Years ago, when I was still working at a law firm, one of my clients was a company that developed video games. They introduced me to the concept of "crunch time" -- a concentrated period of endless work and sleepless nights immediately prior to the launch of a new product. Workers essentially sleep at the office for days on end, subsisting on stale junk food and cleaning themselves with baby wipes. Yum.
I'm sort of in that mode right now. My days are crammed with meetings and the responsibilities of my "real" job -- i.e., the one that pays -- while my nights are spent pounding away at the final phase of the Nom Nom Paleo app. Whoever said that the last 10 percent of a project takes 90 percent of the effort wasn't kidding. Every time we think we're done and we can finally get a decent night's sleep, we discover another pending issue or task. Even after the app itself is ready to go (and we're so, so close now -- just hours away from giving it the final sign-off), we have a crapload of work to do to get ready for the launch. I've spent every spare minute of the past three days working on a demo video of the app, for example. (You'll see it soon, I'm sure.) And we still need to finalize the web page for the app, and get our marketing materials in order.
I am pooped.
I missed the 5 a.m. class at CrossFit Palo Alto last Friday because we were up late dialoguing with our development team. But today, I was determined to get into the gym. And I'm glad I did, because it was a good one.
Strength Skill:
- Cleans (3-3-3-1-1)
I still need practice, but my cleans are feeling stronger. I'm cleaning more than my bodyweight now, and think I have more in me. And I like the sensation of sticking an explosive, solid clean. If I can free up some time at home (ha!), maybe I can sneak in more sets in the garage during the week.
Metcon:
AMRAP in 10 minutes:
- 10 chest-to-bar pull-ups
- 2 badger crawl laps
Chest-to-bar pull-ups are self-explanatory. As for the badger crawl laps, we basically got down on our hands and feet and scurried across the length of the gym and back for each lap. I like badger crawls -- in small doses. But after a few laps, they're murder on the shoulders and wrists.
I blazed through the first round, cranking out a set of unbroken pull-ups and racing around the gym on all fours. But by the third round, I had hit a wall with my chest-to-bar pull-ups, and couldn't string more than three or four together at a time. By the fifth round, I had to wind up with a huge kip in order to touch my chest to the bar.
Result: 6 rounds + 3 reps as RXed. It was ugly, but it was awesome.
And now: Back to work.
