By the way, I really appreciate your training. Today, for example, your patience helping me get low enough on the overhead squat. Working with the bar, then the pipe, then with weights, then without, and then with weights again until I finally got it. What a contrast to the super lousy trainer I had before you, but I didn’t realize how bad he was until we started training with you. He just trained me on machines and wouldn’t have me do any free weight squats, because he said I’d never get it. Way for him to inspire confidence, but also, I don’t think he had the patience or knowledge to coach the way you do. I doubt he even knew how to do Olympic lifts. So, thanks a lot! I’m really excited this next year to make lots more improvement.

Hey Jesse, I just spent three days biking the San Juans with no bike training whatsoever. My friend and I managed to bike 30+ miles of crazy island hills each day. I believe I owe it all to massive amounts of squats and regular Chi Gong conga lines.

Also, this friend of mine has always been in pretty killer shape. However, at one point we were climbing up on a lighthouse ledge that was about shoulder height. I managed to muscle my way up, she had to go to the other side where it was lower and shuffle her way along the ledge. She’s pretty jealous of CrossFit now.

After years of beating myself up with endurance training for biking, marathons and triathlons, I’m definitely in much better shape with CrossFit alone, and I can still kick some ass in the endurance sports.