Whole30 Seminar at Potomac CrossFit

While we were on the road waiting to hear about our Afghanistan trip, we decided to pop in and visit a few of our favorite mid-Atlantic affiliates. We'd kept in touch with Erika and Siddharth, trainers at Potomac CrossFit, since our gymnastics cert there in January 2009, so we invited ourselves over for a workout. Turns out, PCF was a gym in need of some nutritional motivation, with many CrossFitters just one week into their own version of a "Paleo Challenge". Dallas and I were happy to help out, and hosted a Whole30 seminar for 20 of their members on Friday night.

Normally, we travel to introduce our Whole30 program, and outline the plan for those affiliates looking to host a dietary clean-up using our guidelines. Since PCF was already into their nutritional challenge (and this wasn't most members' first nutritional rodeos), we spent most of our time answering questions and helping to clarify some of the more confusing aspects of diet for CrossFitters. We talked cortisol management, eating well on the road, why a Splenda habit is hurting fat loss efforts, the sneaky effects of dairy, and injury, inflammation and dietary factors. We spent almost two hours answering questions and offering our best advice on how to wrap your brain around this new way of eating.

As an aside... I haven't talked much about our consulting practice here, mostly because things over there have been on hold while we planned for Afghanistan. Our web site is still very much a work in progress, despite the fact that I'm linking to it all over the place. (It's the equivalent of having company over while you're renovating your kitchen. Don't mind the mess.) And our services are still not as defined as we'd like them to be - we're hard at work on new client questionnaires, weekend long intensive programs and developing smaller, more casual "boutique-style" sessions, held outside of a CrossFit gym. But we're working while we're figuring it out, and Potomac was the perfect gig - fun and casual, with some smart and motivated clients and dedicated trainers. (Special hello to LeAnn and Kassandra, both blog readers and frequent posters. Thanks for the warm welcome, ladies.)

The seminar was a success, and gave us a bunch of good ideas for blog posts. (Stay tuned for Dallas' tips and tricks for when you're all banged up.) We're also making some changes behind the scenes, to better integrate my blog with what we're doing over at the Whole9. I know things have been quiet around here, and I don't like it any more than you do. I'm looking forward to some fun posts, regularly scheduled training and working on the new consulting stuff.

So a special thanks to Erika and Siddharth for organizing and Brian for hosting - we really enjoyed our time with you. And to all the PCF members who hit our seminar - how's your challenge coming along? Keep us posted!


Dallas, Erika and I, getting our gymnastics on at PCF.

Operation Iron Cross update

After a very stressful and uncertain week, I am really sad to report that our trip has been called off. The entire scenario was out of our hands, and the way things played out couldn't be helped. Here's the background.

Our flight out was dependent entirely on the Air Force, and ensuring we could secure a plane to get all seven of us and our cargo to Bagram. That having been said, as we were told several times... it ain't like flying commercial. Planes come when they come, and they're used for what is most important - and all of that can change at the drop of a hat.

The original departure date we were given was November 23rd, just before Thanksgiving. A week prior, we were told our flight had been bumped out to December 3rd, give or take a few days. We proceeded with that date in mind, collecting donations, supplies and equipment to make the 3rd deadline. And then last Tuesday, President Obama announced the Afghanistan troop surge, and we were told that our departure was now set for December 8th. Or 9th. Or 10th, at the latest.

While it stretched all of us a bit thin to leave that late, at that point we were all en route, and so invested in the trip that we decided to wait it out, and hope that our flight came earlier rather than later. And then, a few days later, the final word came... planes were needed for people (soldiers) more important than us, and our flight out was bumped to December 18th, at the earliest.

At that point, none of us were able to make the journey. Tucker has certs booked in Japan and New Zealand late in December, which doesn't leave him enough time to make the trip to Afghanistan and return in time to keep his committments. As for the rest of us... we all had jobs that we put on hold for a week, hoping to catch a flight out. To stretch our leaves to the end of the month was simply impossible. So we made the difficult decision to cancel the trip at this time, and try to reschedule our visit for after the New Year, when transportation would be easier.

Here's the good news... the care package we put together (including the TIBs, rings, bands, jump ropes, Paleokits, kettlebell DVDs, coffee and gymnastics supplies) is still heading over to the troops on the 18th. It'll be like a CrossFit Christmas present for the men and women serving away from home, and all of the new soldiers who will soon find their homes at Bagram. The materials are being coordinated by personnel at Fort Bragg and Bagram Air Base, and we'll soon have some pictures and stories to show you. We still plan to publicize our efforts in the CrossFit Journal, and plan to get ourselves in country next year to properly train the 7th Special Forces Group as we originally intended.

To say we are disappointed is an understatement. We all worked so hard, putting in so much effort, to pull this trip and these donations off in a very short period of time. We got SO close to our departure, and to be told at the very last moment that we were unable to complete our mission was devastating for all of us. The worst of it is thinking of the men and women we have to disappoint... those already registered for the cert, and so looking forward to the training. That's the worst part by far. But after the disappointment wore off, we took stock of our efforts, and what we were able to accomplish. We still collected an enormous amount of equipment, supplies and donations, we're still sending them over to the soldiers in time for Christmas. And we'll get back over there as soon as we can, to do what we promised to do. So I'm trying not to be too bummed. I'm still, however, pretty bummed.

The only ray of sunshine in this entire week has been the affiliate tramping we were able to do while waiting to hear about the trip. We held a Whole30 Nutrition Seminar at Potomac CrossFit in Arlington, VA on Friday, and hit our Oly at CrossFit Full Circle with Jason Struck on Saturday. We didn't have time for anything else, but I'll write more later this week about the awesome reception that PCF gave us, and how Struck won the old man division of his BJJ tournament. (It was awesome.) Until then, I'm going to head towards home and send my thoughts and wishes to the men and women at Bagram. I miss them already.

Operation Iron Cross update... and some affiliate tramping

We have been super busy with the final details of this trip - here is an update on where we stand.

All donations of supplies and equipment are packaged up and ready to go! We're sending them over to Fort Bragg to have them prepared for transport. Tucker and crew has built some special containers to leave with the troops - they're called "TIBs" (The Iron Box). They're 6' x 2' x 2', and built to withstand all kinds of weather conditions, keeping the equipment inside dry and sand-free. They hold everything from bumpers to rings to chalk and tape, but that's not the best part. Flip the lid and the box becomes a giant box jump for up to 6 people... remove the lid and it becomes a narrow but stable platform for jumping rope, pressing, squatting, etc. We've stenciled the lids of the TIBs with "Operation Phoenix", as a reminder of everything the organization has done to support these efforts.

Inside the TIBs, we've got all the equipment from Again Faster (rings, bands and speed ropes), all 500 Paleokits from Steve's Club, and the chalk, grips and tape from Rage Fitness. We've also been lucky enough to score some material from Jeff Martone's Tactical Athlete! Jeff personally dropped off some H2H and Tactical Athlete t-shirts and DVDs for the troops. Thanks to Jeff (CrossFit's kettlebell SME) for the support.

Finally, we've got TEN sets of the new EXF Rings from Tyler Hass at RingTraining.com. I've been working with a set of these rings for about a month now, and love the grip design and easy set-up. (My false grip pull-ups are so much easier on the rubberized grip. Muscle-up, here I come.) I brought a pair with me to one of the last gymnastics certs I coached, so the participants could test them out. Tucker said, and I quote... "I like the shit out of these." So we were psyched to score a few sets from Tyler and RingTraining. Thanks so much for the donation!

Last but not least, Operation Phoenix also donated money for us to build 15 sets of parallettes to take with us. The men and women at CrossFit Fort Bragg worked their tails off to get these built in time for the trip - well done! Check out what the full booty looks like here:



I'm glad we managed to get everything organized in time, although it looks a though our flight out MAY be delayed for a day or two... which means we may be doing some affiliate tramping around the mid-Atlantic while we wait for the Air Force to show up. We'd like to visit CF Potomac and Oldtown on our way down, and maybe see our boy Struck in Richmond too. It's all up in the air right now, but we're hitting the road tomorrow as planned, just in case the plane shows up on time.

We discovered that once we arrive, we'll be coaching literally around the clock, to accommodate everyone working the day and night shifts. I've never coached gymnastics at 2 AM... I hope my pajama pants don't get all tangled in the rings. Holy crap. We don't expect to sleep much while on base, but that's A-OK. We're there to run as many men and women through these certs as possible, and if that means long hours, we're all up for it. It's an honor and a privilege we don't take lightly, and we'll do whatever we can to serve while we're on base. I'm especially excited to talk nutrition while I'm there - I know how hard it can be to eat well while deployed, and I'd like to take a crack at putting together some Good Food meal plans for the soldiers while I'm sitting next to them in the dining hall.

That's all I have time for today - more updates as they become available. Thanks again for all of your support. The comments and emails I've been getting mean a lot to me, and to the entire crew heading overseas.

Rage Fitness, and some disjointed ramblings

I'm happy to announce that Paleokits are on their way to Fort Bragg - all 500 of them. We'll be able to pack them up and bring them over with us next week, thanks to the generous contributions from of all of YOU!

My company (the insurance shop who gets me from 9 - 5 Monday through Friday) is also sponsoring my efforts, covering my vacation time and making a donation to Operation Phoenix and Steve's Club. I'm happy to be able to give a little something back to both of these groups, whose support will be greatly responsible for making this trip a success.

Of course, we can't conduct gymnastics training without the appropriate gymnastics supplies too. As most of you know, things like pull-ups, skin the cats and muscle-ups are pretty tough on your hands, wrists and forearms. We wanted to bring materials over to keep these soldiers in good working order - chalk, tape and hand protective gear. Enter Rage Fitness Supply, a CrossFit affiliate and equipment supplier based out of Denver, CO. Todd Halderman and Tamera Smith immediately rose to the challenge, writing:

"We are happy to make a donation to support our troops! We will be donating three cases of tape, one case of chalk, and 15 sets of gymnastics grips.

Rage Fitness is honored to contribute training equipment to this incredible group of people. It makes us feel closer to our troops abroad knowing that we are all training together. The big difference is that at the end of our day we are back in our cozy homes, while our troops are out there in the field defending our country. That is why we are happy to support these amazing men and women however we can."

A big thank you to Todd, Tamara and the folks at Rage Fitness Supply for their support. And another big thank you to you, the CrossFit community, for your continued reading, comments and support of this effort.

________

On a personal note, I'm stressed about the logistics of a trip of this magnitude, worried about how it's all going to work, and excited about the amazing opportunities we'll have to work with these men and women. (Mostly the last part, although every time I review the paperwork we have to complete, I revert back to stressed and worried.) We've been so busy completing all the requirements for obtaining clearance from the Army that none of us have had time to think about the practical stuff. What's the weather like? (Kind of like New Hampshire, actually.) What should we wear? (Hiking-style gear is acceptable, normal training clothes for coaching, bring plenty of warm stuff, and yes, there's laundry.) What stuff haven't we thought of? (Ambien and ear plugs for the plane ride over.)

I've also been in touch with some men and women stationed at Bagram, to ask some questions about how the base works and what we should know before our visit. I'm mostly interested in what else we could bring that would make a difference. I've heard requests for everything from calling cards to sunflower seeds, but we've also received plenty of requests for tobacco products. I have some objections to a volunteer mission based around health and fitness showing up with a suitcase full of Kodiak. Sorry, but not my suitcase.

I think I expected the base to be more... rustic. But apparently, we have heated barracks, nice shower areas and laundry facilities. I've heard there's even a Subway and a Dairy Queen on base. Huh. There are also computer facilities, which is good because I'd really like to blog every day and keep a record of what we're doing at the certs, and what I'm learning from the soldiers.

That's it for now... not my usual put together post, but we're all scrambling to get two months worth of work done in two weeks time. Stay tuned for more updates, and to hear more about some of the cool gear we're bringing over with us as the result of generous sponsor donations.

Whole30 Sponsor a Soldier SUCCESS!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Because of your efforts, in just ONE WEEK we have raised $2,700.... enough to purchase 500 large Paleokits for soldiers stationed at Bagram Air Base! A special thank you goes out to Get Built Chattanooga CrossFit, for their generous donation last night.

Steve's Club is busy putting the order together now. We need to have these on base at Fort Bragg by Thanksgiving, so he's expediting shipping... and probably putting his other customers' orders on hold for a day or two to get this done for Operation Iron Cross.

On that note, if we have any extra in the fund, I'd like to donate whatever we have left back to Steve's Club. Because of the generous discount they are giving us, Steve's Club charity wasn't planning to take or keep any proceeds at all from this giant sale. That just doesn't sit right with me - one charity taking a hit in order to support another. So I'm happy to report that any extra funds collected will go right back to Steve's Club, as a small token of our thanks.

Now that the Paleokits have been arranged, I can take some time to tell you more about some of our awesome sponsors! We'll be featuring Tyler Hass of Ring Training, CrossFit equipment suppliers Rage Fitness, Jeff Martone's Tactical Athlete and more next week.

I'm also going to take a break from the business end and talk about what it's like to participate in a trip of this nature. There is so much behind the scenes work involved, and it's been an absolute roller coaster of "Yes, we've done that", "Oh, I guess we need to do that again" and "Crap, we didn't know we had to do that". I'll pass some of that along, and a few notes I've received from men and women stationed overseas (and their loved ones), in the coming week.

Again, on behalf of the men and women of the 7SFG... THANK YOU for your generosity. This community never ceases to amaze me, and I am honored to be a part of it.

Update on the Whole30 Sponsor a Soldier program

Thank you to everyone who has made a donation to the Whole30 Sponsor a Soldier program. We've raised $2,200 so far in our efforts to purchase 500 Paleokits for the men and women stationed at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Steve's Club is working hard to pull together this large order, and will need a few days to prepare and ship the Paleokits down to CrossFit Fort Bragg. As such, we need to send our order by the end of this week! Which means that we only have a few more days to collect the additional donations needed.

For those affiliates who have re-posted this effort on your web site, THANK YOU! If you are a CrossFit gym who would like to contribute, feel free to link to the post, or republish the post in its entirety on your web site.

It is amazing that we have been able to raise this much money in such a short period of time. Thank you again to everyone who has donated, promoted this effort, and encouraged others to contribute. From me, Dallas, the Whole30 program, and the soldiers... THANK YOU.

Operation Phoenix and Again Faster

First, an update on the Whole30 Sponsor a Soldier program. We've raised almost $2,000 to date - an amazing accomplishment, considering the program has only been active for a few days! Thank you so much to everyone who has donated. I'd especially like to recognize Becky Strahan, CrossFitter, yoga instructor and owner of The MAT Yoga Studio in Richardson, TX. Becky and her husband Bill have been a huge supporter of this initiative, and I can't thank them enough for their encouragement, and generous contribution.

Today, I'd like to feature two prominent sponsors of Operation Iron Cross - CrossFit's own Operation Phoenix, and CrossFit Whole9's favorite equipment supplier, Again Faster.



Operation Phoenix is a CrossFit initiative that raises funds to equip the entire United States Marine Corps with functional fitness equipment to increase combat preparedness, reduce injury, and strengthen unit cohesion. This effort is accomplished through non-profit sales, corporate sponsorships, and individual donations. Every penny raised goes directly to "America's Fighting Force," the USMC.

We contacted Operation Phoenix last week, and asked them if they could assist with our Afghanistan efforts in any way. We immediately received a note back, asking for an equipment and supply "wish list", and cost estimates. Within just a few days, we had approval to purchase EVERYTHING on our wish list - all fully funded by Operation Phoenix. Rings, assistance bands, parallettes, t-shirts, speed ropes, and more... everything we needed to run several gymnastics certs and then some, all 100% donated.



Enter our favorite equipment supplier, Again Faster. We contacted Jon Gilson and asked if there was anything HE could do to assist us in our efforts. As expected, we received a response that very same day. Not only is Again Faster scrambling to gather every last requested item, they also offered to donate all of their profits on all equipment sales to Operation Iron Cross.

Working together, Again Faster and Operation Phoenix are providing the majority of the supplies and equipment necessary to run several full-scale gymnastics certs for the men and women of the 7SFG, right on base. How amazing is that?

Thank you to Operation Phoenix and Again Faster, on behalf of the 7FSG, Vance Camp and the Operation Iron Cross crew. We quite literally could not hold these certifications without your contributions. You (my readers) can learn more about out Operation Phoenix and support their cause by purchasing some of sweet Op Phx gear. And if you want some insider information on those gymnastics tricks and skills, visit the Again Faster Mic'd Instructor and learn how to perform movements like skin the cat and the back lever.

Stay tuned here for more featured Sponsor Profiles, and updates on our Whole30 Sponsor a Soldier initiative. We're not done collecting funds yet, so click here to sponsor a soldier today!

The Whole30 Sponsor a Soldier Program

In the process of organizing donations and supplies for Operation Iron Cross, Dallas and I began to brainstorm things we could take over with us that would make a difference to the soldiers of the 7SFG. CrossFit equipment was a given, since we're hoping to get about 100 people through the certifications, but we wanted to get a little more creative and think outside the gymnastics box. Given the nutrition focus here on the blog and in our nutritional counseling practice, we thought about how we could help the 7FSG Eat Good Food. And I immediately thought back to my conversations with Karl Schirrmacher, a Staff Soldier in the Army deployed in Iraq. In "Karl's story", he talked about being stationed overseas, and the limitations he had to work around when trying to complete his Whole30 program.

All of which led us to the conclusion, "We need to bring some Good Food over to these guys", and the creation of the Whole30 Sponsor a Soldier program.

Enter Steve's Club, a non-profit organization offering young athletes (and non-athletes) of Camden, NJ world-class coaching, community and training techniques used by elite and professional athletes worldwide to help strengthen the foundation of our future. (You can read more about Steve's Club in this free CrossFit Journal article.) Steve's Club is the creator of Paleokits, portable, high quality, delicious Paleo food (jerky, dried fruit and nuts) in perfect Zone proportions. And founder Steve Liberati was more than willing to take time out of his own charitable efforts to help our cause.

We'd like to bring 500 Paleokits to Afghanistan. Steve's Club is going to donate one Paleokit for every four purchased, but we need your help to make this happen.

We've set up a PayPal link for donations. You can donate as little as $5 to purchase one Paleokit for an active duty soldier. Send $20, and Steve's club will donate an extra kit on your behalf. If you're an affiliate or larger organization, you can sponsor an entire certification's sustenance at snack time. Go as big as you can - but every single dollar helps.

Now, let's chat for a minute.

I haven't ever asked my blog audience for anything. I write, you read, we have a good time, and things are easy. I don't inundate you with ads, I don't push products or services on you, and I've certainly never asked you for money. Today, I'm asking. This is important to me, to Dallas, and to this CrossFit operation. This is especially important to the men and women serving our country in one of the most dangerous and unstable areas in the world. So today, I'm asking.

Donate via this link. I'll be updating you daily as to our efforts, and keeping track of each and every person, affiliate and group who contributes to the cause. And on behalf of me, and the Whole30 program, and Dallas, and the soldiers... THANK YOU.

Operation Iron Cross

I have pretty much the most exciting news in the history of Urban Gets Diesel.

At the invitation of the United States Army, CrossFit is sending a small group of trainers to Afghanistan, to run the men and women from the 7th Special Forces Group through a series of CrossFit Gymnastics Certifications.

We'll be flying out of Pope Air Force Base (in NC) on a C-17, with an estimated departure date of December 3rd. Three days later, we'll arrive at Bagram Air Base, and Vance Camp. We'll spend about a week in-country, running as many men and women of the 7SFG through the certs as humanly possible. And we've unofficially given this trip a bad-ass nickname: Operation Iron Cross.

A camera crew from Again Faster will be coming along to document the entire operation for the CrossFit Journal, and Dallas (my business partner and CrossFit Whole9 co-owner) is taking time off from his physical therapy practice to act as an assistant coach at the certs. Finally, proceeds for the majority of equipment and supplies necessary for a project of this nature have been donated by CrossFit's Operation Phoenix, an initiative that raises the necessary funds to equip the United States Marine Corps with functional fitness equipment to increase combat preparedness, reduce injury, and strengthen unit cohesion.



My preparatory role for the operation is especially rewarding - and especially challenging, given our timetable. I am in charge of organizing supplies, equipment and donations for the soldiers stationed at Vance Camp. To run these certs, we need a certain amount of specialized equipment - rings, parallettes, assistance bands, etc. In addition, we'd like to bring the soldiers as many "tastes of home" as we can - things that any CrossFitter would appreciate, but that CrossFitters stationed far from home in service of their country would truly cherish. I'll be trying to organize donations of everything from affiliate t-shirts to Paleo food supplies - and we'll have to move fast, as all donations must be secured and en route to CF Fort Bragg by Thanksgiving.

We've currently lined up several sponsors who are generously donating their time and equipment, including Again Faster, Tactical Athlete, RingTraining.com, Rage Fitness, and Misha's Coffee. Dallas and I are especially excited about the "Whole30 Sponsor a Soldier" program we'll be rolling out, in conjunction with Steve's Club - more information on that tomorrow. But we still need help - and I'm confident that those who read my blog and are active in the CrossFit community will answer the call.

In the coming weeks, I'll be keeping you updated on all of our Operation Iron Cross efforts, and giving you the behind-the-scenes of what it's like to organize a trip of this nature. We'll also be featuring sponsor profiles, letting you know who has contributed to this effort, and how their donations are making a difference.

To say this is an amazing opportunity is an understatement. This will be a life-changing event for those of us privileged enough to participate in this special operation. Stay tuned for more information, and get rolling on ways you (and your affiliate) can contribute to this very worthy CrossFit cause. And if you're stationed at Vance Camp, check out the gymnastic cert dates as posted along the right side of the CF Main Site. Looking forward to seeing you there.

The Whole30 Hits the Road

Happy Friday, and welcome to your Whole30 check-in. We'll be hitting CrossFit LIC this weekend, helping Tucker at another gymnastics cert and participating in the Operation Pull for Hope event taking place on Saturday night. The cert is sold out, but if you're local to NYC, make a donation to Hope for the Warriors and come meet tons of CrossFitters, do a muscle-up, or just cheer Gillian on.

Before I hit the road, I'm making a stop at the local Whole Foods-style store to load up on portable Good Food for the weekend. I always bring a ton of food to these certs - eating out for three meals a day gets expensive, and you can't always make the best food choices. I'd much rather bring snacks with me and be as prepared as possible in case I get stuck.

Today's Whole30 topic is travel food. What do you do when you hit the road? What kinds of foods do you bring, how do you keep things fresh, and how do you avoid eating nothing but jerky, fruit and nuts while traveling? Post your best tips, tricks, travel-friendly recipes and other Good Food guidelines to comments today.