Coach’s Blog

This weekend we had the pleasure of welcoming two visitors from other boxes!  Brian Minahan from Chikara CrossFit in Tokyo was here for an extended stay with his sister Colleen and came in for several WODs, performing beautifully especially in his first kipping pullups!
Dennis O’Connor from CrossFit Hershey was here on Saturday.  Dennis’ son Eric is a CrossFit Level 2 Trainer at CrossFit Park City with Chris Spealler, and along with Speal runs a lot of weekend certification seminars around the world.  Dennis, send us a picture when you get a chance – I didn’t get one with my camera!
Come back again soon, guys!
 

To quote the great Andy Booze, “someone needs to take Kenny’s internet access away”.  As previously noted, Kenny found a great workout to do if time is not a limiting factor on SEALFit.com, a gut-busting combination of 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 300 situps and 400 squats, followed by a 3-mile run.  Andy, Kenny, and Chris talked each other into it with a combination of trash talk and motivational speaking, and walked in the gym at 9am today with a steely look in their eyes.
While Brian (visiting from Japan) took down “Angie” in 38 minutes, Kent Island’s own SEAL Team got their workout done in 82:45 (Kenny), 92:32 (Andy) and 101:27 (Chris).  Once the clock started there was no mention of turning back, just alot of unkind words for Kenny’s first attempt at programming weekend workouts.
Congrats to these guys for an amazing challenge met head-on, and have a very restful Sunday!

Huge thanks to Andy, Chris, and Andrew Ryan Carpentry for constructing our new jump boxes, complete with CFKI-brand Tridents on both handled sides.  I thought our Rogue (or Ragu) boxes were pretty sweet – but these are badass!!

Thanks guys!

Congrats to Kyle, Andrea Miller’s son, who submitted the winning design for our first CrossFit Kent Island t-shirts!  Kyle’s design (crumpled a bit from my 2yr old son Everett’s proofreading session) is attached below.  As requested, we’ll do a run of these in black and pink, and then more batches in white/black and grey/black to satisfy all color palettes and personal styles.

I know I speak for everyone in welcoming Chris back after his extended stint on the disabled list and then trip to Peru.  It’s great to see him hitting WODs hard again, and his presence in the 6pm class is like a second coach.  And check out his form on the split snatch – get that big lift!

Getting through “Fran” for the first time is like getting a huge weight off your shoulders, literally as well as figuratively!  Fran is just as much of a mental game as it is physical, where you have to challenge yourself to get back to the bar much more quickly than your body is telling you to.  “Just get one rep” is my motto from now on with Fran, because as soon as you step up to the squat rack or pullup rig again and get one rep, you realize you can get two, maybe three or four?
I could go on forever about strategy for Fran (especially because I ADDED 7 SECONDS TO MY TIME TODAY and I keep thinking about it) but instead it’s time to get into the success stories.
Andy, Kenny, Bobby, Alex, Alyssa, and Jimmy all hit “Fran” for the first time today, and Shawn yesterday.  The times ranged from 4:26 (new gym record for Kenny!) to 12:51.  Let me repeat that the last finisher finished under 13 minutes, and that was for someone brand new to CrossFit!  Pretty awesome.
And check out Kenny getting work done with that 4:26 – almost “Elite” as Alex kept reminding him as he got close to that 4 minute mark.
Here are some after-action pics from today.  Great job again everyone, and Happy 4th of July!  Get some rest, eat some good food, and we’ll see you all again on Thursday!
 

Our Director of CrossFit Fashion, Mr. Alex Doyle, created and donned this instant classic of a t-shirt for the workout yesterday.  Now it hangs proudly in the gym, adding some much-needed flair to the box.  There’s got to be both a code violation and a subtle pun involved in hanging it on the fire alarm…  It’s also of course foreshadowing of Alex’s future appearances on Bar Stars, a sweet bunch of YouTube clips with guys doing crazy gymnastic feats on bars around the world.

Mike practicing the even more technical (and heavier!) Turkish Getup, this time with a 65-lb barbell.
Editor’s Note:  Alex also worked up to a 70-lb kettlebell getup, but I neglected to get a picture in favor of sweating profusely and drinking a beer.

HUGE thanks to Chris and Kenny for dreaming up and building the awesome ring and rope rig that is now hanging proudly from our high wall!  We’ve been practicing some muscle-ups, and noticing that for some reason it’s alot harder to get up there if your feet can’t touch the ground… weird.
Just another example of the amazing support that you guys have given the gym, and I can’t thank you all enough.
Ryan

Well, we have one full week behind us as a full-fledged CrossFit affiliate gym, and man does it feel good!  We have some amazing athletes working out with us, and not just because of their athletic talent which is plenty, but these ladies and gents are also truly great individuals.  Everyone has been so welcoming, hilarious, and helpful, and I’m just so damn excited to see where this little CrossFit box on the Eastern Shore ends up.
I also have been in touch with Leah from CrossFit Nation, an outstanding box down in Easton, and it sounds like we need to get ourselves ready for an Eastern Shore affiliate challenge at the end of July in Sailsbury!
Here are some pics from the first week – I obviously didn’t capture everything, but will definitely keep snapping on the iPhone to make sure I get all of your outstanding feats on film!
Can’t wait to see what Week 2 has in store.