Wine Country CrossFit

Zachy’s Show

Memorial Day Murph in our gym was a success with plenty of suffering and PR’s. But the biggest shout out goes to Zachy Zurowski who is 11 years old and in 5th grade. He is wearing the bright blue shirt on the right side of the picture. He plays lacrosse and does the kids CrossFit classes. He did Murph as prescribed, RX, in 37.22. He left his dad David Z in the dust. Congrats to you Zachy. We will remember you for a long time.

===========================

The US Women’s Whitewater Team Shines Again

The last time we paddled together was 14 years ago, in a completely different kind of boat. So when we gathered at the starting buoy in the Monterey Bay last Saturday in the midst of 20-25 outrigger canoes I thought we would probably come in last. Or, well, maybe some other boats would make some big mistakes and we could come in 2nd or 3rd to last. When the starting horn blew we pulled into the lead group, fighting our way thru sideways swell and plenty of chop on a cold and blustery day. We jockeyed for position with a boat on our left, played some cat and mouse with another boat on our right as we rounded a buoy a mile into the 11-mile course. The 10 foot swell and chop made paddling hard, and it only got bigger for the next five miles as we headed out of the bay. We rounded the buoy at mile 6 where the giant swell terrified me. We got our bearings. We got our stroke back in time with each other. We surfed the swell away from the boats that had caught us at the turn around buoy. To our complete surprise, we paddled to a first place finish in our division in 1.52.55. (!!!!)

Our team consists of Juliet Starrett of SF CrossFit & Mobility WOD, Julie Munger who is one of the toughest humans on the planet, Sue Norman who is former national slalom champion, and me, Beth Rypins. Our Saturday race crew was filled out by master steers-woman Dawn Prince of Tamalpais Outrigger Canoe Club, and Katherin Vanburen, 2-time dragon boat world champ on the Canadian Team. We beat teams that paddle together and train a LOT. We have a lot of room for improvement and we need more practice together before we race in HI in September in the open ocean, but our win is a testament to CrossFit. We won because we are strong, because we dig deep–both literally and figuratively–and because CrossFit rocks!

To prepare for the race in Monterey, I paddled a handful of times with the Outrigger Club right here in Napa. They train at the Yacht Club just south of downtown, and they are SUPER welcoming and friendly. They welcome paddlers of all abilities, and they encourage the complete novice to come on out and give it a try. Please let me know if you want to check it out and I’ll go with you. I think you will be amazed at how strong CrossFit makes you for paddling!

=========================

Thursday’s WOD

Pull-ups. Work kipping or butterfly. If folks are proficient at both of those then scale up to weighted.

WOD
Bear Complex
Complete 5 rounds:
Complete the following cycle 7 times each round:

Power Clean
Front Squat
Push Press
Back Squat
Rack Jerk

Go up in weight each round. Do not drop bar during each round. Rest as long as needed between rounds.