We are entering week three of the crossfit games open, it has been an interesting experience. It is fun being part of something that is so huge, but the growing pains have been pretty rough. From what I know, over 20,000 people are registered to compete in the crossfit games open. You can learn more about the competition at the crossfit games website. Basically how it works is you can compete as an individual and/or as part of a team. Qualifying teams and individuals carry on to the regionals and so on. The culmination of the event will be the crowning of one man and one woman as the fittest on earth. That, and there is a $1,000,000 purse, thank you Reebok.  Unfortunately the problems with the website and questions about the quality of judging going on has left many competitors frustrated and a bit jaded. Their points are valid and for those competitors that are in that elite category, I can't really blame them. But for me, I am enjoying it. I do not intend on being crowned the fittest on earth (though I can think of a few uses for that $1M), I just want to see how far I can push myself.

Last week's workout:

As many rounds as possible in 15 minutes:

9 Dead Lifts
12 Pushups
15 Box Jumps

I got 8.5 rounds. Those push-ups about killed me.

Great work Crossfit East Bay! Thank you to Crossfit One World for hosting us!

Several of these images were taken by Doron Serban, Keep any eye out for the video, hopefully he will be making one soon.

My light transceivers have been on the fritz. I decided to use my poor broken husband as a practice shoot while I tried to figure out what the heck was wrong with them. He was such a good sport and I loved the shots I got of him so I had to share. I did manage to get the darn light triggers to work, though not very reliably. It looks like they are going to have to go in for repair. What a bummer.

This is my favorite shot. It cracks me up. I think he is still recovering form the general anesthetic.

No, this is certainly not something that I should make every day. But, on special occasions it is nice to have a treat that will not make me double over in pain (in my case). I made lemon meringue, but this crust would go great with just about any filling

Crust:
1 cup macadamia nuts
1 cup walnuts
1 cup dates
a pinch of salt
a dash of vanilla

Toss everything into a food processor and combine until just before it turns into a nut butter. I have a super small food processor so I didn't chop mine quite as finely as I could have. Spread the crust into a greased pie pan and bake for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees or until the crust starts to turn golden. There is your pie crust.

For the fillings I replace the refined sugar with honey or maple syrup and if you need a thickener use arrowroot.

Also, the fella found an article in the Wall Street Journal on gluten sensitivity that might be of interest. It turns out that I really am not crazy after all.
 

This is Doron. If you asked him what he does you would probably end up with a mischievous grin and a, 'well that's a good question.'. Doron has and unending list of talents.  I first met him when I joined Crossfit East Bay. He is an incredible crossfit coach. Not only is he a mobility king (despite being one of the least flexible people I know), but he knows how to watch what you are doing and fix it. I know that this sounds like a simple thing, but I promise you it is not. Thinking back to when I was attempting to teach my fella how to ski, all I could tell him was 'snow plow!!!' It didn't end well. I owe my wall-balls 100% to Doron. Not that they are all that great, but they are getting there. He has also worked tirelessly on my running form, almost got me to a sub 7 minute mile. If you have ever seen me run you would know just how impressive this is. Now I could stop there, but there is a lot more to Doron...

'I was born in Israel, and settled in the US at the age of 7 after a brief 3 year stint in Switzerland. I did my undergrad in Music (jazz theory and composition) from UC Riverside (2001), then master's in Architecture (M.Arch 1) at Syracuse Univ (2008). I got into computers through music, which got into CG and 3D, which got me into animation. Framing for animations and 3D required the same eye as shooting. Around 2000, I started shooting a lot. When I did my first year of grad school, I was mentored by a landscape/commercial photographer who was in school to get his own master's of Arch and he taught me the difference between shooting for fun and being critical about my craft. I became the defacto studio lighting and CG lighting expert at Syracuse and taught some studios/seminars on each. I love teaching and creating, in any medium. 

It has been a rough couple of days. This is my excuse for not writing this week. Yesterday was Charlie's surgery, everything went fine. He is now the proud owner of 9 screws and a stainless steel plate. My bionic man. The surgery took just over two hours, and thankfully everything went well. It is so hard to see someone you love laying in a hospital bed, unconscious. I hope I don't ever have to do that again. I am glad that it is all over and he is now on the road to recovery. The best part is that after scoping his wrist the doctor decided that there was no need for reconstructive surgery on the tendons, this was a big concern. Since it is just the bone that had to be fixed the outlook for recovery is much better. He can start rehabilitation as soon as next week.

Until then, I am laying pretty low. Feeding the fella pain pills, snuggling down and watching lots of movies (thanks for your collection Andre!). The weather has been pretty crazy making me feel a little less guilty about not getting out an shooting. In reality though, all I really want to do is make him feel better. Feed a cold, starve a flu... what do you do for broken bones? I am thinking lots of chocolate. Calcium right?