Been a bit since I last ran through what I've been up to, so, here you go!  The lull in posts over the past 4-5 days has been because I was out on a cruise down to Mexico and internets was insanely expensive, so, opted to just lay low for a while.  Let's start off with The Open.  As I write this, we are only hours away from the announcement of the 4th workout (out of 5), and the exciting thing for me with all this has been my rapid comeback.  After a debacle of a first workout, finishing 375th in the region, I had a respectable 2nd one, pushing me to 103rd.  Then, I good score in my eyes brought me down to 82nd overall after 3 weeks.  I'm fired up becuase there are a limited amount of exercises they can bring out for us on the last two workouts, and I am very confident I'll do pretty well.  My goal is to not only finish in the top 60, but to hopefully get myself down to a better finish than last year (I finished 30th last year).  I haven't really made an official announcement yet, but because the chances of me actually making the Games are pretty slim, I'll be joining the Outlaw CrossFit team and competing with them to hopefully get to the Games that way!  I am exited to do this as I've never done a team competition and I feel strongly that team Outlaw will tear it up (as of now, we are at 10th in the region, and am pretty sure we'll finish top 5 or so when all is said and done). 

So, this past weekend.  This was an interesting trip all around, and it solidified that I really do know what I like and don't like.  So, I met Lindsey down in Ft. Lauderdale on Wednesday, grabbed dinner on Las Olas Blvd and then went to get some recovery sleep before doing the 3rd Open workout.  After a hearty breakfast we went to The Playground Gym to join their 10am class for the workout.  This place was awesome!  A HUGE warehouse, just north of downtown and filled with every bit of equipment one would need and more.  They had full powerlifting gear, tons of racks and platforms, a great space out back with tires and sleds, and tons of really welcoming and enjoyable athletes, and of course, some great coaches.  After getting my 10 rounds plus 27 reps in the crazy humidity of Florida, I hung around for a bit with the coaches to get some light Oly work before headed back to prepare fro the cruise.  Had a great time at The Playground Gym (owners of CrossFit Affliction as well) and was excited to head back there on Monday after we got back from the cruise.  I was able to get my back squat work, then joined the 7pm class for their conditioning: 5 rounds of 400 meter run and 15 overhead squats at 95#.  This was the perfect workout post-crusie bender and I was happy to move through this with a time of 13:41.  I would assume that a 12-ish minute time would be doable at full capacity, but it felt so good to just go all out.  After that, I hung with the coaches and did a bit more accessory work.  So, if you are ever in Ft. Lauderdale, make sure to get in touch with these guys and join in for a class, they are a bunch of damn good people.

On to the cruise!  Ok, I totally get how some people can really like these things.  Everything is right there for you, food, sun, games and such f you want, and plenty of people to keep the energy levels up.  We had some fun on the flow-rider, had a really good people-watching time, got TONS of sun, drank and ate too much, and had a absolute blast on our day out on Cozumel, Mexico.  The negatives from my perspective (and mind you, these are merely MY opinions!  I have a pretty distinct personality, so take these comments accordingly):  you are stuck in a limited space.  To me, it is scary as all hell to not be able to go anywhere at any time.  While the ship was impressively big, you are still completely limited to what's on it, and I could start to feel myself becoming a tad bit claustrophobic.  The next is the food.  While it was actually pretty decent, it was insanely processed.  I could tell that right off the bat becuase no matter how much or little you ate, you felt crazy bloated after, no matter what!  When I had fish tacos in Mexico with fried fish and cheese on them and felt awesome, I knew there was something strange going on.  And while there was plenty to do (flow rider, climbing wall, basketball court, game room, freaking skating rink and so on) it was just not the same as say, surfing, actual rock climbing, running around in the woods and swimming in the ocean.  I found that my snootiness on relaxation is pretty strong and I can't get myself to be totally chill unless I'm in nature.  Oh, right, and I'm also NOT an extrovert; as in, I really don't get any energy at all from being around other people.  I get my energy from being alone and in nature.  Some people are just different, what can I say.  So, if you like being around people, if you like having tons of different foods and and drinks and having everything right there for you, then a cruise is perfect for you.  And I know tons of people who love cruises, so, makes sense.  But for me, just ain't the thing for me!

Allrighty, there's the update show for today.  I got a few things planned out for posts to come, so look for those through the week!

Never Stop, GET FIT.

Josh Courage
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Well, yet again I have neglected writing for a couple weeks and I apologies to those of you who enjoy reading my blog on the regular!  But I have decided on what I will be doing for Lent.  First off, I have never actually done anything for Lent, never really grew up with it or anything so it never really caught on for me.  And really, I am approaching this first time for me all wrong, but that's ok, I'm really just committing to something and it just so happens to land on the first day of Lent.  I am giving up on excuses for NOT writing on this blog and will be writing a post every single day!  Yep, it's back at posting up motivations, updates, ideas, thoughts, complaints, and on and on.  So, you have that to look forward to!

Other than that, I'll start off with a little update on my training, the progress of the gym space, The Open, training with The Outlaws and whatever else pops in my head as I write!  So, training has been going very well.  Following The Outlaw Way, and getting down to train with Rudy Nielson and his crew on a regular basis has worked wonders on my progress.  I always thought that I just needed to break down one last wall before becoming legitimately good at this whole CrossFit thing, and while I am no Rich Froning, Jr., I feel like I have at the very least figured out exactly what it takes.  I still have my weaknesses, and while they are big weaknesses, I am WAY better than I was even teo months ago.  I feel like that wall I need to break through is still there; but rather than being a 10 foot think steel wall, it's a frail drywall (the link there is for fun, and it tends to be highly offensive and littered with bad language, besides that, it is hysterical.  you've been warned).  Last Friday we hit a threshold workout and something just clicked in me.  I figured out how to push through more than ever before.  And while I've had a few crappy workouts after that, it has really opened my eyes on how to better approach all the other workouts that could and will be offered throughout a competition.  I am bubbling with confidence when it comes to competitions coming up.

That leads me to The Open.  Tonight CrossFit will be announcing the first of five workouts that around 50,000 people worldwide will be performing in what is easily the largest and most divers competition the world has ever seen.  After the same process last year, I can honestly say that the powers that may be over at CrossFit figured out the best method for finding The Fittest On Earth in the given year.  While I am sure there will be some minor changes throughout the years, I think the basic template will stay the same.  For those of you who do not know, it works like this:

The Open:
One workout is announced every Wednesday night.  People have until Sunday night to submit their score, either by video, or by going to a qualified affiliate who can validate your score for you.  Every person is signed up in a specific region, and I think there are 14 regions around the world (I am in the Mid Atlantic Region).

The Regionals:
The top 60 athletes from each reason will make it to Regionals.  They get their by being the best at the workouts announced over the five weeks of the The Open.  This event will be a 3-day event (although the dates posted this year suggest a 4-day event...).  These will be run just like a normal CrossFit event, with 6+ workouts over the weekend, all at the same location and everyone competing for a top spot!

The Games:
The top 3 athletes from each Regional make it to The Games.  This is the big event that will probably be on ESPN and where the winner get $250K!  It just keeps getting bigger and bigger!

It's a pretty cool event all around, and if you don;t want to sign up for The Open yourself (you might as well, it's only $20 and can be done almost anywhere!) you can follow along the world HERE, or me and my adventures on my blog as I'll be updating my process.  Turns out I'll be performing each of the 5 workouts in a different location each week!  Crazy!

Cool, besides that, not much going on!  I have a massive project in the Courage Bars looming over me which is nothing short of insanely exciting, and I am focusing on getting those made up and marketed in some way as I train and get my clients training as well.  I am negotiating a gym space right now, and with all the bad luck that has followed me in trying to open a space since I moved back to the East Coast, this is proving to be the most promising.  I don;t want to spill the beans on the details with this one yet at all, but know that I am still working on a daily basis to get something going!  Obviously, as things roll along I will update everyone, so, staying positive! 

If you haven't yet, or if you know of some people that can vote, please vote for me for Best Personal Trainer in DC here.  It only take s few seconds and I am committing to doing something wonderfully crazy and entertaining (physically obviously) if I win this year!

Ok, that'll be the update for now.  But I'm excited to get to writing on a daily basis, have lots' of great topics to get to!

Never Stop, GET FIT.

Josh Courage
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