Virtual Run For Haiti
Got some good junk mail today from mapmyrun.com. MapMyRun and the New York Road Runners have teamed up to put on a 4 mile virtual/run walk to benefit the earthquake victims in Haiti. 100% of the proceeds go to benefit New York City’s Haiti Relief Fund. Cost for Registration is $30. Information on how to participate can be found here, but the basics are that you sign up, do a four mile run, log in to mapmyrun.com and log your results either manually or by uploading a data file through a supported device such as a garmin or polar running watch, nike+, etc… If you’re not familiar with Map My Run, essentially it’s a run logging website (and iphone or blackberry app) that shockingly…. wait for it… maps your runs, and keeps a log, and lets you talk to people and find local running partners and such.
I know there are at least a few folks around the gym that will be training for the shamrock and a half marathon next month, so in all likelihood you’ll be doing some distance running anyway. Make your training count a little more and register for this worthy cause. You must complete your run and upload your results between February 19-24 to be counted. Christian also said that if you participate you can wear a crown around the gym and boss Chad around like he’s your little sister… okay, that’s a lie.
Speaking of Chad, if you haven’t tried an MMAHITFIT workout yet, you really need to try it. He’s promised me I get to punch him 1000 times on Thursday. 1000!!! Seriously, love me some MMAHITFIT, I pummel Chad so much my knuckles are in a constant state of either scabbing over or outright bleeding, I love it!
“WOD” Iphone App for CrossFit Logging Updated and Still Awesome
I know pretty much all the Iphone junkies at the gym are using WOD for logging their workouts and records. If you haven’t gotten the latest update yet, check the app store on your phone for the 1.2 update and you’ll be pleased to see the developer tackled the couple criticisms noted in the commments of my previous post on the app. The two big fixes are that the feeds from the gym now display in full, so the workout still gets pulled in even if Christian decides to write an essay and burry the WOD at the bottom. Bonus, you even get the pictures (although they are a little trimmed). The other big thing is that you are not just limited to today’s workout in the feed. You can now select from the 10 latest workouts. So if you miss a day or prefer to log your workout the day after you perform it, it’s no longer an issue.
A couple other features that look interesting but have been buggy for me are the new “export to email” and “import from url” feature. The export to email will allow you to send a backup of your workout log to yourself through email. The import from url is a little less clear but I’m assuming you can post that exported workout log to a website and then re-import it back into your phone if you lose your data. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get the emails to send even after trying a number of different settings. And, if you hadn’t already noticed, I’m a bit of a geek so I’m fairly certain my settings are correct. In any case, a minor criticism of a still stellar and improving CrossFit app. I’ll shoot the developer an email to see if the export to email issue can be fixed. I could see that being very useful if you wanted to send your workout logs to an instructor or if you wanted to pull the data into a website for some kind of web based viewing.
Also be sure to check out the recently posted tour of the app on the developers site if you are at all confused about how to use the program.
Using Gymnastics Grips for CrossFit
Most CrossFitters discover pretty early on in their initial forrays into the sport that beyond the intense soreness and cardiovascular shock of entering into a high intensity fitness program come a handful of minor annoyances, not the least of which is the almost constant hand tears. Before you develop the strong and smooth callouses that help prevent further rips, there is always a period of tearing and that intense stinging pain of performing pullups with bleeding hands.
If your experience has been anything like mine, the hand tears were as much a barrier to achieving more pullups and knees to elbows as the strength portion of the exercise. And you can’t build the strength if you can’t hang on to the bar. And you can’t build calluses if you don’t allow the hands to heal first. After experimenting with countless taping methods, and upping and lowering the amount of chalk on my hands, I finally turned to gymnastics grips. Simple, no nonsense, two holes for your fingers, a strap around your wrist, and a piece of leather that covers the areas most likely to tear.
Beyond preventing tears, which they do tremendously well, they served a second and more important purpose. As I wore them my hands slowly developed strong calluses. When you’re doing kipping pullups, the friction which causes the calluses is still present when using the grips, it’s just much less intense and much less likely to cause tearing. In any case, the calluses still build, but at a slower pace. The slower, more gradual growth of the calluses has allowed the skin on my hands to become much more resistant to tearing. I wore them for a period of about four months and have been without them for about two months and have not torn since.
In addition to grips, one of the keys to preventing rips, is proper skin maintenance. American River CrossFit had posted this on their blog some time ago, but it’s worth a repost. Hand Rips.
Now With More Video…
Both MMAHITFIT and American River CrossFit got some video upgrades over the weekend. MMAHITFIT just tossed up a windfall of new instructional Brazilian Jiu Jitsu videos courtesy of our resident uber instructor, Chad, with a promise of much more to come. Check them out. ARCFit Cyborg (and super nice guy), Bomba, is featured prominently throughout, making the whole BJJ thing look ridiculously easy.
Also, you can now view the collected works of American River CrossFit anthologized nicely on a single page. No more searching through thousands of posts to find Gina give Sean the beating of his life. Just flip through a few videos and you’re there.
Lauren is a Badass
One of my favorite ARCFitters, Lauren, nailing some Clean and Jerks. I’ve got much love for Lauren who not only rocks wods with some sincere intensity, she’s also one of the nicer people I’ve met and is whip smart. I’m totally taking my dog to her when she graduates vet school in June to have that weird growth on his head looked at. But seriously, if you want to see how to approach a workout and get it done with some hardcore mojo, check her out. She definitely earns her nickname, ATP (Addicted To Pain). Now if I can just get myself one of those t-shirts.
A quote from Lauren on how she gets motivated:
It took me almost 8 years to find a sport I was this motivated to be a part of. Even soccer cannot compare. In college I was an intermittent runner but never very consistent. When I met Nate he used to drag my butt out of bed every morning to do various things – swimming, running, globo gym, cycling – you name it, we’ve tried. But NOTHING has EVER made me so willing to get out of bed at 5am like Crossfit. I may not perform my best that early in the morning, but I really dont question whether I will make it in or not. I bust my @ss to get in there, no matter the consequence. I like the variation in motivation – sometimes its the competition – I love doing WODs with other high energy people, it really gets me going. I love feeling like I’m reaching my full potential. I love feeling like I chose the right thing to do every day. I love that I put myself first with just this one thing. I love driving to school at 7 am feeling like I have already really accomplished something that day. I’m on top of the world. I love to make my coaches proud – to get the reassuring nod that I’m doing it right. Equally as important, I love to feel like a part of such a great community. There really is nothing like it. I am… Addicted To Pain!
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