ARRRR! Go Ruck yourself! A CrossFit/Rugby weekend...

Photo courtesy of Tech Savvy Educator


For those of you who are not rubgy oriented.... warning... hard hitting will ensue...

Raise your hand if you love four hour car trips! OOOh OOOH OOOOH! Pick me! I do, I do! Ok, I don't really love four hour car trips, but I took one this weekend anyway, because it was rugby weekend in Lock Haven. Let me 'splain. A good friend of mine used to play rugby for the Lock Haven women's team when she was in college. Every year they host a spring tournament, and the alumni ruggers enter a team. It's a fun excuse for them to get together. Now, I never played, and in truth only understand about half of the rules of the game. So how did I get involved in all of this? Well, one time I was visiting Lock Haven and wound up dating a rugby player for a short time, but really liked hanging out with everyone. So even though that is over and long gone I continue to go back to hang out. Unfortunately, I got to PA on Friday only to learn that there would be no tournament due to the fact that the women's team got put on probation and was forced to cancel, but there was still going to be a men's alumni game, so fun would still be had by all.

Let me just tell you, if you are not familiar with rugby at all, A.)It's a dangerous sport which frequently involves injuries, and B.)It's a sport that involves quite a bit of drinking, which therefore involves quite a bit of urinating, which usually takes place not in the bathroom like one would think, but off the porch or in the nearest section of the yard. So, I spent my day yesterday watching the men's game, drinking heavily, and seeing more than my fair share of male anatomy. It was interesting for sure. But despite all that, I still had fun, even though my addiction to CrossFit nearly caused me to get into two fights. Let me 'splain again. First off, there is a kid who is now an alumni, who I never liked, even when he was on the team. I always thought there was something off about him and just couldn't stomach him for whatever reason. Well, I had on my CrossFit hoodie (hooah for the hoodie!) and he asked me what it meant. I told him that he shouldn't worry about it, and it would take too long to explain, so I told him not to kill any brain cells trying to figure it out. Now granted, the beer and my dislike of him were partially talking there, but apparently as I walked away to go use the restroom he asked my friend what it was. He told her he knew it couldn't be a gym, because I obviously don't work out. Excuse me? Baking powder? I thought you just said that I couldn't possible workout? I literally wanted to slap the kid across the face. I was raging. I think it's becoming more apparent that I do workout, and I would really like to kick that kid in the you know whats and allow him to try to find/retrieve his male anatomy. Although in all fairness, I'm not 100% sure he had any to begin with.

Well, after this, the party changed venues, so a few hours later, another guy and I nearly threw down over CrossFit. (CrossFit why do you keep getting me in trouble?) It's ironic that he happens to be a former marine, but he was arguing with me and telling me that CrossFit doesn't do enough for your body. He says that if I want clearly defined legs, I need to run when I get home from work after I've already worked out, and then he told me that the Zone isn't something I should be doing because I'll never lose weight. What? Are you retarded? A.) I don't run. Period. The end. Tanya will back me up on this. B.) The Zone doesn't work? Go f'in talk to Cara who's lost 25 pounds since January. I say yes it does. So literally, in the middle of the kitchen, which by this point is covered in beer, we're having an argument about CrossFit. Now the argument never really ended with a clear winner because by this time we were going in circles (being that it was 9 o'clock, we'd been drinking for about 5 hours, and I was definitely leaning towards the drunk side) and we were getting ready to change venues again and head to the bar. So the argument ended with him slapping my butt (which yes left a hand print thank you very much.... and hurt like hell) and then complimenting me on how well CrossFit has been working for me. WHAT?! Are you serious? That's so redonkulous I can't even tell you! So anyway...

Not that we needed to, but we all ended the night at the bars, and I really had a good time throwing darts with Mark, Dusty, and Tubby. Although if you want the fair truth, Tubby carried our team. Thanks Tubby! :) We eventually wandered home sometime around 3, and never got to bed until at least 5. I haven't stayed up that late in... 3 years maybe? Maybe I'm not as old as I think I am... maybe I can still hang with the young gunz! :P

While I was in town for this fun time, I was also recruiting members to the CrossFit cult. I have been working on my friend for about a week. She bought a kettlebell earlier this week after talking to me and spending some time on my site, and the CrossFit sites, and I spent Friday and Saturday showing her some CrossFit basics. We worked our all important air squats, hit some kettlebell high pulls and swings, she has already mastered the form for the TGU, we worked on push presses, thrusters, push ups, lunges, and we worked a little bit on the kip. I will say, doing these things outside a gym makes things much more complicated because you don't always have the proper equipment. Trying to learn how to kip on a playground with paint on the bars is not the way to go. But I taught her to use the heel/toe method from the CrossFit vids, and the bar is actually high enough that she can doing some jumping pullups, so it's actually a good modification for her. To get to the park though, we had to walk a mile, so I carried the 20lb kettlebell in a small bag on my pack. So I guess you could say I sort of did a 2 mile march with a 20 lb ruck sack. ;) All in all, the weekend away was much needed and a lot of fun, even though I woke up today feeling like total CRAP! I guess too much alcohol will do that to you.... imagine that. :P I'm totally bummed that I missed Eva's birthday. Check it out at CrossFit Old Town.

I no doubt deserved my enemies, but I don't believe I deserved my friends.
~Walt Whitman

Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend. ~Unknown