Review: CrossFit Linchpin

First, a 30,000 ft view to bring you full circle about me and my point of view with regards to this review. I'm a 45 year old father of two, husband of 25+ years, Navy sailor for 20+ years, past ultra-runner with 32 ultras and 29 marathon finishes, and current garage CrossFit athlete with my CF-L1. I never thought I could sum myself up in one sentence but I guess I just did! The last part, that being CrossFit, started in November 2014. Between then and now, my wife and I were part of two CrossFit affiliates before opening "Maximum Effort," the name we gave our garage gym in April 2016. Since then, we added a 3rd "car" garage that has never housed a vehicle and instead is our haven every morning at 5:30am. Because I'm an ever-learning student of fitness, I obtained my CrossFit Level 1 Trainer certificate in September 2017.

Since we brought CrossFit home, I have honed my "skills" in how I program our daily grind. I found about 8 to 10 CrossFit gyms that I found interesting with regards to their daily workouts and browsed them daily when I woke up. Then, I rotated through the major lifts weekly. For example, Monday was always front or back squats. Tuesday, we'd go overhead. Wednesday, we'd go below parallel again. Thursday was a rest day and Friday was always Deadlift Friday. Saturday was maybe bench press or perhaps just a long, grueling workout. I am a huge fan of Hero workouts and it wasn't abnormal to see at least one a week. So, based on the lift and the WOD, I designed a warmup that played to those movements to appropriately warm the body up. Fast forward to about 6 week ago when I chose to "subscribe" to one of those 8-10 gyms.

Pat Sherwood, former Navy SEAL, owner of CrossFit Linchpin, is a former CrossFit Games athlete, CrossFit Seminar Trainer and currently on staff at CrossFit HQ in their media department. You'll often see him on the Update Show covering the CrossFit Games. Little did I know until recently, CrossFit Linchpin is his garage affiliate and always has been. He works out with his wife, as I do, and has some friends over from time to time. His workouts have earned, over time, the hashtag #brutallyelegant and he takes the "elegance" seriously. While I've never met Pat, I have come to respect him from afar. Both Navy vets, a few years apart in age, both love our families and hold them high in priority, and don't believe fitness is the KING of all, rather a way to enjoy life to its maximum for as many years as we are given. Pat believes an hour in the garage is plenty to be "fit" and it's important to get out of there as well. Of course, the workout isn't the first step in fitness, it's nutrition, but for me, CrossFit Linchpin has struck a nerve with me and is a great parallel to how I view life, fitness, and things #brutallyelegant.

Pat offers his "private track" for only $10 a month which gives access to his crafted warmup, the workout, and most recently added, accessory work. I have looked at programming "services" before and I must say, $10 a month is nothing as compared to the value received. Bargain is a gross understatement...so THANK YOU, Pat. At right is a screen shot of what I see when I open the Beyond the Whiteboard app. All of Linchpin's programming is found daily here. BTWB also tracks everything so when something is repeated, for example, like 3 set of 10 dumbbell hammer curls as accessory work, it'll show you exactly what you did last time, removing the guesswork of what DB to grab and also a source of motivation to perhaps go heavier and push for a few more reps. There are a lot more tools here, but I haven't dug into them at all. By clicking on "Today's WODs," you can also look in reverse and to the week ahead. I have a "thing" about not looking ahead, though. I never look at "tomorrow" until the evening before. I tend to start thinking about the workout once I know what it is and that's a boundary I set for myself to prevent myself from obsessing over it.

On weaknesses: the one BIG downfall to doing things wholly on my own is the tendency to avoid things I cannot do and/or workouts I don't have to scale. I mean...who doesn't like to write "Rx" next to every finishing result?! Because I'm an all-in kind of person, I am loyal to the workouts Pat writes and don't shy away from anything. I scale, I embrace learning new things, and I face head on things I cannot do. Case in point: yesterday. In those first two CrossFit affiliates, I was never taught how to do handstand push-ups and therefore, never learned them or tried. But, because Pat programmed them, I worked on them and yesterday, I finally got them. Now, it DOES help that I feel stronger than ever and am 20+ pounds lighter than I was on January 1st, but I wouldn't have gotten those had he not programmed them. L-sit pull-ups, tons of DB accessory work, and the list goes on. 

Variety: One of CrossFit tenets is the notion of being "constantly varied." This could not be more true with CrossFit Linchpin. There is absolutely no pattern to the programming from what I can tell. I may be wrong but if I am, I don't want to know! I like that, actually. It's not that certain things are ignored because Pat pays close attention to what's been done and how long it's been. He also doesn't shy away from working on your "engine." As he just recently said in one of his Instastory videos, 

"If you're avoiding conditioning, you're avoiding fitness."  

Sooo true! Just lifting heavy doesn't translate into being "fit." It's a package deal. So, I always find a good dose of running, rowing, or biking on the calendar and moving weight over distance. I love that stuff...especially getting loaded down with weight and moving distance with it.

Overall, I take seriously who/what I support and thought long about signing up with CrossFit Linchpin. The way I see it, Pat was selected to be a SEAL, earned his trident, and served his country honorably. We have that service in common so I feel like hey, this is a guy I can get behind and trust a bit. That training, combined with hundreds of seminars teaching the CrossFit methodology the globe over, making it to the CrossFit Games, soaking in wisdom from interviewing countless Games athletes, and really just years of pursuing fitness is a pretty good resume when it comes to what I seek. Throw in a stance or belief that you don't need to spend hours a day in the gym to be fit and fitness isn't the end all, be all, and there you go. I signed up and have no intention of leaving the CrossFit Linchpin community anytime soon.

Oh yea, before I go, I have to mention again his video commentary. Pat has a "different" kind of sense of humor. "Quick and witty" is how my wife describes him. "Mischievous" comes to mind for me. Either way, we almost always chuckle when we watch together. I do appreciate hearing the "why" behind the workouts, the iterations they went through to get to the final product, scaling suggestions and of course, the time it takes to assemble it all. It really is the cherry on top of my subscription to the private track. For this garage CrossFitter, the total package makes me feel like I am part of the global CrossFit community and the Linchpin community, even though only virtually.

AAR: 2018 Eagle Up 24hr Ultra

Here in Northeast Ohio, the Eagle Up 24hr Ultra endurance event has quickly garnered a loyal following both locally and throughout the Midwest in only 3 years. This year broke all records and was a huge success overall and the feedback coming in has been nothing but positive. My perspective on this event was unique this year so my AAR is a bit event-centric and a little behind-the-scenes. Even if you’re not an “ultra-runner,” read on...you may just find an event here that is within reach that you never considered before.

Full disclosure: I’m the local Team RWB Akron/Canton Chapter Captain, and since this event is our “capstone” event of the year for our Chapter and is on the Team RWB Midwest calendar, it was important to me and our leaders that we do this event very well this year, especially since our Chapter was just “born” at the top of the year as the former Cleveland/Akron Chapter split. A few months back, our social coordinators got together and spear-headed the charge to plan the free pasta dinner and the army of 50+ volunteers it would take to put together a 24hr event and provide the kind of support necessary to not only provide “care and feeding” of 500 participants but medically as well. When we began that planning, I wasn’t signed up to participate and figured I would just volunteer and support my wife would was planning to ruck it again this year. Last year, she did 50 kilometers with her ruck with lofty goals to crush that this year and I did 40 miles with my ruck. That destroyed me physically. About a week prior to the event as our volunteer schedule was set and well over 200 had signed up for the pasta dinner adjacent to the race site, something tugged at my heart and I decided to sign up and ruck it with my wife. Goal? Whatever her goal was. She didn’t tell anyone but me but she wanted 50 miles. LIke I said, her previous distance was 50K or 31.2 miles. Outside of that, she’s done a few trail races at the 25K (15.6mi) distance. Never had she walked, ran or RUCKED under weight past 31.2 miles. “Goals,” right?!

For the weeks leading up to Eagle Up, we did a lot of rucking together with increasing distances carrying at least the required weight of 22lbs. I normally carry at least 35 pounds but often carry more. I have a background of ultra-running, the nutrition involved and the legit mental game that reigns supreme in these kinds of challenges so I just followed much of that. What’s very different from rucking this kind of distance vs. doing a GORUCK challenge is that the constant, repetitive nature of it under weight. In an event, we do PT, we carry things, we stop, we start, etc. It’s not the same step one after another from sun-up to sun-down. It’s also very different than running 50K or 50 miles. When you first throw 22 pounds on your back, one may not think much of it but it’s toll doesn’t take long to be realized. It changes your gait, it applies constant pressure on your shoulders and rests at different spots on your back, introducing a whole new geography of chafing spots not normally realized when only running. Chafing can end an event, as can blisters. Blisters...we’ll get back to that.

At the start, 6am Saturday

At Eagle Up, the rules and guidelines are simple. Camp (or not) anywhere near and surrounding the area leading to the start/finish area and start/stop moving as often as you wish as long as you exit/enter the course at the same point...all between 6am Saturday and when the horn sounds at 6am Sunday. Timing is via chip on your ankle and as you cross the start/finish each loop, the TV screen will display your name and number of loops/miles complete. Each loop is flat and in the shape of a rectangle on a groomed, crushed-limestone towpath trail surrounding the Tuscarawas River. Support is INCREDIBLE. I have crossed the finish line of 32 ultra-marathons and 29 marathons and have never seen the quality of food, diversity of options, and consistency in the “staples” we runners/ruckers want and need. From gluten-free options to cups of pickle juice to hot BBQ to hot Dominos Pizza to Peace, Love and Little Donuts...and the volunteers...just NO COMPARISON and for a 24hr event. Further, we had a mid-way mini-aid set up at 2 ½ miles with more fluids and a few snacks. That remained staffed until 11pm. Even more, two drums of water were evenly spaced to provide even more hydration refills. 

We set up our tent and canopy on Friday at noon, picked up our packet, and headed home for the night to give us a good night rest prior to race day. Many camp out the night before, especially those coming from the 30 states represented this year. From one-man tents to full-blown six-figure RVs, you’ll see it in “Tent City” along the race course in Canal Fulton. From all accounts, the free pasta dinner went very well at Canal Boat Lounge, courtesy of Team RWB Midwest. We couldn’t attend but our team and the restaurant pulled it off really well and we plan to bring it back in 2019. Back home, my wife made pizza on the grill and we were in bed early for a 4am wakeup call.

The race kicked off on schedule at 6am amidst a rising sun and sea of Team RWB red shirts, 177 Eagles, to be exact. I made a commitment to myself for this race: NO RUNNING. In 2017, I ran quite a bit and crushed the event but it crushed me. In fact, I laid on the concrete for about an hour after I finished, unable really to get up without passing out. Cramping was out of control, terrible dehydration, and disorientation. My logic in much of 2017 was this: I used to run all the time so running + rucking made “sense.” Wrong. In 2017, I also was having issues with my knees and couldn’t figure out why. It made me withdraw from GORUCK events and pushed me into seeing my doctor to investigate. Nothing was ever found and I never put two-and-two together that my foot pounds of force I was putting on my knees by running with 35+ pounds on my back was destroying them. Instead, I prided myself on how fast I could cover benchmark GORUCK distances like 12 miles in 1:48. Insane. So, I stopped that and guess what, my knees got better.

So off we went, side-by-side, fast-rucking as we always do together with a bit less intensity due to the overall goal. Our normal 5+ miles was to turn into 50 miles. My goal for this event on the hydration side was very proactive. I was determined to not let what happened in 2017 happen to me again. So, I carried a 24oz bottle and a container full of Hammer Fizz tablets. Think Alka-Seltzer meets electrolyte tab. The goal was to finish all 24oz per loop of Fizz and drop another tablet with a water refill at the start/finish. I did this EXACTLY to the tee. Further, our volunteer medical lead and one of my volunteer Eagle Leaders, Jill Smith, strongly recommended pickle juice to ward off dehydration. It’s not normally smart to try new things on race day but my years of endurance running taught me that I have an iron stomach and I would do this. Big chunks of pickle were out at every loop as well as “shots” of pickle juice. Whether I wanted them or not, I ate pickles and drank the juice along with whatever else from the “buffet” that I wanted.

Photo Booth at the start/finish for everyone whenever they wanted to dive it for a shot. Us at Mile 25!

Feet: rule of thumb...never ignore ANYTHING. While a towpath trail is awesome for how well it’s groomed, it’s bad for tiny little pebbles that undoubtedly make their way into your shoes/socks. As a minimum, I’d recommend tall socks to keep them out of your socks, which I did. Ideally, I recommend wearing gaiters. You’ll save lots of sitting down to empty out your shoes/socks. Make sure you do, though. It became ritual nearly every loop to dump out the pebbles. As we finished our 25th mile and 5th loop, we were certainly feeling some hot spots and we both changed shoes a few times and applied more lube.

Jason Lee (Team RWB Midwest Coordinator) and I chattin' up a storm while my bride is ALWAYS camera-ready! Photo Credit: Dave Alverson

So there is this ice cream shop in downtown Canal Fulton that we hit up last year called Oser’s. Oh my. If you love homemade hard ice cream, this is a must-visit. Last year, we finished during daylight hours and celebrated our finish there. This year, they’d sadly be closed at our finish but we were unwilling to give in to defeat that easy. We decided at Mile 35 to shed our shoes and timing chip at our tent, don our flip flops and go endulge. It was sooo good! It was around this time that my bride was hurting both physically and mentally. Feet, legs and the funk was running wild in her head. On the walk back from Oser’s, she said “I think I’m going to lay down for a bit if you want to go swimming.” Oh yea, they set up a swimming pool at the start/finish! I have learned through ultra-running that to slip into comfort mid-event is a death sentence towards finishing. Even with the flexibility of a 24hr event, I stressed to her this would be a grave mistake. “We have to get comfortable with uncomfortable and forge ahead. We can’t stop. We’ll never start back up again. We have to go.” I prepped her socks with the lube powder I swear by and got us back on the trail. We had 3 loops to go. One more before sunset. Still, alone for the whole event together and not splitting up anytime soon.

There was lots of time where it was total silence, times of generic chatter and times of attempted comedy thrown in. In the end, we just kept encouraging each other through our highs and lows (always happening opposite each other) and was careful on the pace to ensure we stayed together and kept moving ahead smartly and efficiently. As we crossed 40 miles, we grabbed our headlamps and warnings about a storm heading in. We actually saw the radar on a volunteer’s phone at 42.5 miles and the storm was all around us and creating a hole right over Canal Fulton. I wouldn’t have believed it unless I saw it! It was crazy and clearly a God-send. It never did rain before our finish but poured overnight. At this point, our feet were both wrecked. Hers had blisters all over them and me taking my socks off for ice cream was a mistake. I had zero issues prior to that and after, I all-of-a-sudden had hot spots on the outside of my feet near my heels on BOTH feet. So strange and never felt before in my years of endurance running. I lubed them up the best I could and put on my old CrossFit shoes as they are soooo comfy. “Get comfortable with uncomfortable.” Remember that.

At Eagle Up, the major distances you see participants do is 50K, 50 miles, 100K, the 50/50 (50 miles plus 50K), and 100 miles...or most miles possible of your choice. There were also 4 and 8 person relay team options. We always knew when a relay runner blazed past us on the trail. For us, though, our target was 50 miles. At 12:18am, we crossed the finish line, hand in hand. It took us 18hrs, 18min, 27sec to complete 50 miles. We were very happy to be sub-20hrs, too. We’ve been kicking around doing the new GORUCK Star Course and it has a requirement to finish 50 miles in sub-20 hours to earn the patch. Given how many “shoe dumps” we took, the trip to Oser’s, and chatting it up with Eagles at the Start/Finish, we felt REALLY good about our time. She was the top female amongst ruckers and I was 2nd overall. I was/am so proud of her. I kept telling her that there is so much to learn here over just crossing a finish line. She said more than once this was much harder than giving birth and only 2nd to the GORUCK Light event she did with Cadre Geoff Reeves in July 2016. (I think her elbows are still bleeding from that event…) After we shook Eric’s hand (race director), I made a bee-line for the freezing pool and she hit the sleeping bag. The rain did come but only after we were laying horizontal, shoes off for the night.

Finished!

Joey (first ruck and 50K) and Jeromi
Photo Credit: Dave Alverson

There was a lot of awesome stories this year at Eagle Up, not just ours. One fellow CrossFitter had never gone the 26.2 mile marathon distance in her life yet she finished the 50 miler. (YOU ROCK, SARAH!!!!) Then another brand new Team RWB member and fellow Navy veteran just got his brand new ruck the week of the event and had never rucked before. He finished the 50K with the requisite weight and had a flock of Eagles to support him. That’s what it’s all about! There are many more stories out there so if you want to join us in 2019, the date is already set! June 8/9, 2019!