Sin. Sins. Whatever.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 6.23

Why does God look at people's sins and not at all the good they've done?

So, a tour group is, say, at the Grand Canyon, and the day is hot. Fumes of heat rise from wilting yucca plants surrounding the sweating visitors. Their chapped lips are cracking. Their throats are parched. Their nostrils are, uh, dusty. They're on their hands and knees, gasping. Get the picture? Okay. The tour director stands in their midst with a tall, rotund pitcher of ice water. Clean, cold, drops of condensation trickle down the container's sides.
He asks, “Hey everybody, anyone want a drink?”
The tourists, slavering flakes of would-be saliva, crawl gasping inward.
Just as their hands clutch his pantlegs, the guy produces a vial of cloudy yellow liquid and an eyedropper.
“Violá,” he exclaims, “an anonymous urine sample!”
He siphons off a little, and plinks one putrid drop into the pitcher. He stirs.
“Now, who still wants a drink?”
The group backs away, their collective faces screwed up in grimaces of repulsion.
“Ah, c'mon,” the Tour Guide asks, “you're not gonna let a little pee-pee spoil all this refreshing water, are you?”

For me, it's a perfection thing. God's not unloving; he's pure, and demands purity. If heaven is going to be Heaven, then it's gotta be perfectly perfect. I, for one, don't want to spend my eternity on another planet earth.
...Great. I'm here in heaven for all eternity and I have to live next door to Charles Manson and Adolf Hitler just because they did some Nice Things in their lifetimes...

God's like a father who has to kick out a child who doesn't obey the rules of the house: He loves His children, but he has his standard, and his standard is perfection, not merely goodness. Sound harsh? Maybe. But He's head of the household. I'm content to let Him make the rules.

Stamina Has Replaced Oxidative Training.

http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFitEndruance_AgainFaster_BMac.mov

Nathan Someone asked at slowtwitch:
Stamina Has Replaced Oxidative Training? Don't take it from me. That's what the geniuses at Crossfit Endurance are claiming. Specifically calling out world class athletes like PNF, Mark Allen, and Ryan Hall.
I'm a big, big, fan of the crossfit model for general conditioning and rebalancing after a long season of repetitive motion efforts. These guys are really going off the deep end with their punch drinking.
You can't go calling out the worlds best and claim you have a better way unless you've put out some results to prove it.
Does this video seem stupid to anyone else?

The question is not how far. The question is, do you possess the constitution, the depth of faith, to go as far as is needed? - Il Duce; Boondock Saints

---

The question is not how far. The question is how Hard. If you're going Hard enough, the far question will answer itself in a hurry.

Even BMac had to do it for a year, with a lot of temptation to fall in step with the LSD crowd. What's one year ... after watching your times go up, your weight go up, year after year for the last 20? Those of us old enough to know from experience, and with the fewest years left to experiment, are buying in.

The question is endurance, the answer is Stamina. You can run, but you can't hide.

Wl - Sept 9

Supposed to do this one yesterday, but was too sick to, and, quite frankly, still feeling like a pile of warm shite today, I stepped into the gym thinking that this would either make me better or worse. Did the workout as Rx'ed, which is definitely better for my mentality, but we'll see if I have to give up a couple of weeks to one workout.
Hanging leg/ghd with 6# ball, 4 rounds, no rest. 2 Ext/Curl. 4 DB Cleans with 35#/40/45/50s - usually 8 rep sets. 5 calves on the hoist 5 plates/seated 2 plates.

Yeah, this was the right achilles I was icing just a couple of nights ago. Still, we soldier on.

9/48 hours. PE: 6.

S - Sept 7

Supposed to be an AR today, this S day on Sunday, but switching them in the hopes that there would be more spring in the step today. No such luck - it's almond time in the valley, so I've got the sore throat/nightsweats/coughin' crud from breathing paraquat & shakedust.

S day called for stair running. Did what I could with the dog, Kdawg in the stroller and CC on the bike to Yokuts and back. 4 chins/pulls on the round bars. Then 4 hill sprints with 5 reps each on the hill itself/max rep situps.

Not for time today. 8 +2 hours/48 hours. PE: 5. 213/12.

"M"...Naah, WoD - Sept 5

Schedule called for 6 mi @ 8 min hard/4 min easy, or opting for the long bike with the Old Farts. Walker and I blew it off and ran to Woodys' for a meet 'n greet grass-drill session with the awesome ppl from Elite Fitness Bako.

Easy 2.5 holding water bottles over with Boogie on her bike in 28 mins. Buy in: 3 rounds of 10-rep sets of dips/box jumps/sit ups. Then the main set of 400M/50 Star jumps (4.02), 400M/50 Split jumps (4.17), 400M/50 Burpees (9.03 - owned! Why did I have to do thrusters yesterday?), 400M (2.04). Cash out: tabata planks/hollow holds - only 5 rounds for me. Easy run home in 30, picking up bricks for the last .5 mi.

105 mins total. 8 hours/16 hours. PE: 8. 212/11.

Pretty fun workout with the group. Steve and Manda are studmuffins, and the nicest people ever. The perfect duo to launch an affiliate here. Awesome.

Overheard: Repping Out.

I happen to like training for strength-endurance. Everyone talks about "functional" training, but they never say what function they're training for. If you look at the demands of most daily activities, eg., helping a buddy move, these never involve lifting as much weight as you can one time, nor do they involve running a 26.2 mile course. Instead, you're lifting moderate loads and carrying them over a moderate distance, over and over again. Most sports have similar demands. That's not to say that maximal lifting is not important: you can't have strength-endurance without strength. But sometimes, doing some sets of 20-30 reps is a good thing.

Wa - Sept 4

Welcome to Thrusterfest 2009. 3 sets of flutterkicks and leg lifts on the floor/ghds to buy in, then put the 35s on the bar, lowered a decline bench to the ground, and super'ed chin ups with 6 (generally 8-rep) sets of thrusters with a focus to topping out with a good push-press. 115# felt heavy for the arms, not heavy for the legs, but why ain't this thing coming off the bottom more easily? Chinning on the rack, but repping out by using the gravitron with 25# assist. Basic antagonists, but man, each round of thrusters left me needing a blow before getting up to chin. I suck.

8.20 hours/31 hours. PE: 7. 213/15.

AR - Sept 3

Yeah, well, so look for the upcoming post regarding overtraining/undertraining. It's not easy to get off the treadmill once it's running. AR today calling for jumping rope/stretching, but I'm still feeling like the right achilles is marginal. So, 3 x 15 Goblet Squats with 35# DB, 4 x max reps (read: 10) Feet to Bar, and 5 x 12 OV Squats with 45#. Overheads really want work.

8 hours/24 hours. PE: 3, 217/10 PM.

Ca - "Yokie" - Sept 2

42 minute round trip to Yokuts for 4 sets of round-bar chins/wide pulls supersetted with dips on the playset! Hung for a set of horizontal pulls on the way, and way back, on the horse-rail. 15 minutes there, 15 minutes back, including picking up bricks for the last half mile. Running felt like wading in soup.

9 hours/17 hours. PE: 4.

Wl - Sept 1

Buy in, 3 Ceiling stompers/Yogi bikes with ghd's. 4 on the Ext/Curl hoists, just 10 repping. 3 8-reps sets of hang cleans with 115# ... these felt heavy. Finally, 5-plates on the hoist calve-press/super'ed with 2 plates on the seated. These are the days that are foundation for the epics.

8 hours/42 hours. PE: 4. 213/13.

WoD - "Helen" - Aug 30

"Helen" - in the heat. 103 degrees, yeah, that and Walker coming by with 4 bombers might have effected me a bit. The propblast Helen: 16.06 with a 15 sec delay on the last round fighting to keep the dog from running the loop with me. Today was supposed to be an "S" day, and I was thinking I was going to completely take the day off in exchange for tomorrow's AR day, since I was up at 3 AM with what I diagnosed as overtraining-induced insomnia. A good morning at church and a nap, and I was feeling good enough to be getting my ya-yas out with Helen. Used a 35# DB, and a run around the block - which felt a lot longer than 400M, but which is probably shorter. Gonna have to measure it to see if it's dead on. (Here's the P.S.: the run was .37 mi; the temp was 105. Noice!).

2.58 first run; 2.07 swings and pull ups: 5.06
2.54 run; 2.29: 10.29
3.12 with 15 seconds of tripping all over the friggin' dog; 2.25: 16.06

The DB swings really are fun; I was just flagging as I reached the final reps each round - can't wait to swing the real deal 1.5 pood dood. The Base schedule called for 15 minutes of rope jumping, but my achilles is still not something I want to test with the rope yet. The running today and yesterday are edgy enough. Also, just trying to do all the named/hero WoDs I've not done, to lay down a baseline.
Next time, I'll do Helen Rx'ed, and beat today's time. Remember, you heard it here first.

7.30 hours + 1/32 hours. PE: 8. 217/10.

M - Ride & Tie - Aug 29

Ride & Tie with Walker on the bike path: 92 mins total, 4.25ish miles out, same back. A couple hard miles in the middle, definitely fading toward the end. And dang! Transitions need work what with trying to lock/unlock the bike! Bike legs were 4:00 minutes of riding, but lock/unlock times make them longer.

7.30 warm up run
3 minute bike; 11.40 run
5.40 minute bike; 11.13 run
5.13 minute bike; 10.32 run
4.55 minute bike; 9.55 run
5.34 minute bike; 7.55 run
9.17 warm down home carrying bricks.

This is an awesome event. Really would be fun with more bikes and more ppl. A five-man team with 2 bikes would be fun. Last man always grabs a bike, rides it one minute past the lead runner then dumps it. Another twist might have the lead runner running backward until passed. But the confusion of just jumping on and off bikes might be enough. heh.

8.20 hours/15 hours. PE: 7. 213/13.

Wa - Aug 28

Buy in with 3 knees to elbows and ghds. 21-15-9-5 incline bench with 50# DBs/Chin ups. Chins were owning me - only 5s at a time. 3 sets of max reps (10) DB (power) cleans and presses with 50s. That's the show. Just a hellacious pump and a lot of sweat.

7 hours/49 hours. PE: 7. 213/12.

Pretty Much.

You and those like you have received special advantages; you have all of you had the opportunity for mental training; many of you have had leisure; most of you have had a chance for enjoyment of life far greater than comes to the majority of your fellows. To you and your kind much has been given, and from you much should be expected. Yet there are certain failings against which it is especially incumbent that both men of trained and cultivated intellect, and men of inherited wealth and position should especially guard themselves, because to these failings they are especially liable; and if yielded to, their- your- chances of useful service are at an end. Let the man of learning, the man of lettered leisure, beware of that queer and cheap temptation to pose to himself and to others as a cynic, as the man who has outgrown emotions and beliefs, the man to whom good and evil are as one. The poorest way to face life is to face it with a sneer. There are many men who feel a kind of twister pride in cynicism; there are many who confine themselves to criticism of the way others do what they themselves dare not even attempt. There is no more unhealthy being, no man less worthy of respect, than he who either really holds, or feigns to hold, an attitude of sneering disbelief toward all that is great and lofty, whether in achievement or in that noble effort which, even if it fails, comes to second achievement. A cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticize work which the critic himself never tries to perform, an intellectual aloofness which will not accept contact with life's realities - all these are marks, not as the possessor would fain to think, of superiority but of weakness. They mark the men unfit to bear their part painfully in the stern strife of living, who seek, in the affection of contempt for the achievements of others, to hide from others and from themselves in their own weakness. The role is easy; there is none easier, save only the role of the man who sneers alike at both criticism and performance.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Shame on the man of cultivated taste who permits refinement to develop into fastidiousness that unfits him for doing the rough work of a workaday world. Among the free peoples who govern themselves there is but a small field of usefulness open for the men of cloistered life who shrink from contact with their fellows. Still less room is there for those who deride or slight what is done by those who actually bear the brunt of the day; nor yet for those others who always profess that they would like to take action, if only the conditions of life were not exactly what they actually are.

The man who does nothing cuts the same sordid figure in the pages of history, whether he be a cynic, or fop, or voluptuary. There is little use for the being whose tepid soul knows nothing of great and generous emotion, of the high pride, the stern belief, the lofty enthusiasm, of the men who quell the storm and ride the thunder. Well for these men if they succeed; well also, though not so well, if they fail, given only that they have nobly ventured, and have put forth all their heart and strength. It is war-worn Hotspur, spent with hard fighting, he of the many errors and valiant end, over whose memory we love to linger, not over the memory of the young lord who "but for the vile guns would have been a valiant soldier."

- Theodore Roosevelt

So Long, Teddy.

We're all really going to miss you.

WoD Ca - "Easy Street" - Aug 26

21-15-9 for time of
Sumo Hi Pulls - normally 95#
Incline Press - 50% BW
Squat Cleans - 95# or whatever
Dips - BW, but at this point, that's like moving the friggin' Titanic

Yeah, this WoD deserves a name. Today, it seemed like Easy Street. How hard can 3 rounds of 21-15-9 be, anyway? I found out, as I shook hands with Pukie today (didn't give him a hug, though) and got the "looks" from the PM crowd at BodyXchange. WoD called for rowing, but no C2, so I subbed sumo hi pulls - man, on second thought, I wish I could have rowed. Made a M/W/W/G workout into a W/W/W/G. Yes, I felt the difference. 105# Sumo pulls (instead of rowing 750-500-250M)/60# DB incline bench (didn't want to chance the bench getting taken, and hey, I like the incline mix, especially with doing dips)/same 105# bar for the squat cleans/and finally, dips.

32.43: 21 round took 11.06, 15 round took 12.31, 9 round took 9.05. I was sitting on the cleans after doing 5 reps, wondering if I could do the final 4, and talking to myself way too much. Just gassed, but could still do the reps if I got on the bar. It's mostly mental, still. I did the same thing on the final dips - 4 reps, sucked and talked to myself, then just got on the freaking handles and cranked the final 5.

2200 - 0600 - 212/14.

Wl - Aug 25

Starting a new 4-week Base cycle today. Well, yesterday, but it was an AR day that didn't happen.

Not quite the perfect storm of W-type workouts today, but the randomizer conspired to make all 5-set breaks. 5 of knees to elbows (with ghd's for good measure), 5 ext/curl, 21-15-9-5 deads (185#), and 5 calf on the hoist recliner. Good thing yesterday was an off day.

2200 - 0645 - 213/12.

Get Comfortable with Discomfort.

Get a little lazy, get too comfortable in all aspects of life.

In terms of movements, it is easy to cherry pick WODs. You come in and do the things you know you are good at. You skip the days that involve exercises you don’t like or, more likely, are not good at. You become a monster at Fran because you practice it everyday, but have no idea about your Grace because you never do heavy cleans, especially for reps. Maybe you have no idea what your 5k time is. Well, get over it. Be OK with being bad at something. Have faith in yourself that you can get better at it. Deal with frustration and finish.

As for intensity, discomfort is synonymous with pain. Pain is a very difficult feeling to get comfortable with. It takes work and effort. It means that your daily workout is going to make you nervous, give you butterflies in your stomach and make you want to quit half way through. Don't slow down, don't quit; you are only cheating yourself.

You will be a better athlete and a better person if you can face discomfort and adversity, stare it in the face, and overcome it. Embrace the Suck. Plumb the bottom of your confidence in your abilities, both physical and mental, to try new things, place yourself outside of your comfort zone, and start succeeding at everything in your life.

L-sit Progression.

S/M - Aug 23

62 mins on the MTB to Allen rd and back. Tried for a negative split by doing mile intervals on the return, but what felt faster, wasn't. Cashed out with 3 sets of OV squats with the light bar.

2030 - 0645 - 215/12

S - Aug 21

32 minute 3-miler on the dirt N of the river. With rocks in hand. With 50 squats on the mile.

2130 - 0630 minus 1 - 212/12.

The Chief - Aug 20

A missed day yesterday, so this gets pushed to today with a vengeance. Although, one doesn't feel so full of vinegar halfway through each round of this. Maintained 4 sets per round for all 5 rounds, as Rx'ed. 135 felt pretty light, at first. Cashed out with ghd's (8# ball) and ceiling stompers.

2200 - 0700 minus 1 or so - 213/15

Wl - Aug 18

Squeezing a quick one in today. Buy in with 3 ghd with the 10# ball/reverse pushups. 5 Ext/Curl with up to 205#/105#. 3 thrusters at 115# - these felt heavy. Cashed out with seated calves 21/15/9 @ 140#.

2130 - 0630 - 212/12.

R - Aug 16

3 mile Georun working on the CFendurance stride length & quick lift. Up and around the trails near the harbor seals in Carp, then at 2 miles, 4 sets of hanging L-raises near the Spot. Just getting the ya-yas out, totally hammered by the modified Chelsea from yesterday.

Chelsea/Cindy - Aug 15

I did/tried "Chelsea" at the beach - pull up bar by the volleyball courts at Carpinteria. The pull up bar was 30 feet away from a push-up pit, so I wasted some precious time and energy walking back and forth in the sand. Didn't think I could do the whole thing, so I came into the test with the rule that if I failed to complete a round in the minute, I'd rest through to the next minute's "go," and see how many rounds I could get in the 30 minutes.

I made it through 10 rounds before I couldn't meet the minute. Rested through to the next - then did 2 rounds before failing, then 2 more, then 2 more, then 2 more, and then dug deep and did 4 before a final blow and final round. 23 rounds, it was a learning experience. My previous best "Cindy" was like, 12 rounds in 20, so 10 rounds in the first 10 minutes shows a huge improvement. I feel the training effect from this one. Chelsea; one ruthless taskmistress.

Nuthin' - Aug 14

Work. Work, work, work. No lunch, no sleep. Up in the middle of the night, ate like crappé, who cares.

0930 - 0730 minus 3.

Wa - Aug 13

3 GHD to buy in. Today called for 5 pushups/snatches. I just couldn't get a feel for the snatches. I subbed dips/pulls on the gravitron. Cash out with 3 sumo hi pulls at 95. Nothing special, just another day at the office after a day off yesterday.

2130 - 0630 less 1 at 0100 - 214/16

"Killing Joke" - Aug 11

Okay, so buy in is GHD (back), and cash out is the same. I can live with that. Choose between "Killing Joke" or SomethingRunnyDip. Was gonna flip a coin, but I remembered I was the guy who was icing his achilles last night, so I got scared off by the 400s (leave alone the 50 HDPUs late in the workout ... didn't want do a face plant). So the easy option was Killing Joke. heh. 15.05, as Rx'ed, but really wasn't working fast, was thinking about form.

Lessons learned:
1. I had better remediate with some front squats, I'm not getting my elbows up at all.
2. I can brute-force the weight, but I'd better focus on breaking these down.
3. 15 minutes can be one hella long workout, when you're in the middle of it.
4. The Hoist GHD isn't a true GHD, but.

2100 - 0650 - 216/14.

Performance, Performance, Performance.

Love vs Obsession ...

Wl, kinda - Aug 10

Sit ups, Ext/Curl 3 up from 2, 3 Seated calf raises. I missed the main set of bag work with the bag getting hogged by 3 ppl at downtown BodyX. No one is ever on that freaking bag. I succumb to Murphy today and take it easy.

2347 - 0647 - 216/14

AR/S - Aug 9

What the heck, a short 20 min run today, so I take the dog too. No leash, who cares? I'm just gonna go on the north side of the river where there's no one to bother, pick up a couple of rocks, and do some heavy-hands with some random fartlek. Alas, Army's doing their two-mile test on the bike path, and the dumb dog latches on to some fast soldier, and I get to chase them down to Chester. 42 mins total, cashed out with 3 chest-to-bar chins. Swim later today, but that will be easy too. Or is supposed to be.

2200 - 700 - 214/11

M Bike - Aug 8

MTB for 3.20 around Ming with the Old Farts. The legs still feel hollow from the cleans this week. I better improve at recovery or something's gonna have to change. heh.

2220 - 0540 - 215/12.

AR - Aug 7

I'm lying. It was a complete "off" day. No stretching, no ab work, no nothing. Just three big beers in the PM. Still owned from back-to-back Badger and power cleaning.

2130 - 0630 - 214/14.

Crossfit Games.

The Games site is here.

You can see a real evolution in the games, and by extrapolation, in CF itself, by comparing the games' events over the last three years:

The 2007 (inaugural) Games took place on June 30 - July 1st, with three workouts:

Saturday morning: A hopper workout that was literally determined at random (it ended up being row, push jerks and pullups)

Saturday afternoon: A 3K off trail hill run

Sunday: The CrossFit Total

---

The 2008 Games took place on July 5-6th, with four workouts:

Saturday: (workouts performed in any order throughout the day)
5 Deadlift (275lbs men, 185lbs women) / 10 Burpees - 5 Rounds for time
Thrusters (95lbs men, 65lbs women) / Pull-ups - 21, 15, 9 reps for time
750m off trail steep hill run

Sunday:
30 Squat Clean and Jerks (155lbs men, 100lbs women) for time

---

The 2009 Games took place July 10-12th, with eight events:

Saturday
Event 1: 7km Hill Run
Event 2: Deadlift one rep every 30 sec moving from 315lbs to 505lbs in 10lb increments (women went from 185lbs to 375lbs)
Event 3: 170m Hill Sprint with two 35lb sandbags (women used a single sandbag)
Event 4: Row 500m, pound a 4' stake into the ground, Row 500m (women used a 3' stake)
Event 5: Couplet, which was 3 Rounds for time of 30 Wallball / 30 75lb Squat Snatch (women used 14lb medicine ball and a 45lb barbell)

Sunday
Event 6: Max load Barbell Snatch
Event 7: Triplet, which was max rounds in 8min of 4 Handstand Pushups / 8 32kg KB Swings / 12 GHD Situps (women used a 24kg KB)
Event 8: Chipper, which was 15 barbells cleans (155/100lbs), 30 toes to bar, 30 box jumps (24/20"), 15/10 muscle-ups, 30 push presses (40/25lbs), 30 double-unders, 15 thrusters (135/95lbs), 30 pull-ups, 30 burpees, 300' overhead walking lunges (45/25lb plate)

Complexity has increased. Randomization is out. The difficult-to-master but telling Oly lifts are in. Crazy, real world exercise is in.

Celebrate the Crossfit Cult.

Cult: Obsessive devotion to or veneration for a person, principle, or thing.

We don't care if you come and we don't care if you leave, how can that be a cult? - Greg Glassman

This can’t be a cult; the connotations are all wrong. "Cult" would imply that something foolish or devious is occurring, something motivated by greed or vanity, something to do with stars or demigods, the cosmos or the second coming.

The only motivation here is excellence. Caring too much. Pushing the boundaries. All that stuff you say during a job interview and nobody believes you.

From outside the looking glass, I can see the disbelief. I can believe the disbelief. Thousands of people, swearing up and down this is the best thing since solar power, lawn irrigation, and supermarkets, bundled into a free-if-you-want-it package and available daily, changing lives every time. It sounds like a teenager’s drunken promise, whispered sweetly and mired in mal-intent.

Any rational human being would assume that there’s a plot, a cabal at the top, aiming to steal and maim, to prosper at another’s expense.

There’s not. I know, because I’ve sat at the table. I’ve had the conversations, reflecting on the past and predicting the future, wondering at the sheer speed of the rocket ship, the linear progression turning geometric. The discourse isn’t yachts and summer homes; it’s progress.

The driver of this mission is physical superiority; a battle-ready state, general physical fitness spurred by a contrarian philosophy and a general distain for bullshit.

We want our Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen to pummel our Nation’s enemies. We want our sons and daughters to reject a sedentary lifestyle. We want our parents out of nursing homes and into society.

We do not want a cult, togas and Nikes ready for the apocalypse, and we couldn’t have one anyway. CrossFitters are too numerous to track, let alone control. They’re recklessly dispersed in America and the Middle East, Peru and Finland, Prague and Canada, arrayed under a thousand coaches, many of whom would just as soon eat horseflesh as agree with each other.

The only motivation here is the higher calling, the moral stance, and the knowledge that kind of good is not good enough, that health and wellbeing are sacrosanct, that the truth is inviolable, that fitness is everything.

Decry the organization, but know that your arguments are false. This is no siren song, no massive conspiracy to suck dollars from the pockets of the credulous. This is a revolution, righteous, transparent, and effective. It is a philosophy couched in generosity and executed unfailingly. It is a way of life, and it will continue, with or without you.
- Jon Gilson

Religion of Peace.

Just heard about the big dope who got out of his car in the drive-thru at Del Taco to mouth off to the car full of wrestlers, throw a couple punches at them, and then get beaten into a coma when they came out of the car to give him a little of what he was asking for. It's a shame, but pride kills.

From Michael Yon's blog in Afghanistan, talking with Afghan National Army guys - you know, the moderate, good ones:

"I asked Colonel Wadood if the people of Afghanistan understand Democracy and he said yes, but not the people of Helmand, who “understand only Swordocracy,” and everyone laughed. And then spontaneously, Colonel Wadood said, “We have the best Democracy with Islam. Our religion is one of brotherhood and oneness. Our religion is about equality, no status.” He said these things, and more. Colonel Wadood continued, pausing long enough for me to write, “Women have the right to education, to have a job, to be a candidate in elections.” Colonel Wadood paused, and continued, “If we applied these things it is the perfect democracy and perfect religion. Killing people is forbidden. Drug trafficking is forbidden. Cruelty and brutality is forbidden. Attacks that Taliban execute are all against Islam and Sharia. The best Muslim never harms anyone with his eyes, his tongue or with his hands. He should only be useful not harmful. We cannot kill infidels without reason. But if they invade our honor, our religion, our land or our pride, we can kill them. Same condition applies to Muslim too. If he does these things we can kill him."

Defending oneself or one's land is a far cry from all the wiggle room provided by having an out to kill if your honor or pride is invaded. Not sure how to do that, but I sure find Christianity more tolerant than the do-not-invade-our-Islam-or-we-can-kill-you. Seeing a lot of Muslims doing the invading right now on the world stage, without provocation or any cause to kill.

Wa - Aug 6

A hurry-up PM with Chacho. Buy-in with 21-15-9 OV squats with 85 on the short bar. 5 sets of push ups/sumo hi pulls (75#); didn't think the push ups were going to be of any account, but hey, they were pwning. Then cashed out with power cleans (115#) 21-15-9 - partitioned at 11 & 10. Amazing the good one can do in 30 minutes.

2130 - 0630, fitful with the running metabolic tachometer from the Badger - 215/12.

"Badger" - Aug 5

No buy in or cash out for this one - was squeezed for time as it was, thinking that this would take 30 mins. 45.51 instead, as Rx'ed. I thought I'd never get through the first round's cleans, doing about 5 reps and dumping. While taking blows, I envisioned scaling down the next two rounds to 25 and 20 reps. But I didn't, and got to walk out with my head held high. Got into a good groove cleaning, and built up a little muscle memory for good ones today. rd 1: 13.54; rd 2: 14.39 (but felt a lot faster than the first); rd 3: 17.10. Lost a good bit of time on the 3rd round having to move to a new bar, and slipping off the pull up bar with sweatywet hands. Round one saw me moving to the treadmills to do the 800 only to find them all full of walkers/cell fone talkers - got on an elliptical instead, which might have been a blessing, since they don't "push back" a pace like a treadmill. Stuck with it in the ensuing rounds, all at a 4.00 800.

217/12 - 2200-0630

S - Sprint Pyramid - Aug 4

This day is out of sync as I move Badger to tomorrow, and make up for Sunday. S'ok with a good 38 minute effort - .25 warm up/warm down to the bikepath, where it was .1 in 40, walk .1, .2/walk .1; .3; .4; .4; and down. The longer efforts just sucked, but I held on to the 40 seconds per.

Feeling like the Base schedule is plenty hard, some amendments in the works (still would like to see more hip drive in the rotation) but it's worlds away from even what I considered a hard schedule. And razzlem'damn if it don't take but hardly any time out of the day.

2230 - 0550.

Wl - Aug 3

Buy in 2 GHD; 5 Ext/Curl; 5 OV Sqt 50# up to 80# (weak here); cash out with seated calves. Feeling good after the additional day off.

2230 - 0630

AR, kinda - Aug 2

Blown day on Sunday, was supposed to S with a sprint pyramid, but with no one to watch the little ones, I wasn't out the door. Went to church, took a nap, stretched and swam. And went to the movies. I can shuffle the day down to the next AR day, if it's not 5 on consequtively.

In the meantime, some questions to weigh the exercise you're choosing:
1. Is the exercise ground-based and are you standing up while performing the exercise?
2. Is the exercise a free weight exercise?
3. Does the exercise work multiple muscle groups and surround multiple joints?
4. Is the exercise performed in an explosive manner?

M Run - Aug 1

Hour-long scamble through the tidepools and along the beach at Shell Beach - out and back up and down all the access from Spyglass park North and back again.

2130 - 615 : 215/12

NEN & stuff - July 31

Shuffling what would have been a long M day to the weekend, this will supplant Sunday's AR day. NEN called for 100 squats, 100 jumping jacks for time. Sounded like a "ha!" workout, but it took 4.00 and I went into buttlock. Some jump rope, 5 sets of chin ups, then cashed out with 3 static stands with the slosh pipe.

2130 - 530 : 216/12

Random Wa - July 30

Gladly, God is Lord of the generator. Dread upon entering the gym, thoughts of subbing out the sumo hi pulls. Providentially, all exercises came up with 2 set volume. 2 Mt. Climbers (and GHD), 2 Press/Hi Pulls (95#), 2 thrusters (to sub out for Wall balls - Dynamax, here I come). Perfect timing, perfect workout for today.

2345 - 0630.

AR day - July 29

The generator called for 5 leg curls (110#) and I cashed out with the NEN - 10 200m runs with 10 squats/10 push ups. After a .5 mi warm up, it was a 22 minute moderate intensity ordeal. Traps are fried from yesterday.

I'm writing this here so I don't forget it.

Here's a golden rule: When programming your workouts have at least 1 strength training a week & no more than 1 chipper a week!

Okay, so now you know.

Oh yeah, and Fitness = increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains.

Deltoilicious - July 28th

Buy in with bar only 21-15-9 OV squat.
Then as RX'ed with 95#; 8 rounds with one minute to spare and no will to do the thrusters and quit. Thrusters and the Hang cleans, then drop the bar for 30 secs, do the Hi pulls then dump for another 30. It worked that way through the 6th round. Freaking gassed. I could do better. ...I could do better not if I was in better shape, but if I could dig deeper. The will gets trained as much as the meat.

2200 - 0330 - overtrained, overthinking. 217/11.

CF Ya Ya, the Sequel.

"An athlete diminished by excessive aerobic training is slow and weak. At CrossFit we call that state, 'spun-down.'" - Greg Glassman

"Training for a fight by running twenty minutes everyday makes perfect sense if you plan on running away from your opponent and know you’ll be getting a ten minute headstart." - Greg Glassman

"We have doctors to thank for lots of S.B. The advice to always ask a doctor before you (yes, you) start any exercise program is rather self-serving, considering the fact that they are the ones billing for the office visit, and the silliness of insisting that a healthy 35-year-old get a checkup before he starts to lift weights makes one suspicious of the actual purpose. As mentioned earlier, the medical community is famous for equating exercise with running, walking, cycling, and other such monostructural aerobic-pathway activities that are measured by the time spent engaging in them. The pamphlet rack in the waiting room is typically stuffed completely full of references to “20 minutes of exercise a day, 5 days a week,” as if the only way to quantify a stress that leads to an adaptation is with your Polar RS 800 fancy watch/heart rate monitor." - Mark Rippetoe

CrossFit is a broad based strength and conditioning program. It is designed to enhance an individual’s competency at all physical tasks.

We train functional movements, we don’t teach isolation exercises.

Functional movements are those things that you need to do everyday … bend over, pick stuff up, move it overhead, carry it.

We train for power, which is part strength and part speed.

We don’t specialize, and we don’t train for aesthetics, although people who train our method and eat a good diet have amazingly beautiful bodies.

More specifically, CrossFit is a general physical conditioning program built upon the three pillars of:
1) Constantly varied
2) Functional movements
3) Done at relatively high intensity.

What exactly do you mean by constantly varied, functional movements done at relatively high intensity?

Constantly Varied - We mix things up ... a lot. The body gets used to doing the same exercises, in the same way, over and over again. Mixing up the stimulus keeps the body guessing, and this produces greater physical adaptions.

Functional Movements - These are the things you need to do everyday .. bend down, pick stuff up, move it overhead, etc. For the most part, these movements involve large muscles that can move heavy loads over long distances. Doing tricep kick-backs with 5 lb. dumbells will never produce the same physiological response as doing dips or push-ups.

Relatively High Intensity - Intensity is where the results are. We push our trainees to do as much work as they are able, but a 65 year old retired banker is probably going to have a different capacity for work than a 25 year old competitive mixed martial artist.

The basic underlying philosophy is that virtually all athletic movement is a function of leg and hip drive (hip flexion and hip extension) and that the power generated from this is transmitted to the extremities through a strong and stable core. We train hip extension to death … then we add weight that must be managed by activating the muscles of the torso and upper body. Pretty simple really.

We combine bodyweight exercises, power lifting and Olympic lifting moves, and short-fast efforts of running, biking or rowing. Most people easily learn these moves, or at least their elements. We modify where we need to in a fashion that lets us preserve the stimulus as best as possible while accommodating the capacity of the individual. We stress proper form and full range of motion.

We are huge fans of using high-intensity short-duration exercise. There is no doubt high-intensity training is great for increasing strength, speed, power, cardiovascular endurance, and stamina. But it has also been shown to greatly improve posture, joint health, sleep, flexibility, blood pressure, bone strength, and fat loss.

If it is so beneficial to do high-intensity exercise, why doesn't everyone do it? Because it is hard, uncomfortable, and brings to people the true meaning of suck! The ability to embrace the suck is what sets CrossFit athletes (we're all considered athletes here) apart from the rest!

Embrace the suck! Reap the rewards!

GPP & Sport.

"Optimal physical competency is a compromise, a balancing act; a compromise between not only conflicting but perfectly antagonistic skills. The manner in which you resolve this conflict defines the quality of your fitness and is the art of exercise prescription." - Greg Glassman

"Develop the capacity of a novice 800-meter track athlete, gymnast, and weightlifter and you’ll be fitter than any world-class runner, gymnast, or weightlifter." - From CrossFit Journal

The Bottom Line on GPP

There's often a great deal of confusion surrounding general physical preparedness (GPP) in general, and CrossFit's brand of GPP in particular. This post is an attempt to stimulate conversation over what GPP is, and hopefully in the process, clear up any misunderstandings over what we do and how we train our athletes.

When defining a word or concept, it's often useful and highly instructive to discuss what something is not before jumping into what it is.

GPP is not training for a set of skills germane only to a particular sport or physical activity. We'd no sooner adopt the training program of a marathon runner than we would a sumo wrestler (both have relatively narrow, highly specific needs for their sport of choice), assuming GPP is the goal of the training program. GPP is not about putting your eggs in one basket and focusing on a single aspect of training, or a single general physical skill such as endurance, stamina, or strength.

GPP, and specifically CrossFit's brand of GPP, is about, quite simply, increasing an athlete's work capacity across broad time and modal domains (thanks to Coach Glassman for coining this phrase). This means that one can do well in any endeavor, whether it's of long duration, short duration, high power, or low power (although what's the point of being good at low-powered activities - they're so boring!), and whether it involves one's own body, external objects (e.g., barbells, dumbbells, and throwing implements), or any combination of these two modalities.

Problems occur, though, when athletes and coaches try and fuse GPP with sport practice. What happens is that both aspects of training suffer. This type of fusion usually results in ill-conceived concepts such as practicing the swing of a (tennis) forehand while using the cable pulley machine. Not only is the use of the cable pulley a colossal waste of the athlete's time, adding little if anything to his off-court strength-and-conditioning base, the carryover to actually hitting a forehand on the tennis court is nonexistent, and can even cause the tennis player's forehand skill to erode.

(As an aside, the reason the scenario above doesn't work for the tennis player is because swinging a tennis racket weighing between 12- and 14-ounces and swinging a cable pulley, which offers significantly more resistance than a tennis racket, cause different neuro-muscular firing patterns; thus there's no carryover and it can actually be detrimental to the development of a forehand.)

It's far better to keep GPP and sport practice separate. Use the GPP program to allow the athlete to become supremely conditioned and, at the same time, free the athlete up to devote more time to practicing his or her sport.

That is, if you're so horny for one sport that you are willing to allow your GPP for all other walks of life to suffer. I'm not. Not anymore.

Who Would Jesus Bomb?

Allah, hopefully. Before Allah's bloodthirsty followers bomb us.

Crossfit Ya Ya.

World-Class Fitness in 100 Words:
Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.
Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch.
Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds.
Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast.
Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy.
Keep workouts short and intense.
Regularly learn and play new sports.

1. Gymnasts learn new sports faster than other athletes.
2. Olympic lifters can apply more useful power to more activities than other athletes.
3. Powerlifters are stronger than other athletes.
4. Sprinters can match the cardiovascular performance of endurance athletes even at extended efforts.
5. Endurance athletes are woefully lacking in total physical capacity.
6. With high carb diets you either get fat or weak.
7. Bodybuilders can't punch, jump, run, or throw like athletes can.
8. Segmenting training efforts delivers a segmented capacity.
9. Optimizing physical capacity requires training at unsustainable intensities.
10. The world's most successful athletes and coaches rely on exercise science the way deer hunters rely on the accordion.

11. Glycogen depletion for fat burning - 1 hour plus at low intensity.

The bodybuilding model is designed around, requires, steroids for significant hypertrophy.
The neuroendocrine response of bodybuilding protocols is so blunted that without "exogenous hormonal therapy" little happens.
The CrossFit protocol is designed to elicit a substantial neuroendocrine whollop and hence packs an anabolic punch that puts on impressive amounts of muscle though that is not our concern. Strength is.
Natural bodybuilders (the natural ones that are not on steroids) never approach the mass that our ahtletes do. They don't come close.
Those athletes who train for function end up with better form than those who value form over function. This is one of the beautiful ironies of training.

Number one rule:
Don't cheat the movement! Don't cheat to get a faster time, don't cheat to lift a heavier weight!

The key to CrossFit is functional movements, performed on a variable set rep pattern with intensity. If the workout of the day involves 21 front squats do not substitute leg extensions and hamstring curls and say you did CrossFit. You will have missed the point behind functional movement. Do not take a workout and do it every other day for a month. You will have missed the point of Variance.

Oh, and your easy days are too hard, and your hard days are too easy, yah.

from the English Only Dept.

Big Sur Marathon 2009

Training for Big Sur came at a bad time of year. I took long runs, or tried, while away at shows by running cache-to-cache Georuns. I developed a cough during the final weeks 5 down to 2 that would NOT go away.

So, the training plan is at left, and the actual training is parenthetical at right:

week 16: 188 mins: 8 mi R/108 min Bike (143/5 mi and indoor)
week 15: 190 mins: 9 mi R/90 min Bike (did 198/9 mi)
week 14: 210 mins: 11 mi R/100 min Bike (did zero)
week 13: 210 mins: 12 mi R/90 min Bike (did 78/7 mi Bud Light course)
week 12: 160 mins: 13 mi R/30 min Bike (did 53/5 mi on the zipper course)
week 11: 225 mins: 14 mi R/85 min Bike (did 90 indoors)
week 10: 225 mins: 15 mi R/75 min Bike (did 100/9.5 mi)
week 9: 250 mins: 16 mi R/90 min Bike (did 135 on MTB)
week 8: 250 mins: 17 mi R/80 min Bike (did 230/16 mi)
week 7: 190 mins: 18 mi R/10 min Bike (did 168/14.5 mi georun)
week 6: 275 mins: 19 mi R/85 min Bike (did 55/4 mi georun)
week 5: 275 mins: 20 mi R/75 min Bike (rode 102 MTB)
week 4: 300 mins: 22 mi R/80 min Bike (did zero)
week 3: 225 mins: 12 mi R/105 min Bike (did zero)
week 2: 170 mins: 13 mi R/40 min Bike (did one run/5 mi with hand bottles to loosen up)
week 1: Big Sur Marathon

Training in the early going was pretty strong (and what you're not seeing here was that I was hitting my secondary key days as well). The final 6 weeks was anemic. And so went the race day; strong in the early going with the wheels falling off in the late stages.

Mile splits.
1: 8.45 (First 5 mi are generally downhill, through the trees - wind isn't a factor)
2: 9.03 - 17.49
3: 9.05 - 26.55
4: 9.55 - 36.50
5: 9.49 - 46.39
6: 10.30 - 57.10 (6 to 9, the Point Sur windy corner and long grades)
7: 10.07 - 1.07.18
8: 10.36 - 1.17.55
9: 10.31 - 1.28.27
10: 9.21 - 1.37.48 (Downhill into Hurricane)
11: 13.52 - 1.51.41 (Hurricane Point uphill, mi 1)
12: 12.12 - 2.03.53 (Hurricane Point uphill, mi 2)
13: 9.59 - 2.13.53 (cruising down the backside of Hurricane into Bixby Bridge - the "moment" of the marathon. Blighted only by the snakes writhing about within my calves)
14: 10.31 - 2.24.24
15: 9.54 - 2.34.19
16: 11.52 - 2.46.11 (Walker runs on, Laurie's Relay Leg begins, and my Cramp Legs begin in earnest as you can see by the ensuing times)
17: 12.28 - 2.58.39
18: 14.07 - 3.12.47
19: 13.50 - 3.26.37
20: 14.54 - 3.41.31
21: 16.12 - 3.57.44
22: 15.46 - 4.13.31
23: 12.23 - 4.25.55
24: 13.55 - 4.39.50
25: 12.48 - 4.52.39
26: 16.06 - 5.08.45
Finish: 2.20 - 5.11.06

The cold, the wind, and in the end, the cramping. The hills are what everyone talks about, and they could be a problem for some, but I like hills(!) and had worn a trail into the zipper during training. I was careful not to grind up the hills on the course, and to let the backsides carry me along. I don't understand the theory of maintaining pace up (too fast) and pace down (too slow). I say, don't fight gravity on the way up, and let gravity work for you on the way down - but that's just me. The wind was demoralizing, blowing people's hats and gloves off. The cold got to me too, through tights and two layers and gloves and thick hat.

We walked the aid stations, and walked most of the uphills. At 16.5 the cramping really owned me. After 16 I did a lot of full-mile walking - only tried to roll the downhills as much as possible to keep mile times under 15 minutes. The interminable stretch from 17-22 was going to suck while running; walking it into the wind and hills made it an otherworldly draining purgatory. So much so that at 22, I read the sign as 24 and thought there could only possibly be two miles to go. Ugh.

Not at all sure what the cramping is all about. Started in the calves and locked up my Vastus' - with was plenty, but a saving grace was that I was careful with the S caps and stride, so the hamstrings didn't fail. Like to get a handle on this cramping though.

Next up: Frankensteinian Testing to Keep the Corpse from Cramping

Soup & Massage Dept.

So, what was in that soup again?

Cream Ale on Walker's Dime.

Cream Ale was Walker's idea. A lawnmower beer for the guy who never comes over and mows my lawn. Bastard. His only saving grace is that he bought the ingredients.

So, the stuff came from Northern Brewer, who calls this "A light, clean fermenting ale modeled after the "cream lagers" of the northeast United States. Low in gravity, long on flavor, this beer is a pale thirst-quencher, great for brewing and enjoying in the summertime. Dingemans Biscuit Malt gives our Cream Ale a warm, toasty flavor that complements the light hopping." Bring it. We've got some Cream Stout that needs some pairing for Black n' Tannage.

Steeping: .75 lbs. Gambrinus Honey Malt & .25 lbs. Dingemans Biscuit
Extract: 6 lbs. Pilsen Malt Syrup
Bitters: 1 oz. Cluster
Yeast: Safale US-05

Shooting for an OG in the low 1040ies / FG: 1010.

Cooked up everything using a lot less water this go-round. Only making 5 gallons, but put in two to steep up the grains. Everything goes a lot faster this way! Got to 150 degrees in no time, then in goes the extract. A hard boil in a minute, and maybe a protein break at 20 mins. Hopefully a protein break at 20 minutes, because that's all the boil that was boil this batch. Quick with the hops, and used the new outdoor shower to fill with cool water, and aerate in one action. Wort was still hot though!

Left the batch in the new pepsi leaker to ferment while I took a trip to Anaheim - four days of 68 degrees did the trick. OG: 1042, FG: 1010. Love it when it all works out. Chilled and racked a bit, with no filtration, and gave it all an hour and a few shakes at 30 lbs carbonation.

Day 14: Still a bit green, and seems a mite cloudy, for what we're looking for. Or what Walker's looking for - that budmeister grass-cuttings flave. May need some filter.

Drank up the last of it on Oct 18th, as we brewed up a Honey Brown. An orangy brown, with some hoppiness and some sharp overtones. Better with age until the end.

No Where Else in The Whol' Worl' Dept.

Tha's the corner of Bourbon and Dumaine, New Orleans.

Yes, you can have a world's best hamburger, watch video projected on the wall from the bar across the street, sidestep the vomiting kid in the doorway (assisted by the two guys in navy shirts), and visit with the cowboy taking his pair of dwarf ponies for a walk.

This area under video surveillance to make sure nothing untoward happens, noice!

Kare-o Lot About Redesign?

I love examining logo and packaging redesign tweaks. The "new" Pepsi logo's getting a lot of attention just now, but here's a fun one: Karo syrup. New bottle and label. Can you tell which one is the refreshed version? And maybe why?




Wait for it! ...











It's the one on the left - in the easy squeeze bottle. The old one has the straight sides. Guess it looks more grabbable off the shelf? They did a logo redesign a while back and nuked their trademark "Tailed-K" as seen at left in the thumbnail. Since Karo makes pancake syrup and other drippy stuff, appears that they're trying to offset the brand name into its own realm, and set the "light corn syrup" descriptor apart from the brand name. Also, looks like they're trying to play up the fact that they're TRUSTED and use REAL vanilla. And if you can't trust your gooey sugar to use the real vanilla, you're misplacing your trust.

Also, the dead giveaway was the fact that the old bottle has turned a cloudy yellow. Real vanilla or not, new label and bottle or no, the stuff is a urine sample in your cupboard.

And Make Ye a Toast with a Pint of Mead.

This first foray into the realm, just trying a plain jane recipe, and seeing if clean, but not sterile, is really a viable approach. How sterile is a Viking longhouse, anyway?

* approx 12 lbs. Wildflower honey
* 30 chopped raisins (steeped 5 mins in the big tea ball)
* Wyeast Activator smack pack - 4184 Sweet Mead
* a couple tsps of Acid mix to taste (to add, mayhaps, after filtration and into 2nd fermentation)

A straightforward boil in a 4 gallon pot on the U-boat conn. Added in the honey, and let it roll for 20 minutes or so, skimming off the scrudlyfoam; when that thinned out, just killed the heat and added in the raisins and 4 tsps of the yeast fuel (ammonium, not the dimmonium). Cleaned stuff up, poured into the corney with 1 gallon of chilled. I wish I would have broken out the wort chiller, instead I spent a few minutes swirling the corney and hosing it down with cold tap water in the outside shower.

I wish I could have seen my face when the hydrometer went into the tube, and never sank. I've not seen sugars like this before. OG of 1081 /21 balling. We're looking at 11.5% potential nitro. This will sit in one of Charlie's new corneys with the release open (guess this will be the fermenter corney - it's a leaker) but should be perfect for letting mead sit for 4 months.

So, no clue where this is going, but the process is a lot quicker and easier than even extract brewing. The price is paid over the long fermentation and conditioning? We shall see.

Day 21: I was thinking to only ferment for 2 weeks, but was busy all week. Fermentation stopped a week ago, pretty much. I don't know about the yeast attenuation, but found the gravity at 1040. Is that normal?
Ran filtration today, took the reading on the way out of the first pass through the 1 micron cartridge. The preliminary taste-test outta a grimy hydrometer tube says: yum. All the honey is still there, with no watery body, or any of that light-grapey wineyness. It's mead, FTW.

Notes to self here: as long as you're filtering, and having to clean the filter and tanks anyway, you might as well filter outta the fermenter into a spare tank, then filter again from the spare back into the fermenter. This way you catch the initial burp of gunk on the rebound. Then you can keep the spare full of BLC (after a back-flush pass through the filter, keeping the filter and hoses full of the BLC for storage).

Also, be sure to gas the tanks full of C02 before filtering into them: all the gurgling won't oxygenate the must if there's no oxygen in the area. Seems obvious, but if you're not thinking about it...

Now to wait for 4 months? I don't think so. I hope to get my hands on some bottles and I'll test out some sparkling mead and some old school Wednesday's variety.

Sweet Creamy Stout

Creamy has to do with adding Lactose, here, for the first time. Not because of what you're thinking, gutter-minded one.

Okay, so it's winter-going-on-spring, the wife likes the dark ales, and marathon training demands some recovery drink that's both hearty and nutritious. Time to brew up the first Stout ever in time for it to parade in all its green glory for Super Bowl Sunday.

* approx 1 lb. Quaker Oats (steeped)
* 1 lb. Dingemans Debitter Black (steeped)
* 1 lb. Simpson's Chocolate (steeped)
___
* 12 lb. Amber malt syrup
*. 2 lb. wildflower honey
* 2 oz. Willamette Pellets (4.4% alpha: Boil - 40 mins.)
___
* 1 oz. Fuggle Pellets for aroma (4.6% alpha: Chill steep)
* .75 lb. Lactose (we went light on this, because we're old and lactose intolerant)
* a pair of Danstar dry Nottinghams.

Shooting for an OG of 1040-5ish / FG: 1010.

So, I got everything cooking, and begged the wife to find my floating thermometer for me. I'd been waiting for the ingredients to arrive for over a week. One would think I'd be better prepped. Besides a mostly meaty pig of seasonal Brown Ale from Lengthwise and a good attitude, we weren't at all prepared for this.

From 140 to 160, we steeped up the grains and the oatmeals. Pulling out the muslin left brown-black drainage that one would expect from an old oil filter. Noice! We're getting Stoutish now, baby.

Got a light boil going for 40 mins, don't think we really hammered out a protein break. Everything smelled great with the malt and honey going at the half hour mark. Took a preliminary OG: 1043 at about 65 degrees. We're gonna kick some buttocks. Took a couple of mugs out of the wort and poured them into the corneys, after letting them cool, Walker and I added a pack of Nottingham each. He gets the right-side-up keg; I get the upside-down one. (Actually, I get them both, since I get to walk out to the garage and press my lips to the tap anytime I want. But you understand both what I mean, and the depth of my personal determination, responsibility and inpregnable integrity).

Mostly did some talking and stirring, and dropped in the Fuggles and the lactose after shutting down the heat. Walker got to babysit the chiller while I tucked CC in. All got cool, and poured the wort with the team effort we've developed over the long haul of doing this twice. We spilled a bunch but still got 4.75 gallons into mine, and 4.5 gallons into Walker's.

Out the corneys go to the service porch. We'll get a good, hard fermentation going before we go into the fridge. More soon.

Day 3: After two days of super-aggro fermentation at 68 degrees, I was afraid all was going too quickly. Moved everything into the cooler at 62 degrees for a day. Then, racked off some and gave it a hydro reading. 1030 for mine, and 1033 for Walker's. Hmmm. Moving it back into the warm.

Day 4: Now, everything's slowing down. Tomorrow morning, I jack you punks into the fridge at 40 and teach you a lesson.

Day 6: Racking off some of the flocculated yeast and cold slurry, then back into hibernation.

A few more days of that racking-off-the-bottom and the yeast is owning. Ordered a cartridge filter with a 1 micron mesh. It'll be here midweek to Save the Day.

Day 21: Wednesday = midweek, and 3 weeks from boil. Pushed my (read: not Walker's) corneyfull through the filter first, but Charlie's new/old soda kegs are both leakers (suitable for primaries; the other one is fermenting mead as we do this filtration). So, I ran "mine" through into the leaker, ran Walker's into mine after a rinse, then mine back outta the leaker into Walker's, after a rinse. So we swapped corneys, but most notably, "mine" got filtered twice. Ah, we'll see if there's magic in the mistakes.
On a side note, there's a gorgeous depth to the dark of this stout. Watching it bubble back and forth through the filtration hoses was picturesque.
Shame we're gonna have to turn it all back into piss!

Put 'em both on 30 lbs. pressure and shook 'em 50 times - hey! it's a new Crossfit exercise for time! - and put them back on ice. Tomorrow. Tomorrow will tell.

Day 35: So, it's 3 weeks-ish later, and after a long session for Big Sur, and I'm dreaming about spaghetti and a hearty, nutritious stout. This didn't disappoint. We hit the mark spot on with the gravity, mouth-feel (note to self: 1/3 the lactose of others' recipes is plenty good), chocolate and coffee hints all over. We win.

Cracked open the corney and hit it with some gas on Oct 18th, as we cooked up some Honey Brown - fine nitrogenous bubbles, double-barrelled coffee burst and a smooth finish. Wow, where'd this come from?

You Have Been Warned.

Thanks to you, Consumer Product Safety Commission, we now know that everything is a potential hazard. We're so aware and safe now! Let us warm ourselves in the comfort of our super-safesafetyness.

America's Team, But My Team No More.

I've loved the Dallas Cowboys since childhood. I guess I picked up the team when they were winning and heralded, during the silver Staubach/Landry years. I stayed true when other teams were winning, reveling in the Danny White triple threat (although the team wasn't much of a threat to win), and remember feeling every concussion as Troy Aikman worked to survive a season with no offensive line.

I loved the Cowboys, in that childish "I root for this team, and my commitment is one of those things that define me" sports-fan loves. I wore hats with the star on 'em. I had Cowboy sweatshirts, coffee mugs, bumper stickers. All that stuff that you receive from friends and relatives when they don't know what to gift you, but they think of you when they see the memorabilia in the store and they buy it for you because you're the biggest Cowboy fan they know.

I loved the Cowboys. I root against them now.

September 24, 2000. The team was in a slump after the Aikman/Emmit decade, and were only going to show a 5-11 record. The 49'ers were beating them up at home that Sunday. Terrell Owens, the 49'er showboat-big-mouth caught his second touchdown pass of the game and ran to the star at midfield to celebrate, again, as he had on his previous touchdown. George Teague flew off the bench, and butt-struck the incredulous Owens. I stood and shouted for George Teague, my heart bursting with pride. The comeuppance was poetic, so well deserved; Teague's ejection from the game for the hit only underscored his moral victory. Eight years later, ESPN named the moment one of the ten most memorable in the history of Texas Stadium. Eight years later, no Cowboy fan seems to remember it.

Owens failed in San Francisco, then pissed himself in Philadelphia. No player should show the disrespect for his teammates and coaches that he's shown, and still play the game. No player could show the disrespect for the Texas Stadium star that he did, and play for the Cowboys. But here he is, with a 5 million dollar signing bonus. The disloyalty.

Jerry Jones, you remember George Teague, don't you? I wanted someone to remember that day. I wanted a press conference saying, "While T.O. has some skill, we simply won't hire him here. In a state that remembers the Alamo, his day on the star was an Alamo for Dallas to remember, and never forgive."

I want America to have an America's Team, and as long as there is a winner, America will have their team. Americans have short memories. But I have a memory. I want George Teague. I want a team I can believe in. This team is no longer one that deserves my loyalty.

Conspicuously Absent: The Chapter on Cache Hiding

I’ve finished the first draft of my book on geocaching. Tentatively titled “A Passion for Cachin’”, it’s about my life through the lens of geocaching. Wow. I feel like I’ve really accomplished something, and that 17,000 finds actually has meaning beyond the logbooks and trade items. I was able to get it all out of my head: the experiences and the reasons this hobby/sport/obsession can be so compelling. I have chapters on geocaching as adventure, entertainment, education, annoyance, friendship, and therapy, among others. Look for it this spring!

Yes, I'm feeling snarky. EMC's a great person. But the one who digs the well deserves more honor than the one who drinks from it. Keep it up, Cache Hiders everywhere. You make the geoworld spin.

You Know You Want To, But You Can't.

An exercise in patience, futility, whatever. But I could not be fooled. I could not be coerced.

Media Bias Hits a New Low.

Hey lookit, the 20th anniversary edition of Men's Health! They're going to review 20 heroes of health and fitness! Who could they possibly include? Oh, I see, they have the greatest golfer of all time ... okay, golf's not my top choice as a fitness challenge, but Tiger Woods, he's a specimen, so a good pick ... at #2? They have the greatest cyclist, and perhaps the most noteworthy endurance athlete, of all time ... at #3? Whoever beats out a Lance Armstrong must be a frickin' stud.

Who could be #1? Forget about awesome athletes from the past two decades, who else was noteworthy even this year? Michael Phelps? He did win more swimming golds than anyone in history this Olympics. I think there were a few baseball players who made headlines this year. Looking back, some names come to mind. Someone like say, Michael Jordan? I understand he won a few basketball games and even played a little baseball. I can think of a few boxer's names. Some triathletes, powerlifters, martial artists, football players, soccer players, marathoners, alpinists and rock climbers, tennis players come to mind. How about hockey and field hockey? Cricket, anyone? Divers, scuba divers, gymnasts? Motocross, skiing, skating, skateboarding, snowboarding, MMA? At the street level, who could pick a few Crossfit mutants? At the other end, most astronauts were and are incredible benchmarks of health, fitness, and intellect. How are they going to only choose 20? How are they going to choose #1?

Oh, I see. Let's choose the empty suit socialist. Our health and fitness hero smokes a couple packs a day. Can he do a pull up? Can he run a mile without stopping to cough? Even I can pwn his skinny ass fighting, f**king or footracing.

Tell me now how there's no media bias on the left. I can't hear you because I've wadded up this rag's cover and stuffed my ears with the paper.

Google Does It Again.

Toss out that MySQL book. The only thing you need to store location data is Google Maps.

My Maps is a feature that lets you create your own mashup on a map. Once a map is created, it can be shared with a link, or in Google Earth with a KML file. And now, it is also available via RSS–GeoRSS, to be more specific.

While viewing any My Map, click the RSS link to see the GeoRSS version of the map. In addition to all the other information about points on the map, such as business name and address, you get latitude and longitude coordinates.

This RSS feed can then be read in by any script you write instead of making a database call. The Google Maps API can even call GeoRSS files directly, loading all your locations in a single line.

Sniff This & Weep.

Sure, every time a Republican looks silly, we get to hear about it. But what's the real reason? Liberals. I mean, lookit the smug little smile on Obama's face as McCain gags passing through his fart cloud. We're all only one fartbeat away from a Biden presidency. Lord have mercy.

Tower Defense FTW.

Think of it as a spatial-reasoning problem. Or a real-time geometric riddle. Anyway, play it on normal mode, create the best possible maze in the space provided, and you cannot lose.

Oh, but until you do create that ubermaze? You will lose. You will lose, lose, lose.

Dating, It's True.

Demotivators, Cont.

The Gateway Drug: One Story

Addiction makes people do vile acts. Here's one from the drug flying under the radar.

Making Preaching Relevant Dept.

Pastor Tells Flock to Have Sex - Every Day
February 19, 2008

A Florida church leader is challenging married members of his congregation to have sex every day for a month.

The challenge for single parishioners is slightly different, though - to abstain from sex for 30 days, reports Sky News.

Paul Wirth, head pastor of the Relevant Church in Ybor City, said the marathon undertaking could help cut high divorce rates.

He said: "Couples across America are struggling in their relationships, both married and single people.

"For married people it seems like the sex is great up front but then for some reason life happens.

"But when you're single it's like you're always thinking about it and you're like, man I'd like to have it as much as possible.

"And sometimes that prevents them from having a great really healthy relationship later on when you do get married."

The Relevant Church describes itself as "a casual, contemporary Christian church" and says its services are designed "specifically for urban professionals and young families".

Mr Wirth's previous sermons have included using hit film Shrek The Third to explain "what happens when we trust God."

Found in the British Museum, did you?

I only scored 50%, if it's any consolation to you, Indiana Jones.

Now You're Playing Like a Programmer.

light bot

Wall St. Bailout, It's Good For You

"I must tell you, there are those in the public debate who have said that we must act now. The last time I heard that, I was on a used-car lot … The truth is, every time somebody tells you that you’ve got to do the deal right now, it usually means they’re going to get the better part of the deal." - Mike Pence, R - Indiana



Another 700 billion in debt to add to the 9+ trillion we and our great-great-great grandchildren are going to have to try to pay off. The Democrats want to socialize a tidy lump of financial institutions. Liberal mismanagement and overspending is killing this country, based on failed Marxist ideology designed for a world we don't live in. The Complicit Media reports only that the Republicans are folding their arms across party lines to hold up this emergencycrucial measure. Can you fools please stop it now? I don't want to look at your healthy smiles as you ram some more debt into my mouth.

That's Usually Where I Find 'em Too