I know I have told you guys all about Paleo Kits before.  They are a fantastic way to keep eating Paleo while you are on the go, and maybe don’t have time to prepare a meal or snack.  Paleo Kits are a mixture of free range beef jerky, macadamia nuts, pecans, almonds, dried cranberries, and dried strawberries, all contained in a convenient single serving vacuum sealed bag which travels as well as any convenience food.  On top of knowing that you are doing something great for your body by staying Paleo, you can rest assured that your money is going to a good cause as well.  Steve’s Club (makers of Paleo Kits) is a not-for-profit organization that helps get inner city kids from Camden, NJ off the streets, and doing CrossFit.  What could be better?

Well, Steve’s Club has just introduced a new product that I tried for the first time last night.  It is called Paleo Krunch, and I have to tell you that it is amazing.  Paleo Krunch is a mixture of Coconut, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, grape seed oil, honey and vanilla extract.  All of these great things mixed (and my taste buds are saying toasted?) together make fantastic little crunchy clusters that are quite akin to granola or many cereals on the market.  The difference?  1 – This is all Paleo.  2 – This may actually taste better than any granola or cereal that I have ever had.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.  My one caution, would be to be careful with this stuff.  It is quite calorically dense.  I went through a full bag of it before looking at the back and realizing that I had just downed 1000 calories worth of the stuff.  The calories are mostly fat, so no worries there, but if fat loss is your main goal, you might want to go easy on such a dense food.

-Ryan

In just over two weeks Team Wine Country CrossFit has a chance to make another great showing.  The Napa Valley Resource Conservation District is holding the “Salmon Run”  in Yountville on Saturday, June 26th.  If you wanted to join us for Bay to Breakers, but couldn’t get there, you have a second chance!  You can’t get too much closer to home that this.  There are two races available to be entered, a 5K (just over 3 miles) and a 10K (just over 6 miles).  Check out their website for all relevant info and registration.  I know we have quite a few folks interested in running, and running better, here is your chance to get some practice in and have fun sweating with a bunch of new folks.  Reply to this post, or shoot me an email (ryan@wccrossfit.com) to let me know that you are participating.  We will come up with a good plan to get everyone together, and maybe some Paleo (or not?) lunch afterward.

Switching gears, Marco sent me this great link from CrossFit MPH in Washington D.C. all about injuries.  Check it out and let me know what you all think.

-Ryan

If you have been CrossFitting for awhile, you undoubtedly have developed some thick skin on your hands.  Unfortunately, even with perfect care for your calluses, when we have a big pull-up workout, like Angie yesterday, those calluses can tear (As many folks did).  Today I want to talk about what to do when you get a tear.

Damn You Angie!!!

Tears come in a couple of different forms.  When you are first getting your calluses established, the tears are shallow, and look a bit like a blister that has come off.  You take away the top few layers of skin leaving the lower, fresh layers.  As your calluses get deeper and deeper, the tears tend to produce some blood, and a good chunk of you left on the bar.  No matter which type of tear you have, they are not fun, and need to be properly cared for.

First things first, if you get a tear, once you have finished your workout, clean the tear out as best as you can.  Tears seem to get infected more easily than other wounds (maybe because of their location?).  Keeping them clean is paramount.  Once the tear is clean it will need to be properly dressed.  If you do a bit of googling, you will find many different ways to treat and dress a tear.  I have personally tried quite a few of these and what I have found to work best for dressing a callus tear is a product called “Lanolin Hydrous”.  Think of it like Neosprorin on steroids.  It squeezes out of its tube very very thick, and softens up a bit as you work it between your fingers. Spread a dab of this on the whole tear area and any hard callus skin left on your hand.  This will keep the callus from drying out and cracking (Trust me, you don’t want cracking!).  You will then want to cover it with a bandage.  I really like the Band-Aid “Tough Strips”  they have stronger adhesive which works better on your hands skin which flexes all day long.

You’ll want to leave the tear covered for a day or two so that it can begin to heal.  Once this begins to occur, I like to alternate between a few things.  I will rotate between having the tear covered, and uncovered, with and without lanolin.  I want the tear to air out a bit, but not dry up enough to crack.  So, I will put a dressing on it in the morning, and then take it off for part of the afternoon.  If this is not convenient for you, super gluing can also work pretty well.  Stay away from liquid bandage, the sting of it in a tear will send you through the roof!

Of course we still want you to come in and get a workout while you have your tear, so we have a few options for you while you are in the gym.  We have a selection of gloves (this is the ONLY time that we endorse the use of gloves in the gym) or we can wrap your hand with tape.  Grab some tape and talk to Beth or I about the best way to wrap for your specific injury.

If you have any further questions about how to take care of your tear, feel free to post up here, or email me: ryan@wccrossfit.com.

Watch the blog for an upcoming tutorial on how to avoid this all together.

-Ryan

<edit> Erica from the 6pm class has another ointment she says works better than my Lanolin, it is called Tamanu oil.  It is available at Pharmaca.  I have not used this product, so I cannot comment on how it works, but Erica swears that her rips heal faster with this stuff.  If you have used it, leave me a comment and let me know what you think!  Thanks Erica

This weekend, Jamie Cook (of 6am class fame) will be competing in the San Diego Rock ‘n Roll Marathon.  Good luck Jamie, and know that the whole community at Wine Country CrossFit is behind you!

Jamie, as usual, killing it on the GHD

While Jamie is sweating, we will be too!  Don’t forget we are hosting a free community workout this Saturday at 10am.  This event is open to any age and ability levels.  Bring a friend to show them how to get in the best shape of their life!

-Ryan

In the 9am class, we had a lot of talk about what a “fast” Fran time was, here you all go, this is what you can gun for.  This is the world record Fran, completed in 1 minute and 53 seconds by Jason Kaplan:

So maybe no one beat the world record yesterday, but I am very proud of each and every one of you.  Every person I coached today has made stellar improvements in form, time, or weight.  Keep up the good work and I know those Fran times will be coming down down down next time we hit it up.

Community WOD this weekend

Wine Country CrossFit will be holding a free workout for anyone who is interested in CrossFit this Saturday at 10am.  If you have friends or family that are interested in CrossFit, bring them on down and show them how fit and strong you have become!  This event is open to all ages and skill levels.  The workout will be basic in movement, so that beginners can come in and work out comfortably, but will also challenge even a veteran CrossFitter.  This workout directly follows our regular 9am class.  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me: ryan@wccrossfit.com.

-Ryan

A couple of CrossFit’s top athletes and trainers Jason Khalipa (Winner of the 2008 CrossFit Games, owner of CrossFit Santa Clara) and Chris Speallar (4th place CrossFit Games 07, 10th 08, owner CrossFit Park City) have a few things to show you about getting a workout in while you are traveling on the road:

Hotel Workout

-Ryan

Ryan and Myka have a secret pre-workout drink that involves tomato juice and other ingridients

Great job, and Congratulations to everyone who came out and participated in the Bay to Breakers run this weekend.  I think a great time was had by all.  I know I sure enjoyed it.  We will be starting brainstorming as of now for next years costumes.  If you didn’t get a chance to join us this year, be sure to make room for it in your calendar next year.  If you have never done the Bay to Breakers before (as I hadn’t), I cannot begin to describe what the day entailed.  The race includes everything from elite level runners, to weekend enthusiasts, wild floats and costumes (or lack thereof) and we even met some other CrossFitters from Las Vegas.  It is a sight to behold, and certainly something everyone should experience.  I know I won’t miss it next year.

I have to give a shout out to my running partners Karin, Jen, and Jamie, who impressed the hell out of me with the way that they attacked the dreaded Hayes st. hill.  Way to go gals, you rock!

- Ryan

Alright, so just when you think you’ve been really hitting those P.R.s and you’re king of the hill, someone has to come along and knock you down a peg.  If you’re ever feeling like you need a nice warm piece of humble pie, check out this guy!

A big thanks to Sonja Sunderland, who just finished her OnRamp course, for sending me this video!

Bay To Breakers

For everyone doing Bay to Breakers, please meet at the gym promptly at 5:15 Sunday morning.  We’ll get the show on the road as quickly as possible so that we can be sure to get seats on the ferry.  We have about 15 people going with us.  I can drive 5 (6 if we squeeze, including myself) is there anyone else willing to drive down to Vallejo?

-Ryan

First off, let me say congratulations and great job to everyone who participated in the Spring LEANing Paleo challenge.  Beth and I are both really proud of the efforts and results that we have seen from everyone.

A little business first:  we still need to get “after” photos from a few of you.  If you have not taken an “after” photo yet, please see Beth or I before or after class ASAP.  We would like to get them so that we can get the finalists picked out.

I am happy to say that after speaking with most of you throughout the competition, you stated howsatisfied you were eating a Paleo diet.  You are now armed with the tools to make a lifetime of change.  30 days just simply isn’t enough, so let’s keep the ball rolling.  I want to encourage everyone to now tinker a bit with their diet.  You have a fantastic baseline in how you feel eating strictly by the Paleo rules.  If you cut out dairy for the full 30 days, maybe give it a shot again, see how your body reacts.  If you have been still consuming a good amount of sugar through fruits, try cutting them out and sticking to just non-starchy vegetables and watch your weight-loss accelerate.

The bottom line here is we want to encourage everyone to keep on the Paleo train.  This is the key to long term fitness gains.  Nothing will halt your progress faster than dropping the nutrition ball.  So keep those diets clean, and as always Beth and I are always available to answer any questions regarding diet that you might have.

With the great success that we have seen with this Paleo Challenge, we are excited to announce that we plan to have a new Paleo challenge next quarter.  So if you missed this round, don’t fret, we’ll do it again soon.

All of that being said, let’s keep the Paleo ball rolling with another recipe.  My wife made these this weekend and let me just say, there is no reason to go craving pancakes anymore!

Coconut Paleo Pancakes

3 tablespoons coconut flour
3 tablespoons milk (I used whole milk-yes-paelo cheat…no biggie)
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon dried coconut flakes (NOT sweetened)

Mix it all up, and on a nice hot griddle melt some coconut oil (or pasture butter) and cook ‘em up! Same ‘pankcake-cooking-rules’ apply with these…make sure the pan is well greased and hot…when it’s starts to bubble up, flip them over!

This made 4 decent sized pancakes…perfect for 2 people along side an egg/bacon breakfast!

What we didn’t do, which I would rec, is make a paleo friendly sauce…AKA your favorite berry in the blender and mix it up! This gives them a little moisture…and we are entering yummy fruit season

Recipes from the Paleo Potluck

I have had quite a few people talking about the great food that was at the potluck on Friday night.  If you made and brought something to the potluck, will you please email me the recipe to be posted here?  (ryan@wccrossfit.com) Your fellow CrossFitters thank you in advance!

-Ryan

For a long time now I have shunned mashed cauliflower, a staple of many Paleo and low carb eaters.  I have never been a fan of cauliflower, and figured it really just couldn’t taste anything like mashed potatoes, as folks raved.  Well, today I am here to tell you I was wrong.  I made up some mashed cauliflower last night as an effort to use two heads that came in my veggie box last week.  I have to say that I kept feeling guilty as if I was eating real mashed potatoes throughout dinner.  On top of being delicious, they couldn’t be more simple to make.  Here is what I did:

• steam cauliflower until tender
• put cauliflower in food processor with 1/2 stick of butter per head of cauliflower
• add in your choice of seasoning, I went with about a teaspoon of garlic powder, teaspoon of onion powder, and pinch of salt. (I’m pretty sure seasoning is the key here)
• blend until creamy

On top of being delicious, cauliflower is fantastically nutritious.  Cauliflower is noted for its high content of vitamin C, fiber, folic acid.  In fact, cauliflower is only second to citrus fruits in vitamin C content.  Finally, it is high in potassium, which means you don’t need to have the sugar spike from a banana to get a great shot of potassium naturally in your diet.

Paleo Potluck

Don’t forget we are having a Paleo Potluck tonight(Friday) at 6pm.  Come on down and bring your favorite Paleo dish to share.  Please RSVP to us by email so we know what you are bringing and how many folks to plan for.