Euro Trip 2016: Rome Video
Here is the Rome leg of our honeymoon. I used my GoPro Hero 3 with a Feiyu Tech Gimbal and the three way grip. We had a great time in Rome and hope to return one day. Enjoy.
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Guam
Euro Trip 2016: Rome
Rome 2016
Rome was the third stop on our European honeymoon. My last visit to Rome was 25-26 years ago. I was around four and do not remember much. My return to Rome was with my wife and I couldn’t have asked for a better travel partner. Main points of interest on this trip was the Vatican, the Colosseum and the Pantheon.
Cell Phones
We picked up a new set of SIM cards from TIM. It came with a few gigs of data and costs about $30.00. The coverage was great and data speeds were fast. We would switch to WiFi once we got home which made the data last about five days.
Transportation
From the airport, we used an airport shuttle that was offered at the airport. It was about €10.00 per person. We used the same service to transport us back to the airport for our flight to Amsterdam. The subway system in Rome is small compared to Paris and London. It contains only two lines that run near the center of the city. The bus system is your go to for public transportation. We picked up the three day pass and a two day pass from a local convenience store. They also sell passes at kiosks around Termini station.
Accommodations
We stayed in an AirBnB on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. Aside from the awesome name (my first name is Emmanuel), it’s within walking distance of many tourists spots. We walked to the Vatican, Pantheon and Trevi fountain. Unlike Paris, we booked a room but it had a bathroom which was a plus. The person checking us in was very helpful and gave us directions to laundromats, popular eatery’s and tourist spots.
The Fun Stuff
The Colosseum
The Colosseum is an iconic Roman structure. It’s featured in most if not all films that portray ancient Rome. It’s also the setting for one of my favorite films depicting ancient Rome, Gladiator. The structure is large but not as large as I imagined. If naval battles were fought in the arena, the ships would have to be really small. We walked around the ancient arena and then headed towards the Forum.
Roman Forum
The Forum was a short walk from the Colosseum. The Forum contained ruins, churches and other buildings. Some of the churches were old temples that were converted when Christianity became the national religion of the empire.
The Vatican
My wife and I are both Catholic and the Vatican was at the top of our must visit places. We visited St. Peters Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican museum. Like Paris, we were able to attend mass in St. Peters. While there Pope Francis give his weekly address in St. Peters square. We were able to view great works of art such as the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel as well as the Pieta. Some of the papal tombs were open and we were able to walk through them. Unfortunately we were not able to see the tomb of John Paul II, but we were able to view St. Peters tomb.
The Pantheon
The Pantheon is one of the more famous churches in Rome. It was a former temple that was converted into a church. Two famous tombs can be found in the Pantheon. The tomb of King Victor Emmanuel II (pictured above) and the tomb of the famous artist Raphael.
CrossFit Villa Albani
A trip to Rome wouldn’t be complete without visiting a CrossFit gym. Simonetta, the owner, was very welcoming and asked us to sign her wall in the lobby. We picked up a few shirts after taking a tour. We didn’t get to workout but hopefully we will the next time we visit Rome.
Our trip to Rome was amazing and we were sad to leave. We had a great time wandering streets and eating amazing Italian food. I’m going to miss the pizza and I’m sure my wife will miss the gelato. This will not be our last trip to Rome.
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The 2017 CrossFit Open: #OpenReflections
The 2017 CrossFit Open: #OpenReflections
The last few weeks were a blast. The workouts were fun and challenging making this years Open memorable. We used a new piece of equipment (dumbbells) and a new movement (burpee box jump overs). I set out to achieve a goal this Open and unfortunately, I didn’t reach it. After a few days of self reflection, I’m more motivated to workout this year.My goal for this Open was to place in the 30’s on Guam. Last year, I finished the Open in the 46th spot but this year I placed in the 51st spot. I’ve come up with two reasons why I placed a lot lower this year and didn’t reach my goal.
Pay the Man
“Success isn’t owned. It’s leased, and rent is due everyday” – J.J Watt
Sorry J.J, I’m a few months behind on rent. This sentiment sums up my year since the 2016 Open. Early last year I focused on Oly programming and stopped doing metcons. The Oly programming was long and heavy on most days leaving me with no energy to do a class WOD. I also got married and did not workout or eat healthy for about two months. It adds up. My lack of conditioning showed in 17.4 with me finishing short of my score from last year. I did not put in the work this year.
Everyone is More Fit
I hit PR’s on workouts and increased my fitness but it wasn’t enough. The guys I used to beat in workouts are now beating me. This past year, the guys put in the work. It was a lot more than me and it showed in the workouts and the leaderboard.
Goals for 2018
“You don’t need harder workouts. You need to go harder in your workouts.” – Tommy Hackenbruck
I did not put in the work this year so I’m not surprised I didn’t hit my goal. I’m now more motivated. I want to at least make it into the 30’s on the leaderboard next year. I want to work on Oly lifts but I also want to work on conditioning. It’s going to be a balance but I’m sure I’ll manage. I also want to work on my gymnastics skills, especially muscle ups. It’s going to take a lot of hard work and I’m looking forward to it.
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Miniature Mondays: The Blood of Martyrs
The Blood of Martyrs
During MKII, I wanted to run a fun Thyra list but didn’t have any of the models. I was playing a lot of Kreoss1 and Severius1 lists which had mostly Zealots and Exemplars. I finally found this model for a great price on Ebay. It was a used model that had been primed white but after a bath in some purple stuff, it’s as good as new. The tassels on the blades have broken off and I’m probably not going to replace it. The back fabric panels were not attached, I like the way it looks without it. One of the blades is also chipped on the tip but hopefully I can make it look like battle damage.
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The 2017 CrossFit Open: 17.5 – Double Unders With A Side of Thrusters
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| By “crushed it”, I finished under 40 minutes and I didn’t pass out. |
17.5 – Double Unders With A Side of Thrusters
17.5
10 Rounds: For Time
9 thrusters (95 lb.)
35 double unders
The last open workout of 2017 was not a repeat. We knew thrusters were going to be in this last workout since thrusters were in the last workout the past few opens. Fellow gym members speculated on movements and many thought it would be dumbbell thrusters, double unders and one more movement. The announcement came and we sort of predicted it (wasn’t too hard to be honest). Thrusters and double unders. This should be easy right?
Earlier in the week we did a workout that had burpees, thrusters at 135 lb. and double unders. I was feeling confident but after watching a few heats at the gym I started to get a bit worried. Guys who are a lot fitter than me were finishing 15 – 20 minutes. I knew I was going to be in for a long workout and was shooting for a time under 25 minutes.
The first few rounds of the workout went well. I was finishing the thrusters unbroken and my double unders were not too bad. I would trip myself around 20 reps or so but I was able to keep my pace. The middle of the workout was where I started to break up the thruster set. I would do five reps then four reps after a short break. I was also tripping on the double unders after five to ten reps and took a long break after each trip.
The last two rounds were brutal. I was so close to finishing and did my best to finish. I was able to string the double unders and finish those quickly but I would be extremely exhausted after. The last round of thrusters were done unbroken and I did my best trying to finish the last round of double unders unbroken as well. During the double unders, I started to hyper ventilate and I could barely breathe. I started to feel light headed but I had a few reps to go. I closed my eyes and heard 35 yelled out by my judge and immediately fell to the ground. It was tough and I finished at 23:03. I was under 25 minutes but I was hoping to be a bit faster.
I know I have a few things to work on. Breathing was key and I didn’t do it efficiently. Also, doing double unders while fatigued. I hope you’re last workout went better than mine.
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Miniature Mondays: I’m Doing Some Hobby Stuff, I Swear!
I’m Doing Some Hobby Stuff, I Swear!
I finally finished painting Testament of Menoth but I’ve been working on some other stuff too. I finished assembling Thyra (not pictured), Blood of Martyrs, the Deliverers Sunburst Crew and Malekus. I need to get them primed so I can finally put on some paint. Need to paint my unit of Daughters as well in order to run a Thyra list.
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| Picture taken before I started painting Testament. |
The 2017 Crossfit Open: 17.4 – The Repeat
17.4 – The Repeat
When Dave Castro announced that 17.4 was going to be the 16.4 workout, I wasn’t surprised. I knew it was going to be heavy and it includes a few movements that we haven’t seen. My goal for the Open was to hit a PR on the repeat workout and I wanted to reach the handstand push ups on this one.
17.4 – AMRAP 13 Minutes
55 deadlifts (225 lb.)
55 wall balls (20 lb., 10ft)
55 row (cals.)
55 hand stand push ups
If you want to know how I did last year read this post. Sadly (like the gif above) I did not reach the handstand push ups. I actually did a lot worse than last year. I was only able to complete 37 calories on the rower, 12 calories short of my 16.4 score.
I started the deadlifts in sets of six. I took short breaks in between each set and broke the sets in fives after five sets. I continued doing the deadlifts in sets of five but I couldn’t keep it up for long and finished the deadlifts around five minutes. The wall balls were the movement that I started to hit a wall on. I decided to go for bigger sets at the beginning but I couldn’t sustain it. I would break it up into much smaller sets of five or six reps. I finished with the wall balls at 9:58 and started on the row. I started to feel discouraged with my time. I knew going into the row that I wouldn’t finish but I was going to try as hard as I could. I pulled with a pace of 800 – 900 cals/hr and finished with 37 calories.
I wanted to redo the workout on Monday but after a day of playing beach volleyball, my left foot was bruised. I didn’t want to risk damage to my foot and decided to do this workout once. I have accepted that this would be the first workout of the Open that I wouldn’t PR but I’m optimistic. I know where my weaknesses are and I plan to work on them in the coming year. I hope your workout went better than mine and congrats if you hit a PR.
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The 2017 CrossFit Open: 17.3 – The One Without Dumbbells
I know the equation above is not a solve for x. I have no clue what it means and it may be gibberish.
17.3 – The One Without Dumbbells
17.3
Prior to 8:00, complete:
3 rounds of:
6 chest-to-bar pull-ups
6 squat snatches (95 lb.)
-then-
3 rounds of:
7 chest-to-bar pull-ups
5 squat snatches (135 lb.)
*Prior to 12:00, complete:
3 rounds of:
8 chest-to-bar pull-ups
4 squat snatches (185 lb.)
*Prior to 16:00, complete:
3 rounds
9 chest-to-bar pull-ups
3 squat snatches (225 lb.)
*Prior to 20:00, complete:
10 chest-to-bar pull-ups
2 squat snatches (245 lb.)
*Prior to 24:00, complete:
11 chest-to-bar pull-ups
1 squat snatch 265 lb.
*If all reps are completed, time cap extends by 4 minutes.
When Dave Castro announced the workout I stopped following at 185 lb. snatches. My max recorded snatch is 175 lb. and 185 lb. is too heavy for me. My wrist has been giving me issues during snatches so I was not confident at attempting that weight. I don’t know why I’m thinking about the heavy snatches when the path to get there is going to be very difficult.
I did 17.3 twice. Unlike 17.1 and 17.2, I liked this workout to do it twice. I finished the first workout in the fourth round, completing four 135 lb. snatches. I completed the second workout in the fifth round, completing three 135 lb. snatches.
I did the chest-to-bar pull-ups in single reps which didn’t take me much time. I also did the 95 lb. snatches touch and go. This lowered my time by at least two minutes but I had to catch my breath when I started on the 135 lb. snatches. I took about a minute on the snatches because I did them in singles. I started the fifth round at six minutes but I knew I wasn’t going to make it to the next round. I finished with three snatches, two reps short of my goal. I didn’t finish the second round of snatches but I did my best and I beat my first score by almost a full round. I’m happy with my result and I hope I’ll be able to hit 185 lb. for reps next year.
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The 2017 CrossFit Open: 17.2 – Legs
17.2 – I Can’t Feel My Legs!
Last week it was my back and this week it’s my legs.
17.2 – AMRAP, 12 Minutes
2 Rounds
50 ft. dumbbell lunge (50 lb.)
16 toes-to-bar
8 dumbbell power clean (50 lb.)
-then-
2 Rounds
50 ft. dumbbell lunge (50 lb.)
16 bar muscle ups
8 dumbbell power clean (50 lb.)
Etc., alternating between toe-to-bar and bar muscle ups every two rounds.
Last week it was a single dumbbell, now it’s two! My biggest worry was getting at least one rep on the muscle ups. I haven’t done one since August and I failed in my previous attempts. I should have focused on the lunges since they were the hardest movement.
The workout started off great. I used the dumbbell stacking technique and did the lunges quickly. The toes-to-bar were done in sets of five and six. The cleans were not too bad either. I started to feel my legs get tired during the second round of lunges. I could feel my legs tightening up and had to rest at the end of 25 ft. I switched my grip to having one dumbbell head rest on my shoulder since it was becoming more difficult to stabilize the dumbbells when they were stacked. I finished the last set of lunges and went for another round of toes-to-bar and dumbbell power cleans.
Fatigue had set in and I was barely able to complete the reps on the toes-to-bar. I did small sets and then singles. I finished the cleans and started on the lunges. I finished 25 ft. and took a minute to catch my breath. It was close to time cap when I started my last 25 ft. of lunges. I finished at 11:55 and didn’t get to the muscle ups. After the workout I signed my sheet and went outside to throw up. I pushed myself to the limit and I wasn’t happy with my performance. I wanted to at least attempt a few muscle ups but I overestimated my fitness. However, this workout has given me the motivation to start going harder and pushing myself in workouts. I know I can do better, I just need to put in the work. I hope your workout went better than mine.
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The 2017 CrossFit Open: 17.1 – Spinal
17.1 – My Back is Broken
The Open has arrived and 17.1 didn’t disappoint. Like last year, 17.1 had a new movement, the dumbbell snatch. While burpees and box jumps are not new to Open workouts, burpee box jump overs have only been seen at Regionals. It was a fun workout that rewarded those with great conditioning.
17.1 – For Time, Time Cap: 20 Minutes
10 dumbell snatches (50 lb.)
15 burpee box jump overs
20 dumbell snatches (50 lb.)
15 burpee box jump overs
30 dumbell snatches (50 lb.)
15 burpee box jump overs
40 dumbell snatches (50 lb.)
15 burpee box jump overs
50 dumbell snatches (50 lb.)
15 burpee box jump overs
After seeing this workout performed on the announcement show I knew I wouldn’t finish. I haven’t worked on conditioning since the last open and I knew it would bite me in the ass. The workout started great. I went unbroken for the first two rounds but I was exhausted and it has only been six minutes. I started to chip away at the 30 dumbbell snatches but I couldn’t do it unbroken. I broke it up into small sets. The burpee box jump overs were broken up into small sets as well. This continued until time cap, finishing at 40 dumbbell snatches and one burpee box jump overs.
I did that workout in the morning and by the afternoon my back was sore. My form started to give out towards the end and I used more of my back than my legs. It has been two days since I did the workout and I’m still sore. I’m going to take a few days off before heading back to the gym. I’m ready for 17.2!
If you don’t understand the meme, watch the video below.
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8-Bit Barbell 