8:21 PM

Can I Get Some Fries With That Shake?

8:16 PM

Be Okay With You

8:26 PM

Crossfit 480 180 Challenge Wrap-up

12:06 PM

Just about 180 days ago I started this journey to change my body, mind and life 180 degrees. At the time I honestly didn't think I would change. I thought I might get a bit better in the gym but since I had always had a tough time shedding lbs in the past, I wouldn't change all that much.

I am convinced. I have all my stats below but more, than any of that I have so many people to thank. The gentlemen (Derek, Brian, Justin) for CF 480 have changed everything about me and I am forever in their debt (and those thank you cards are coming, promise ;) ). And anyone else who has helped me along this journey...which has been SO many people, thank you. Every compliment makes me want to push further and go harder. Every, "Come on Katie, let's go," has helped me finish that WOD a little harder and a little stronger than I thought I could have.

I've done things I absolutely never dreamed I could do. Crossfit 480 has changed my life. I wish I could just bring new members in droves because that's how strongly I believe in this. They say that Crossfit is a bit cult-like. I have to agree and I'm in. I'm so in that I just paid for a year up front. It was expensive...but worth every penny. I am officially hooked on eating clean and training dirty.

I say this and I will also say, I really don't think Crossfit is for everyone and I think you need to find what works for you. For some, it's Pilates. For some, it's cycling. For some, it's Bar class. Find what works for you and commit to it and push yourself.

So...just how has CF changed me?
Sidenote: I didn't post before/after pictures. I took them every week but there are just some things (very few ;) ) that I can't share on here. Perhaps, one day, I'll get really brave and post them...not today. However, a few people can attest to the fact that I look a bit different.

Description	180 Days Ago	Now
Mind and Body
Weight	Big…effin fat…not a size I wanted to be. There’s only a handful of people who know the number and I will keep it that way.	18 pounds less…18 pounds on a 5.2” body...and still losing
Ankles	Sprained at least 4 times with lots of torn ligaments so I walked like I was 88 until after my morning shower.	NEVER hurt…never.
Size	Big…should have bought Bigger but wouldn’t do it.	2 sizes…ok 3 sizes smaller…and going down!
Eating	Sugar addict, knew what to eat but didn’t do it.	Paleo baby!
At Crossfit 480
Burpees	A joke. My stomach was huge and whatever I was doing certainly didn’t look like a burpee…perhaps like an army crawl.	My burpees actually look like burpees
Pull Ups	Ring Rows…and they were hard	Blue and purple band.
Thrusters	Weightless PVC Pipe	65#
Back Squats	100 lbs (This was my best exercise)	155#
Box jumps	On the curb, jumping up and stepping down.	On a – in box, jumping up and jumping down.
Running	Run 100 meters, Walk 100 meters, Run 100 meters.	I finished a 5K without walking. I run every run in a WOD and never walk. I’m signed up to run Pat’s Run (4.2) in April…Running is my biggest accomplishment!!!
Comments	“Katie, just do 3 rounds, not 5.” “See if you can squat a big below parallel.” “Good work Katie. You’re going to get even better.”	“I saw you walk 3 steps, don’t let it happen again.” “Get back on it. Let’s go.” “Go ahead and just do 3 rounds,” but he WASN’T TALKING TO ME!!! I have to finish every WOD, every time. “By the way, you look amazing.” “Lookin’ good.”
Life
Me	Unhappy, unhealthy, not confident, ran away from cameras…yuck.	180 degrees different. I really didn’t think that I would be changing 180 degrees and I have. I just paid for a year of Crossfit because if anything interrupts my gym time I would be devastated. I am doing my 2^nd Whole 30 (hoping to push it to a Whole 60) because I love how it makes me feel. Life is ~~good~~ great.

Crossfit 480

Rangers Lead the Way

7:42 PM

Your average CrossFitter starts his or her WOD to some sort of old school rap, alternative or rock, but not Derek Kneadler. His favorite WOD music is the soundtrack from “The Last of the Mohicans.” The choice sums up the long and the short of 1st Ranger Veteran, owner of CrossFit 480 and one hell of a fit man, Derek Kneadler. He is dedicated, deliberate and puts more effort into everything he does than most anyone out there.

In 2004 Derek enlisted in 1st Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. He earned his Tan Beret on April 15, 2005. In asking Kneadler what made him decide to join the military, this was his response. “Some of the best men I will ever meet served in Ranger Batt and I will never forget them. I joined the War because of my respect to past Veterans. WWII Vets really inspired me to serve, they truly are the greatest generation ever. My Father also did his duty when he was drafted, so I felt like I needed to do my part.”

Derek was deployed five times between Iraq and Afghanistan and earned numerous medals, which included the Bronze Star with Valor. He wouldn’t mention them to you if you asked, but Kneadler defended the freedom of our great USA against the enemy and defeated them with his strength, focus and total physical fitness.

Derek says, “It was Ranger Battalion that introduced alternative training and functional movements as a way to prepare yourself for life." Derek was selected to become SME (Subject Matter Expert) for his platoon on the physical training program called Ranger Athlete Warrior (RAW).

He began CrossFitting in AZ at CrossFit Phoenix in 2008. In his words,

“I got into CrossFit at the end of my military service. I was doing the Ranger Athlete Warrior (RAW) program when I was in 1st Ranger Batt. When I started to get out I looked more at CrossFit as I did not need a specialized program, which is what I was doing with RAW. I needed something to fill the void left from separating from the Army and the friendly competition in day to day WODs or local competitions helped.“

It was at his local Box (CrossFit Phoenix) he worked out with Scott Pauley and Alisha K. “We had a small group that met almost everyday. They were very good at teaching Oly lifts and preach the importance of form/technique. My love for CrossFit really began at CrossFit Phoenix.” It wasn’t long before Kneadler became addicted to what has become the CrossFit community and lifestyle. “I fell in love with CrossFit because of the bonds and friendships that come with the program.”

Within the past year Derek and his long-time friend, Brian Gubernick, opened Crossfit 480 in Scottsdale, AZ. “Opening the gym has been a lot of fun, getting to work with a good and long time friend is always a great thing.“

His dedication to his Crossfit is evident in the décor his 480 Box. It is fraught with days past, but not forgotten, of Army Life with POW/MIA Flags hung, Pat Tillman’s framed pictures, family photos, and Army Heroes who have been killed in action.

On any given Saturday, this gym will be filled with friends and friend’s of friends trying to show new people exactly why they love CrossFit 480. Derek will likely be holding 480's youngest member, 18-month old, Avery Gubernick and simultaneously giving feedback on Cleans and Jerks. Kneadler and Gubernick have brought their hard working, family-oriented values into CrossFit 480 which is, undoubtedly, one of the many reasons the gym is growing at such a rapid rate.

Derek’s diet is as strict as his workout schedule. He eats clean and works out dirty, the CrossFit way. Kneadler says, “Right now my goals in the sport of CrossFit are to qualify for Regional’s and compete well. My one-year goal is to make it to 3rd day at Regional’s in 2013. Got a lot of work to do!”

Kneadler is too humble to tell you himself but if you were to ask any CrossFfitter out of 480, they would tell you that they are more than confident in Derek’s abilities. His focus and drive will carry him through this competition because Kneadler doesn’t quit. Whether protecting his country, saving the lives of his fellow Rangers or pulling out 30 Muscle-ups in 3:50 minutes, Derek Kneadler always get the job done.

Motivation

Motivation...A Story that will Inspire

6:45 PM

As I contemplated whether I had enough motivation to start my next Whole 30, I read an e-mail from a friend:

Read this...and included a link.

So, with permission, from the fabulous author and owner of Crossfit Southwest, Ken Urakawa, I will share.

Motivation

Posted on Sunday, February 26th, 2012 at 10:31 pm.

This post has been a long time coming. It’s not easy to write. I’m not sure anyone wants to read it. But here you go–I’m going to tell you a story.

A few years back, I received an email inquiry. I WISH that I still had a copy of it, but unfortunately it’s been lost in the sands of time (and email upgrades). To paraphrase, though, it went something like this:

“Hey! This is Ben, I’m in North Dakota right now but I’m moving to Phoenix. It’s all cold here and sh*t, so I can’t wait to get out to the heat. I’m a Marine, and lost my leg in Iraq, but I just started doing CrossFit and want to keep up with it when I move. So I wanted to say what’s up, and come in when I get out there. Later!”

The original was much better, but that was the general flavor. So, I sent back a “We’d be happy to have you come by, let me know when you get out here and we’ll get you set up” kind of reply and pretty much forgot about it.

[So this is where I take a personal detour. I don't typically offer up too much of my personal life--to anyone, in any situation, let alone on this blog. I hope you'll indulge me.] At that point in time, I was pretty much in the worst shape of my life. After a lifetime of athletics, constantly striving to get to the next competitive level, trying to outwork and outwill my opponents–I had retired from competition (I thought). I was still coming to terms with that a few years later, not having something to work towards. Lots of stress, general business ineptitude in a bad economy, family conflict, lack of goals, etc. were all coming together to create a mindset where I ate like crap, drank too much, and randomly wandered through my (irregular) workouts. Not a pretty picture.

So a few weeks after the email, this skinny kid with a prosthetic comes walking up to our door. I’d mostly forgotten about his email, but it was pretty obvious that this was Ben.

That was the beginning.

When we started talking, it came out that Ben had only been CrossFitting for a few months before moving down. Initially, I was a little worried about how he would hold up to the workouts, and what we’d have to scale or modify–basically if he could actually do this stuff, or whether we’d be attempting to build him from the ground up.

I shouldn’t have worried.

Ben tore into everything with (sometimes reckless) abandon. There wasn’t a workout he wouldn’t tackle head on, not a movement that he wouldn’t attempt. Sometimes we’d have to put our heads together and play around with his positioning a little bit, but generally we just treated him like everyone else and watched him work. Out of respect (or uncertainty with how he would react?), I never really asked Ben about the circumstances of his injury. If it impacted an exercise or movement, we’d deal with the physical aspect, but otherwise we didn’t talk about it.

And Ben just kept attacking the workouts.

The atmosphere around the gym started to change a little bit. It was a little harder to quit during a workout. It became difficult to not workout because you were “tired” or “sore”. Everyone was a little more positive, more motivated–including me. At first, it was just that I felt like such a wuss letting this guy outwork me. After a while, I just wanted to kind of be a part of it, ride the wave of his enthusiasm. I think it made everyone work harder.

A couple of months later, the CrossFit Games qualifying started. This was only 2 years ago, but the Games were not the behemoth that they have become. So the process was basically Sectionals, then Regionals, then the Finals. We were sending a group to San Diego to compete in Sectionals, and Ben announced that he was going to do it. Keep in mind, this is with maybe 6 months of CrossFit, coming off of extensive rehabilitation. I was a little concerned, mostly because of Ben’s relative inexperience–there were things we hadn’t worked on enough, things he hadn’t mastered yet. But, as always, Ben was committed 100% and he was going to compete.

I won’t rehash everything that went down, but a couple of facts tell a lot of the story: Ben finished 80th out of 103 competitors. More importantly, he finished every workout, when several of the competitors did not. This included learning how to do double-unders during one of the workouts.

It’s hard to explain what that performance meant, and continues to mean. Ben did an amazing video interview*, which literally brings tears to my eyes every time I see it (and sometimes just trying to describe it). The CrossFit community at large got to meet and be inspired by this guy who had been driving us. And those of us here got to know Ben on a deeper level, and understand his motivation a little better, and be motivated to try a little harder as well.

[*On the CrossFit Journal site--this short preview is free, but you'll need to be a subscriber to see the whole thing. It's absolutely worth watching--I'll be happy to play it for you if you're interested.]

I learned for the first time about the IED that had caused his injuries. About his friends who had been killed, and the choices that Ben had made to be able to move forward. And how amazing it was that this guy had come through all that he had with the attitude and the will and the drive that he has.

That was 2 years ago.

Since that time, Ben has moved to Boston (and back), travelled to climb Mt. Kilimanjarowith the Wounded Warrior Project, been to the ESPYs, completed the Tough Mudder, earned a few different training certifications, and come on board as a regular staff member of CFSW. He still inspires me to try harder, and push further, and to keep going when I really don’t want to. I absolutely credit him with reigniting my own training, and I am thankful for that inspiration.

I’ve never told Ben any of this, or brought it up publicly. Partially this is just an overdue ‘Thank You’–I’ve been meaning to put something like this together for a long time.

Why now? Yesterday was the 6th Anniversary of Ben’s injury, the death of Marine Lance Cpl Adam Vanalstine, and the injuries that would prove to be fatal for Marine Cpl Adam Zanutto.

It’s easy to get caught up in the grind and to let everyday stresses get you down. It’s even easier to talk yourself into skipping that workout, or eating that oreo (or a sleeve of oreos), or just half-assing your way through life. The key is to find what motivates you, and hold onto that. It might be your family, or the shirt you just bought, or the girl of your dreams–or it might be a skinny white kid who kicks life in the ass with a prosthetic leg.

Thanks Ben. Happy Anniversary.

Audio Interview (MP3 download) . Absolutely worth a listen. Ben starts about 4:00 in.

Here’s the raw video from San Diego via Matthew Wegner.

Crossfit 480

You Want Me to Do What?!?

6:34 PM

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Can I Get Some Fries With That Shake?

Be Okay With You

Crossfit 480 180 Challenge Wrap-up

Rangers Lead the Way

Motivation...A Story that will Inspire

Motivation

You Want Me to Do What?!?

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