Monday's Workout: Start, Stop, Start

Interesting morning. Before today, I've never stopped in the middle of a WOD to make frantic phone calls. It's not something I'd like to repeat ever again, but my experience at the box this morning reinforced my love for CrossFit and the CrossFit Palo Alto community.

The 5 a.m. class began as usual, though we had two (!) new members show up, bringing this morning's class size to an even dozen. Today also marked Mint (a.k.a. "The Marine")'s final workout with us. His time in the Bay Area's over, and he's moving on. When Mint started, XFitMama and I were the only other members of the 5 a.m. crew. For months, it was just the three of us (and Tim) cranking out WODs, listening to "angry white guy music" and cracking wise in the flower shop before dawn. Heaving kettlebells in class won't be the same without him.

More after the jump...

Friday's Workout

Not a bad way to kick off a weekend.

Strength Skill:

• Muscle-Up Progressions

Yeesh. These aren't getting any easier. I almost regret having done that one solitary dead-hang muscle-up once upon a time -- and then never attempting them again. Now, all these months later, I'm starting to fear that it may have been a fluke.

But you know what'll banish that thought? ANOTHER MUSCLE-UP. That's my goal for next Friday.

Metcon:

Total points (reps & calories) in 3 rounds:

• 1 minute of calorie row
• 1 minute of 20-pound medicine ball cleans
• 1 minute of 75-pound barbell push-presses
• 1 minute of 20-pound medicine ball V-ups
• 1 minute of rest

Looks straightforward enough, right? But wait a second: What are medicine ball V-ups?

I shouldn't have asked.

You start by squeezing a 20-pound medicine ball between your feet. Lie down with your arms up over your head. Pike up with your legs and arms straight, passing the ball from your feet to your hands at the top of the movement. With your arms and legs outstretched, lie back down and touch the ball to the ground above your head. Then, do a sit-up while holding the ball up with straight arms until you're upright enough to place the ball between your feet again. That's ONE rep.

The push-presses weren't all that fun, either.

Result: 151 points (as RXed). It was fun, but my lack of physical coordination was a major hindrance today. Fumbling around with a medicine ball cost me a lot of time and reps.

On the plus side, at the end of the WOD, we got a visit from our buddy Mint. Aside from XFitMama and me, Mint's the longest-tenured member of the 5 a.m. class at CrossFit Palo Alto -- and an all-around amazing and inspiring guy. But he's been absent from class for over a month now; like the Terminator, he's recovering from surgery.

Mint probably wants me to shut up about him already, so I'll just say this: We have sorely missed his deadpan jokes, his penchant for singing along to Social Distortion during WODs, and his ugly green shoes. It's not been the same without him, so he better get his butt back in the gym soon.