WOD

It’s a start!! The new bathroom is going in and they’ve torn up the wall to find the plumbing 🙂 Looks awesome to me!

Thank you so much Local’s!! You all raised $4,560 to help pay for mats and plywood for the new side!! That’s over 100 mats 🙂 You guys are the best, more updates as they come. Stay posted!!!

We’re still open even though there’s snow – it’s agility training to get inside 😉

It’s tonight!!

Great Ready!

87 Mats Left! The way the lottery works is this: all the numbers from 1 to 134 go into a hat, or bowl or whatever; then we stir the pot and pick out 5 numbers. It’s very exciting. If the number that is drawn is your number, you’ll get the special super-secret not yet created T-shirt prize!!! If the number drawn hasn’t been chosen, that’s right, you’re SOL 🙁

87/134 = %64.9 percent of mats left unpurchased!! The inverse being 134-87 = 47, 47/134 = 35.1% of mats have been purchased!! Thanks so much to everyone who chipped in to help make this next adventure easier to achieve! We have the most amazing group of friends here! It’s pretty awesome 🙂

Fun workout today too, Logic anyone?

Alright! (as many a good metal song begins)

Expansion Update: We’ve submitted the permitting for adding a bathroom and taking the wall down! The city has the fees, plans and all associated documentation of awesomeness. Now the ball is in their court… Let’s all pray and plead so that they give us a quick turn around. We’re hoping for 2-3 weeks. Since the growing business sector is probably not booming at this point we think that means it’ll be just that, 2-3 weeks until we start demolition and construction. Unless of course, it could mean that because they’re not so busy they take extra time to scrutinize our plan! Yikes.

In any case, the whiteboard of Mat Lottery 2010 is amazing!! You guys totally rock! We’re probably 50% of the way covered in mats and plywood, which is perfect. The point of the board is two fold: first, to let people pick exactly which mat will be theirs (a little bit of pride, I like it!) and second, to win one of the 5 coveted T-shirts of Glory! To be drawn for and designed the night of the 15th (6:30pm).

As far as other help with the project, we’ll need lots of it 🙂 But without any 100% hard dates no planning can take place other than [awesome client] “Hey can I help?” [Jesse] “totally, thanks”. Which, if you know me well, bugs the heck outta me! So oh well, there will be many many chances to break things, sweep things, mop things, drag mats and place them, hang whiteboards, move equipment, paint/sand/sweep/mop, over the next few months, and my many thanks!!!

Lastly, when we’re into the demolition and construction phase of this project, I don’t forsee the need to close the gym down. They will demolish the back half of the wall and then the front half, it shouldn’t be too too terrible, and heck, maybe we’ll run a nasty 5k all cold and rainy that day 🙂 That’s how we roll!

Competition Epilogue: I’m sore, Abi is sore, Emily is sore, Todd isn’t… What a blast though! Tough tough tough workouts, great people, exciting bracket scoring system (like March Madness) which made for a quick day (read less time between workouts) that picked up pace as teams got knocked out (read even less time between workouts). Thanks for all the support here over the last couple days while your coaches aren’t there normal selves 🙂 I know that I’m not picking anything up and my demonstration technique is HORRIBLE. So bear with us, it’ll be about 6 more days until I’m fresh 🙂

Taranis Winter Challenge 2010 from geoff behrend on Vimeo.

Rainier’s Strongest Man: The boys in the back got after it too! In Sumner with Kurtis Bowler, tremendous efforts through again (a pattern emerges) multiple workouts over a short time frame, stone loading, double unders, rope climbs, log press, farmers walks…. Yikes. Very heavy stuff against very strong people! Dan, Ryan, Chris, James all competed and represented the gym big time! Way to be fellas!

Lastly (Geez, if I posted more often they might be shorter right?): Our last On-Ramp course for the year starts Monday the 22nd!! We’ve got the Radical Referral Rebate (alliteration is hot) cards on the desk in the office/lobby. Here’s how it works: you say “hey these are sweet, I love CrossFit, my [insert relationship here] should totally do it too!” I say “that’s awesome! your [insert relationship here] should totally be here too! it’d be great for them and their [insert reason/problem/goal]!!” You take the card, say “hey, I go to this outstanding gym, the trainers are top notch and they really care that you improve and enjoy the process of training, it’ll totally help your [insert reason/problem/goal here], they say “seriously? hmmm… it’s probably full of meat heads and pretty skinny little tiny tan girls huh?” and you say “nah, we’re Local’s people, just people gettin’ after it having a blast doing it, you should come join the class for beginners, it’s awesome, they take the time to really teach you the movements so you don’t feel like a dork when you’re around everyone!” they say “huh, that’s cool? how much?” you say “I don’t know, but here’s $25 bucks off! it’s got their phone number and email and address on it too – call them, if you don’t I’ll let them know and Jesse’ll call you!”

Perfect 🙂 The other part that’s cool is that you’ll get two things when you’re Radical Referral comes in and signs up! 1) Upgraded to Unlimited Training for the month, and 2) charged half for it! Sound like a winner! I hope it does, we’re trying to change the world here in Lynnwood one client at a time! Now that CrossFit has 2500 gyms doing just what we’re doing it’s really starting to work! Over 400,000 clients in all our gyms across the world, that’s not a percent yet, but it’s getting close 🙂 World domination will soon occur.

Clan Cheiftan out.

Very exciting news! May 21-22nd 2011 CrossFit Endurance is hosting a certification in our gym!!! Someone from CFE down in San Diego will by flying up here and making it happen! So cool!

Here’s the link to register: CrossFit Endurance Cert

Two days of straight running… Not at all! This is the most comprehensive Specialty Certification I’ve been to yet, and I have been to almost all of them! A very complete, effective program. We’ll be incorporating this into our training heavily as the months progress. Today in the gym is a very good example:

Row 2k time trial (if you were a marathon type athlete we’d go 5k)
-then-
Supplemental Weight Training to build strength. Split Squats and Hamstring Eccentrics. A cure for the commonly weak posterior chain 🙂

Get the word out to help sign people up! Trainers from other gyms are welcome, friends who are endurance people, triathletes, injured runners, people who cycle to work and want to do the STP, collegiate-type rowers, C.R.A.S.H. B indoor rowing competitors, adventure racers, ultra-marathoners, and certainly you who’s waiting to do your first 5k “fun run”.

That’s the plan for the new layout 🙂

Additions: Lots of extra platforms for lifting, space for all the equipment we currently have stashed around the gym, sandbags, KB’s, DB’s, Kegs, Stones, Cargo Net, Ropes, Couch, GHD’s, Squat Racks, Oh my goodness, you guys are in for so much fun!!

Exciting news pieces: CrossFit Endurance is using us for a Certification Site in May (21st-22nd) in 2011. Since we’ve practiced all winter we’ve got a head start! Sign up on CrossFit.com to attend and get coached by the guys who do just this for a living! April we’ll be hosting a very big powerlifting meet for the Southern Powerlifting Federation (SPF) headed by our own Justin Randal (professional powerlifter) which will be the farthest West meet for the SPF to date!
We need lots of help too!!! Yikes 🙂 The expense that we can’t afford at this moment is flooring! Here’s the plan: plywood with a little varnish and silica (for grit) makes up platforms, two being 139 sqft each, and then 6-10 regular platform spaces each about 21 sqft. That leaves about 3600 sqft needing mats. Each 24 sqft mat is about $40. We’re beginning the fund raising effort NOW to get cash together to go by mats and plywood so that by Dec 1st (when the wall comes tumbling down) we can floor at least half of the space. We’re going to hang a huge whiteboard kinda like the sectional scoreboard with everyone who donated a mat to the cause ($40). We wouldn’t be here without you and we’re not gonna do it without you!!

Other tidbits:
We’ve applied with CrossFit Endurance to make a CFE Team! Once Abi is Certified (Dec) we’ll be a bonafide house of going long. This is a cool thing! It gives our members a discount on CFE events (I think the Cert is one of those events) like races, a sweet banner and all their other excellent dealings. Very cool. Get ready for next summer! Lots of fun trips getting sweaty!
Ludus Virtis Weightlifting will also be making it’s home here at Local’s. Ludus is the ancient roman term for Gladiator School (directly translated as Sport), I’ve always seen us as a Sports School, so that’s good, and Virtis translates to Power. Which is kick ass in general. This is a United States of America Weightlifting Club (USAW) which is part of the Olympics!! Kind of a big deal, hence the banner 🙂 We’re getting more and more lifters, some converts some stolen from other gyms! We’re going to host Weightlifting meets here in the north end (usually they’re done in Sumner) which will be great to watch and be a part of!

Our classes will stay the same for the most part 🙂 As we add more and more members, friends and family we’ll be bringing in more coaches to teach more classes stratified mostly by ability and desires. As far as a Grand Re-Opening Party date, I’m shooting for the new year maybe the 8th (Saturday) great day for a huge workout with friends, family and enemies and then get ’em into On Ramp, one on one training or classes!