Back across the pond.....

Two transatlantic trips in two months! Oh, and one cross country trip for good measure! Yeesh! Since reality needs to set in and our hiatus needed to end we are back in Vienna (finally) now. Anyway, the last 48+ hours went something like this: we left from Chicago O'Crappy at 4pm. Spent 8 hours in the air. Fortunately it was aboard KLM. Not Delta. Delta Sucks. Then spent 10 hours in Amsterdam's Schiphol airport. It's a cool airport, but any 10 hour layover sucks. Still, I'm glad it was in Schiphol and not Heathrow. Especially with the Olympics going on, that would have been a mess. Ok, back on topic, after Amsterdam it was only a 2 hour puddle jump to Vienna. I gotta say, Schiphol was really cool for a international terminal. It' HUGE! plus they have really nice reclining chairs to crash on in some designated quiet areas. I needed to work on mobility after such a long flight so I did that for an hour and got in some pushups - highly recommended after a flight! Which brings me to another cool point: they have showers. So be sure to bring sandals if you ever find yourself here. I didn't. Gross I know but I needed that shower. At least I was smart enough to bring fresh underwear and socks! With both of those amenities (showers & nice reclining chairs) why splurge on a expensive lounge when you can use it for free? (35 euro/$50 pp for 3 hours in a lounge is steep) Oh, and they have two musuem exhibits in there too. One for Gin and one for Art. If you thought I had time to check out the gin one you's be wrong. If you thought I checked out the art one you would also be wrong. It was as nice as a transatlantic flight could be, I'm not jet lagged as bad as I was last time. But I still need some sleep!

Good night North America

Good morning Europe!

Location:Obkirchergasse,Vienna,Austria

Progenex!

After a month on backorder it finally came in!
Progenex=Crossfit Crack
it just works!
Ordered their new fish oil too. Just haven't received it yet. Kinda pricey but I'll give it a try!

Moar!

Crappy Pic I know

Numbers and stuff

The back of Pure Pharma's for comparison

Anyone know why this isn't listed on their site anymore?

Minimalist reviews

I'm kinda bored at the moment and it seems like a fun blog topic. This is my review of two of the most popular minimalist shoes in Crossfit and what I think of them.

Inov8 195's

Pro's: lightweight, very breathable, true to size, no odor buildup, great for rope climbs, running, etc. I'd rather do a trail run in them than a WOD. Very flexible, kinda like wearing moccasins.

Cons: they look ugly, the sole is beginning to separate after 7 months of wods 3-4x a week, and the laces always come loose or untied during box jumps and double unders. Frustrating mid wod....

Reebok nano 2.0's

Pro's: a slightly raised heel, nice for lifting. Great breathability. Comfy sole with good grip on most surfaces. Good for running, laces stay put on box jumps and double unders! The extra toe protection feels more comfortable on burpees than the 195's. Oh and you can order custom colors for them too. They look bitchen!

Cons: not true minimalists, they are a little heavier than the inov8's but not enough to notice. I got mine in the same lime green as the games athletes and I'm a little worried they will get dirty quick. They are tough to get ahold of, seems like reebok sells out fast - I was lucky to get ahold of a pair!

My Thoughts

If you are moving from inov8's to nanos and are unsure about the sizing order the exact same size. Both run identical sizing. Their prices are so close I won't make it a pro or con. The inov8 is a great shoe, but I like the reeboks better, it's a true Crossfit shoe with extra reinforcement where it belongs, great flexibility while offering good support. Let's just see how long they hold up!

Nano 2.0's

195's

Dropping in

The issue with crossfit and "dropping in" at different boxes is that you aren't getting the ideal programming. But since I can't exactly pack up my weights, kettle bells, and pullup bar in my suitcase it's gonna have to do. So for the last month plus my wods have been done at the following boxes:

Crossfit Vienna - cool box in the basement of an apartment building. Really friendly coaches and a well laid out box. But since it's in a basement I can't imagine how easy it would be to incorporate runs into wods. Rumor is they might find a new location that is a little more friendly to a Crossfit box. Coming from the states and being the product of an American education figuring out the metric system has been a bit of a hassle. Oh well, I will adapt.

Crossfit Carpinteria - I'm so stoked my hometown finally has a box. I did a weeks worth of wods there and know they will build a good community, lots of "carpas" locals have already sipped the kool-aid. Kevin is a solid coach who knows his stuff. Lots of bodyweight wods to start since everyone is still in their "onramp" phase! They have only been open since mid June and have a good following!

Crossfit quad cities - a very well laid out box (check out their YouTube "cribs" video). But the weather here sucks this time of year. It takes a different kind of fire breather to go as heavy as these guys do! They love heavy kettle bells and burpees! Yayyyy burpees!

Quad Cities Crossfit (Iowa)

 

10 @ 1.5 pood = not fun & NOT a impressive time

A new DL PR @ Carpinteria Crossfit!

Cubs game

Definitely a experience any baseball fan needs to experience. Yes the cubs suck, and they lost due to some bonehead plays. Not that they were ever very good to begin with. And it was kinda embarrasing to be honest. Who looses to Miami??? I guess not all teams can play like the Dodgers. But that's beside the point I'm making here, this is more about the experience, not the win.

It's a extremely small stadium. Sure it says it's capacity is 41,009 people but it feels more like the 20,000 capacity it had when it originally opened in 1914. They haven't updated it much, sure, a few LED screen's here and there but I'd venture to say the seats are all original. Food is bland (basic peanuts and hot dogs) with nothing special on the menu's like Doyer dogs. Beer is also generic and limited to Budweiser only labels. Bud, Bud light, and Dos Equis. Needless to say I opted for the Dos Equis.

Wrigleyville

Empty by the 8th inning...

What public parking? People rent out their garages to park in!

A lack of updates

So I haven't posted a blog in a while. If you read this blog every day (unlikely) Sorry.
Now that my apology is out of the way here is why:

1) beyond the whiteboard - I haven't been logging my workouts on this site since I found a better way to do it. This site is more accurate for logging info over time, in fact it fulfills the "broad time" aspect of crossfit to a tee. Plus you can compare your benchmarks or other favorite workouts to everyone else that's on the site. Definitely the way to go for anyone tracking their WOD's. I will continue to post up the WOD's that I think are worthy of this site.

2) travel & family - Since I've had to come back for a month due to a unexpected SNAFU, and a few other reasons (I'll leave it at that) I spent a week at home in CA. I've been busy, simple as that.

Ok, I promise more updates to come!

Dodgers!

Not a Dodger Dog, this is a "Doyer" Dog: Dodger Dog topped with chili, Jalapenos, onions, and nacho cheese

An cool option if you want to "eat healthy" at a Dodger game

Turns out the Carpinteria Carnival was in town. Awesome Tri-Tip Sandwiches!

Tee Time!

I got to see my dog! Molly Tamale

Jet lag (again)

Jet lag I hate you. That is all.

Worked on mobility today after working all those squats and pushups yesterday. Plus sitting during all those flights tightened me up. I needed to do some maintenance.

WOD:
Relax, eat right, and focus on mobility.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Another Crossing

Another Trans-Atlantic crossing today! I'm not sure why I posted the exclamation point on that sentence since I'm not looking forward to it. By the time this is posted I'll already be in the air. It's gonna be a long day.....Vienna (6am) to Amsterdam to Detroit to Chicago....Yikes. At least it's on KLM which gets some pretty good reviews. Even if the last leg is on Delta. Delta Sucks. In any case, so much for recovering from my earlier jet lag! I guess it takes a day to adapt to every time zone you pass through so I'll be starting from square one again. And I can think of a lot of other places I'd rather be than Detroit. Even if it's in the airport!

I'm not leaving Vienna for long, I've got to come back to the states for a short intermission. I will be home for a bit during my stay as well. Gotta see family, get a few Island Brews, and check out the new Carpinteria Crossfit Box! The rest of the time I'll be in the midwest.

WOD
No workout today, yesterday, tomorrow, whatever day it is....

Apartment Hunting

this place makes bass pro shops look like a big 5

Apartment hunting today, then beers later to take the edge off. It may turn into two or three. I dont know yet. Our relocation agent has three apartments scheduled for us to look at. We requested the 4th, 6th, 7th districts and maybe the first. As unlikely as the first sounds (it's expensive) we requested it anyway just out of curiosity. We are looking for a place around 100sq meters since that's the equivalent space needed for all our crap. Problem is, places here aren't that big. And rent is expensive around 15 euros per square meter. Since I'm on the topic of apartment hunting, check out some pictures of this awesome gun/hunting shop we found in the first district.

bar in a gunshop? i dig it!

elephant bullet!

WOD:
For time:

• 100 pushups
• 200 air squats
• 100 situps

Had to do something quick and space conscious since it'll be done in an apartment. Plus It'll be an early day and I've got to get it in before the Apartment search. And I need a WOD before tomorrow's flight!

Run to the Hills!

Ok, not like the Iron Maiden song but we did run in the hills. By far one of the most scenic and epic runs I'd done in a while. Yes. I said epic.

Let me explain, I'm not sure what the elevation gain was but we left the D line in the 19th district and headed towards the Vienna woods, a semi-developed green space to the north west of town. I say semi-developed because it's spotted by vineyards. Anyway, the top of the hill was the goal. I guesstimate the run was 4 miles up, maybe a mile and a half down. At the top was a cool monastic church that was re-built in the 16th century. It was destroyed by the turks during the Battle of Vienna (not the 1945 battle) it's where the Holy Roman Empire launched their offensive and broke the siege of the city - marking an end to muslim expansion into Europe. Just a little history note for ya. Anyway, more on the run - we took a detour of about 3 miles into the woods, saw some deer, gained some good elevation, and kept a steady pace considering it was 94 degrees out. Might also explain why more people hiked the path than ran it. Quite a bit of traffic really since the wineries are open on Sunday and everything in town is closed. It's something to add to the "to-do" list if you ever visit but I wouldn't recommend wine and the heat in summer.

Threw in some burpees, vertical jumps, box jumps, and backwards running in for fun!  i.e. 100 m backwards, 100 normal, etc.

WOD:
Run, burpees, vert. jumps, box jumps, etc. Made it up as I went along.