Author Archives: scharles

Crossfit: permission to succeed requires permission to fail

Posted on April 19, 2012 by scharles

The other day at CrossFit East Sacramento we had difficult warm up and WOD.   The warm up included the usual stretches, plus 5x 200m runs broken up by various drills (inch worm, high kicks, Sampson, etc.)  I timed my 200m … Continue reading →

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Crossfit: what would Yoda do?

Posted on April 17, 2012 by scharles

Yoda once intoned, “judge me by my size do you?”  Well, yes, sort of. When I first got involved with crossfit, I remarked to a friend of mine that I had to set my expectations correctly, because I am a … Continue reading →

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Crossfit: Helen

Posted on April 16, 2012 by scharles

Crossfit has created a set of standard workouts (“WODS”) named after women.  Helen is one of them.  Helen consists of 3x 400m run, 21 kettlebell swings, and 12 pullups.  I was under the impression that the Rx for the kettlebell … Continue reading →

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Crossfit: the nature of inspiration

Posted on April 15, 2012 by scharles

As a child I remember thinking various famous people were really interesting and had marvelous adventures. I remember wanting to be an astronaut. I had some notion that it was heroic. I’m certain that I had no idea at that time what a hero was. Continue reading →

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Resurrection Theater: “Talking With” notes and comments

Posted on April 13, 2012 by scharles

What we have in “Talking With” is a study in existentialist drama. Which is not to say absurdity, or angst. It’s more like “existentialist quirk”. Because the characters are caught in the middle of their story, and alone, they become eccentric. Well they actually are eccentric to start with, but more so because they are completely out of context. Continue reading →

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Crossfit: conversations with better athletes

Posted on April 12, 2012 by scharles

This week the CFES foundations class had 2 WODs that involve running, and I happened to be at both of them.  The one from the other day involved 2 rounds of 200m-400m-600m runs, then a 6 round tabata of  burpees, pullups, dumbbell clean … Continue reading →

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Mad Men: notes and comments

Posted on April 12, 2012 by scharles

Mad Men season 5 premiered last month.  I don’t have super-duper cable so I don’t get AMC.  I watched all 4 previous seasons via NetFlix.  I’m always a bit behind on popular culture because I don’t want to pay the … Continue reading →

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Crossfit: more fear and loathing (well, jealously anyway)

Posted on April 12, 2012 by scharles

So today we had 10 1 minute 200m sprints with max double-unders for the remaining time.  It takes me about 45  seconds to run 200m, so I had precious little time to get to the rope.  My best effort was 3, and … Continue reading →

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Belen Fernandez: Coffee with Hezbollah; comments and notes

Posted on April 11, 2012 by scharles

The Middle-East is a strange place.  That’s the conclusion I came to after reading Belen Fernandez’s recent book “Coffee with Hezbollah.”  If I had to sum up the book in a few words, I’d say it’s a combination of “Fear … Continue reading →

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Crossfit: mental discipline revisited

Posted on April 9, 2012 by scharles

Crossfit requires a huge amount of mental discipline. The whole concept of crossfit is based on intensity; it’s painful, so it takes a bit of work just to give oneself permission to endure it. For me there is also quite a bit of emotional energy, various attachments to ego, self-worth, self-perception. Continue reading →

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