Got me a Level 2 and a Fran PR

Wow, what a turkey day holiday this was. I had 6 days off total (gotta love the Marine Corps) and I was more tired going back to work today than I was at the beginning of the holiday liberty period. It was a pretty action packed week, however.

Started off with welcoming the in-laws into town. The Seester-in-law came down last weekend, and watched Piper so that Amy and I could attend the Olympic Lifting Seminar at Oceanside CrossFit. What a great day of instruction that was from none other than Coach Mike Burgener.

On Tuesday, Amy's Mom and Step-Dad flew in from Seattle. Piper was beside herself she was so excited.

Wednesday was a low-key day. Mostly shopping for the big day on Thursday. Amy and I hit the gym for a lovely WOD of 150 Burpees. Time to see if the 100 Day Burpee Challenge paid off. It did, and how. My previous time on this workout was 10:30, I finished this one in 9:42. Amy took more than 6 minutes off her time finishing in 12:57.

Thursday morning we got up early and started preparing our feast. Since it was a small gathering, we did not have an extravagant menu planned. We had shrimp cocktail and hummus for appetizers, nothing says Thanksgiving like mashed garbanzo beans with garlic and chives. The main course was Turkey, stuffing, sauteed kale and salad. We finished it off with my pumpkin bread pudding with ice cream and Amy made chocolate brownies with a pumpkin, cream cheese mousse topping. Quite yummy, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

After the early morning preps and getting the turkey into the oven, Amy and I zipped over to the gym for a Turkey Day WOD. Jeff surprised everyone by treating us to "Fran". I didn't see that one coming. Amy and I expected that it would be a small group being Thanksgiving Day and all. We were quite pleasantly surprised to see the gym chock full. It was so full we had to run 3 separate groups to get everyone through. Neither Amy or I felt like this would be our day to PR Fran. I picked up the bar and warmed-up with a few thrusters and all I could think was UGH. Somehow, I mustered up the energy and fire to bust out a 30 second PR and finished in 4:05. Guess it was because I went toe-to-toe with Jeff, who also PR'd with 3:10 and Danny, who PR'd as well. Amy wasn't so fortunate. She just couldn't find her groove and finished somewhere in the 8 minute range.

Saturday and Sunday I spent at CrossFit Coronado going through the CrossFit Level 2 Certification. Unlike other certifications, this is a real deal, no gimmies test. The idea is to test one's ability to teach the 9 essential exercises that are fundamental to CrossFit (squat, front squat, shoulder press, push press, push jerk, deadlift, sumo deadlift high pull and medicine ball clean). The instructors were relentless and demanded a lot from us. It was a very challenging course and I am very proud to say that I passed and I am now a Level 2 Certified CrossFit Trainer. Unfortunately, about 1/2 of the attendees are not able to say that. The grading process is very stringent, but also very objective. I was very impressed with this cert.

Monday was supposed to be a relaxing day. I took Piper and the in-laws to the New Children's Museum. Piper and the in-laws had a blast. Unfortunately, I was exhausted and just couldn't get into the swing of things. It's a cool museum, a little smaller than I anticipated, but lots of fun things for kids to do. I owe Piper another trip to the museum when I'm in a more playful mood.

It's time to go back to work so I can get a little rest.