“As you start to walk out on the way, the way appears.” Rumi
READY FOR ANYTHING Last week I had a conversation at Diablo with member Chris MacCrary who shared an incredibly scary story about his recent hand surgery. He wanted me to know that “CrossFit saved my life.”
Chris’ story begins with a surgical procedure on his hand a month ago to repair a tendon tear separation in his pinky finger. “Pinky tendon repair surgery” doesn’t sound serious, but it’s actually very extensive and quite complex. It also requires multiple surgeries. Nonetheless, Chris was back in the gym working out within a couple of days of his procedure – scaling appropriately.
And, this is when the story gets scary. While traveling on business, Chris noticed that his hand was swelling excessively. He was able to catch an earlier plane home, but the his hand continued to swell on the plane and he began to feel unwell. Soon the pain became excruciating and he texted his friend, a surgeon (and Diablo member!) who asked to see a picture of Chris’ hand. After messaging with Chris and looking at the picture, he advised Chris to go directly to the ER upon landing. Chris drove directly to John Muir ER, where he was diagnosed with sepsis (and, septic shock) and admitted to the hospital for four days. The Doctors discovered that Chris’ surgery wound was severely infected likely due to the inserted metal rod meant to support his repaired tendon.
Chris bounced back from his near-death experience and was back in the gym moving after a few days, albeit very conservatively. He credited his “ready-state” fitness for giving him the strength and energy to quickly recover and fight the infection.
I had a similar experience with my hernia surgery (recovery – not the infection). I had a little Tylenol on the first day, then nothing after. I was walking around on day 1 and 2-3mi per day after that. After 2 weeks, I’ve started training with light weights and moderate intensity. At 60 years old, I credit my rapid recovery to my fitness, my CrossFit training.
Whether it’s recovery from surgery, adventures with your kids, hiking with friends, working in the yard, lifting packages or suitcases or, protecting yourself from danger – CrossFit makes you ready for anything.
I’M NOT READY FOR THIS Yvonne Howard has agreed to be on the PRsAllDay podcast, Mon at 10AM PT. Yvonne officially qualified for her 6th CrossFit Games as a Master and will be on the PRsAllDay Podcast on Monday. Tune in on YouTube or in the Diablo Members FB Group.
MURPH IS COMING – MEMORIAL DAY – ‘Murph is arguably the most recognized of all the CrossFit hero workouts (Aug 18, 2005) – workouts created by CrossFit to memorialize CrossFit military, police or fire personnel who died in the line of service. Murph, named for Navy Seal Lt. Micheal Murphy is: 1 mile run, 100 pull ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats and another 1 mile run. Wear a weight vest if you have it. We will be running heats on Memorial Day from 7AM – 11AM.
ARE YOU GOING TO PASADENA? May 25-27, DIablo’s Anejo Team (Jackson, Kristjahn, Beth & Emily), will be competing with 40 total teams trying to earn an invitation to the CrossFit Games in August. We’ll have a good size crew of Diablo members on site to cheer them on! Join us if you can. We’ll post in the members group with meet-up information.
TWEET OF THE WEEK: We make people ready for anything. THE WEEK AHEAD:
May Focus: Primary: High Bar Back Squat, Secondary: Push & Row, Skill: Murph Prep
PRsAll Day Calendar & Newsletter
Mon: Murph Prep. Metcon: Tabata Row
Tue: High Bar Back Squat. Metcon: 3RFT – 12 PSnatch, 9 OHS, 6 SDHP #65/95
Wed: Press / Row. Metcon: 5RFT – 4 Clusters, 8 T2B, 12 BFBurpees
Thu: 5RFT – 20 FR KB Lunges, 12 KB Swings, 15 Box Jumps, 15./20 Ca Bike, Rest
Fri: Amrap 15m – 200m Run, 5 Strict Chin Ups, 10 Strict WB
Sat: 100 Burpees for time. Speed bump every 2m: 8 S2OH, 10 Front Squats. #75/115
Sun: Amrap 22m – 12 DB Snatches, 200m Sandbag Carry, 2 Rope Climbs, 1m Rest
CRAIG’S LIST:
BOOK: Dopamine Nation, Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence – Dr. Anna Lembke. This is a powerful book and I HIGHLY recommend it for everyone, especially parents. Member Richard Blake (@the_breath_geek) was on our weekly podcast and recommended it to me to help me understand the power of the human dopamine response as it relates to addiction. Dr. Lembke is an accomplished addiction psychotherapist from the Bay Area. In her book she tells the story of several patients with a wide range of addictions, including social media, drugs, pornography, gaming, gambling, fitness and even masturbation – and how they overcame those addictions. The tools she uses and recommends are mostly related to dopamine self-management.
PODCAST: Making Sense of Social Media and the Information Landscape | Episode 8 of The Essential Sam Harris – I like “The Essential” episodes of Sam Harris because they are a compilation of his thoughts and his conversations with experts about particular topics in this case: the perils of social media. Again, this is an important one for you if you are a parent, or if you’re concerned about the amount of time you’re spending consuming social media. They have truly hacked our brains.
PODCAST: Jen Ismar: Living The Van Life – PRsAllDay Podcast. – Former Diablo General Manager, Jen Ismar is a boss! About 3 years ago, she resigned from Diablo to start her own self-care, life coaching business and then, late last year, she sold all of her stuff and bought a camper van to travel the country. In this hilarious podcast with Jamie Lee and me, Jen shares some of best, funniest and scariest experiences while living that van life. Breakfast at the edge of the Grand Canyon sounds pretty amazing.
MUST WATCH: What’s Your Excuse? – Kim Dekeyrel is a fng stud – and is one of my heroes. She lives & trains at CrossFit Myo in San Jose.
Make it an awesome week!
Craig |
