Starting Crossfit

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Today I delved into the world of CrossFit.  If you don’t know CrossFit is a regimen of constantly varied (CV), functional movements (FM) performed at high intensity (@HI) in a communal environment leads to health and fitness.  It is a little crazy and very intense.  I’ve read about CrossFit, talked with my Uncle, read CrossFit Endurance, researched boxes (CrossFit gyms) but never found a place that was conveniently located AND had a class schedule that worked.  Technically you don’t need to go to a box, you could do most of the workouts at any gym or at home.  I’ve always felt that I needed to get a good foundation, with someone watching my form, before trying it on my own.  Plus having a coach and others encouraging you is always helpful!

CAM05039 On June 1 a new CrossFit box opened up just over a mile from our house.  I was pretty excited to see that it was coming in and had talked with Christy about it.  She arranged for me to get a one month trial membership as a Father’s Day present!!  The new place is called Solcana CrossFit –

Solcana CrossFit takes its name from early 20th-century strongwomen – with names like Vulcana, Minerva, Athleta and Sandwina – who performed feats of physical prowess in circus sideshows around the world. These iron ladies drew eager crowds and challenged the notion that women could not be exceptional athletes. Solcana Crossfit aims to embody the spirit of these strongwomen by encouraging growth in all of our athletes, pushing our personal limits and celebrating unexpected strength.

I had my initial meeting/workout with owner/head coach Hannah tonight. A class was just finishing up and the space is great. Barebones like you’d expect, but a nice area of cubbys for gear, couch to relax on, shower, loud music, white board, tv, timer, and all the workout gear!! We talked about basics of the gym and I was pleased to find out that they tend to be a little more holistic than some CrossFit boxes including some mobility work into their workouts. Hannah was super nice, even when she was encouraging me to complete the initial workout!

The initial workout was 500m row, 40 squats, 30 situps, 20 pushups, and 10 pullups. We walked through them backwards and she demonstrated how she wanted me to do them and then I had to do a rep or two. I struggled to make it to the top of my test pullup and she demonstrated a modification using rings that would help me complete the workout. Pushups had to be chest to the floor. I must have looked a little wobbly as she had me demonstrate the modification with my hands wresting on a box – this also could have been from our discussion about my torn rotator cuff from last year. The situps were pretty easy, they have back support and you get to use your arms to help swing you up! Squats are something that I need and struggle with doing consistently with good form so we went over those a little bit. Lastly the rowing machine always looks so easy, but it does take some coordination. The goal for the initial workout (and most CrossFit workouts) is to complete it as fast as possible, she said it should take about 10 minutes.

She wanted me to be rowing at about a 2:00/500m pace and I think I finished just under that. I pushed through the squats and situps without too much trouble. The pushups were where I started to hurt. I did them in two sets of 5,then 3-3-2-2. They really hurt. Then the modified rings/pullups which weren’t easy, but I was able to bang them out – which means I probably should have been at a different angle on them. My finishing time was 7:35!! Then I laid on the floor for a few minutes to catch my breath.
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I was pleased with the workout, though I know I have a lot of room for growth. This workout is a foundation that we can go back to and check-in on over time to see improvement. After relaxing for a bit and talking about the workout I headed out on my bike. I could feel my arms were wobbly and my legs weren’t as springy for the ride home. Then Caleb wanted to be held…. 🙂

It was a great workout and I’m excited to finally be doing CrossFit!

Spring (?) Flooding

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It is a little past time for spring flooding, but with rain almost every day this week our ground is super saturated and many places can’t take any more water!  Today was at least the 3rd day in a row of storms and rain.  Today is actually the highest ever recorded rainfall in June for MN at just under 4 inches.  The storms caused major damage in some towns and closed streets in the Twin Cities. The storm also caused the Minnehaha Creek to reach its highest ever recorded flood stage.

While many levels of government were encouraging citizens to be careful, an extreme kayaker took the plunge over Minnehaha Falls.

From MPR:

Hunt Jennings Goes Over Falls

Ben Garvin at the Pioneer Press took this picture of the statue of Hiawatha and Minnehaha:

Statue

Ben takes great pictures for the Pioneer Press, check out his Twitter feed.

Here is a picture I took after work at Matthews Park of their playground:

 

A Thoughtful Prayer

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Prayer of Saint Ignatius of Loyola:

Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous;
teach me to serve You as You deserve;
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to ask for reward,
save that of knowing I am doing Your Will.

Time

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Time is an interesting word. In some respects it is just an artificial construct that we’ve created to add order to our day. We can waste time, that is easy. We can be productive and task oriented or less productive. You thought I was going to stick my foot in my mouth and say people oriented.

Where does time go?? We all have the same amount of it, but yet we accomplish different amounts of things with our 24 hours. Where does it go? I’ve found with kids it is hard to control your time, especially your productive time. My body wakes up at 5:30 and I’m wide awake and hit a midafternoon slump and then feel awake again in the evening.  What do I do with my most productive times? What do you do? I can’t really do my work since I’m hourly and have to be on site. I do probably squander a fair amount of time…

I have found that I have less mental energy at the end of the day and that I’d rather watch a tv show than read a book. Am I squandering my future? What about the rabbit trail of Facebook or other social media…

All things in moderation correct?

Summer School Started

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Today was the first day of summer school… Not the most exciting way to spend a summer, but it is important for many kids to not lose learning over the summer.  Unfortunately, many of the kids who need it most don’t actually want to be there!  This year’s program is called STEM Academy – everything will have a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).  One day in and things seem to be going well in the classrooms.  I’ve heard about what sound like some cool projects.  Hopefully the kids will stick with it throughout the next 6 weeks and be open to some creative learning.

During the official school day, I’m going to be doing behavior support.   Time will tell how this actually works out, but hopefully it will be about connecting with kids and helping them overcome barriers to classroom learning. There is also an “after-school” component this year run by Community Education and Beacons.  During this portion of the programming I’ll be working with up to 15 kids in Bike Class.  I’ll see them two times a week and hopefully we’ll get to ride our bikes at least 50% of the time.  I’ve been teaching “bike class” since the summer of 2009 and since my school received a fleet of 13 bikes last year I’ve been teaching an elective class serving almost 60 kids.  We talk about bike safety and maintenance, go for rides, work on bike handling skills, we’ve done some advocacy projects, and community service.  It is a lot of fun!

Hopefully the next 6 weeks will go smoothly and both the kids and staff will have a good time!!