For time:

Row 1000m

20 Overhead squats, 65#/45#

Row 750m

35 Overhead squats, 65#/45#

Row 500m

50 Overhead squats, 65#/45#

Post time to comments.

Five rounds for time:

40 Double unders

30 Box jumps, 24"/20"

20 Kettlebell swings, 24kg/16kg

Post time to comments.

Who's ready for a pool WOD? 

Do you remember a time when you felt like fit people knew a secret that they weren't telling anyone?  You'd see them in them in the gym and in the grocery store and you tried to mimic their workouts and eat what was in their shopping carts, but it never added up to fitness.  Do you remember wondering "What am I missing?"  

One of the great things about CrossFit is that we lay it all out on the table for you.  There's no secrets or magical drinks that are going to equate to elite level of fitness.  Nope – it takes constantly varied, functional movements, executed at high intensity to increase your work capacity across broad time and modal domains.  But that's not all – you must have solid eating habits where your meals are made up of lean meats, veggies, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar or substitutes.  These foods must be eaten at levels which support muscle gains, but not fat.

Does this sound familiar?  Have you heard this over and over again?  Then you are in on our secret… which we apparently tell every person that walks into our doors.  If you want to know more, ask us – we're happy to share everything we know with you.  But, in order to be one of the fit people you used to wonder about, you must take action!  The time is now!

As many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of:

10 Dumbell snatches (5 each arm), 40#/25#

10 Knees to elbows

Post rounds to comments.

Gerson Marrquin getting his first of many muscle-ups to come. 

CFV Mountain Sectional Athlete Profile: Gerson Marrquin

Gerson been a crossfitter now for 1 year and 2 months.  Just a few days before the mountain sectionals, he got his first muscle-up and completed eight in Saturday's competition.  He has competed in several crossfit competitions, including last years regionals and joined Verve in last years affiliate cup in Aromas, CA.  Check out the affiliate running WOD video, it's pretty rad!

WOD results:

Row/Swing/Run 21:40 Rx 127th place
Snatch/Muscle-up 115#, 8 MU, 126th place
Squat clean/pull-up/box jumps 2.44 rounds Rx 119th place

Gerson finished 123rd over all.

Congratulations Gerson, we love having you on the team! 

Sunday is FUNday

Each for time on the six minute interval;

500m Row

100 Kettlebell swings 24kg, 16kg

50 Overhead squats 95#, 65#

50 Weighted push-ups 35#, 15#

400m Farmers carry 45#, 25#

Post times to comments.

Mike, Ben and Andy.

3 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 – 3

Front squat/push press/thruster

For each rep do three front squats, three push presses and three thrusters.

Post loads to comments.

Mountain sectional VIDEO day 2.

Great video and there is even a cameo of Matt J's socks.
 

Three rounds for time of:

10 Deadlifts 275#, 185#
50 Double-unders

Post time to comments.

Sara's first muscle-up. 

CFV Mountain Sectional Athlete Profile: Sara Weisbart

Sara's been a crossfitter now for 1 year and 3 months.  She has competed in several crossfit competitions, including last years regionals.  As time ticks on, Sara keeps getting stronger and that was proven yet again at this years mountain sectional.

WOD results:

Row/Swing/Run 14:17 Rx 17th place 
Snatch/Muscle-up 110#, 1 MU (her first ever), 18th place
Squat clean/pull-up/box jumps 3.07 rounds Rx 32nd place

Sara finished in the top 30, landing 18th place overall with a total of 67 points and is qualified to compete in the CrossFit Regional Games this May.

Congratulations Sara!

"Chelsea"

5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Squats

On the minute every minute for 30 minutes.

Post rounds complete to comments.

Luke in the middle of the suck cycle. 

Sectional Highlight Video

Seven rounds for time of:

:30 Row, calories
:30 Burpees
1:00 Rest

Post total reps plus calories to comments.

I lost my poor meatball, when somebody sneezed!

Say "Ciao" to those cravings for pasta, in fact–you may never want to go back! 

Ingredients:

1 Spaghetti squash
1 Jar marinara/tomato sauce (look for low sodium and no sugar content–we like the Costco brand or Classico)
1 Package ground turkey
Spices galore (seriously folks, only your imagination can limit you)

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Cut your spaghetti squash in half, scrape the seeds out and lay both halves in a cookie sheet or pyrex dish with approximately 1/2" water in it.  Bake squash for 45 minutes, flipping it halfway.  When the squash is done, scrape it into a bowl and marvel at it's fun, craziness–save for later.  Meanwhile, mix a bunch of fun spices into your ground turkey meat.  Think pepper, italian seasoning, onion, or red pepper flakes to name a few.  Measure out 1.5 oz, make into meatballs and place on baking sheet.  Bake meatballs approx 20 min (throw them in when your squash is about halfway done).

Empty your marinara in a saucepan to heat through, and spice it up with some fresh garlic, oregano, basil, or thyme.  Doctor it up.  When your meatballs are done, throw them into the marinara and let simmer.  Alright people!  Now you are ready to serve this up.

Here is your measurements if zoning:
1 cup spaghetti squash = 1 C
3 1.5 oz turkey meatball = 3 P
1 cup marinara = 2 C

To make sure that you get a complete meal, either add some fats by tossing some olive oil into your squash (1 teaspoon = 3 F) or have them elsewhere like with your dessert!

MMMMMMMMM……Belissimo!

Five rounds for time:

9 Hang power clean, 155#/105#

12 Wall ball shots, 20#/14#

15 Kettlebell swings, 24kg/16kg

Post time to comments.

It took a lot of help from you, CrossFit Verve, to make the Mountain Sectionals work.

2010 Mountain Sectionals

Cherie and I were asked to host the 2010 Mountain Sectionals in November 2009.  We were so honored to be considered for such an event that we gladly accepted without really thinking twice about it.  What we learned is that it takes a lot of people, a lot of planning, and great attitude to make it happen.  Here's a recap:

Planning started right away – beginning in November.  I got with Skip Miller of Front Range CrossFit to discuss successes and failures he's had in the past, as he's hosted a couple of large scale events.  We nailed down the venue by contacting Captain Jon Barba of Colorado State Patrol Academy and he agreed to allow us to rent his facility for the event.  We got in touch with equipment manufacturers to nail down sponsors and purchase equipment for the event… just the basics – with regular old CrossFit WOD's in mind.

Next we did the smartest thing we could have possibly done – we called on Lisa Ward, CrossFit Verve athlete and all-around pleasant person, to be the Volunteer Coordinator.  She sent out numerous emails getting in contact with people who showed interest in volunteering for the Sectionals.  We worked diligently to fill all the slots necessary to run a safe, fun, and well executed event. 

Lastly, we nailed down the workouts – planning the workouts was much harder than we initially thought.  We wanted to tie together several ideas, testing capacity at monostructural movements like running and rowing, gymnastics skills, and the ability to move heavy loads.  We set our minds on figuring out a way for all athletes to complete the workout without having to stopped, due to time constraints.  Lastly, we wanted to have each workout as balanced as possible – not favoring the big guy or the little guy.  We wanted to test functional capacity, not hold a powerlifting meet.

In the end, over 100 volunteers helped out throughout the weekend – too many to name individually (though I thought about it).  When something popped up, like holes in the wood flooring, or lunch not being provided as promised by Whole Paycheck – our wonderful volunteers came through and had a solution.  All the while, over 200 athletes gave their all on three very demanding WOD's (more about the athletes this week). 

But that's not the end of the story, there were 500+ spectators on site over the duration of the weekend.  The spectators came from near and far to come see their friends and family compete at some weird fitness competition that they know very little about.  They got excited, they yelled their heads off when they watched their athlete… and they also made the event fun. 

A huge thanks to you – CrossFit Verve, for putting up with us.  We've been stressed to the max and much of our time has been focused on the Mountain Sectionals.  But that's done… and now on to bigger and better things.  Boy oh boy, do we have plans for our little gym… CrossFit Verve.

For time:

50 Squats

40 Med ball sit-ups

30 Lunges

20 Push-ups

10 Maneaters

1 Mile run

10 Maneaters

20 Push-ups

30 Lunges

40 Med ball sit-ups

50 Squats

Post time to comments.

Joylyn, one of many Verve athletes that competed at the Mountain Sectionals.

Today is the last day of the Paleo Challenge.  Over the next few days, we need to get new measurements, snap a new picture, and turn in a complete food log for the four week challenge.  We are excited to see what changes you've experienced – both physically and mentally.  

We find that many people not only experience positive changes in their appearance, but also experience change in their eating and cooking habits.  These challenges are simply stepping stones to getting you to make better choices on a daily basis.  This is our opportunity to convince you that eating meat, veggies, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar or substitutes is not the worst thing in the world.  Rather, eating these foods for a period of four weeks makes your body perform more efficiently and your mind think more clearly.  

So don't let the end of the Paleo Challenge stop you from eating a Paleolithic Diet.  Instead, let's keep this train a rolling and learn how to fuel our bodies even better.  Let's learn how to constantly vary our meals by breaking away from our treasure chest of safety meals… let's make something extravagant.  Keep it Paleo and send us a picture and recipe. 

Check out Paleo Steve's blog for ideas.