Who’s Who: Ben!
13 Jul
WOD 7/13/2010
Perform yesterday’s squat max and 85% AMRAP if you missed it This is priority over today’s WOD.
Today:
2 rounds-
Row 750m
rest 3 min
Airdyne 100 “units”
rest 3 min
Run 800m
rest 6 min
ALSO: Make -up “Murph” day for those wishing to do so.
Flexibility/Mobility
Heel, blade, instep walks – 40 each.
Standing hamstring, groin stretches
Lizzard Lunge hold”
For this next Who’s Who we have Ben!
How were you introduced to Crossfit?
Just under two years ago, I was reading Outside magazine looking for new workout routines when I came across an article about Gym Jones. Included in the article was a brief description of Crossfit (since the owner of Gym Jones used to be affiliated with Crossfit). About the same time, a couple of our old rock climbing friends told my wife and I they had started working out at a Crossfit affiliate gym in Cleveland after they moved. I asked if they did this to supplement their climbing and they told me climbing had taken a back seat to Crossfit. These were friends we climbed with at least 3 times a week for almost 3 years… So I looked up affiliates in Gainesville and found one that had just opened and was looking for new clients. We went to a free Saturday workout and signed up the next week. My wife and I ended up being the second and third official clients of the gym and we got to help build it from the ground up. That was January of 2009. After finding jobs and planning to move to Portland last winter, I started scouting the affiliates here (mostly through their websites) and it became pretty clear that CF Portland was by far the best fit for us, both in terms of the community and the instruction.
Favorite WOD/lift:
WOD: Filthy fifty
Lift: Snatch (although deadlift is a close second) – it’s such a complex movement that can be so smooth when everything works together.
I have always wanted to
Swim with sharks, fly on a shuttle, and open my own dojo.
1 word people use to describe me:
Dedicated
Outside of the gym I like to
Yell at the television (watch sports), cook, practice martial arts, golf, read, be outdoors
Something nobody knows about me or would be surprised to know about me:
I’m a Trekkie at heart.
Favorite physical activity outside of Crossfit:
Cuong Nhu and golf. Does cooking count?
Favorite place to eat in Portland:
My back patio. Nothing beats the smell of meat and vegetables grilling on the porch, a football game in the background, and sunshine. As for eating out, we’re trying to eat our way through Portland, so we’ve only been to a couple restaurants more than once. Clyde Common and Clarklewis currently top the list.
Song that gets me pumped up for a workout:
Anything upbeat, but for endurance or high intensity WODs, Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, Beastie Boys, Foo Fighters, Silver Chair, or Powerman 5000 usually does the trick. For heavy lifting, maybe a little ZZ Top, Groove Armada, or Judas Priest.
Proudest accomplishment:
2009, which included a wedding, a dissertation defense, a shodan test, and a cross country move.
awesome Ben! Always enjoy WODing with you and Shelby and loved doing Murph with you guys this weekend! Love the proposal picture!!!!
Squat: 270; 230×5
Ben- you are always awesome to work out with at the 6:30am class! Your work ethic and dedication spill over to everyone who works out with you.
BTW- this may be the wrong forum to air this, but Shelby routinely hits on me when you’re not looking…
Nice pics, Ben. It’s great to see your strong work in the gym daily. Where is the engagement one? That’s awesome.
Ben:
Great to be in AM class with you and Shelby ! You guys bring tons of energy to it – keep it coming !
Best, Paul
Ben! The man to catch at 630am.
Did Murph today. Ouchies. Not very fun after max squats yesterday. My legs felt fine during the warmup squats, and on the first mile. Not so fine after about the first 4 rounds – I did 2-4-6 for 41 rounds, and then XX had me do the remaining squats in 2 sets.
50:43, no vest. The burst in the last 10 rounds wiped out my second mile time – I ended up walking the first lap because my HR was way up.
I have a pretty well developed set of callous pads on my hands, and developed no tears or hot spots. I credit thw low reps/round on the pullups, and plenty of hand stretching in between. I would drop off the bar, extend my fingers as far apart as I could to stretch the skin on my palms, and then do wide finger push-ups.
Do we have a WOD named after “BEN” yet? I think it should be considered. However, for it to be RX’d, you would have to do it at 6:30 AM.
I always look forward to WOD’n with you Ben…
Yo Zeke! how are your Quads today? You still have the wiggly jiggly legs….
Hey Madoc, I can pretty much say that the 2nd mile on MURPH wiped everyone out–maybe except Morgan who was giving thumbs up and smiling all the way…or maybe it was all for show…either way, way to go after it Madoc and solid job on your Max squat yesterday.
Cory, curiously, did you really barf after MURPH?
Madoc- you’re an animal! Great job.
Nick- I barfed 5 times right off the rear bumper of some white VW rabbit that was parked right out in front of the gate as soon as I finished with the 2nd mile run.
I’m really looking forward to the day I can keep up with Ben in a WOD and not barf afterwards!
I met Ben for the first time at “murph” on Saturday, and was beyond impressed. Looking forward to catching more WODs with you and Shelbly, even if it means I have to come first thing in the AM.
Ben, you are my hero
Ben, I realize this Who Who is about you but Shelby is a stunning bride! Well played sir.
Oh, and good job on your CrossFit stuff too.
Thanks for the comments everyone! I love the community here and the people I get to workout with every day make getting up so early worth it, except for Cory
.
Spencer and XX, we miss you in the morning!
Jason, that picture is from our trip to Peru in December, 2008. That spot is the Sun Gate overlooking Machu Picchu – it’s the first view travelers along the Inca Trail have of the city (although we did not hike the Trail ourselves). There’s a pretty good story that goes with that picture, but it’s better told in person.
Nick, hopefully there’ll be many more WODs to share in the future, training for next year…
By the way, we just ate at Beaker & Flask this past weekend. If you haven’t had rabbit (and aren’t opposed to it), it was beyond delicious!
Ben- You’re frickin awesome to workout with in the morning. I am always impressed at how well you rock the WODs…
Cory: holding your hair back while you puke is not flirting!
XX: you are too sweet!
Everyone else: you just rock!!! We love WOD’ing with all of you
Ben, it is awesome having you at the gym. You work HARD and make butterfly pull-ups look easy. All while still smiling and cheering the rest of us on.
Did my first Murph. Thanks Carver for running the second mile with me. I couldn’t keep track of my laps at that point, especially when the temperature suddenly dropped, and it started snowing. I don’t know what was happening at that point, but I did it RX with the vest in 53:55. Thanks again Jason.