Many gyms do their Murph on Memorial Day – a good day to remember Lt. Michael Murphy and all of our nation’s Veterans. Windy City CrossFit decided to take that remembrance a bit further and raise money for the Foundation. Eric got the invitation and decided it was just the sort of thing that CrossFit Fenway does.

And so yesterday we found ourselves gathering at 9am for one of the hardest workouts around, in honor of a great man.

Last time we did this workout was on September 11, 2010. Yesterday we got after it again, for the third time at CrossFit Fenway. The first time, back on April 6, 2010, only 3 of us went as RX – and we didn’t have any weight vests. This was different for all of us.

A bigger, stronger, faster, and more confident community came together yesterday.

David, a visitor from LA, joined us. He’s been with us this week sharing the experience of what it means to be part of our family. He went out of his way to tell us what you already know: you people, the members and coaches, make CrossFit Fenway a facility that stands apart from others. You are truly remarkable.

Five of our members took it on with the 20 pound weight vest. I loved working beside you and was proud of your efforts to get it done, but of all of us none prouder than Scrappy O’Leary. For her, that 20 pounds is about a 18% increase in her body weight. She took it on with guts and determination and did honor to Murph and herself. She finished the workout in 70:59. On her last lap, she was joined by her friends – our community – and it was a proud and beautiful moment to run with her to finish it out.

For myself, I’m pleased with my performance. 48:43 – a PR of 6 minutes and 11 seconds. I’m glad to be getting faster and stronger along with all of you. I’m even more pleased by the love and support you all showed for each other. I’m grateful for the money you raised for our Navy SEALs, to honor their service and sacrifice. Most of all, I’m honored to share this journey with you – the experiences of our lives.

Thanks, Lt Murphy.

I missed my goal of gaining 10 pounds in a month. Why did I fail to meet those targets?
1) Didn’t eat enough. My average calorie intake was only 3,332 calories per day. My target was 4100.
– By the math I did at the start, that would have suggested that I would be 6 pounds short of my target, but instead I was only 2 pounds short. Why is the math off? A longer data set would give us more clues.
2) Didn’t sleep enough. I fell way short of my goal to sleep 8-9 hours per night, and averaged only about 7 hours instead. I’ll work on this.

However, I did manage to gain 8.3 pounds in those 4 weeks, and keep my body fat ratio exactly the same! I added weight completely proportionately, which is an outstanding result in my opinion.

My strength also increased, even more than the proportionate mass gain would suggest. This 4.6% increase in lean body mass resulted in significantly larger gains in my Deadlift (130kg x1 went to 140kg x3, with NO deadlift work during that time), and of course my squats got much heavier in that time (from 65kg x16 to 90kg x15).

More than anything else, I learned to let go of my fear. Eating more is not, in fact, going to turn me back into the “old JT” – a big fat guy who weighs 260 pounds and can’t run more than 100 meters at a time. Even dairy isn’t going to do that. I can eat relatively clean and in quantities large enough to make me ill, and as long as I’m doing CrossFit and lifting heavy stuff, I’ll just get bigger. Stronger. More capable.

This is an enormous relief – and even a bit of a surprise, for me. I had thought my metabolism to be destroyed, burnt out after 32 years of abuse. Apparently the human body is more resilient than I thought. My temperature is running hot these days, processing all these calories, but I’m not holding excessive piles of those calories as fat, which is great!

Ultimately, this has been a 3-month-long experiment in three different kinds of paleo eating. I’ve documented everything that went into my mouth over that time period, and shared the process and the results as openly and completely as I can with all of you. I’ve learned a lot about myself in this process, and hopefully the rest of you have seen things in this experiment that you can take and incorporate into your own nutrition plans.

I’m tired of writing everything down. I’m going to take a break. Maybe I’ll spend the next three months writing about gender politics and philosophy, but I won’t be food logging for a while. I don’t want to become too obsessed over this food, and it’s my intention to take the fear out of food (for all of us) instead of creating more eating disorders.

So I’ll be relaxing: I will still eat big for a while, and lift heavy, because I want to get bigger and stronger. And, I will do that in a laid back, relaxed manner that will hopefully demonstrate to you (and me) that you can incorporate hard-learned dietary lessons into your daily life without being a compulsive food journaler.

I hope you enjoyed this, or at least found it useful. Thanks for all the comments and questions and support, throughout this process. I’m grateful to share it with each and every one of you – and wish you all the best in your own experiments.

This body is the only toy you’ll ever really own, people. Have fun playing with it.

Monday, July 26th

4 eggs (280/4/18/24)
Cheese (110/1/9/6)
1 cup whole milk + 2 scoops whey (330/16/8/48)
1 cup whole milk (150/12/8/8)
Salad w Grilled Chicken (250/3/6/30)
Pistachios (170/2/15/6)
1 cup whole milk + 2 scoops whey (330/16/8/48)
1 cup whole milk + 2 scoops whey (330/16/8/48)
Beef Jerky (120/3/2/23)
2 Chicken+Cheese burgers (480/6/24/58)
2 Turkey+Cheese burgers (440/2/20/58)
Fage greek yogurt + 2 scoops whey protein (270/11/0/55)
1 cup whole milk (150/12/8/8)
Ice cream (260/28/14/6)
Totals: 3670 calories. 132g carbs, 148g fat, 426g protein.
– Oh, finally. Enough protein. Whew, that’s a relief. Feels good, man.

I’m looking into signing up with a local organic CSA food share for meats to increase my quality, so if you have ideas let me know.

Tuesday, July 27th

1 cup whole milk + 2 scoops whey (330/16/8/48)
1 cup whole milk + 2 scoops whey (330/16/8/48)
sockeye salmon (170/0/9/22)
1 cup whole milk + 2 scoops whey (330/16/8/48)
1 cup whole milk + 2 scoops whey (330/16/8/48)
2 Chicken+Cheese burgers (480/6/24/58)
2 Turkey+Cheese burgers (440/2/20/58)
Almonds (190/2/16/5)
Almond bar: Mareblu Naturals (180/11/12/5)
12 oz steak (600/0/21/90)
3oz cheese (330/3/27/18)
Totals: 3710 calories. 88g carbs, 161g fat, 448g protein.
– It was a busy day at the gym, and I got by just drinking my calories. At least I got plenty of protein!

Wednesday, July 28th

Almonds (190/2/16/5)
4 eggs (280/4/18/24)
2 oz Cheese (220/2/18/12)
3 cups whole milk (450/36/24/24)
1 cup whole milk + 2 scoops whey (330/16/8/48)
Beef Jerky (280/22/6/42)
12 pieces Sashimi (360/0/3/84)
Sesame bark (160/10/11/4)
Chicken+Cheese burgers (240/3/12/29)
Turkey+Cheese burgers (220/1/10/29)
2x Mahi Mahi burgers (240/0/10/36)
Totals: 2970 calories. 96g carbs, 136g fat, 337g protein
– Another long day, but loads of good protein at the end of it helped compensate for not eating enough protein consistently through the day.

Thursday, July 29th. 85kg body weight.

4 eggs (280/4/18/24)
Cheese (110/1/9/6)
3 whey shakes (480/6/9/90)
Longhorn Trio: salmon, chicken, sirloin (860/24/37/107)
Broccoli (150/12/0/18)
Mozzarella (160/2/12/16)
1 cup whole milk + 2 scoops whey (330/16/8/48)
1 pound, steak (800/0/28/120)
ice cream (280/36/12/10)
1 cup whole milk (150/12/8/8)
whey shake (160/2/3/30)
Totals: 3760 calories. 127g carbs, 144g fat, 477g protein

Friday, July 30th

You’ll just have to ask. I’m done writing this down for a while.

However, I am more than happy to help you develop your OWN meal plan to meet your goals, and to answer any questions about what I’ve done over the last three months. Good luck – and I’ll see you at CrossFit Fenway!

We had a great turnout this morning at Park Street.  It was awesome to see everyone out there, enjoying the beautiful weather, working hard, and generally creating a spectacle  The workout:

AMRAP 20
Sprint up Park Street and back (dodging tourists)
15 wall jumps
10 push-ups
5 kettlebell swings

It was the perfect way to start the long weekend.  We’ll be closed Monday, so enjoy the next couple of rest days, or get out there, and put together a workout to challenge yourself.  We’ll see you Tuesday.

Eric stepped up his game this weekend and completed the first three workouts with determination to succeed and succeed he did.  With 110 men competing, only 50 were allowed to move on to the 4th workout.  Eric was one of them.  The fourth workout was atlas stone lifting, sandbag sprints, overhead squats, deadlifts, and burpees, 4 times through.  At this point in the competition fatigue sets in.  The ones that finished this workout in 25 minutes had to push through burning muscles, keep moving when they had nothing left, fight the urge to puke, and never ever even let the thought of giving up enter their heads.  Eric was one of those people.  He finished the workout with minutes to spare, giving it everything he had.  I am so proud of Eric and inspired by his performances.  It is an honor to train and work with you.

Erica came out of no where and showed everyone what she was made of.  She grinded her way through each workout with guts and grit.  Every workout she moved up higher and higher through the competition.  I have never seen someone want something more.  The final workout of the day was true guts and desire to win.  I do not think anyone could have worked harder to finish a wod.  Fatigue was evident, but she gave her body no chance to stop.  Once she started this workout she was not going to stop until she completed the final burpee.  Exhausted and in pain she collapsed on the floor completing the workout in just over 20 minutes.  As I ran over to her, she was smiling.  Now that is why we do Crossfit.  Erica’s performances were unbelievable.  She qualified for Regionals and will be competing again in May for a chance to go to the Games.  I could not be more proud of her.

3/22/10

Skill:  Core work

Strength: Overhead squats 5 x 5

WOD:  5 Rounds

10 Pull Ups

20 Lateral Jumps

30 Sit Ups

That said, we’re going to try to reschedule the workshop for two weeks hence (Mar 21) and I will do my darnedest to have simple online pre-registration set up for y’all very soon next week to make sure the process goes much more smoothly and predictably. It’s a lot of fun, and I’m excited to be bringing this to y’all.

Work Day was also a smashing success. And by “smashing” I mean “steel rending, wall breaking, cinderblock crushing”. Many thanks to our crew of CrossFit Fenway all-stars who stuck around after the Invasion and put in a strong day of work. Extra bonus to Sarah for providing the grill that served up our paleo dinner!

Run up Summit Ave to Corey Hill Outlook Park
Walking lunges for the length of the park
30 push-ups with hands on the wall
20 right leg step-ups on the wall
20 left leg step-ups on the wall
50 burps in the snow
20 right leg step-ups
20 left leg step-ups
30 push-ups with hands on the wall
Walking lunges for the length of the park
Walk backwards down Summit Ave to Beacon Street

Great job to all who participated. If you have any suggestions for future invasion locations let us know.

Reminder: We are running 2 classes at CrossFit Fenway on Monday, at 12 PM and 5 PM.  These are similar to our invasion workouts, in that they are open to all members, and no pre-registration is required.  Have a great weekend, see you then t.

Time to get heated up. Eric throws down a quick warmup, and the inaugural Invasion is ready to begin. Open up the doors, and get running!

550m Run
30 Ball Slams @ 20 lbs
30 Walking Lunges, 20 lb Medball held overhead
550m Run
30 KB press (OH any way, 15 each arm), 1 pood
30 KB swings, 1 pood
550m Run
30 Burpees
30 Box Jump, 24″

My time: 20:49.

The cold air tears at our lungs. The kettlebell slips, and we tear off gloves to get a better grip at the cost of our fingers getting colder. The wool sweater goes from a necessity to a burden by the time burpees come around. And in the end, I’m laying flat on my back in a t-shirt, steaming like a linebacker in an NFL Films special.

I love this stuff. Thanks to Eric for putting together a great WOD, and to Keith from CF Nantucket for coming out and putting in a gutsy performance as our top finisher today!

Art courtesy Illside Ink and Josh from ProjectSF. Click for larger view.

We also got burned, welded, detailed, cut, installed, vacuumed, assembled, and very importantly: permitted. It was a long day at the end of a long week at CrossFit Fenway, but we’re getting very ready for the big event on Saturday!

It’s going to be one awesome grand opening. In fact, it’s so awesome it happens in two installments! See you tomorrow…

Don’t forget about the free workout tomorrow morning at 6:30 AM at CFF.  Feel free to stop by any time to say hello and see what’s new as we build our box.

This stuff is damn near indestructible, and perfect for our purposes. Good thing we’ve got a nice big crew of strong folks around to lift and cut and carry, since we had to unload nearly 4 tons (7500 pounds) of them off a truck BY HAND last Wednesday. (WOD: unload truck. For time.)

Of course, the craftsmanship from Rast, Eric, and Stacey is excellent when cutting these massive mats to fit around the columns and floor oddities of our new space. See the crew at work:

So when you come by and hit the deck during a workout, you’ll know just what went into that delightfully firm yet supportive flooring… a whole heck of a lot of work from your CrossFit Fenway team.