CrossFit / Fitness Ethos

Last Friday (Jan 28) I had a very challenging CrossFit workout. The name of the game for that day was “Kelly”. Five rounds of the following exercises: run 400 meters, 30 24” box jumps and 30 wallballs using a 20lbs medicine ball. It looked simple enough. My brain was like “you got this, kid... look it has running in it”. For the class with had Coach Paul, fellow crossfitter Alessandra (tough girl!) and myself (about six months from drinking the CrossFit Kool-Aid).

I wasn't 100% since my close encounter with dehydration the Sunday before. Alessandra and I started the first round running and I took off running at a nice pace. I returned to the gym first and I thought running would give me a bit edge making up for my slower performance with the other two exercises. Heck I even thought that I may be able to stay ahead of Alessandra through the rounds as we usually tend to go toe to toe in other workouts... but it's really mostly me just trying to nip at her heels.

Round three proved to be very challenging. My body was starting to question my mental integrity. I was losing concentration fast. Towards the end of the run portion I almost had a close encounter with the sidewalk, face first. I was contemplating for the first time not finishing the workout. Hypothetical conversation exchanges with Coach Paul were being played in my head. I was breathing hard and not enough oxygen was going in my lungs. My performance was reflecting that: my sets of 10 had gone to sets of 5 and then could barely do sets of 3s or 2s. I slipped during a box jump...

Watching Alessandra continue through the workout forced me to keep at it. I couldn't quit! I resigned myself to a long workout time but I'd finish it. On her way out to her last run, I got some words of encouragement from her: “better cross paths running”. Not an exact quote but under the circumstances that's the best I can recall. It did the trick though as I was back to sets of 5s and 6s and I had just started my run when she made it back from hers... whew, close call!

I finished that last round with encouragement from both Coach Paul and Alessandra. I like working out with people that know what you're going through. I collapsed on the floor with a time of 35:37. Alessandra recounts the toughness of the workout and how mid-way she too had considered quitting. I was in good company. It's good to be strong physically but you need to train your mind as well. To tolerate the pain, to go without breaks, to drink less water... to see how far you can push your limits.

“Your body wants to tell you that you're weak. That's when you tell it that you're strong.”

Cheers,
Ben

Quick Trip Update

Yes, it's still happening but I won't leave until mid-September. I'll go into more detail later this week.

Cheers,
Ben

Travel Planning Savings!

Check this site out: http://www.voyij.com/ it finds deals from your location and on future dates. I'm still planning my "vagabond" trip but it has been put on hold for a little bit. I'll post later about what happened to me this past weekend.

Cheers,
Ben

Front Sight Class Report

W-O-W! The 4-Day Defensive Handgun Class was a lot more than what I had expected. For the amount of people that were in my class and overall the whole place, it was well done and perfectly orchestrated. Each day followed the program down to the minute... drills, breaks, lunches all were done... and yet I never felt rushed or crammed.

Each drill taught me something new or helped me correct an ugly old habit. I won't do a day-by-day breakdown as I don't want to loose some of my no-gun audience but I'll briefly give you an overview. Worked on the 5-count holster draw, trigger reset and control pairs, front sight focus, clearing malfunctions, drawing from holster with a concealment garment... now add all that but with an ever dwindling time pressure, 1.5 secs never seemed so small. My hands are a bit sore after loading 700+ rounds in 4 days.

The location was easy to access, about 20 mins south of Pahrump, NV. Everything on site is clearly marked. There are several rows of port-a-potties by the entrance of the main classroom but also a couple at each range. They were always clean when I used them. It was hot! Every day was on the high 90s. For our convenience they had water coolers and Gatorade available to us. Note to self (and others): bring big cooler to store food and drinks.

Having the money and time I wouldn't hesitate taking more classes. I'm sore and tired but I have a big smile!

Cheers,
Ben

Front Sight Trip

I had a long day yesterday. I left from San Diego later than what I had expected. I forgot to fix a server issue for one of my clients last week and I had to do it before leaving... my new laptop doesn't come in until next week. A burrito, a tamarindo drink, a tank full of gas, the GPS reading my arrival time at 2100 hrs... I was on the road now. I had driven to Vegas a few times before as simple as just follow I-15 but my trusty copilot took me through a couple of different freeways. I wasn't sure if it was the traffic sensor but I decided to trust technology. After the obligatory stop at Barstow (which always looks the same!), the weirdest part of the road was the turn north on Baker. Their biggest claim to fame is the needle, few stories high thermometer. The next 90 miles were the loneliest I've ever driven with nobody behind or ahead of me as far as my eyes could see.

As soon as I got to Pahrump, after my failed attempts to locate the welcoming committee and the 21-gun salute announcing my arrival, I stopped at a Walgreen's just to stretch my legs and get some fresh albeit hot air. I had plan to sleep in the backseat of my truck as a test for my long cross country trip in 2 weeks. But I was wiped out. Not sure what it was but I just wanted to get some food and a bed. I found a Sonic (WOOO-HOOO) and thought that this place wasn't so bad after all, specially after I was able to pull up to my own carport and get my food delivered within 5 mins! As I was savoring my cranberry limeade I drove around until I found a Best Western. I checked-in and call back my friends Tony and Andrew, I always get a good laugh talking to those two. Even though I was dead tired I pulled up one of Neil Strauss' books. He's a fun writer to read. No Hemingway but I like his light style but very descriptive and full of notes... MY style!

I've got all day to kill and drive around. Friends have suggested to go check out Art Bell's studio and the local speedway. Let's see what the (half) day brings.
Cheers,
Ben

Countdown...

And so it has begun. In two weeks time I'll be leaving San Diego to walk the world. I've given my notice to my landlord and rented a storage unit. I got a new laptop underway and I should start clearing out old things from my house tonight. I'm off to Tecate tomorrow to pre-pay for my grandfather's rent... at least 3 months. I'm going to miss him and it doesn't seem fair but I got no one else to look after him. I'll send him postcards and letters from wherever I happen to be, hopefully they'll brighten up his day. Pretty much everything's going except for my bed, my "toys" (for those of you that know me, you know what I'm talking about) and some keepsakes... everything else MUST go.

This week I'm off to a class in Pahrump, NV. I'll be testing how it feels to sleep in my truck, either in the back seat or the bed of the truck... ah memories of the days of working for Marriott will for sure keep me awake. After coming back from my class I'll wrap up whatever's left... I'll be leaving early on the 18th. My driving plan looks like this:

-Tucson, AZ
-Las Cruces, NM / El Paso, TX
-San Antonio, TX
-Baton Rouge, LA / New Orleans, LA
-Jacksonville, FL
-Charlotte, NC
-Virginia Beach, VA
-Washington, D.C.
-Princeton, NJ

I'm looking to average 600 miles per day but I may spend a couple of days per link. Gotta watch the sunrise in Florida, have me a po'boy somewhere in Lousiana... you get the idea. It's not a race folks!

After spending sometime in Jersey with my bro, we'll make the jump across... landing in London. Next? The chunnel, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Cadiz, Rabat ... ahh Casablanca... across northern Africa to Tunis, hoping on the ferry to Palermo. Then it's all Italy, the Amalfi coast, Rome, Venice. I've got some friends in the Deustcheland so I gotta stop by! Then it gets really interesting. Since I'm halfway there I tought of El Cairo but there's a lot in between, I'm thinking of going down the eastern european coast and hitting Greece and then sailing across to Egypt and then getting to the Holy land... whew!!! It looks like a lot of ground to cover... and IT IS!! I'm excited!

Got no set dates, no reservations, no lonely planet guides... heck maybe even no laptop!

Cheers,
Ben

A New Hope...

A new phase in my life has begun... I can feel there are some exciting things coming up for me in my life! I'm officially unemployed... I must say it's a weird feeling. I'll have more time to hopefully update this blog more often,

Cheers,
Ben