CrossFit Meridian Regionals in Madrid, Spain

I went with a group of friends to the CrossFit regionals (for Europe and Africa) in Madrid over the weekend.  I have been to regionals before (ahem... as a spectator, not an athlete!) in the NorthEast (now the East) back in Massachusetts and it's always a lot of fun. Admittedly, it's waaaaay more fun when you have a vested interest in the athletes (as in, they go to your gym and you actually know them!) but this was a really great weekend since the Meridian regionals features all of the Scandinavian athletes, who are always insane to watch.

I didn't arrive until after the first workout on Friday.  My other friends, Marisa, Leo, Timon, Naya and Masuka (what the heck... I'm literally the only white girl in this group!  Those are Marisa's words, not mine!!) arrived on Thursday and they all volunteered on the floor.  I was okay with this because that allowed me to take over 600 pictures over the course of the three days, working on my fledgling photography career (ha!)

The first event was Regional Nate:

10 rounds for time:

4 Strict Muscle Ups

7 Strict Handstand Push Ups

12 KB snatches (70/53)
 

Two time CrossFit games champion (and 6x games competitor) Annie Thorisdottir on the rings.
 

 

I believe that's Kristin Holte on the far left, and then we have Sara Sigmundsdottir and Sam Briggs in the center (on HSPUs) and to the right (on the rings).

 

 

Look who was sitting behind me, Masuka and Marisa!  2008 Games champion Mikko Salo!

 

"Masuka, your hair looks like ramen noodles!"  We went to dinner and Masuka took her hair down out of the French braids and it looked like this!

After lots of beer and wine at dinner, we went back to the apartment and Timon, Marisa and I drank until 1:30. OUCH.  Remind me never to try to keep up with Marisa again.  Timon was posing for us. While drinking Makers Mark.  In bed.  While he snuggled with his brother next to him.
 

Once I finally dragged my a$$ out of bed on Saturday (thanks Marisa!), I finally arrived at the arena at 11:30. I missed most of the team stuff all weekend.  The volunteers got to line up along the outside of the floor and watch from there.  I spotted Naya (smiling) and Masuka (not impressed) watching Sam Briggs congratulate another athlete.

Saturday's first WOD (WOD 3) was:
For time (6 minute time cap):
104 wall ball shots (20, 14)
52 pull ups
Then you had to run to the other end of the floor
 

OK. I *might* have taken a million pictures of Megan Lovegrove this weekend because I *might* have a major girl crush on her.  That's her in the yellow shorts above.  She came in 11th overall.  It was very interesting to spend more time watching the individual athletes this year than in years past, when I was way more focused on the teams since CFNE has sent a team to Carson so many times in the past.  But you really could tell the difference between the upper echelon of the elite athletes and those who were also insanely good but just NOT quite to that level.
 

Annie and Sara after they sprinted to the end of the floor.  They came in first and second, respectively in 4:35 and 4:39.

With a one minute break from the 6 minute time cap, the women then had to complete the following (WOD 4):

4 rounds for time (10 minute cap)
28 pistols
15 power cleans (115, 80)
 

Annie and Sara working on their cleans. (With Erla Helgadottir to their right, who placed 5th overall and will be going to the Games in July).
 

I only posted this picture to remind other athletes to mind their backs when they are putting weight down on the ground.  Look at Sara's back.  Not nearly as "set" as Annie's back.  Of course, Annie has had serious back issues in the past, so this kind of isn't surprising.  They came in 5th and 6th, respectively.  But the finish was a photo finish with Sara coming in at 14:30:23 and Annie coming in at 14:30:32!

The last WOD on Saturday was:

3 rounds for time (16 minute time cap):
400 meter run
40 GHD sit ups
7 deadlifts (405, 275)

Yes.  275 pound deadlifts for women.  My max is 165 ha ha!
 

Annie and Sara, running in the first round.
 

Emma McQuad, Annie, Sara and Erla Helgadottir on the GHD sit ups.
 

Timon, Naya, Marisa and Masuka watching from the sidelines.
 

My girl Megan Lovegrove doing heavy deads.
 

The crowd always goes crazy for Annie when she finishes.  She's definitely a crowd favorite, along with Sam Briggs.
 

My CF Level 1 instructor Karl was head judge.  Here he is talking to Annie.
 

Poor Marisa.  This guy told her he couldn't move his legs because they were cramping up and she's like... move, cause I have to move this barbell back.  HA!
 

I'm not sure what prompted this fella to make these sweet moves to Timon and Leo, but it was super funny that I captured it from the stands!
 

Masuka and her wild curly hair FINALLY got some floor time, out with Leo and Timon.
 

Afterwards, not too long after everyone was released for the day from their volunteering duties, we ran into Sara Sigmundsdottir and Sam Briggs outside.  Masuka snapped a cute picture.
 

 

MEANWHILE.  TIMON.  He walks up and says, "Hey Sara, can you pick me up like a lady?"  And she didn't even hesitate and said, "Sure!"  Sam's like... this is badass.  Quotes from Timon afterward included, "That lady is hard as a rock,"  "Now I gotta get in shape," and "You guys, she touched me."

 

 

It took forever for all of us to get ready and get our shit together but we finally went out to the Plaza Mayor for some dinner.  I love the paintings on the buildings in the Plaza Mayor.

 

We had an okay dinner, but Masuka really liked her fish. In fact, in Turkey, you eat the whole fish. So here is Masuka eating the eyeball of her fish.  Yes.  The eyeball.

Smartly, we made it kind of an early night on Saturday night. HA!
 

Sunday morning brought the final team events, which included a WOD of thrusters and rope climbs (the last athlete had to do legless rope climbs).  This team on the left was a fan favorite, cheering on their teammates in the final heat.
 

Team pep talks and hugs.
 

Team Nordic Opex on the ropes.
 

Nordic Opex wins, and comes in first in the Meridian regionals.
 

I absolutely love this picture.  This poor girl Camilla on the left is so happy, she's sobbing!
 

Masuka, Timon and Leo getting more floor time.
 

The first event of the last day of individual competition (WOD 6) went off like this:

For time (16 minute time cap):
1000 meter bike
100 foot handstand walk
10 Overhead squats (225, 155)
500 meter row
50 burpees (jumping over low mats until the last 10 when the mats got higher)
5 Overhead squats

I love Sara's hair in the above picture.
 

Annie was clearly the best handstand walker!  She was miles ahead of everyone else here.
 

But Sara caught up to her on the overhead squats.
 

Action shot of the two of them doing the high mat burpees.
 

Annie wound up beating Sara on this WOD, but afterward, they, along with Sam Briggs went over to cheer another athlete on.  It's one of the things I love about CrossFit.
 

This fella hurt his back during the overhead squats.  He managed to finish, but medical team to the rescue!

In case you were wondering where I was during all of this... just hanging in the stands, on the worlds most uncomfortable chairs, all by myself!  (Come on! I know you were getting bored seeing beautiful, fit people!!!)
 

OK.  Back to the beautiful, fit people. The final event of regionals (WOD 7) was a quick but difficult mix of:

21 thrusters (95, 65)
3 legless rope climbs
15 thrusters
2 legless rope climbs
9 thrusters
1 legless rope climb

And there was a six minute time cap.

Above, my girl (yes, I'm gonna call her that everytime) Megan Lovegrove is rocking some legless rope climbs.
 

Erla, Annie, Sara and Kristin on the ropes.

Another photo finish between Annie and Sara!  No joke, these two finished in 3:34:92 (Annie) and 3:34:98 (Sara) but please note Kristin Holte on the right crossing before them in 3:34:76!!!  What a finish! It was unbelievable!
 

Annie, Sara and Kristin congratulating each other while Naya watched from the right side.
 

The crowd also loved this crazy Russian, Andrey Ganin.  I dig this guy, cause he's 32, which is practically ancient in CrossFit years.
 

Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson on the left beating out Lukas Esslinger in the legless rope climbs.  That's how it would end up in the standings as well.
 

First second and third for teams:  First:  Nordic Opex out of Stockholm.  Second:  CrossFit Yas out of Abu Dhabi, UAE.  Third: Team CrossFit Copenhagen 1.  Not pictured:  Fourth: CFXY out of Gardabaer, Iceland and Fifth:  CrossFit Solid out of Stockholm.
 

Your female Meridian Regional winners:  First:  Sara Sigmundsdottir (Reykjavik, Iceland).  Second:  Annie Thorisdottir (Reykjavik, Iceland).  Third:  Kristin Holte (Oslo, Norway).  Fourth: Sam Briggs (Manchester, England).  Fifth:  Erla Helgadottir (Kopavogur, Iceland).
 

Your male Meridian Regional winners:  First:  Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson (Hveragerdi, Iceland).  Second:  Lukas Esslinger (Zurich, Switzerland).  Third:  Jonne Koski (Pori, Finland).  Fourth: Adrian Mundweiler (Mallorca, Spain).  Fifth:  Lukas Hogberg (Stockholm, Sweden).
 

Nordic Opex outside of the stadium. I spotted them while I was waiting for Masuka!
 

Masuka and I wanted to grab a quick bite to eat and go get our hair done (and her nails) so we grabbed some doner kebap and ate it in the hair salon.  Gross.  But when in Madrid with a pretty Turkish girl, this is what you do!

The after party was supposed to start at 8, so I was totally ready by 8.  But then they changed it to 10 (which kind of makes sense because who goes out to a club at 8??)  Meanwhile, Marisa, Timon, Leo and Naya went out for drinks with the insane cab driver that we pretty much rented for the weekend... Fernando.

Did I mention this is what the front of his car looked like?  All taped up with some duct tape and some cardboard.  Sweet.

So they're out getting hammered with Fernando the drunken cab driver, while I ran out of Coke for my Makers Mark and Masuka got ready.
 

Finally those clowns came back... and of course, our resident metal bird Bartholomew was busy charging Timon's phone for him. Good to know ole' Bart was good for something!

So while they all got ready, Masuka and I went out for some drinks at an Irish pub ha ha.  Some guy (his artist name was like, Ronaldo or something) invited himself to our table and eventually tried to invite himself to the regionals after party!  He literally started following us there!  We were like... no dude.  You may not go to a party with us totally uninvited.
 

Timon's hand at da club.  I kind of love this picture.
 

Fun times at the Mondo Disco, sala Coco with Marisa and Masuka.
 

There were even blow up dolls.
 

But eventually, everyone else wanted to go back to the apartment. Masuka just wanted to dance (and did she ever!) so I stayed with her and we didn't leave until 4 am!  THANKFULLY we found a place up on this little balcony where we could dance and not really be bothered. We just wanted to dance by ourselves, not with anyone else!  (Although if the cute gay guys from Sweden who were selling stuff at the stadium could have totally come dance with us!)
 

Masuka:  "I'm just burning calories!"
 

One final selfie from the weekend!  Until next time, Madrid!

Wildpark Hufeisen, Veldensteiner Forst, Germany

While Mommy was away and galavanting around Madrid, Todd took the kids for a morning of fun at the Wildpark Hufeisen in the nearby Veldensteiner Forst.  The Forst (or Forest) is only about 15 minutes away and has a little park full of "wild" animals.
 

But first... the night before, they went down to downtown Auerbach and grabbed some Eis with their friend Isabella.  THIS.  What a mess!
 

Anyway, back to the Forst!  And what's a Forst without a biergarten!?!?
 

The kiddos spotted some boars.
 

You can have some cute deer eat directly out of your hand!  (Don't worry mom, I'm sure they washed their hands!)
 

Grant's turn to feed the animals.
 

What's up goat?  (Or whatever you are eating out of my daughter's hand!)  **Editor's Note:  Todd has informed me that this is actually also a deer, and not a goat!**
 

Time for some rope structure fun!  Grant looks confused here ha ha.  Keep climbing, buddy!
 

Kiddos in a wooden stick tee-pee!
 

I really LOVE this picture!  How cute are they!?!  They sent this to me when we I was in Spain and it made me sad!
 

Todd sent me this picture too and titled it something like, "Hansel and Gretel in the forest..."
 

And then he wrote, "I gave them some bread and sent them on their way.  That's okay, right?"  HA!  Silly Todd!  These walking sticks even made their way back home and are sitting in our foyer as we speak.  Mommy can't wait to join them on their next animal adventure!

Until next time Wildpark Hufeisen!

Bamberg, Germany - Take Two

When people come to visit us, which hasn't been that often, we like to go to Bamberg.  We visited Bamberg back in October, but it was cold and gray on that day, and it was warm and sunny on this day!  It's a pretty well preserved Medieval walled city that was first mentioned in 902 AD, with plenty of canals that sometimes travelers call, "The Venice of the North."  

As we tried to find the tourist office (because you know Todd, aka: Rick Steves, Jr. loves a good tourist office!), the kids spotted a playground.  Of course.  We must play for a bit!

Right near the Geyerswörthstag (a bridge that crosses the Linker Regnitzarm) is a small iron statue depicting the city. The kids thought this was cool, until we got overrun by a bunch of elderly German people! (You can see them coming across the bridge ha ha!)

On the Geyerswörthstag with Helen, with the Rathaus (Town Hall) in the background. It's built on an island in the middle of the river, and legend has it that in the mid 1400s, the Bishop of Bamberg did not give the town any money or land to build a town hall, so the local people built it right in the middle of the river!

Helen and Todd at the Bamberg Rathaus.

Our next stop was the famous Schlenkerla, for their famous Rauchbier.

Have you ever had a Rauchbier?  Some people really love it!  Todd (see above) enjoyed his.  Helen and I actually ordered wine because I CANNOT STAND RAUCHBIER.  It's like drinking liquid smoked sausage. SO nasty.  Admittedly, this rauchbier was a little better than the one I tried in Washington DC years ago with Chip and Dara Dirth... but it's still not good enough to order one and drink the whole thing.  Rotwein, bitte!

Meanwhile, this was going on.  Something tells me Nauni is going to be a bad influence in a few years ha ha!  Don't worry... Natalie is just smelling the wine!

Grant was whining that he was starving and we arrived at Schlenkerla not realizing that they didn't have much for little boys to eat, so we went over to the Hofbräu to eat lunch. They gave me this teeny tiny Heinz ketchup! It reminded me of the ones they used to give you in first class on Delta!

Ahhh I love German color and architecture!

After some quick Eis, we decided to take Helen to the Bamberg Cathedral.  March on, troops!

Here is Natalie with what used to be a lion!  Ummm, ok?

Yep.  This is about right for him.

Cuties saying prayers for Miss Carla at the Bamberg Cathedral.

"Don't forget to look up, because there's so much to see!" If I didn't follow my own advice, I wouldn't have noticed these gremliny looking guys on the ceiling.  They are there to ward off the evil spirits!

Lots of colors and half timber in Bamberg.

Roaming the streets, looking for our Gondola.

AHHHH I was obsessed with these roses!  I mean, LOOK AT THEM!!!!

Strolling along the Linker Regnitzarm (just a split off of the Regnitz River).

This bicycle fascinates me.  How did it get here?  Clearly it was in the water, but why?  How did it get IN the water?  And who pulled it out?  Why was it just left here?  I totally love it!

To go to the other side of the river, you can take the little ferry (on the left).  We didn't take it but what a fun little way to travel!  There aren't really any nearby bridges in this area, so this is convenient for people.

Wait... what is this doing here!  Yep.  A gondola ride!  Brought directly from Venice!  We booked the next ride and then went off in search of some water!

Walking along the empty streets along the Linker Regnitzarm.

We found water!  And kisses!

Ok so you know how my husband is obsessed with creepy baby doll heads?  Well as we were walking back to the gondola area, Helen spotted THIS.  THIS.  I mean, does it get any weirder than this?  What's with the weird utensil leg?  Or the random hair taped to the other leg?  This one might win the prize for most bizarre.

On a gondola, floating down the Linker Regnitzarm with Nauni.

This part of the river was so quiet and peaceful.  Much moreso than in Venice!

We passed by this little place that was having a wedding reception.  The two ladies that were on the gondola with us yelled in German, "KISS HER!"  Todd said, "Is that like the German version of clinking your fork on a glass!?"

Todd just looked incredibly handsome in this picture, so I wanted to share it with you!  Just lounging around on a gondola....

Kind of loved this bag, even if I love eating cows!

Pastels, galore!  Another fun time was had in Bamberg, and we got to see some things we hadn't seen the first time!  (Note to self: NO MORE RAUCHBIER!)

Until next time, Bamberg!

Grant's Track Meet in Ansbach

Grant had another track meet in Ansbach on May 14.  We felt bad because he missed the meet in Grafenwoehr on the 7th because we were in Venice.  This weekend, I couldn't go to his meet because I was in Nuremberg at the CrossFit L1 seminar (I passed! Yay!), but Daddy and Nat got to go root on our little buddy!

Grant and Natalie, Ansbach, Germany.

Here is my little man getting ready to run the 6-7 year old 50m dash, heat one.  So there were two heats, of about 8 kids in each heat.

And WHAT?  He came in second place!!!!!!  He's so fast! I can't even believe it!  I'm so incredibly proud of him, although I'm still not certain where he gets this!!!!