Seattle Training Camp Day 1

Did you know that in Seattle it rains so much they have special plastic bags for umbrellas.  Strange.  It’s not raining here and it kinda looks like a warmer Alaska.  All of that is besides the point.  We started camp tonight with 2 hours of Ryan Bingham and max effort lifting.  Rudy and I agree there are certainly some negative aspects of the lifts that are glaringly obvious in this group.  On the flip-side though I think this may be the camp with the greatest potential for instant retention.  They have some pretty big flaws to work on BUT they all seem very capable and eager to learn.
We will be addressing the bar track during the first pull for sure.  Also we will be working on transitioning into the second pull WAY too early.  Lastly, we are going to fix the dip for the jerk.  Of all the mistakes we saw tonight the greatest flaw was the jerk.  We will definitely be spending some time on that tomorrow.
All that to say, I met some awesome people tonight.
Got to eat dinner with and chat Games Prep with the folks from Crossfit Coeur D’Alene and watch Derek Hutchinson hit some big lifts.   (Not at dinner of course… he had a Tuna Salad)
Also got to watch Raselle Fryberg nail some pretty massive PR’s in the Snatch and Hit a PR clean after this big 205# CJ.
One of the cooler stories of the night was watching mother Janice Spray CJ 155# then literally turn around and watch her 19 yr old son Daniel CJ 275#.  Here is one of his lifts.  Honestly it was just cool to see two generations of lifters from the same family completing the same lifts with equal intensity.  Very cool and a dream I hope to live one day with my kids.  Though I will outlift them 🙂
Lastly, the coolest story of the night and one I was literally oblivious to is Becky Clark.  I spent a couple minutes working with Becky on her jerk tonight.  She has an incredible clean as you can see from this video but she always dips forward into her toes when she jerks.  We spent some time practice the dip and drive of the jerk and in so doing I learned a cool fact about Becky.  She is in the Marines and two years ago gave up her spot to the Games because she had previously committed to bootcamp.  LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THAT IS SELFLESSNESS AND PATRIOTISM IN ITS PUREST FORM.  I mean the flipping GAMES!  Check the video out about her sacrifice and character here.
It’s bound to be a fun camp though I am still waiting to be impressed by the so-called Mecca of coffee… its just Starbucks everywhere.  Not impressive.  Come one Seattle where’s the coffee love?