Step-ups and Tabatas

Warm-up:

Run, 3/4 mile @ 8.5mph, 1/4 mile @ 10mph
Active Stretching

DB Step-ups:

5 Rounds of 5 step-ups per leg, 35lb dumbbells

Tabatas:

Plyo-box Run
Mountain Climbers
Chuck Kellers

50 x Inclined Sit-ups

Barbell Step-ups & Tabatas

Warm-up:

Running, 3/4 mile @ 8.5mph, 1/4 mile @ 10mph
Active Stretching

Barbell Step-ups (demo):
5 rounds:

5 Step-ups per leg, 65lbs

Tabatas:

Plyo-box Run
Mountain Climbers
Chuck Kellers
Inclined Sit-ups
Back Extensions

5:00 Exercise Bike

5:00 Suana (Heat and humidity training?)

Swimming

As it was the day after Regionals I opted for a non-impact workout.

10 lengths, Breast Stroke
10 lengths, Freestyle
10 lengths, Back Stroke
4 lengths, Breast Stroke


10:00 in the sauna (prep for that Sarasota heat and humidity!)

Regionals Finals

Having waltzed through Day 1, The Ghosts arrived late morning on Sunday to get ready for the Finals versus crosstown rival and perennial NE powehouse, Slow White.  Going into the game, we were 3-2 vs Slow with both our losses occurring at Chesapeake.  Unlike Saturday's games, this one was going to be a challenge.

Both offenses were stellar thoughout the game, despite intense defensive pressure from both sides.  The Ghosts managed to crack Slow's O twice in the game, once to take half, and once towards the end of the second half to seal the game.  Our O was nearly perfect, turning it over only a couple of times all game and never giving up a break.  The Ghosts win NE Regionals 15-12 which should earn us a spot atop our pool at Nationals.

Regionals, Day 1

Winning Sectionals made for a pretty cushy Day 1 at Regionals for The Ghosts.  We basically walked through Ontario Mixed (15-3) and Blue Noise (15-5) to qualify for semis.  With 4 bids, semis was our Game-to-Go, meaning our road to Nationals went through a relatively unknown Albany-based team named Destructors. 

As it turns out, this was the least exciting Game-to-Go I've ever witnessed.  We were up 9-0 before the Destructors managed to punch in their first goal, aided largely by some extreme wind.  They managed one more before the end.  The Ghosts win 15-2 and are going to Nationals! 

The Destructors appeared to be a young athletic team and I think the windy conditions and perhaps our reputation intimidated them into a poor performance.  Not that they could have beaten us, but given their play against other teams in the tournament, they should have faired a little better than 15-2. 

SAQ

Warm-up:

Running, 1600m (7:03)
Active Stretching

20:00 Agility Ladder

Flying 30s:

3 x 60m Accelerators (accelerate 30m, stride 30m)
3 x 30m Sprint
3 x 60m Sprint
3 x 90m Sprint

My leg is still not 100%, but I only feel it at a full sprint right now so it's improving.  It's annoying as I feel like it's preventing me from hitting top gear, but not debilitating as it feels strong and pretty much pain free for all other movements.

Hiking

 



I had originally planned to hit the gym, but the weather was perfect and the fall colors are amazing right now and so I opted to round up the family and go for a hike at Wilbur Lake.  By the time we got everybody packed up and in the car, it was about an hour later than I had planned (I should know better by now), but we were able to hit the trail just a few minutes after the sun had set behind the mountains.  I took Beck in the backpack and Mary Ellen took Jamie in the jogging stroller and off we went.  We hiked around for an hour or so and ended up making our way back to the car in the dark, but it was worth every minute of it.  This is, without a doubt, my favorite time of the year. 



Pick-up Sprints

Warm-up:

Run, 1 mile
Active Stretching

8 x 200m Pick-up Sprints:

Walk 50m, Jog 50m, Run 50m, Sprint 50m

8 x 100m Pick-up Sprints:

Walk 25m, Jog 25m, Run 25m, Sprint 25m

Run 400m

Fran

Warm-up:

Running, 3/4 mile @ 8.5mph, 1/4 mile @ 10mph
Active Stretching

Fran:
21-15-9:

Thrusters, 95lbs
Pull-ups
Total Time: 9:25

Core Workout:

30 x Good Mornings, 45lbs
1:00 Holding Tuck Position while hanging from Pull-up bar
60 x Inclined Sit-ups
30 x Back Extensions w/ 25lb plate

6:00 Exercise Bike

Deadlifts & Plyo Box Runs

Warm-up:

2500m, Rowing MachineActive Stretching

WoD:

21 x 155lb Deadlift50/leg x Plyo Box Run 18 x 155lb Deadlift50/leg x Plyo Box Run 15 x 155lb Deadlift50/leg x Plyo Box Run 12 x 155lb Deadlift50/leg x Plyo Box Run Total Time: 14:04

10:00 x Exercise Bike

Biking and Agility

In the past week, they oiled and graveled all the roads near my house which has basically rendered my road bike useless.  To get myself to the fields, I went with my old mountain bike, a Giant Iguana that my parents gave me as a 12 year birthday present.  It's a _little_ under-sized, but gets the job done.

Warm-up:

2.2 miles biking
Active Stretching

Agility Ladder:

30 minutes of drills on the agility ladder

Cone Drill #1 (demo):

12 reps

2.2 miles biking

Sectionals, Day 2

After a nice first round bye, we started the day off with two final pool play games against the 11th and 14th seeds (I think) before the final against Slow White.  After losing to our crosstown rivals twice at Chesapeake, we were eager for some revenge.  And so we came out and promptly got scored on and broken to go down 2-0.  After that initial hiccough, the O steadied and we traded points until 6-4, at which point, our defensive pressure started opening up some cracks.

We battled back to tie the game 7-7 and proceeded to score 3 straight goals (called back for offensive foul, pick, offensive foul), before finally scoring one that counted to take half 8-7.  The sequence to end the half seemed to shake Slow White and from there, it was all Ghosts.  We went on a 10-3 run and took the game 14-9.

On a personal note, I played much better this time around and felt stronger, faster and more agile, but though my footwork is improving, that first layout catch-block still managed to elude me.  I felt like I was in position a couple of times but didn't pull the trigger fast enough and missed the opportunity.  Somewhat surprisingly, O seems to have come back much more easily.  I felt confident cutting down-field as well as handling on occasion for the D line.  Top gear is also still not where I'd like it.  I had a few full field sprints with cutters and while I felt I should be able to blow past them with ease, it was a struggle to stay even.  I'm not sure how much of that is physical and how much of that is a reluctance to open it up.  Either way, there will be lots of sprint and agility work in my future.

Sectionals, Day 1

I'm not sure quite how, but I managed to get completely lost in Devens and ended up arriving at the fields right before game time.  That was about the extent of the drama for the day as we rolled through our opponents to go 4-0 on the day.

Speed and Agility

I biked to the SuCO track only to find there was a field hockey game in full swing, so I turned around and biked up to the upper intramural fields to do my workout.

Warm-up:

2.5 miles biking
Active Stretching

45:00 Agility Ladder

Flying 30s Workout:

Plyo Warm-ups, 30 yards
3 x Accelerators, Accelerate smoothly for 30, then stride 30
3 x 30 yard full sprint
3 x 60 yard full sprint
3 x 90 yard full sprint

2.5 miles biking

Snatches, Pull-ups & Tabatas

Warm-up:

10:00 Rowing Machine 
Active Stretching

21-15-9:

Right Arm Dumbbell Snatch, 20lbs
Left Arm Dumbbell Snatch, 20lbs
Pull-ups

5:00 Exercise Bike

Tabatas:

Chuck Kellers (agility: jump laterally back and forth over plyo box)
Double Unders (aka: Tabata self-flagellation)

4:00 Exercise Bike

Biking and Track Workout

After two weeks of nothing, I was itching to get out and do some work.  Next weekend is sectionals, so there's not much time to work with.  I hoped on my bike and rode 2.2 miles up over the mountain and down to SUNY Oneonta's track where I did the following:

Warm-up:

Active Stretching
1/2 Mile Run

4 rounds of:

Sprint 200m
10 x Sit-ups
10 x Push-ups
10 x Burpees
10 x Squats

My original plan was to do 8 rounds of this, but a huge thunderstorm blew in and I had to bug out since I didn't want to be on a mountain top in the middle of it.    Before leaving I decided to test things out with one full sprint 100m.  I felt some soreness and tightness out of the block, but once I got up to a full sprint, I felt pretty good.  The last 20 yards, I was able to push to a higher gear which I sorely missed at Chesapeake.  I'm going to need to hit that repeatedly and effortlessly by Regionals if I'm going to be able to truly play my game.  After that, it was back on the bike to race the storm home.  I had just crested Blend Hill, when the rain began, but was able to make it home before the true nastiness began.  It retrospect, the storm may have helped me out.  It may not have been the best idea to push the knee that hard on Day 1.  Time will tell.  Lots of icing and stretching followed since I plan on hitting the gym tomorrow.

Knee Time

Some time on Saturday of Chesapeake, I apparently did something not-so-great to my right knee.  I had Mary Ellen check it out and her diagnosis was a mild bruise, sprain or strain to the inside of my knee where the MCL and hamstrings tie in and she advised I stay off it for a couple of weeks.  Grrr...

So, with the exception of 3 straight days of moving, and the hauling of stuff that moving entails, I did my best to let things heal up a bit.  I did a lot of stretching, movement exercises, and some body-weight work, but not much else for two weeks.  It was hard to sit out like that, especially after Chesapeake.

I felt like I did a good job building up a strong base leading into Chesapeake and that the tournament itself was a boost to my fitness, so to sit around and watch that atrophy sucked.  So instead of getting fast and agile for Sectionals, my goal changed to getting healthy.

Chesapeake Invite, Day 2

I awoke Sunday morning and nearly fell down the stairs as my right knee apparently forgot how to bend overnight.  Not good!  I spent most of the morning wondering if I was going to be able to play at all and doing my best to disguise my concern from everyone since we were already short people, I feel like I still gotta earn my roster spot, and Goddammit I ain't going out like that!

After some vitamin I and a lot of warming up, it loosened up and by the 2nd half of our first game, I hardly noticed it.  No idea what the hell that was all about!  Anyway, we rolled our first opponents and won our quarters match-up against District 5 without too much ado.  That game was pretty close, at least until Jeff Graham decided he was going to take over.  Then it wasn't.  That put us in the semis for a rematch with Slow White.

Similar to our first match-up, we had difficulties generating pressure on D, though we were somewhat more efficient scoring on O.  In the end, we fell by a 13-10 margin.

The team itself looks very promising, especially since we were missing 10 people for the tournament and 3 of us had never played for the Ghosts before.  As for myself, I was somewhat disappointed in my play.  I played decent shutdown defense, scored and threw a few goals, and kept my turnovers pretty low, but only managed an occasional block.  I wasn't able to overpower anyone with speed or agility on the weekend, which was pretty much my hallmark so that will be my motivation for training in the coming weeks.  My footwork was sloppy, my changes of direction were slow, and my extra gear was not there.  Probably more than anything, the supreme comfort on the field was missing.  The ability to just take everything in and move and react naturally wasn't there and that really means the difference between excelling and just getting by.  Come regionals, I need to excel again.

On a positive note, my legs and lungs held out the entire time, and while I was puffing after a few of the longer points, I was able to recover and get back out there.  And though I'm a little sore in spots the day after, for the most part, I feel good and strong and ready for the speed and agility workouts to come.

Chesapeake Invite, Day 1

My initial thought after having completed my first club point in 2.5 years was, "WTF was I thinking?  No way I'm getting through two days of competition."  Thankfully, after the initial shock to the system, my body started to remember what this was all about.  The training I did in the last month definitely paid off, and while I'm not physically where I normally would be at late August, my base is solid.

The Ghosts were a missing a third of our roster for the Invite, which meant a lot of PT and a lot of much needed reps.  Apparently the team hadn't played together in two months, and so I wasn't the only one shaking the rust off, something that became apparent when we lost our very first game to a decent, but not spectacular, Bucket from Atlanta.  We started gelling a little better after that first game and beat Ant Madness relatively easily.  Next up was AMP, and after falling behind a bit early, we clawed back from 10-11 to win 13-11.  That set us up for a crossover with regional rivals Slow White.

We battled in this game, but the D had a lot of difficulty bringing pressure until the very end of the game and we fell 10-13.  Drat... no first round bye for us Sunday morning.

Somewhat mollifying was the spectacular crab dinner provided by Marika's parents at the family farm!  My crab eatin' skills needed some work, but by the end of the night, I was getting pretty good.

Redfish Run

Warm-up:

6:45 Run
Active Stretching

Redfish Run:

10 x Tabata Sprints (sprint :20, rest :10)
10 x 40-40s (jog 40 yards, sprint 40 yards)

5:40 Run

Moving, Day 2

We were back at it first thing in the morning.  After packing a few more pieces of furniture, I took the truck up to the new house and my father-in-law and I set about unloading it.  We finished up around lunch time, so we went home, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and loaded her up again.  The second truck load probably had half the volume, mostly kids' toys and the rest of the stuff from the garage.

Once loaded, we went back to the new house and my father-in-law hopped on the tractor to get started on the yard work (back-filling the retaining wall, fixing the grade on the lawn with the york rake, etc) while I unloaded the truck.  About half-way through, Mary Ellen came along to help me finish up.  At around 4:30, we unloaded the last of it, returned the truck, and headed back to the house.

Now for some _real_ work!  While Mary Ellen began tiling the backsplash in the kitchen, I headed out back to finish up the retaining wall.  Now that pops-in-law had backfilled a bit, I put three more courses on the wall, then dug a 3' x 3' hole at the end so I could bury the drainage pipe in gravel and create a mini leach field of sorts.  After that, I picked up rocks turned up by the tractor, shoveled dirt and gravel, and raked dirt around the foundation to finish off the grade.  At this point, Mary Ellen had to pick up the kiddos, so I took over tiling the backsplash.  At around 10pm, I finished up and headed home to bed (which now consists of a mattress on the floor of a mostly empty bedroom).

Suicides

The last thing I wanted to do after a day of moving was run, but I got a teammates to train for so...

Warm-up:

7:20 Run
Active Stretching

10 x 125 yd Suicides (0-10-0-15-0-25-0-25), 1:30 rest

:26, :25, :25, :25, :25, :24, :25, :25, :25, :24

After the suicides, Mary Ellen and I threw around for 30 minutes or so until it got too dark to see.

Moving, Day 1

The good news is we'll be in our new house by the end of August.  The bad news is we have to move out of the old house to do it!  YUCK!

The morning was spent repeatedly loading stuff from the garage into a 5x8 trailer, driving it to the house, and unloading it.  At about 3:30pm, we picked up a 16' Penske truck and started on the real moving.  The rest of the day was spent hauling stuff out of the house and loading it into the truck.  Sad thing is, I'm really not sure where we got half of it nor why we own it, but it sure ain't light!

Rocking Out

I took yesterday and today off to get some work done at the house and try to get ready to move in.  (The first wave of moving will take place this weekend!)  I arrived early to clean out the TV room and get it ready for the carpet installation, then spent the rest of the morning tiling the backsplash in the kitchen.  Things are really starting to come together.  By lunchtime, we had new carpet in the TV room, and Lowes delivered all of our appliances, minus my stove which was special-ordered elsewhere.  Fantastic and all, but not workout worthy...

That's where there retaining wall comes in.  7.5 tons of concrete block were delivered yesterday afternoon and today is the day I installed them.  With help from a friend we hauled, leveled and stacked a 35'x3' wall.  It was pretty sweet, right up until a 20' section of it fell over as we were 6 blocks from the end.  From sweet to suckage!  Turns out, 2' is about the max you can stack those blocks before you back fill them.  3' is definitely no good.  So... we picked up the fallen pieces and stacked it back up 2' high and will wait patiently until we can back fill it properly before building up the rest.  At any rate, hauling 7 tons of concrete 25lbs at a time is definitely a good workout.  Owwie.

Crucible Deck

Warm-up:

Running, 2 laps around FCC.  (Lap 1: 2:24, Lap 2: 2:04)
Active Stretching

Crucible Deck:

Hearts: 10 x Sprint
Diamonds: 10 x Push-ups
Spades: 10 x TOs
Clubs: 10 x Squats
Joker #1: 10 x Mahlers
Joker #2: 10 x Burpees
Total Time: 14:36

5:00 Exercise Bike

Tossin' the B

I managed to con a co-worker into a disc around during lunch today.  Unfortunately, it was relatively short-lived as he finally managed to put it beyond my reach and the fence, and into the briars.  We thought briefly about scaling the fence in our work attire, but in the end decided to just let it go.

Hill Sprints at 509

After an afternoon of tiling, I hit the trail for another shot at the hill.

10 x Hill Sprints, 1:00 rest (rest includes the walk back down to the start)

:11, :12, :12, :12, :12, :12, :12, :12, :12, :12

5 x Hill Sprints, 1:00 rest (rest includes the walk back down to the start)

:12, :12, :12, :12, :11

Hill Sprints at 509

An historic day, today marked my first ever workout at the new house, not counting yard work and remodeling of course.  In the future, I hope to have awesome trails throughout the 72 acre property, but right now, I've got one trail that heads from the field, down a steep hill, to the pond, and thanks to my pops-in-law and a fairly large tractor, it's cleared enough to run on provided you're OK with jumping over holes, dodging roots, and side-stepping thorn apples.  At any rate, after a day spent hauling stuff to the dump and tiling in the kitchen, I decided to see what that hill had to offer.

10 x Hill Sprints, 1:00 rest (rest includes the walk back down to the start)

:15, :12, :12, :12, :12, :12, :12, :12, :12, :12

5:00 Rest

5 x Hill Sprints, 1:00 rest (rest includes the walk back down to the start)

:12, :12, :13, :13, :12

I really tried to break :12 on the last sprint, but alas, didn't have it in me.  I blame slipping on a rock.

Redfish [Baby] Run

Not to be confused with a [Baby] Redfish Run... Perhaps unsurprisingly, this workout was not easier with the addition of a toddler in a baby stroller.  Jamie fell asleep some time during the 40-40s.  Poor thing, I'm pretty sure it was the extra Gs she was pulling that caused her to black out.

Warm-up:

7:21 Run w/ Jogging StrollerActive Stretching

Redfish Run w/ Jogging Stroller:
Tabata Sprints:

10 x :20 sprint, :10 rest

40-40s:

10 x jog 40 yards, sprint 40 yards

5:30 run


After cooling off for a bit, I then headed up to the house to help my father-in-law re-grade the lawn.  This basically involved loading a lot of construction debris into a trailer, and then a bunch of raking, shoveling, and moving rocks.

Tabata Something Else

Warm-up:

Running, 3 laps around FCC (which I est. to be 4/10 of a mile based on my odometer): 2:28, 2:05, 2:19
Active Stretching

Tabata Something Else:

Pull-ups: 14, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 3, 3
Push-ups: 23, 15, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 6
Sit-ups: 9, 9, 11, 10, 9, 10, 9, 10
Squats: 18, 17, 18, 20, 19, 20, 19, 20

5:00 Exercise Bike

Pavers and Tiling

Today was basically a rest day in that there were no planned workouts... unless you count helping out at the local elementary school hauling cement pavers and laying out a path for their new school garden or tiling the counter up at the house.  Admittedly, tiling isn't much of a workout, but carrying those pavers around worked up a bit of a sweat.

Cooperstown Pick-up & Accelerators

It was a beautiful night for pick-up so I packed up the family, dragged my mom-in-law along for babysitting support, and headed north.  The quality was the best I've seen so far with a few decent college players in town so I got some decent running in, a lot of practice breaking straight-up marks, and got plenty of reps skying for floaty, ill-advised deep shots.  As I said, quality was up, but it's still pick-up where nobody wears cleats and only a few even wear shoes.  Even so, it's a great crew and it's always fun.

After a round robin of 4 teams of 5 (my team won. w00t!) I begged out of the final game in (they broke up the teams and put together 2 teams for one last free-for-all) to head over to the track.  At this point, it was way past Jamie's bed time so I had to make it quick and since my calves were cramping a little, I opted out of my planned 400s and ran 4 x 100m accelerators - accelerating smoothly for 50m then sprinting the final 50m.  It felt good to open it up a bit and to work out some of the soreness from yesterday's F50 (my abs are not happy with me!).

Filthy Fifty

Warm-up:

Running, 2 laps around FCC (5:50)
Active Stretching

Filthy Fifty:

50 x Box Jumps
50 x Jump Pull-ups
50 x KB Swings, 20 lbs
50 x Walking Lunge
50 x Knees-to-Elbows
50 x Push Press, 45 lbs
50 x Back Extensions
50 x Squat to Med-ball toss
50 x Burpees
50 x Double-unders
Total Time: 31:24

5:00 Exercise Bike

I didn't have a whole lot of time so my original plan was to just head to the gym, do some running, do 100 Burpees, ride the bike for a bit, then get the hell out of there.  Then I saw Crossfit's WoD and took it as a sign.  This was definitely not my fastest time, but I did everything as Rx'd but for the Wall Balls.  The K2E's slowed me down a lot as I maintained a 90 degree elbow bend for each one and did not let my feet hit the floor (something I used to do in the past).  By the time I hit the burpees, I was pretty spent so they took up another large chunk of time, but I did fairly well (for me) on the double-unders, esp. considering I used to sub these out for Tuck Jumps since I couldn't do them not too long ago.  I'm not sure if the fact that everything was spread out around the gym helped me or hurt me.  It certainly took extra time to move from one thing to the next, but that gave me some extra rest time as well.

Toddler Joggin', Agility, and stuff

As I mentioned in my previous post, it looks like I may need to get back in tournament shape, and fast.  Physically, I am more muscular than I was when I moved upstate and away from ultimate, but the endurance is going to take effort to get back on track.  With that in mind, I threw Jamie in the jogging stroller and ran her over to one of the local parks.  While she splashed around in the stream, I did a bunch of informal agility and plyo drills, and then we ran back home.

11:00 run
Plyo/Agility Drills (box jumps, one-legged box jumps, plyo box march, sprinting small staircase, step-ups, etc)
12:00 run

Later that same evening:
50 x Push-ups
1:00 Wall Sit
61 x TOs

Updates

I haven't exactly been idle the last few weeks, but neither have I been in the gym banging out sets.  The whole house renovation project has been taking nearly all of my spare time.  On the plus side from a workout perspective, it has involved quite a lot of physical labor, so I've been keeping active, but on a less formal level.  One thing of note, today I'm on day 61 of the 100 day TO (full body sit-up) challenge.

Anyway, it looks like I may have to fire this thing up again as there's a good chance I'll be busting out the old cleats and playing some coed in 2012 championship series.

Oddly nostalgic

This poor blog has been neglected in recent weeks.  That's mostly because I haven't been doing much that I would consider a true workout and haven't had the motivation to chronicle what I have been doing. I will say that after a weekend of working on the house, I'm feeling quite a bit sore this morning.  It's odd how that good old Monday morning soreness brings up nostalgia for ultimate.  Guess I better suck it up because I'm working a half-day today so I can go back to the house where a 5-ton tractor with a bucket loader and backhoe will be waiting.  Time to regrade the back yard and build a retaining wall...

Gone Fishing

Woke up at 5AM to do a little fishing.  With a lot of house work to do, I need to make sure I'm out and back before the rest of the family is out and about.  So... got a few hours in on the stream and was home by breakfast.  Not much to show for my efforts aside from a couple of small small-mouth bass, but it was fun none-the-less.

Cooperstown Pick-up

Today was our 3rd trip to Cooperstown pick-up.  It's pretty funny how low key the scene is, even for ultimate.  Yet, they get people out there 4 nights a week so I can't complain.   Anyway, I ran around the joint with Jamie for a while, played 45 minutes or so of 4v4 (barefoot), then strapped on my cleats and ran a few wind sprints just to remind myself what it's like.

Baby Joggin'

Tossed Jamie in the jogging stroller and ran to the boat launch near our house.  Best guess, it's around a mile and a half away, maybe a little less.  We ran there, hung out for a while splashing in the creek and trying to catch crayfish, then ran back.

Camp Travers

We spent 4 days at Forest Lake with Jude and his family at Nancy & Kim's lake house near Grafton Lake State Park.  The awesome mini-vacation include a couple of 5AM fishing trips, and afternoon kayaking (including a bit of possible trespassing in a peat bog - we thought it was the Lake!), and work day at the camp (where we cut down a bunch of trees and hauled the wood to the burn pile).

DB Snatches & Pull-ups

Warm-up:

Running, 3 laps around FCCActive Stretching

21-15-9:

DB Snatch, left arm - 25lbs
DB Snatch, right arm - 25lbs
Pull-ups

7:00 Exercise Bike

Fly Fishing

After a couple of weeks of practicing in the driveway and backyard, I finally got a chance to get out on the stream and try my skills.  Since we had a full day of working on the house planned, I woke up at 5AM and was on the stream by 5:30AM.  It ended up being a beautiful morning.

I spent the first hour or so fishing a deep hole that I know has quite a few trout in it.  I started out with a Wooly Bugger that I thought would be promising and then moved on to some nymphs.  I really don't know how to fish those properly so I'm guessing that's why I had no luck there.  Either way, I was mainly there to practice casting.

From there I switched to dry flies.  I managed to lose two in a tree across the pool in pretty short order and was feeling pretty dejected.  At the point, I switched to a larger fly, which I have since learned is a Muddler Minnow.  I fished it as a dry fly, casting it up stream and letting it drift with the current.  A few yards upstream from the deep pool, I hooked my first brown trout while fly fishing in about 12" of water.  She was about 12" and put up a pretty good fight, mostly considering a fly pole is so flimsy and the drag on the reel was so loose, but I landed her successfully and she's now cleaned and in my freezer waiting for a few more to make a meal.

After that I continued to work my way upstream but the sun was out on the water at the point and I didn't get any more bites.  I didn't even see any fish rising at that point, so I climbed up the bank and headed home.  All in all, I got 3 solid hours of fishing in and got home just as everyone was getting their things in order for the day.

Baby Jogging

In an effort to get a least some sort of cardio work in, I tossed Jamie in the jogging stroller and went for a run around the neighborhood and down to the old soccer HoF.  I didn't set any land speed records, and Jamie insisted we stop a few times to pick wildflowers (I swear, she made me stop!), but at least I was out there.

Basswood Pond

After a day of weekend of working on the house, we packed up the kids and headed to Basswood Pond to meet up with Jesse, Jessica, and family for a Fathers' Day BBQ.  After splashing with the kids in the water for a while, Jesse grabbed his canoe and I my kayak, and we paddled out on the pond to do some fly fishing.  This was must first time using the old Pfleuger Medalist I found at the house, aside from some practicing in the back yard.

While definitely fun, it was pretty tricky trying to cast while sitting very low to the water.  Not to mention that the wind blew the line around and the kayak as well.  I eventually found a pocket on the pond that was relatively protected from the wind and was able to cast much better.  I had no idea what I was doing, and didn't catch anything, but it was still fun.

After tooling around for a while, I went ashore, picked up Jamie, and ferried her around the pond as well.  I think I'm in trouble.  All she ever wants to do is "Go Faster!"

Fishing in the Evening

Jesse and I decided to sneak out for the evening and get some fishing in.  The weather, after having been nice all day, took a turn for the worse.  A little before we set out, a steady rain began to fall and we almost called it off, but decided to man up and go for it anyway.  Driving to the stream, the skies opened up and it really started pouring, but we were not to be denied.  By the time we got to the stream, the rain had backed off a bit, and after a half hour or so, the sun came out again.  It ended up being a spectacular evening.

Due to the nasty weather at the outset, we went with spinning rods and salted minnows.  We hiked around a bit and found a few really nice pools, but sadly, no fish were biting what we had to offer.  I had a few give my minnow a look but the weren't interested enough to take the bait.

Before we knew it, it was getting pretty dark and we had quite a ways to get back to the car.  No fish, but a beautiful night nonetheless.

Cooperstown Pick-up

Once again we headed to C-town for some shoeless ultimate.  This time we brought Jamie and Beckett along and decided to trade off parenting responsibilities.  There was a large crowd out tonight so we picked teams and set up two simultaneous games of 5 v 5.  We played a basic round robin and then set up one giant game of 10 v 10 or something similarly ridiculous.  Again, not the best ultimate ever, but it was entertaining and we got some exercise.

Funny anecdotes:
I was picked first because I was "actually wearing real ultimate shorts so (I) must be really good!"
At one point, upon seeing my NY Ultimate jersey, I was asked if I played for the New York State team.

Cooperstown Pick-up

Through a new friend of ours, we learned about some pick-up Ultimate that happens in Cooperstown.  Excited about the prospect, Mary Ellen and I dropped the kids of with Jesse and Jessica, dug out the old cleat bag, and headed north.

Turns out, we could've left the old cleat bag at home.  While there was definitely pick-up, nobody was wearing cleats or even shoes for that matter.  So, for the first time in my career, excluding beach ultimate, I played Ultimate barefoot.

As one might imagine, it was a particularly competitive game, but the folks were all very nice, the disc wasn't terrible, and we had a lot of fun running around chasing plastic once again.

Double-Unders, Sit-ups, Med Ball Toss, Pull-ups, and HSPUs

Warm-up:
Running, 1 mile @ 8.5mph
Active Stretching

WoD:
3 rounds for time:
50 x Double-unders
40 x Sit-ups
30 x Medicine Ball Tosses, touch ball to floor before each toss
20 x Pull-ups
10 x Hand-stand Push-ups

Exercise Bike: 7:00

Weekend Housework Updates

Saturday morning I enlisted my pal, Jesse's, help (and his truck and trailer) to move 800lbs of scrap metal from the basement to Oneonta Auto Crushers.  Between the copper pipes and the aluminum window frames, I ended up leaving with a check for over $600 for all of it.  That afternoon I spent picking up shingles and debris from the re-roofing project.

Sunday saw us back at 509.  Jesse stopped by with his family during the morning and we did a little hiking and played in the field with the kiddos and his dog.  After they took off, I added another coat to the front door and picked up more debris.  At some point, our contractor stopped by and dropped off a giant magnet on wheels, which I then used to pickup bucket fulls of roofing nails out of the grass.  I'm pretty sure I'll be picking up pieces of shingle and roofing nails for years!  I also spent some time pickup up crap from the driveway (more nails and old coat hangers and broken glass and god only knows).  Another project that will last me for years.  After that, I fired up the tractor and mowed along the driveway, around the barn, and in the backyard.

Crucible Deck

Warm-up:

Running, 2 laps around FCC.  (Lap 1: 2:23, Lap 2: 2:00.9)
Active Stretching

Crucible Deck:

Hearts: 10 x Sprint
Diamonds: 10 x Push-ups
Spades: 10 x TOs
Clubs: 10 x Squats
Joker #1: 10 x Mahlers
Joker #2: 10 x Burpees
Total Time: 17:20

8:00 Exercise Bike

L Pull-ups & Back Extensions

Warm-up:

Running, 3/4 mile @ 8.5mph, 1/4 mile @ 11mph
Active Stretching

WoD:
21-15-9:

L Pull-ups
Back Extensions, holding 25 plates

5:00 Exercise Bike

Housework Maelstrom

This weekend was all about work around the houses.  I spent Friday night picking up old shingles from the lawn at 509 for 2.5 hours and then raced back to the house we're renting to mow the lawn.  Saturday morning we were up early cleaning and re-organizing the rental in preparation for a visit from our landlord who is preparing to put it on the market.  That afternoon it was back to 509 to pull sheet-rock nails, clean up more shingles, and run speaker wire.  Finally, Sunday afternoon was spent hand-sanding our new mahogany door and then sealing it.

Baby Interval Run

Due to parental obligations, I missed my Wednesday gym time and instead decided to strap Jamie into the jogging stroller and go for a run.

6:00 running constant pace
15:00 interval run (:30 hard, :30 easy)

Chief

Warm-up:

2 laps around FCC (2:18 & 2:07)
Active Stretching

Chief:
5 rounds of:

AMRAP 33 x Power Clean, 115lbs
6 x Push-ups
9 x Squats
Totals: 5, 4 +3 cleans, 4 +6 push-ups, 4 +3 cleans, 4

5:00 Exercise Bike

10 Pull-ups
10 Knees-to-Elbows

Diane

Warm-up:

3 x laps around FCC, pushing the pace to ~10mph or so.  Need to time these.
Active Stretching
20 Burpees

"Diane"
21-15-9 for time:

185lb Deadlifts
Handstand Push-ups
Total time: 10.54

10 Dead-hang Pull-ups

7:00 Exercise Bike

Gone Fishing

Jesse and I headed up towards Mount Vision, NY to scope out a new spot on the Otego Creek.  Despite fishing our way up and down the creek for 5 hours, we came away empty handed.  Still, nothing beats spending a day hiking a mountain stream.  Really, the fishing is more of an excuse to get out there.  After that, we stopped by Gilbert Lake to try our luck on the rainbows, but the brutal wind made our stay pretty brief.

The highlight of my day was that I took my first step towards my summer goal of learning to fly fish.  Jesse let me mess around with his fly rod for a while to try and get a feel for it.  The gusty wind and my lack of experience made it a little tricky, but it wasn't as hard as I thought.  Don't get me wrong, actually being a skilled and accurate caster with a knowledge of what flies to use and how and when to use them is an art form in and of itself, but just getting a fly out there on the water in the basic vicinity of where you were aiming wasn't too difficult, as long as you're not aiming more than 15 feet away.

Jesse lent me one of his dad's old rods and I found an old Pfluegger Medalist reel at the house, so my next step will be to clean up the reel, get some line and a leader on there, and start practicing!

30-Yard Dumpster

I spent 5 hours loading a 30 cubic yard dumpster with construction debris.  Filled the thing to the brink, with a little help from my pops-in-law.  Best guess is that it was over 3 tons of debris, but we'll see once they haul it away.

Construction debris to be moved.

The main pile.

The dumpster, mostly empty except for some contractor bags I hauled off the front porch.

All filled up.

No more pile.

A look into the dumpster.

KB Swings, OH Squats, Deadlifts

Warm-up:

30 Burpees
Active Stretching
10 Pull-ups (switching grips between 5+6 while on the bar)

WoD:
21-15-9 for time:

Kettlebell Swings, 25lbs
Over Head Squats, 20lb dumbbells
Deadlifts, 155lbs
Total Time: 12:28

5:00 Exercise Bike

5 x Suicides

That was short-lived...

Figures.  24 hours after deciding this blog had no point, and I need to search it to come up with a workout that involved deadlifts.  That, and apparently there are a few individuals crazy enough to actually read this thing (thanks for the encouraging words, guys).  Maybe it's not what it once was but maybe that's OK.

Indefinite suspension

This blog has become pretty sad in recent months and so I think it's beyond time to shut it down.  I originally started it to inspire my teammates and to hold myself accountable to them.  Many of them asked how I trained and this was the easiest way to show them.  And to those few who say that only those lucky few talented individuals excel through no effort of their own, this is my refutation.  Not to say I am or was exceptional in any way, though I did have some small success playing a game that once only mattered to a few.  Who knows?  With the AUDL and ultimate on Sports Center it looks like that's all changing for the better.

At this point, I'm nobody's teammate and I'm accountable only to myself; not to mention that who the hell really wants to read about home remodeling, ping pong, and fishing trips (and perhaps the occasional workout cribbed from Crossfit.com).  And so I am indefinitely suspending my blogging campaign to pursue other interests.

Burpee Challenge, Day 100

For the final day of the Burpee Challenge, I figured it warranted more than a few rounds of burpees on the bedroom floor.  So, to mark the occasion, I headed to Healthlinks to use their floor.  After a warm-up of jumping rope and active stretching, I set the stop watch and began.  My goal was 7 minutes and I came in just under.

100 x Burpees in 6:59.6 seconds

And for the record, all 5,050 burpees in this challenge were chest to the floor up to hands clapping over head.

Burpee Challenge, Day 99

99 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 98

98 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 97

97 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 96

96 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 95

95 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 94

94 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Toddler Joggin'

I strapped Jamie into our jogging stroller and went for a 1/2 hour run around the neighborhood and down to the old Soccer HoF and back.

Burpee Challenge, Day 93

93 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2

I returned to the scene Sunday afternoon to finish what I started. Namely, to remove a crap-ton of stone, mortar, and cinder blocks and to move around several wheelbarrow-fulls of soil. Step one was to remove all of the soil from the side planter and move it to the front planter; a task made much more annoying by the dead tree stumps and roots throughout.

Thankfully, removing the soil from within the planter actually made it a lot easier to tear down what was left of the wall. As I mentioned previously, they used a lot of cement though it was nothing judicious use of a sledge hammer and 4-foot long steel spike couldn't take care. Once the wall was down, I just had to pile up the stones I wanted to keep, haul out the broken up cement, and smooth out the soil with a rake.

Side planter, Day 2.

Front planter, day 2.

Stones to be saved.

Cement to be tossed.

Burpee Challenge, Day 92

92 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Another Brick in the Wall

Today I started in on the outside of our new home. Just like the interior, the property needs a lot of work. It would be bad enough if it had just been neglected, but unfortunately, the previous owner decided to use parts of it as a garbage dump. Let's just say, I'm not going to want for things to do on my weekends and evenings any time soon.

To begin, I fired up the lawn tractor and spent a couple of hours mowing. Best guess: it's been about a year since the last time anyone cut the grass. Thank god for the tractor. It powered through like a champ.

The lower field, freshly shorn.

After that, I set about tackling two stone and mortar planters that were starting to collapse. The first, near the front entrance, had one wall that was beginning to fall outwards. The second planter ran along the side of the house. It too was falling outward, and it was built such that the soil level was up above the level of the stone siding of the house. This sort of thing is NG as it leads to water and insect damage on your siding.

First, I tore out the damaged wall of the front planter to convert the planter into more of a retaining wall. Next, I began tearing down the side planter. Holy crap, did they use a lot of cement! I made sure to save the stones and slate caps for later user and hauled the broken up cement and cinder blocks to the drive, where at some point in the near future, I'll need to throw them in a dumpster.

The front planter, day 1.

The side planter, day 1.

Burpee Challenge, Day 91

91 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 90

90 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 89

89 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 88

88 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 87

87 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Bench Press & Pull-ups

Warm-up:

Running, 1 mile @ 8.5 mph
Active Stretching

WoD:
5 rounds for time of:

Max Reps Bodyweight Bench Press (165 lbs)
Max Reps Pull-ups
Totals:
1: 9 bench, 11 pull-ups
2: 6 bench, 8 pull-ups
3: 4 bench, 10 pull-ups
4: 4 bench, 10 pull-ups
5: 4 bench, 7 pull-ups

5:00 Exercise Bike

Burpee Challenge, Day 86

86 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 85

85 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 84

84 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 83

83 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 82

82 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

KB Swings, Pull-ups, Toes-to-bar

Warm-up:

Running, 1 mile @ 8.5 mph

Active Stretching

AMRAP 20:

16 Kettlebell Swings, 35lbs

8 Pull-ups

12 Toes-to-Bar

Total: 4 rounds + 16 KB Swings

5:00 Exercise Bike

Burpee Challenge, Day 81

81 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 80

80 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Bar Complex & Suicides

Warm-up:

Running, 1 mile @ 8.5mph

The remainder of today's burpees (29)

Bar Complex:

3 rounds of:

5 x Deadlifts, 95lbs

5 x Hang Cleans, 95lbs

5 x Push Press, 95lbs

5 x Split Snatch, 95lbs

The goal is to work on form throughout, breaking the snatch into parts and then performing the full motion. Despite the barbell involved, this is definitely more of a cardio workout than a weight workout.

5:00 Exercise Bike

5 x Suicides

Burpee Challenge, Day 79

79 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Washing Minnows

Today marked the opening day of trout season and so I awoke early to begin my quest to finally catch my elusive first trout. Armed with salted minnows, a bait needle, and an ingenious fishing rig learned from a family of seasoned local anglers, I set out in my new hip waders and fishing vest for a day walking the streams. My partner and guide on this quest, famous O-Town local, Jesse Phillips, picked me up just after dawn and together we braved the icy Catskill streams.

Alas, the wiley fish evaded my hook once again, though Jesse got his hooks into a 15" brown trout early that afternoon. Despite remaining on the schnide, it was an awesome day spent hiking some beautiful upstate waterways.

Burpee Challenge, Day 78

78 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 77

77 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 76

76 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 75

75 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 74

74 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 73

73 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 72

72 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Garden City Circuit

Warm-up:

5 x 1 minute max double-unders/1 minute rest
3 x 1 minute max dead-hang pull-ups/1 minute rest
3 x 1 minute max hand-stand push-ups/1 minute rest

Training (heavily scaled):

3 x Muscle-ups (after the "warm-up" that's all I could manage)
20 x Toes-to-bar
30 x DB Goblet Squats, 25lbs
40 x DB Swings, 25lbs
50 x Box Jumps

5:00 Exercise Bike

Burpee Challenge, Day 71

71 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 70

70 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 69

69 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 68

68 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 67

67 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 66

66 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 65

65 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 64

64 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 63

63 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 62

62 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 61

61 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Deadlifts, Hang Cleans, Push Jerks

Warm-up:

Running, 2 laps around FCC
Active Stretching

Circuit:
5 rounds for time:

12 x Deadlifts, 95lbs
9 x Hang Cleans, 95lbs
6 x Push Jerks, 95lbs
Total Time: 12:48

5:00 Exercise Bike

Burpee Challenge, Day 60

60 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Hiking

It was a beautiful day and I had the afternoon all to myself so I headed up to our new house and decided to go exploring. I did my best to follow the creek downstream, but it was slow growing. Unfortunately, what used to be fields have become overgrown with brush, must of which is thorny. Machete in hand, I hacked my way along a few game trails until I finally crossed over the stream and hiked about halfway up the mountain. At the point, I turned back towards the house and fought my way back to and around the far side of the pond before walking up the hill back to the house.

All told, I hiked for just shy of an hour and covered a little less than a mile.

Burpee Challenge, Day 59

59 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Shoulder Pain Wod

Warm-up:

Running, 2 laps around FCC
Active Stretching

WoD:
21-15-9:

Dips
HSPUs
Push-ups
Total Time: ~10:00

5:00 Exercise Bike

Burpee Challenge, Day 58

58 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 57

57 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 56

56 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 55

55 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 54

54 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

DB Squat Clean Thrusters & Pull-ups

Warm-up:

Running, 2 laps around FCC
Active Stretching

WoD:
5 rounds for time:

7 x Dumbbell Squat Clean Thruster, 35lb DBs
10 x Pull-ups
Total Time: 14:12

5:00 Active Stretching

Burpee Challenge, Day 53

53 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 52

52 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 51

51 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Home Demolition

Sunday afternoon and we were back at it for another 4 hours. Today we removed the old whirlpool tub from the main bath, and sledgehammered/saws-all'ed the concrete shower pan out of the main bathroom. After that we removed the flooring from the master bath and finished tearing out all the sheet-rock and tiles in the master and main bathrooms. And, like good little boys, we spent a fair amount of time cleaning up after ourselves when all was said and done.

Burpee Challenge, Day 50

50 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Home Demolition

My father-in-law and I spent 6 hours at the house doing more demolition. Today involved removing all the wood paneling from the living room and pulling down the faux wood beams from the living room ceiling. We also yanked the toilet from the downstairs bathroom, removed the laminate flooring from the lower level, pulled up the flooring in the main bathroom, removed the soffit and tiles around the tub, and generally cleaned up all the debris lying around.

Here's a recap of what the home looks like up to now: recap video.

Burpee Challenge, Day 49

49 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 48

48 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 47

47 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Pull-ups, Deadlifts, HSPUs

Warm-up:

Jumping Rope, 100 x Singles, 50 x Double-unders
Active Stretching

AMRAP 25:

2 x Deadlifts, 225lbs
10 x Handstand Push-ups
11 x Chest-to-bar Pull-ups
Totals: 7 rounds, 2 Deadlifts

5:00 Exercise Bike

Burpee Challenge, Day 46

46 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 45

45 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Interval Run

I went for a run in the unseasonably warm weather.
20:00 Interval Run (:30 hard, :30 east)
7:00 Run

Burpee Challenge, Day 44

44 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 43

43 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 42

42 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 41

41 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 40

40 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 39

39 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 38

38 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 37

37 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 36

36 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Demolition Man, Day 2

I came back to finish the job. I took out the last wall in the kitchen, and with the help of Jesse who's definitely a glutton for punishment, gutted the master and downstairs baths as well. At this point, my forearms and shoulders are definitely feeling it. We spent an inordinate amount of time swinging sledge hammers, wrecking bars, and pickaxes and hauling garbage cans full of debris and tossing it up and over a 6 foot dumpster wall. Such fun!

Demolition Man, Day 1

I spent the day up at our new house tearing out the kitchen, one upstairs bathroom, and most of the walls on the first floor with the help of Josh and Jesse. By the end of the day, we had the place pretty well gutted and the 30 yard dumpster 3/4 full.

Burpee Challenge, Day 35

35 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 34

34 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 33

33 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Crucible Desk

Warm-up:

Jumping Rope (50 singles, 50 Double-unders, 50 Singles)
Active Stretching

Crucible Deck:

Hearts = 80 yard sprint
(40-turn-40)
Diamonds = 10 Push-ups
Spades = 10 TOs
Clubs = 10 Squats
Joker 1 = 10 Burpees
Joker 2 = 10 Mahlers
Total Time: 16:50

5:00 Exercise Bike

Burpee Challenge, Day 32

32 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 31

31 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Pull-ups, Burpees, HSPUs, DB Swings, Sit-ups

Warm-up:
Jumping Rope:

50 x singles
50 x double-unders

Active Stretching

Circuit:

40 x Pull-ups
20 x Burpees
30 x HSPUs
50 x Dumbbell swings, 25lbs
60 x Sit-ups

7:00 Exercise Bike

Burpee Challenge, Day 30

30 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 29

29 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 28

28 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Hiking _MY_ Land

My brother, his wife, and I went and walked a small part of the 72 acres that we now called home. It was fairly slow going as there isn't much in the way of paths, aside from the occasional game trail and a few logging trails towards the top of the property. All told, we hiked for about two hours to the top of the ridge and back down.

Burpee Challenge, Day 27

27 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 26

26 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 25

25 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 24

24 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 23

23 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 22

22 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 21

21 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 20

20 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 19

19 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Weighted Pull-ups & Dips

Warm-up:

5:00 Exercise Bike

Active Stretching

Pull-ups:

3 x Muscle-ups

5 x Pull-ups w/ 35lbs

5 x Pull-ups w/ 45lbs

3 x Pull-ups w/ 50lbs

1 x Pull-up w/ 55lbs

1 x Pull-up w/ 60lbs

Dips:

5 x Dips w/ 35lbs

5 x Dips w/ 45lbs

5 x Dips w/50lbs

3 x Dips w/35lbs

Cooldown:

10 x Pull-ups

10 x K2Es

10 x Dips

Burpee Challenge, Day 18

18 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf

Burpee Challenge, Day 17

17 x Burpees.

Here's the deal: http://crossfitpeachtree.com/PDFs/burpeechallenge.pdf