TWO DAYS

GET

SOME

!


(those links are videos you should watch)

Training Accountability: Week 7 - Walking Wounded Edition

Apologies for the late entry Mudders - 11 days to go, and it's time to learn a lesson from El Capitan himself. Now would probably be a good time to taper off your training, rest a bit, take care of yourself... that kind of smart stuff. Now would be a bad time to blow up your back doing risky lifts too fast with bad form. Takes a real idiot to do something like that. I should be ok by race day.

9/20 - 5 mile run.

9/21 - 10 sets for time of: 10 dead lifts @ 135lb, 15 push-ups. Made it through 5 rounds in about 6 minutes, got sloppy, destroyed back. Because I'm smart, I substituted pull-ups for the dead lifts and finished the work out. And then I hurt.

9/22 - 700 yard swim. Can't flip turn.

9/23 - 1500 yard swim. Can flip turn; feeling better. Then immediately WAY worse.

9/24 - Present: walking wounded. No training for another few days.

Be smarter than me.

Training Accountability: Week 6

9/13: 2,000 yard swim.

9/14: 5 rounds for time of: 50x jump rope, 20x burpees, 20x Abmat sit-ups, 1/2 mile run - 47 min.

9/15: 500 yard swim; 3 rounds for time of: 21x, 50 yard swim, 15x, 50 yard swim, 9x, 50 yard swim - K-Bell swings @45/35lb, push-ups, sit-ups, squats. 27 Min.

9/16: "J.T." - For time, 21x, 15x, 9x: handstand push-ups, ring dips, push-ups - 6:30 min.; 70x 8-count body builders. (Burpee with lateral leg extension after push-up, no jump to finish)

9/17: Horrifying Flaccidity.

9/18: Squat dance at Travis' wedding. Amazing. Not fitness inducing, but amazing.

9/19: 3 rounds of: 100x jump rope, 20x K-Bell sumo deadlifts (1 rd 35lb, 2 rds 50lb), 20x dumbbell push-ups, 20x K-bell swings (1 rd 35lb, 2 rds 50lb), 50x Abmat sit-ups.


Clock is ticking, amigos. Get after it!

Mid-Week Moto & WWP Fundraising

CNN with Wounded Warrior Jonathan Pruden from WWP Inc on Vimeo.

In just over three weeks, Team COBRA-SPLOSION will be unleashed on Tough Mudder NorCal! We've all been training hard, and we'll be ready for the challenge.

We've got another challenge on our hands though, and that's helping the good folks at the Wounded Warrior Project do what they do by raising some money for the cause! Please take some time to check them out - visit the COBRA-SPLOSION blog page for links, or if you're already up to speed, head on over to our high-speed, space age donation site and get generous! All donations go directly to WWP - neither COBRA-SPLOSION nor Tough Mudder have any financial stake in the fundraiser. Get some!

COBRA-SPLOSION WWP Fundraising Site

Training Accountability: Week 5

9/6 - 4.5 mile run. EDIT - no run, did 5 rounds of: 10 body weight squats, 10 burpees, 20 push ups, 20 2-count flutter kicks.

9/7 -I think I did something today, but since I can't remember, we'll call it a weakness day. EDIT - 4.5 mile run.

9/8 - 1500 yard swim, 10x 10 wall-ups.

9/9 - 5 rounds for time of: 20 push-ups, 75 yard swim, 20 wall-ups, 75 yard swim. 27 min.

9/10 - Volleyball with JAGs. Actually counts as negative PT. Gym day - 14 pull-ups, 3x 10 bench press @155, 165, 175 lbs., 10 pull-ups, 3x 10 machine fly @120 lbs, 10 pull-ups, 3x 10 cross-ups @30 lbs., pull-ups to failure.

9/11 - Boot Camp with Travis. Lots of jumping, squats, running with a damn parachute on. Good times.

9/12 - I ate a burrito that made me fall asleep. Great success.

Training Accountability: Week 4

8/30 - Cuddly soft pile of self-loathing and exhaustion.

8/31 - 1000 yard swim; max rounds in 30 min. of: 50x jump rope, 20x 35lb. K-Bell swings, 10 Burpees, 3:00 freestyle heavy bag - 4 rounds, jump rope and K-bell swings of #5.

9/1 - gym day: 14 pull-ups dead hang; 3x10 standing barbell curls 70lb; 10 pull-ups, 8 dead hang, 2 kipping; 3x10 bent over dumb bell rows 65 lb; 10 pull-ups 3 dead hang, 7 kipping; 3x10 standing dumb bell hammer curls 30, 35, 40 lb; 10 lat pull downs 120 lb; 3x10 seated rows 115, 130, 145 lb; 10 lat pull downs 120 lb; 3x 75 lb bar preacher curls to failure - 8 + 3, 5, 3; 10 min./1.1 mile Precore hill climber.

9/2 - Weakness.

9/3 - 5x 20 push-ups, 20 sit-ups; 30 push-ups, 30 sit-ups, 1 mile hill run, 30 push-ups, 30 sit-ups, 1 mile hill run, 30 push-ups, 30 sit-ups, 1 mile hill run, 30 push-ups, 30 sit-ups.

9/4 - 1 mile track run, 4 miles hill/trail run, 4 hill sprints with Toms, Sarah, and Dodger - King of Dogs.

9/5 - I ate 6 tacos at the Fresno State game last night. Record is 12. Fail.

Mid-Week Motivation

Marine amputee rejoins battalion; returns to combat after near death experience

Article and photos by Sgt. Ray Lewis

Task Force 2d Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force

Monday, October 27, 2008 CAMP BARBER, Helmand Province, Afghanistan – There was blood in the water. It was a grim addition to the Iraqi sewage canal usually littered with dead sheep and festering fish.

That’s where the Marines of Company E, 2d Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division found their comrade after the attack.

Just seconds before, Cpl. Garrett S. Jones was patrolling the streets of Iraq with his team when he was suddenly hurled 15 feet into the air by an enemy booby trap.

“It was just a big dust cloud,” said Cpl. Robert C. Pofahl, who stood 10 feet in front of Jones when the bomb detonated. “I ran toward him, and I fell in the canal. The mud was almost up to my knees. It was probably the worst smell you could smell. That’s when I saw the blood in the water.”

When Pofahl saw Jones lying there, he feared his friend’s life was cut short. Barely alive, Jones’ life was about to be changed forever.

Pofahl remembers an explosion, tumbling forward, turning back around and hearing Jones yell at the top of his lungs. He then raced to put a tourniquet on Jones’ mangled bloody left leg.

“It sounded like I was whispering and because of the explosion, I couldn’t catch my breath,” Jones said.

When Pofahl arrived at Jones’ position, he realized he couldn’t lift him out of the canal. The muddy water almost made it impossible for Pofahl to grab a hold of Jones.

So, he called two other Marines to help pull Jones out.

“We got him up on the side of the road,” Pofahl said. “That’s when Navy Hospitalman Matthew Beceda took over. He cranked the tourniquet one more time, but it snapped. So he had to put another tourniquet on Jones.”

Jones was stable, but the Marines couldn’t call for help because the radio that Jones was wearing was ruined from the blast. They sent three other Marines from the squad to run 1,200 meters back to their combat outpost for help. A group of Marines stayed with Jones and his squad leader who was also injured by the blast.

The next thing Jones knew, he was on board a helicopter flight headed for the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. He was strapped into a gurney with a military chaplain hovering over him.

“The chaplain asked me if I wanted to pray,” said Jones, a 23-year-old Newberg, Ore., native. “We prayed. Then the doctor told me my left leg would be amputated above the knee.”

Shortly after, Jones was in surgery. He awoke a couple days later, but said he doesn’t recall much after the operation but a phone conversation with his relatives.

“I just remember talking to my family,” he said. “I remember saying, ‘I hear they make really good prosthetics.’”

Upon leaving the hospital in Germany, Jones was once again strapped into a gurney and flown to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., where his wounds were cleansed and torn flesh was removed from his body.

“It seemed like forever,” Jones said. “I had a bunch of tubes stuck in me. I was so drugged up I didn’t feel much of anything. I don’t remember much, but I do remember that one of my buddies who was shot by a sniper was also on the same flight. I didn’t know what happened to him, I just saw that he had a bunch of tubes stuck in his chest.”

Military medical officials then transferred Jones to Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) for further treatment. As a result of being restricted to a hospital bed, Jones wound up losing a lot of weight.

“I went from about 160 to 120 lbs.,” Jones said. “I was in the bed almost all the time. The only time I got up was to do stretching and go to the bathroom. If I wasn’t in my bed, I was in a wheelchair.”

During his recovery, Jones had a total of 17 surgeries to clean the infected area in his left leg. He was treated for third-degree burns and shrapnel that peppered his left shoulder and both legs.

On Aug. 20, 2007, Jones was released from NMCSD -- just in time to see his fellow Marines of Echo Company return home from Iraq.

“I was at their homecoming in a wheelchair completely drugged up,” Jones said. “Seeing my guys was emotional for me because we were all so close, and I knew I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them. When we all get together, it’s like a family reunion. We’re a tight-knit group.

We had difficulties at times, but what family doesn’t.”

Jones yearned to be back with his Marine family. Although he didn’t say it, he kept in mind that he one day wanted to serve with the Marines who saved his life.

“We all wanted him back,” Pofahl said. “He’s a good guy to have your back. He’d take the shirt off of his back if you need it. At the same time, we were like, ‘How would he be able to do that because of rehab and all.’”

In the meantime, Jones continued his appointments. In November, he finally linked up with a prosthetist who would help him become familiar with the functions of prosthetics. The prosthetist fit Jones for a total of six walking prosthetics and one snowboarding prosthetic.

An avid fan of snowboarding, Jones realized his potential during a snowboarding trip to Breckenridge, Colo., with fellow wounded warriors from NMCSD and his sister, Sara, in early December 2007. Although Jones had only been on his new prosthetic for two weeks, he was eager to go snowboarding -- a passion of his for more than 15 years.

“The first day, I was able to make it down the mountain,” Jones said. “As the days progressed, I got stronger and more confident on my snowboard.”

Surprisingly, all of the snowboarding helped him deaden some of the nerve endings in his left leg. It also helped him become more accustomed to walking on his prosthetic leg.

“Once I knew I could snowboard again, I realized I was going to be able to do a lot more than just snowboard,” Jones said. “I was like, ‘If I could snowboard, who knows what else I can do?’ It kind of opened my mind up to all the other possibilities.”

Meanwhile, Jones continued his daily physical therapy, stretching, and prosthetic appointments at NMCSD.

“I just kept thinking about my next snowboard trip and getting back to 2/7 ASAP,” Jones said.

Later, in February 2008, Jones was visited by Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. James T. Conway. Seizing the moment of this rare opportunity, he asked the Marine commander for orders to return to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Training Center at Twentynine Palms, Calif., so he could once again serve with 2/7.

“I asked to come back to 2/7, and his assistant took my info,” Jones explained. “And, a couple of days later, I had orders back to 2/7. I was so excited I almost didn’t believe it.”

When Jones checked back into his battalion, many of the Marines were awestruck. They couldn’t believe how much progress he had made on a prosthetic leg in less than a year.

“None of us knew how advanced prosthetics were,” Pofahl said. “He’s been called a walking legend, literally. We’re all glad to have him around. He’s a really positive and hard worker; one of those guys who don’t let anything get to him, obviously,” Pofahl said.

Although Jones couldn’t return to the infantry, he was able to serve in other sections within the battalion and was subsequently assigned to the intelligence section where he is relied upon to provide his fellow infantrymen with vital information that can aid in keeping them away from harmful situations.

“At first I didn’t know what I was able to do,” Jones said. “It’s good to be able to do something that will keep Marines safe. Although I can’t be out there with them, I get to directly help them.”

Jones wanted to deploy with his unit when it was ordered to deploy to Afghanistan in April 2008. But, he wasn’t yet ready to undergo the intense Mojave Viper pre-deployment training. Regardless, he would get no handouts despite being a new amputee. Realizing he is still a Marine, he knew he would have to prove himself all over again.

“It wasn’t just a hookup,” Jones said. “I had to do all the training all other Marines do.”

Jones participated in “humvee” scenarios, close quarters combat drills, survival training, machine gun packages, combat life saver courses, and several other pre-deployment courses. Although he had gone through this training before, this was his first time enduring it as an amputee.

“My leg popped off a couple of times in the humvee scenario and once when I was leaving a range,” Jones said. “I thought it was funny because ‘How many guys walk around with combat loads and have a leg fall off?’ I still did it to prove that I could deploy as an amputee.”

Once all physical and administrative requirements were complete, Jones was ready to deploy and help the Marines who once helped him.

“I love being with the guys, the same people. I really do,” Jones said. “If it wasn’t for the guys in this unit, I wouldn’t be here. It’s an honor to serve with them and be in a place where many Marines don’t get a chance to go.”

Recovering in just nine months, Jones has become the fastest recuperating amputee to deploy to a combat zone. Still, many people have doubted his ability to survive a seven-month deployment on a prosthetic limb.

“A lot a people were skeptical of me because I’m a new amputee,” Jones said. “It’s been a little bit of a challenge for me, mentally at first. People were saying, ‘Its going to be hard and I can’t do it.’ So, being out here was a confidence builder.”

Jones still struggles with walking. He said it takes a lot of energy to walk in combat boots for 14 hours a day with all the sweating, straining and refitting inside of his prosthetic leg.
He said he will always feel slight discomfort on his left leg because of nerve and bone growth along the skin line of his amputated leg. But, he considers it a small price to pay when comparing it to losing a life.

“We’re talking about a guy who almost died in battle and came back to a similar fight,” said Sgt. Paul E. Savage, an intelligence specialist and Boston, Mass., native. “The fact that it didn’t scare him to come back to his buddies truly speaks volumes of Cpl. Jones’ character.”

Jones said he wants to stay in the Marine Corps because he enjoys serving in such a loyal organization. The career retention specialist (CRS) has even submitted a permanent limited duty (PLD) package so he can continue his military career.

“Everyone here has been supportive in helping me get this reenlistment package started. The CRS submitted a PLD package for me back in March 2008. We are still waiting on that to be finished,” said a hopeful Jones, expressing how he felt about returning to serve with 2/7. “A lot of people are like family here. I guess that’s partly why I’m so happy to be here.”

Despite his abrupt loss of limb, Jones remains upbeat and always keeps his peers in high spirits.

“He’s always motivated,” said Gunnery Sgt. Michael J. Ortiz, battalion intelligence chief and Miami, Fla., native. “His morale is always high. The only time I see him upset is when he sees someone hurt or killed because he takes it personal. But, he always bounces back and visits whoever it is in the hospital to see how they are.”

Jones said he personally meets with new amputees to show them there is “light at the end of the ‘canal.’” He wants them to know just because they are an amputee, it doesn’t mean that they can’t reach their goals.

“I’ve told them to keep their head up,” Jones said. “I want to show them that if I can do it, they can do it. I want to set the example for other amputees. I want to show them that a bad thing might happen, but you can still make good of bad circumstances.”

Jones’ co-workers all feel that his commitment shows he has authentic concern for his Marines. He also has kept in contact with many wounded warriors when they returned home to the U.S.

“He doesn’t know a lot of these Marines, but he doesn’t care. I know he’s made multiple calls to amputees’ doctors to check on how they’re doing. I think it’s awesome that he does that. It shows that he genuinely cares about his Marines,” Ortiz said.

Jones is the first Marine with an above-the-knee amputation to deploy to Afghanistan. There have not been many of these amputees to redeploy to a combat zone to date.

“Ninety percent of the guys in his situation would have likely walked away with their disability and called it a day,” Savage said. “But, he’s still striving to make a point and it’s remarkable.”

Jones continues to push his personal, mental and physical limits. When he returns to the U.S., he wants to train in Utah in early December and represent the Marine Corps in adaptive snowboarding. Competitions will be held in Colorado, Canada, and possibly Italy. He said the competitions will help him prepare to compete in the 2010 Paralympics for snowboarding in Vancouver, Canada.

Corporal Jones wants to continue serving with the 1st Marine Division as an intelligence specialist. He also wants to keep helping fellow amputees continue their service in the Marine Corps. He said he is sending a letter to the commandant entitled, “Back on their Feet and Back in the Fleet.” The letter entails getting PLD packages completed for more wounded Marines in a timelier manner for those who desire to stay in the Marine Corps.

“Just because you have an injury, it doesn’t mean you have to leave the Marine Corps,” Jones said. “You just have to work hard. I want to let those guys know back in the States that there is a place for you. I plan on being one of those examples.”

Corporal Garrett S. Jones, an amputee who was injured in 2007 by an insurgent’s bomb during his unit’s deployment to Iraq, shows his prosthetic leg. Jones is a 23-year-old Newberg, Ore., native.

Corporal Garrett S. Jones, an amputee who was injured in 2007 by an insurgent’s bomb during his unit’s deployment to Iraq, is proud to be back serving with the Marines of 2d Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, which are currently serving in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Jones is the first Marine with an above-the-knee amputation to deploy to Afghanistan.

Corporal Garrett S. Jones displays one of the seven prosthetic legs he now wears after being injured in 2007 by an insurgent’s bomb during his unit’s deployment to Iraq. Six of his legs are used for walking, and one is for snowboarding.

Mid....ish-week Motivation

Original story from The Oregonian here.

Someone once told Staff Sgt. Michael Kacer that the whistle of a rocket in war sounds different when you know it will strike you.

On June 18, 2008, as he played cards in an outpost in eastern Afghanistan, the whirring was unlike anything he'd ever heard.

Though he survived the attack, he lost his left arm, and had about 15 surgeries to repair a severed jaw, injuries from shrapnel shards lodged in his thigh and collapsed lungs, three broken ribs and more than 20 facial fractures. Surgeons couldn't fix his traumatic brain injury, which causes memory loss and alters his equilibrium.

While recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the Pennsylvania native vowed that once his broken body mended, he would push it to new heights.

That opportunity is this morning as he and 11 other soldiers from across the country compete in the two-day Hood to Coast Relay as one of 1,000 running and walking teams. "Team Warfighter Sports" is made up of service members severely injured in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The team includes former and active duty members -- one is a woman -- who are amputees, blind or who have traumatic brain and severe muscle injuries.

The group, which first met in Portland earlier this week, will navigate the 197-mile course from Mount Hood to Seaside. The relay draws participants from around the world.

Many team members share a similar recovery path with Kacer. Inspired by their medical team, family and friends or others dealing with similar injuries, they turned to running, hiking or other outdoor activities as therapy.

"Everybody has their way of dealing with everything, and coping and making it seem like it's OK," says Kacer, 28, who has since retired from the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. "I've been doing that through running."

Two national organizations, Disabled Sports USA and the Challenged Athletes Foundation, brought the athletes together. Standard Insurance Company sponsors the team.

Kirk Bauer, executive director of Disabled Sports USA, says the nonprofit keeps in touch with more than 2,700 severely wounded service members and invites them to excursions or races year-round. The organization, along with the Wounded Warrior Project, coordinates the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project, which began in 2003, to encourage service members to use sports as motivation to heal.

Nearly 32,000 U.S. military have been wounded in action in Iraq and more than 7,600 in Afghanistan, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

When Capt. Ivan Castro runs the longest distance of his team's relay —19 miles — the 43-year-old will do it connected by a shoelace to a running partner who will serve as his eyes.

Castro lost his sight in September 2006 when a mortar round landed near the platoon leader as he stood on a rooftop in Youssifiyah, Iraq, southwest of Baghdad. The blast drove the frame of his protective eyewear into his face, and fractured facial bones, broke his arm and collapsed his lungs. In and out of the hospital, he had more than 36 surgeries and lost about 50 pounds of muscle after six weeks in an induced coma. Castro, from New Jersey, spent six months in rehabilitation learning how to live without one of his senses.

"I just made it my goal to come back faster and stronger than before," Castro says. He has since participated in 12 marathons, several triathlons and climbed Grays Peak in Colorado.

He now serves as a recruiting coordinator and assistant operations officer for the Army Special Forces Special Operations Recruiting Battalion. He is believed to be one of three blind active duty officers serving in the Army.

Castro also mentors other injured service members.

"I walk into their room and say, 'Look bud, I was there. I was in that bed. I know what you're going through. I know what it feels like to feel anger, to feel depression, to have survivor's guilt. I know what it feels like to wish you were dead,'" Castro says.

Army Sgt. Daniel Casara, who lives in Chicago, understands that the path to recovery is long and challenging.

It took Casara eight months to learn how to walk again after a tank he was in hit a mine in Baghdad in 2005. He fractured his right tibia and fibula, shattered his left tibia, heel and ankle bones. His right hip doesn't rotate normally and neither do his feet, because he has bones fused together. Instead of running, the 36-year-old will use a handcycle.

As the team takes on the relay today, members hope they can inspire both civilians and fellow service members. Casara has learned that veterans can motivate each other.

"I'll go to a sports camp or go to a marathon and I'll see a guy that is paralyzed on half of his body, and I'll see him doing something that he's never done before," Casara says. "If this guy can do it with half a body, and even though I don't have total usage of all my limbs, I should be able to do it."

-- Melissa Navas

Training Accountability: Week 3

8/23 - 6.5 mile run

8/24 - 1500 yard swim

8/25 - 100 yard swim - lightning closed pool - Plan B -Max rounds in 30 minutes of: 50 count single jump rope, 20 35lb K-bell swings, 20 push ups, 3:00 freestyle heavy bag, no rest - 5 rounds complete.

8/26 - Gym Day - 3x10 flat bench, incline bench, decline bench 135-175lb, 3x10 cross ups 30-40lb, 6x10 pull-ups about 50/50 dead hang/kipping, at failure of pull-ups 3x10 lat pull downs 100-110lb.

8/27 - Shame.

8/28 - 1 mile track run, 5 mile hill run w/Toms, Russell, and Mason, who is actually training.

8/29 - Post-Fun Day. Definitely no PT.


Better than last week, but complacency halfway to the goal is as bad as laziness all the way there. Keep pushing!

Training Accountability: Week 2

8/15 - Moved my new bed. If you saw the corner at the top of the stairs I had to get this around by myself, you'd consider it a workout too. Otherwise worthless.

8/16 - Rounds in 30 minutes of: 20-rep man-maker (20 mountain climbers, 20 push-ups, 20 single arm raises without breaking from push-up position), 3:00 freestyle heavy bag rounds, no rest. Got through five complete rounds and the man-maker of #6 before time ran out.

8/17 - 4.5 mile run up and down Cerro Coso hill - 600 ft climb.

8/18 - 1.25 mile run; 15 rounds for distance of: Sprint 20 seconds, Rest 40 seconds, Start each round at previous round's end point - made it 1 mile; 2.25 mile run home.

8/19 - Helped blow up 7,000 pounds of explosives. Count it - C4 is heavy.

8/20 - 4 mile run, mild hills w/ Dirty Derby.

8/21 - Weakness. 12 0z. curls. Lots of 'em.

8/22 - Paddleboarded about 20 minutes with Derby. Pretty pathetic. Ruthless hangover.


All things considered, it was an OK week, but I need to get better. Legs are getting a little dinged up from barefooting the sprints and hills - going to take it easy on them and move to more swimming this week until we hit the Reedley College hill again on Saturday. The sprint workout I did on the 18th is pretty crazy - doesn't seem like much, but it really stacks up around round 7. Crossfit is making a noticeable difference in my cardio - worth looking into.

Sound off, suckers.

Mid-Week Motivation

These guys are working harder than us all the time. Think about this when you're sucking on your own hill.


Note to Mason Parkinson and Travis Benner - given your silence, we're all pretty much assuming you have something to hide. GET IT TOGETHER LADIES!

Training Accountability: Week 1

It's time to get hard, cupcakes.

Cobra-Sploders - Post your training for this week in comments - if you sucked, own your shame - non-responders will be ridiculed for letting the team down and generally being too soft to survive.

8/8 - Sucked - SB Fiesta chewed on my soul and flossed with my spirit. Also, Derby killed my legs at Crossfit on Friday prior.

8/9 - Ladyboy - legs broken.

8/10 - Delicate Flower - somewhat mobile again.

8/11 - 4.5 mile run, 3x 5 min. heavy bag rounds.

8/12 - Gym day - chest - 3x 10 flat press @ 165lb, 3x 10 incline press @ 135lb, 3x 10 decline press @ 65lb dumbbells, 3x 10 cross-ups @ 30lb

8/13 - Crossfit/Pool - 3 sets of 21x, 15x, 9x: K-bell swings, push-ups, sit-ups; 50m swim between each descending round and set. Comp time circa 30 minutes.

8/14 - 4 mile hill run, 1 mile hill sprints w/Mike Toms and Russell Suemoto - Sumo posted a 4 mile warm-up before the white boys even got out of bed.

Pony up, hustlers, and be straight with your team. If we wind up lugging your doughy ass up the mountain, we'll know what you were up to these final months anyway.