended up 19th on the list. I was pretty pleased. By my half-a$$ calculations, I figure to be promoted sometime by the end of this year....no rush. Hopefully, I can get a few more good fires/entrapments/rescues under my belt by then.