100 Gallons of Milk

For the last 16 weeks, I’ve consumed one gallon of whole milk each day† almost without fail. My monthly milk budget was more than most people’s car payment (hint: my yuppie ass pays Whole Foods $12.99/gal for the raw stuff). I’ve squatted three times a week, in addition to performing deadlifts, bench presses, overhead presses and power cleans. Most people would call this crazy, but Mark Rippetoe calls it Starting Strength. It works amazingly well.

I gained 40 lbs and put 40% on my back squat. As a nice capstone, I pulled a 182 kg deadlift today — breaking 400 lbs for the first time ever. More details over at the CrossFit Eastside blog.

Big props to my coach Michael Street, without whom I surely could not have done this.

† And to think — at the outset of this journey I actually believed I was lactose intolerant. Ha.

Olympian

Pop quiz: which of these individuals can snatch 83 kg?

More about Melanie here.

Fight Gone Bad III

“Fight Gone Bad” is a classic CrossFit benchmark workout (wmv,mov).

On September 27th CrossFit affiliates nationwide will willingly subject themselves to three brutal rounds to benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Please consider sponsoring me, and my fellow nutjobs from the CrossFit Eastside team.

I’ll be trying to best my previous score of 307. Wish me luck.

Casey Burgener

Damn! Just read that Coach Burgener’s son, Casey, will not be allowed to compete in Beijing. Let’s hope this decision is reversed ASAP.

• SignOnSanDiego Article

• Coach Burgener’s post on goheavy.com

• Long thread with comments by Coach B on the CrossFit forums

Happy Birthday Kassidy

My wife had her first annual 29th birthday today, on the pristine island of Kaua’i. In her honor, we did a special CrossFit-style workout. Three rounds:

• 29 burpees
• 29 sit ups
• 29 double unders
• 29 walking lunges

It took damn near exactly 29 minutes.

CrossFit Championship 2008

Video of the 2008 CrossFit Championship, currently linked from the main page of crossfit.com. Lots of CFES regulars appear in this video, including Kassidy and me.

For the record, I placed dead last in my class. Nowhere to go but up, eh? Thanks to CF Seattle for all the fun. See you next year.

2:05 Fran

Amazing. Speal pulls a 2:05 Fran. This is a world record by 10+ seconds.

BPA = Be Paranoid, Always

I drink a lot of water at work — probably a liter a day. For years each gulp has been powered by Nalgene, but no longer.

You see, I’m paranoid about the health effects of BPA, and I’m not alone. Just last week REI put all the classic BPA-ridden Nalgenes on clearance, and now they are entirely gone. The remaining bottles wear their “BPA Free” stickers proudly.

Of course, I still need to guzzle H2O. Perhaps a SIGG like my wife has? Hmm, no. I’m on a fear-kick here and 4 out of 5 nutjobs agree that aluminum is a first-class ticket to Alzheimer’s.

No, the object of my desire is made of 18/8 stainless. It has simple classic lines, and an earth-friendly logo. It has a name with a lot of K’s in it. That’s right, my new sidekick is a Klean Kanteen. Without a doubt, the coolest, no-harmful-side-effect-having bottle ever.

See you at the water cooler.

Update 4/28/2008:
Nalgene to Phase Out Production of Consumer Bottles Containing BPA. Of course, this was done in response to the demands of Nalgene’s idiot customers, not because BPA is actually dangerous:

Based on all available scientific evidence, we continue to believe that Nalgene products containing BPA are safe for their intended use. However, our customers indicated they preferred BPA-free alternatives and we acted in response to those concerns.

In summary, BPA will remain safe until we unload our inventory. That is all.

One Year

Before

Taken just after my 29th birthday. 205 lbs, 20% body fat, and one really bad haircut.

After

Taken today, two weeks before my 30th birthday. 178 lbs, 11% body fat.

NY Times on CrossFit, Again

Looks like Virginia Heffernan’s blog post last week was just the preamble to a real NY Times article. She calls it the “CrossFit ministry” and points to the program’s “cultlike vibe.”

All I gotta say is:
Coach, Jesus: 5 letters each. Coincidence? I think not.