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Category: sport

When I think of my top 5 all-time athletic experiences, it goes something like this in no particular order:

  • Winning a bronze medal at the ’98 Dad Vails in the lightweight 8+. I sat two-seat. I remember it like it was yesterday.
  • Doing a sprint adventure race (trail run, mountain bike, canoe, obstacles) in Deerfield Beach. This was ridiculously fun because I was racing all-out with two of my buddies and it was like 100 degrees out. Extreme conditions make a race that much more epic.
  • Tough Mudder SoCal. Similar to #2 above, the physical demand was high and it was a blast to race with two good friends. We were wrecked afterwards. The terrain was picturesque and brutal at the same time.
  • GoRuck St. Augustine. I had to think long and hard whether GoRuck was a top 5 event because, while it was happening, I basically hated it and wanted to die a fiery death. The memory has since matured mutated towards unadulterated fondness. I think this is because GoRuck was the most epic athletic endeavor I’ve done to date, and I did it with a bunch of dear friends. It also completely changed my attitude about competition and mental toughness. Anyway, I’m slotting this badboy into the top 5 until further notice.
  • Summer Crush Games.

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I’ve been messing around with NUTRILITE Rhodiala Rosea, a workout supplement, for the past couple weeks and it’s time for a review.

Rhodiala Rosea is an extract from a plant found in the Arctic and in many mountainous areas of the world. It’s been used for hundreds of years for dealing with stress and cold and is also prevalent in Chinese medicine. If you’re interested in more backstory and the chemical qualities of Rhodiala Rosea, please see the wiki page. I’ll focus instead on my personal experience and how it affected my training. The NUTRALITE supplement is all natural and doesn’t contain any ingredient on the WADA banned substances list, which is good if you’re concerned about drug testing during competition.

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I got sick with the flu early last year and was laid out for a couple of days. Up until that point I was doing crossfit only casually, just enough to supplement my other athletic endeavors. When I got sick, I had nothing else to do but surf the net, so I fired up the 2009 CrossFit Games vids and watched every event straight through, and even watched Sevan’s behind-the-scenes video. I loved how tough and interesting the events were and I especially liked the personality of the athletes.  There was also an uncommon amount of sportsmanship and camaderie on display and that really drew me in. Watching those vids was a turning point for me in the sport.

For the 2010 Games, I got even more invested in the athletes and I could tell you who won each event and reel off some highlight moments. Spealler winning Amanda under the lights. Graham winning the double Helen. Froning falling apart at the ropes. Annie and Kristen going head-to-head in the final WOD. I’ve watched some of those videos 5-6 times because they inspire and they’re high drama. I couldn’t get enough. It was a truly compelling event.

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I competed in my fourth CrossFit competition over the weekend, the Swamp Monster 2.0 at CrossFit 305. Check here for final results. Swamp Monster featured over 100 competitors in four categories: Beginner, Intermediate, Masters, and RX for men and women. I did the intermediate.

Let’s cut right to the chase. Swamp Monster 2.0 was hard as hell, even for the intermediates. I figured I would dominate this category and instead I got body rocked. (The RX was downright impossible except for the serious heavy hitters.) The WODs were fantastically hard and a significant factor was the heat and humidity…the temps flirted with triple digits and the humidity made it feel like 108. Not only that, but going full bore inside of a packed gym with no air conditioning and wall-to-wall sweaty bodies did nothing to ease the extreme nature of the competition. In my long and illustrious sporting career, this was one of the most challenging competitions I’ve ever done…certainly one of my toughest days of CrossFit.

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Here’s an interview I did with Keith “Old Skool” McGuire at CrossFit Firebase. Keith qualified for the 2011 CrossFit Games by placing 16th in the Open in the 50-55 masters category. Check out his stats on the Games site. I’ve […]

Here’s a description of MetroDash from their site:

“…We combined 30 elements into one insane obstacle course that will surely push your physical and mental limits…The Metro Dash course is set up in an area the size of an NFL football field. Competitors will sprint a total of about 600 meters while climbing, crawling, jumping, swinging, and scaling their way through 30 challenging obstacles. The fastest time wins.”

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvgj02fanO4[/youtube]

I just turned 36. I get busted on a lot by my athlete pals for being old, but to be honest I don’t feel old. I say that, at the risk of coming off as athletically snooty, because I’m in the best shape of my life. But when you’re staring at the backside of your 30’s, these are the things you think about.

Jump backwards 15 years… (more…)

Tough Mudder is the king of the mud runs, let’s get that out there right off the bat. I’ve done three other obstacle course races: Warrior Dash and Rugged Maniac, both in Central Florida, and Super Spartan Race in Miami. All three were fun and had their merits. Super Spartan was especially badass and a real athletic challenge as my group traversed 10 miles with most of them on technical mountain bike trail at an aggressive pace. So, I thought I had a good idea of how tough Tough Mudder would be.

Wrong. Tough Mudder was legit, and it may be the hardest one of these races out there. My pal Brian has done Tough Guy in England (which Tough Mudder is reportedly modeled on), and he thought Tough Mudder was a bit tougher, while Tough Guy was colder and wetter. Pick your poison, but I like the idea of only having to fly across the country for an obstacle course, or go as far as my backyard like I’ll be doing for Tough Mudder Tampa, as opposed to overseas. Brian has also done an Iron Man and he made a comment about comparing Tough Mudder to Iron Man, which I’ll talk about below.

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I did a kickass 5-day trip through Southern California as part of Memorial Day holiday that culminated in the Tough Mudder SoCal event. Tough Mudder was truly epic and I’ll give a full review in my next post.

In the meantime, I checked out two CrossFit gyms and got my WOD on prior to Tough Mudder. I love visiting other gyms to see what the setup is, what the athletes and instructors are like, and what the vibe in general is. I wasn’t disappointed.

First, there was CrossFit Invictus in downtown San Diego. I drove there straight from the airport and did the 6:30 pm WOD. They have a very cool space and great instructors. The instructors and athletes couldn’t have been more welcoming. We went through an extensive warmup that included dynamic stretch exercises and some mobility work with bands, all very welcome after spending the day on airplanes.

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