http://games2010.crossfit.com/affiliatecup/affiliate-cup-competition-2010.html

This year, the fight for "World's Fittest Gym" is going to be tougher than ever. There will be open registration for teams at the 13 worldwide Regionals (first come, first served). Only the top several teams from each Regional will be invited to compete in Aromas.

Rules:
At the Regional level, an Affiliate Team must consist of a minimum of four to a maximum of six athletes. The team needs to have a minimum of two men and two women. All members of the team must actively train at the same facility, which does not have to be an official CrossFit affiliate gym.

At the Regional level, all the workouts will be conducted as team workouts with teams of four. Two men and two women will be competing at one time as a team. This will allow team captains or coaches to substitute members prior to an event based on team members' individual strengths and weaknesses.

There is only one team permitted per gym. We recommend having tryouts and competitions within your affiliate to determine your team of four to six athletes. But that is just a recommendation. The team itself qualifies, which means teams that qualify for the Games can make changes to their roster between the Regionals and the Games.

For teams that qualify for the Games, the rules will be slightly different. One key difference is that all teams must send six athletes, three men and three women, to Aromas. A non-participating coach is still optional.

An equal number of team spots and individual spots are allocated to each Regional. For example, if your Regional allocation for individual spots is 4 men and 4 women, there are 8 team spots allocated. Last year's champs, Northwest CrossFit, are prequalified and invited to the Games in Aromas.

There will be no team competition at the Sectional qualifiers. Team registration at the Regional will be open (first come, first served). There will be no open registration for individuals at the Regionals (everyone must qualify). This does not apply to the Master's competition, details of which will be coming shortly.

Registration is not currently open for the Regionals in any way. We will open team registration in a few weeks. We will give you plenty of notice before it happens.

Please go to www.nycendurance.com to sign up for the free trigger point class. The class is limited to 10 people, please sign up if you know you can definitely make it. You ask what is triggerpoint? It is a self-messaging technique that is similar to foam rolling but better, it releases tight knots and relaxes your muscles.

Hey, thanks for the nod, Allison! I love to be useful (especially as a handstand spotter)!

Davi reminded me of another TJ's staple that I failed to cop to: Trader Joe's light coconut milk. In fact, I'm drinking some right now (with some cacao, cinnamon, and ginger) over my breakfast of crock pot chuck roast.

In other news: sweet potatoes have been endorsed by the Paleo Diet Blog! Saturated fat: not so fearsome after all! Read all about it at http://thepaleodiet.blogspot.com/

messed up from yesterday's wod. 17:14 rx'd

Hi folks!

I'm also having coconut milk hot cocoa (I added vanilla to mine) along with some slow cooked goat tongue stew (thank you Traditional Nutrition Group for the animal and Conrad for cooking it) for breakfast.

Yumyum.

last WOD before marathon on Sun,

21-15-9-3-6
100meters of lunges
pullups
pushups

tabata run tonight
rest Fri
2 mile jog on Sat
Marathon Sun

Kick ass and take names, Tim.

Davi I love the idea of hot chocolate made with coconut milk in place of milk for those of us who've gone paleo. Will have to try that.

Isaac, your comment was beyond useful--I HAD to link that up!

Everybody in on the paleo challenge, please email me photos of your prettiest paleo food for inclusion on the blog or any articles/blogs/online recipes/relevant info I may have overlooked.

If you're blogging on your own site, be sure to let us know in comments. (You can hyperlink your name in the comment form to connect to your blog or website.) So far I know of the following members blogging: Sophie, KJ, Lenny, Stephanie, Matt P., Kirk, and myself (I'm sure I'm forgetting someone right now, sorry).

For local meat also check out http://lewiswaitefarm.com/ A farmer who
deliveries to most NYC CSA.

Is there anyone who plans on going to the sectionals and regionals as a spectator?

I was going to go to the sectionals happening in Milford, CT since that's my hometown, but seeing as there are some fellow Black Box members competing I'd much rather cheer them on at the one in Jersey.

Question is, how are people planning on getting there?

Good luck Tim!

Where can you buy Cacao powder?

Also does anyone know where you can get that Sun Butter other than Trader Joes?

Wall Ball/Pull Up WOD - 16:57 Rx'D

thanks scott

matt i'll be there in some capacity, not sure how i'm getting there yet

Cacao powder: something I get here and there. I was wondering if I should include that as one of my non-local, processed foods. I'm working through some Trader Joe's organic cacao - can't remember the price but remember thinking it was reasonable. I also just ordered some raw cacao powder (Navitas Naturals brand) off the interwebs - definitely more expensive but great stuff.

I signed up to volunteer at sectionals. I'm really excited!

Matt,

I'm volunteering at the Jersey sectionals. I haven't planned out transportation yet.

PC 1/6/10:
Paleo chili, apple
Turkey deli slices (served sandwiches in a business meeting and ate only the deli meat, lettuce, tomato - not ideal for strict Paleo, but at least I didn't eat the bread), handful of almonds and walnuts
Salad with grilled chicken, olive oil, sunflower oil, apple cider vinegar
Broiled chicken, orange, almonds
Grilled skirt steak marinated in fajita spices with onions, zucchini, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes
Baby carrots

Cacao -

you've got options.

If you're buying the powder form, I can definitely recommend the TJ's organic variety.

If you're buying a whole bar of cacao and melting it into something, you've got a bounty to choose from. I like Scharffenberger and Dagoba, to name two.

***

Among my other non-locally sourced, processed foods are herbs and spices, which I buy and use in abundance.

I like Kalustyan in Curry Hill, but Conrad and Isaac came home from Denver with the most AMAZING cinnamon from Savory Spices in CO. Holy deliciousness.

***

I forgot to mention my favorite local fish source (sadly on hiatus till March): Blue Moon, representing at the farmer's markets in Union Square and Grand Army Plaza.

***

Also, if anyone has any killer tips for cooking kidneys, please send 'em my way. Lemon juice and olive oil marinade does NOT cut it on the piss/yuckiness reducing front. I've read that milk is a better bet.

***

For game that you don't/can't order from TNG, Saturdays at Union Square: Quattro's Game Farm. Pheasant galore. There's another crew on Saturdays that sells chickens and guinea fowl from time to time too. They're cool. And turkey wings from Di Paolo are just unbeatable if you want to buy parts instead of a whole big ole bird or ground.

Marlow and Daughters sometimes has quail, but I'm not sure where it comes from.

mmmmmmm.

Oh, and obviously: you can get some herbs from the local farmers.

I was planning on going to the sectional in nj as a spectator. There is a train station .3 miles from the gym. NJ Transit says it is a 35 min ride from Penn Station.

I'll be going to the games as a spectator, not sure how I'm getting there yet...

Thanks for the info on the Cacao. Will try to make it down to TJ this weekend as I've been craving hot chocolate all week.

Re: spices. There is a Penzey's in Grand Central Terminal. I've never been to the store but their spices are great. They have Vietnamese cassia cinnamon, similar to the stuff we got in Denver.

I really encourage people to get crazy with the herbs and spices. Especially if you're cutting out salt. Herbs and spices have all sorts of health benefits (cinnamon and turmeric: anti-inflammatory!). They definitely get me excited about cooking (and eating).

The PaNu blog takes on the Robb Wolf/CFHQ controversy with wit and intelligence--"CrossFit Nutrition Eats Its Young":

http://www.paleonu.com/panu-weblog/2010/1/7/crossfit-nutrition-eats-its-young.htmlC

Cooking with spices is great fun. I second Davi's recommendation of Kalustyan's. My BF and I have been cooking out of the book "660 Curries" for months now.
http://www.amazon.com/660-Curries-Raghavan-Iyer/dp/0761148558/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262886299&sr=1-1

All recipes start from scratch, including how to toast, grind and mix various spices. Leave out the rice and naan and the dishes are strictly Paleo. You can make them as hot as you can stand it.

We make 2 days' worth at a time, to have for breakfast or dinner the next day.

Oops, that should have been:

http://www.paleonu.com/panu-weblog/2010/1/7/crossfit-nutrition-eats-its-young.html

Yesterday someone mentioned that eating paleo can limit you socially, as least in terms of eating out at restaurants with friends. There are actually quite a few restaurants in the city offering gluten-free menus... run a search and many lists pop up. Note that many are simply baking with ingredients that are gluten free and may not be fully paleo-friendly. But a good place to start.

http://www.glutenfreeregistry.com/gluten-free-state-search.do?state=NY&city=New%20York

Candle 79 and Sambuca are among those with gluten-free menus. I haven't been, but I think I've heard of them being pretty good places. Might be worth a field trip sometime. :)

My Fav spice: buttrub!!!! http://www.buttrub.com/

Made up yesterday WOD
Fiver Rounds
Wall Ball Shot 20 pound
25 Pull Ups

First two rounds use 20 pound ball last three rounds switched to 14 pounds.
Pull ups- thin blue band
Time 23:58

Slate has an article on vitamins:
http://www.slate.com/id/2240688/

If you do CrossFit, this article is applicable to you.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/facts-and-arguments/im-happy-to-be-361st/

Any CrossFitter worth their weight in salt should recognize that you can't simply focus on what you're good at while neglecting the movements you have difficulty with. For the rest of the month, come in early, stay a little later, do whatever it takes to practice the things you suck at. Work to turn yesterday's weaknesses into tomorrow's strengths.

Also, I heard that the author recently won a small powerlifting competition.

Looks like Jeff's link is broken...
Good article - in case you can't get there from Jeff's link, try this one:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/facts-and-arguments/im-happy-to-be-361st/article1421812/

Sleep: 7

Paleo: 7
Breakfast: Shrimp stuffed avocado, banana
Lunch: Leftover Beef and veggie stir-fry
Snack: Clementines, apple
Dinner: Broiled shrimp, asparagus and cauliflower
Dessert: Blueberries

Pull-ups: 211

WOD: 4 - I'm taking a rest day

"Yo mama's so fat, people jog around her for exercise."
:-)

"Scott's Mom" w/65#

OHS: 16 / FS: 16 / BS: 30
press: 7 / push press: 7 / push jerk: 7

Could've gone harder than I did (especially on 2nd half), but glad I did something today.

More on spices:

the designated spice/herb coffee grinder is your friend (do not use your regular coffee grinder unless you want spicy coffee/coffee flavored spice).

If you're really into culinary foreplay, you can go the mortar and pestle route, but grinding peppercorns (for example) with a mortar and pestle is not so much fun in my experience.

***

Also, and I'm tempted not to disclose this because I don't want all of you to order whatever he's got left ;)...But I'm in love with the unreasonably good garlic, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and chili powder from G&H garlic farm in MA (they will ship to NYC if you want to order some stuff, I know, I know, it's not the MOST local since there are local equivalents available, but I challenge you to find chili powder, garlic powder, and smoked paprika that's tastier). The guy who runs it is really nice and he even gave us tips on planting our own (which we did at the end of October). I have to thank Isaac for stumbling upon this farm's goodies at a market once and getting me hooked.

***

There's some really good rocambole garlic to be found at the Union Square market too.

400M run
25 GHD sit ups
25 Hip extension (hip/back extensions?)

36:33

Paleo Diet:
B: 2 eggs with spinach scrambled with olive oil, black coffee
L: Giant green salad with walnuts and grilled chicken, an apple.
D: steamed broccoli, pepper stuffed with ground chicken, mushrooms, garlic and onion seasoned with a little sesame oil.

Scott's Mom: 108 squats + 25 press/jerks... could've gone further, let it get to my head.

sleep 6.5
diet:
B: larabar (no time, and no food at home yet!!)
S: apple
L: curried chicken over greens with almonds and grapes
S: almonds; 2 scrambled eggs
D: ground beef sauteed with tomatoes and olive oil
Need to go foodshopping....

wallball/pull up WOD
27:12 rx'd

I dislike wallball

Last time I did overhead squats for high reps, I was on a 22# bar. Since my PR for overhead barely cracked 30, I went with a 22# for reps again. So 20 overhead, 20 front, 25 back. Went to 33# for the presses and got 15 & 15. Cashout was burpees 10-8-6-4-2.

Had some time, so decided to redo the squats with 33#. Got 5, 10, and 20. PR for overhead squat!

Still practicing, did 15-12-9 alternating 93# deadlifts and knees to elbows.

Still doing pretty well with the paleo. Need more calorie-heavy foods.

Sleep: 9 hours (7)
WOD: Made Up Wall Balls / Pull-ups 46:34 (5)
Weaknesses: N/A (2)
Diet: shrimp, strawberries, walnuts, almonds, salmon, strawberries, guacamole, peppers (6)
2 Glasses of Wine (14)

30 Day Challenge:

Paleo Diet: 7
(First big challenge, roommate bought pizza. Oh man I love pizza. Luckily I have enough discipline to say no).
WOD: 2
(Gotta get back into the routine of going right after work.)
Sleep: 3

Made up the run/GHD wod - 28:53
Once again the amount of GHD reps left me dizzy and nauseous for hours after. Came home and went to bed - could not even face our delicious chicken curry dinner.
On day 8 of the Paleo challenge, down 2.5lbs this morning and got a PR of 5 strict pullups earlier this week.

Sleep: 8
Pull-ups: 211+30 = 241
WOD: 5
Power cleans: 55-65-75-85F-85F-80-80
Paleo: 8
Breakfast: 2-egg omelet with spinach, banana
Lunch: Shrimp salad with lettuce, carrots, celery, olive oil
Dinner: Ground beef patty with onions, mushrooms, avocado
Dessert: Frozen grapes

Thanks for posting this. Would be intrested to read more or possibly please contact me by email thank you!