Being a women, Being gay, Being real.

It's a topic that I've been thinking about for a while. One that I'm not sure my writing will do justice to. So I'll keep it simple and to the point.
Being a women is something that I enjoy. Women are complex and our chemical makeup is hard to keep track of. What is feminine? My thought is that it's a wide spectrum that holds so many different variations one can't just sum it up. I can tell you I enjoy being feminine, wherever I fall in the spectrum.
Ideas that I hate. Women can't be strong, rugged, sporty, earthy and still feminine. Why the heck not? Who came up with that line of thought?
Yes, I'm a gay women. But first I'm just a person like you. Let me say that for me I'm not a man hater. If I were in love with a man I would be with a man. That is not the case in my life. I'm in love with a women, so that is who I'm with. I have a true appreciation for both men and women.
I'm very out and very open. I try to keep things humorous so as to help people talk about it. Most of the people that know me know that it's very hard to offend me. On that note I will add that people say some really stupid shit!!
One that I love to hate is the, "who's the man in your relationship?" Well, dumb ass there's not a man in our relationship, because I'm with a women! LOL
Or, "what roll do you play?" OMG, can we get passed the 70's! Then come the really personal ones that get under my skin a little. "Jen in a dress? Or, "you wear makeup?" Jesus Christ! Don't put me in your pigeonholes. Please, I'm a diverse women who enjoys feeling strong and earthy and sexy. Not to mention I just enjoy being feminine.

Where I feel the gay population has gone wrong. It's simple really. They continue the segregation. Gay bars, gay parts of cities, gay this gay that. Just live and be with people you like and that care about you. I have friends who are republicans, I have friends who like dogs and hate cats. I have friends with style and without. Who the heck cares. I mean there're people I don't like for sure. Let's just stop with the this is your store this is my store deal. If you don't like me fine. That does not mean you should not like everyone that dresses like me. Grow the F up! Whew, I'm I a roll!

Kettlebell WindMill Variations

Crossfit Philly was kind enough to make a vid that is very helpful to learning the KB windmill. I've been working on this myself and been unsure of my form. If done right it should help with some of my hamstring tightness.

Sunday at Crossfit DC
20 KB deadlifts
10 swings
10 pushups
Bear crawl half court
10 jumps over hurtle
Lunges rest of the court
Spring back
Do this as many times as you can in twenty mins
I got 7 or 8 rounds done, I lost track at the end. So we can just call it 7.
It was killer for sure. Lots of new people who I hope continue to come. Having a good medium size group makes it really fun! Tom ended class on an instructional note. Having people work on swings with the KB's. Someone asked me what kind of equipment I have at home. She added on that she only had a small apartment and not a lot of room. Well, lets start with the fact that you need nothing but yourself. Bodyweight work can kick your ass and get you into shape. Pushups, squats, situps, bear-crawls, J. jacks, lunges and so on. Set it up like a CF workout and your ready to roll. Really if your consistent in your workouts and watch what you put in your mouth you should see your body change.

This passed week at work a 37 year old women died. I'd been watching her fight cancer for maybe a year. I was not there when she passed. But over the year I had been there for many of her visits that always ended with her going into the hospital for weeks. When I came in last week and was told that there is a body in room 11, I asked how old the person was. My co-worer said 37. I knew right away that it was her. Her fight is over, her pain is done. I feel sad for her family and sad for her. All she wanted was to live and be with her family. We have today and are not guaranteed tomorrow. So live it up and don't lose sight of that fact that others have that freedom taken from them. Enjoy your life and family. Get outside yourself and your problems. Do the things you enjoy even if they seem dumb to the rest of the world.

This is the thirty-second Our Special Ale from the brewers at Anchor. Every year since 1975 the brewers at Anchor have brewed a distinctive and unique “Christmas Ale,” which is available from early November to mid-January. The Ale’s recipe is different every year—as is the tree on the label—but the intent with which we offer it remains the same: joy and celebration of the newness of life. Since ancient times, trees have symbolized the winter solstice when the earth, with its seasons, appears born anew. View Christmas Ale flyer PDF.

Available in 12-ounce bottles, magnums, and on draught.

Each year our Christmas Ale gets a unique label and a unique recipe for the Ale itself. Although our recipes must remain a secret, many enthusiasts save a few bottles from year to year—stored in a cool dark place—to taste later and compare with other vintages. Properly refrigerated, the beer remains intriguing and drinkable for years, with different nuances slowly emerging as the flavor mellows slightly.

This stuff is beyond awesome! I had it breweryberwery while I was there in SF and fell in love with it! Get some!

The 6am DC crew!
Susan and Eva worked hard today!
Warm up
Jump rope
lat hops
side hops
Dive bomb pushups
burpees
band walks, side and forward

30 second drills. Four rounds
KB swings
ABC band pull
Goblet squats

Second set

Reverse lunges
Pushups
Knee to chin

In between we worked on our burpees. Which looked really good so expect to be doing more of them!

I have something to say about fitness
It should be fun!
It should be creative!
It should be part of life..Your life!
It should be done everyday!
It should be for everyone!
Yeah, that's right you! You eat everyday, you sleep everyday. You walk and talk everyday. Then move everyday, with purpose and drive. Drive to live, breathe and feel. Feel something other than your ass sitting at your desk or in front of your TV/computer. Stand up from those things and do a few squats or pushups, Jumping jacks. Feel your body move. Go out in the cold or the heat and feel your body. It's yours, use the damn thing!

Today I met with Becky and Susan to lead there workout.
50 J. jack, 20 squats(warm up)

20 squats at start of run
Run across Connecticut Ave bridge
20 squats
Run back
20 squats
First person back does Mt climbers until last person is done.

Rope pull with 36#'s on it
Four pulls of 50 feet
while person two does slamball
4 rounds

It was good and cold, but it warmed up fast!
I did a lot of running during this workout. As I was trying to push Becky and Susan. Which meant running back and forth on the bridge!

My personal workout.
Trail run with Louie. Louie has lots of energy and gets into trouble. So any free time I have goes to him. We were on the trail in Rock Creek for a bit. But we kept running into people with their dogs off leash and it was pissing me off. Keep your goddamn dogs on a leash. I don't care if they're friendly its a law for a reason! So anyhow, we headed for the woods, climbing over trees and up and down gorges. It was fun! I'm a very slow runner. Being in the woods make running a bit more fun. It gives me lots of Nero input which is very good. Jumping, slipping and getting stuck on twigs!

CF today
Going into it I was sore. It's been a long week and my recovery is slow.
Tom started us with PVC pipe Oly lifts or warm ups. This wakes your body up and works on form. It seems my hamstring are tight!
Then the workout
1 KB swing
15 Thrusters
Go down by one and up by 1. So that at the end your doing 15 swings and 1 thruster.
I lost count a few times and did a few to many thrusters. It's a lot of work for sure!
The Washington post photographer was there today taking pictures. It was a bad hair day for me but oh well!
I had a new PR on the Deadlift, 205! Whew!

Single speed Joy ride!

Pulled out the IRO single speed today. I've not done a lot of riding over the last few months. Time and events have kept me off the bike. Also, I got a little burnt out after the Lance ride.

Jogged with dogs 1/4 mile
changed shoes and got my helmet
Road 5 miles to a park
10 knee to chest
10 deadhang pullups
10 deep dips
10 picnic table presses
Road home 5 miles lots of hills on a single speed!
Ran with dogs 1/2 mile

Back yard work
with post hole digger
20 jerks
15 back squats
20 push presses
max hold handstand 30 sec
Two sets of 10 push presses with two 20# DB's


Now you say that's not much riding. Well on a single speed for me it is. It felt so good natural. No gears, no bike computer no heart rate monitor. It was sweet!
All summer I had no close calls on the bike. Today was close! Going around a turn my wheels stated to slide. I was so close to the ground I touched it. Somehow pulled it out of the slide and made my turn. Whew! I'm not fast, I'm not a climber but I've always been able to handle a bike very well. It's so natural to move with the bike.
As for running, I hate it. Really the only reason I run is for the dogs. A few years ago I ran the Army ten miler. I'm glad to say I did it. The pain of running is not a pain that makes me feel strong, just weak and heavy.

Pro Cycling is so dirty I just can't take it anymore
Pro Cycling is my football or Baseball. I've been following it for years. I watch like a kid watches cartoons. As they crank up the mountains. It's exciting just thinking of next years tours. Yes, there is more than one, Tour of Spain, Italy so on and so on.
This year Basso, Jan and about 100 others got kicked out before the race even started. Then as Floyd cranked over the miles, had a bad day and came back I was hooked again. He's no Lance that's for sure! Yet, still it was good. Then the come down. Again I have to go defend cycling to non-cycling people who say I heard your man was doping in the tour. People saying this shit to me who still wear there helmets backwards and have kickstands on there bikes. I just can't take it. To make it worse a few of my cycling friends say some dumb ass shit like " even if he took something he's still a really good rider." What the fuck! I have no respect for anybody who takes anything to make them better. I still love watching cycling. I Just can't help it. Let me state for the record, Pro-cycling is dirty! Watch the guys in the back of the pack, watch the guys who are hurting and trying to get the crank around one more time. Oh you know what, fuck it. They're using too. Just go to your local bike race and hope for the best. Hope that the amateurs who work full-time and spend all there extra cash on bike stuff, hope they're clean! Or just come watch me as I pant to maintain a 16mph pace for 20 miles.
My Pro Cycling heart is broken! My hero's are sticking needles in there asses or pumping red blood cells into there veins. My Pro cycling heart is broken.

Glad to be home. San Francisco was awesome but home is better! Here are a few pictures.

How to Quickly Master the Kettlebell Jerk

Sometimes I put Vids up that are more for me than my readers. This is one of them.

So Tom is back in town this week. I thought it would be good for me to get a good ass kicking before I go away.

I'm not sure if this is all right because after I left my mind was numb making it hard to remember what we did.
There were only two of us which makes it worse yet!

Repeat 3 tims

Hang cleans 10 I think

walking lunges with 2 12kb KB's

Olymipic bar twist or lat swings 20

bear craw back to the other end of the gym with the KB's in each hand....this sucked!

Repeat 3 times

Split jerks 10

KB swing walk to end of gym

Crab walk back

broad jump burpees back

KB swing walk back.

I wish I had time and money to get some training in Olymipic lifts. It would really be good for me. So that when doing these workouts I would not be trying to learn at the same time.

Flogging Molly - What's Left Of The Flag For Me

Being Irish rocks! Get some whiskey or some beer and sing along!

Today I was not feeling so well. Moving proved to take a lot of mental work. As the day wasted away I finally got ready to workout. My plan was to keep it simple and easy. Almost too easy.

At four different places in the yard I placed a work station. KB in far end, pushup rings under the tree, 45# rock next to the tree and the post digger at the other end.

Five rounds of 5 on 4 different excises

5. Ring pushups

5.45# rock side twists

5. post digger swings each arm

5. KB cleans each arm

Run between stations

End on 5 burpees

8:30 min

Yes, it was easy. It worked its magic on me because now I feel Like doing it again and I will. I will change the tasks and do the same short workout.

Part two- five rounds of 5 reps of 4 tasks

5. ring pshups

5. 45# sandbag thrusters

5. snatches each arm

5. wall ball with15# ball

9 min

I feel like a new person. I'm sweaty and stinky. More importantly I feel better and free of feeling low. I'm looking forward to getting away for a few days. Before I leave I get to go to CFDC and have someone else motivate me.!

Talked to Jerry Hill today. He is moving down this way for his wifes job. I'm sure he will be missed so much by his camp people. It's going to be a huge change coming from Phill to this area. My thoughts are with him and his family as they go through this change. I can say one thing for sure. I will enjoy having him in the area! Looking forward to workouts and seeing you start a camp down here!

Saturday in the park
Joined by Nesto

giant lunges
side steps with good hip twist
40 J. Jacks
20 Mt climbers

50 sledgehammer strike
KB swings
(person doing the KB swings can't stop until the 50 hits are done. Then switch and repeat. Each person should do each move twice)

45# sandbag run up and back a soccer field 4 times
Jumping chins
(jumping chins are done when the running is done. Repeat twice.)

Goblet Squats

Susan, Eva and Jo
You can do these at home. Your going to be doing some the next time we meet.