Half a Hawks

Only someone from my CrossFit box would possibly know what that subject line means.  Ryan Hawks was a professional freestyle skier who died in an accident at Kirkwood six years ago.  I have taught skiing with his father for most of the last 2 decades, and I got to know Ryan in the early days of our gym.

He was an amazing athlete - skilled, athletic, mobile, explosive, and yet very humble and just a regular guy.  The first time I asked him and his winter skiing buddy about what they did out west, they talked as if they were just a couple of ski bums, driving around, finding an occasional competition, and giving it a try.  In reality, Ryan was so much more than that, and I'm glad I got to know him a bit in the early days of Champlain Valley CrossFit.

But, he did die six years ago when he failed to navigate a landing after a big jump.  He was a lifelong friend of the owner of our gym, and our owner, Jade, put together a killer workout for us to do twice a year to honor Ryan.  Here is a video about Ryan for those unfamiliar with him:

The workout is as follows:

As Quickly As Possible
Row 1000 meters
50 deadlifts
50 thrusters
50 box jumps
50 burpees
50/side walking lunges with plate overhead
100 double unders


I think I've done the workout 8 or so times since we started doing this every year on Ryan's birthday and the anniversary of his death.  Because of the cancer stuff, I've had to scale the workout at times - fewer reps, lighter weights, or last night, both.  But, I wasn't going to miss this one, so I opted for half the prescribed reps at the lower end of the weight scale.

I think my best time for the full workout is in the low 40's.  Scaled, I've done it in the 30-35 range.  Last night, I did half the workout in 19:00, and it was all I had.  But, I'm glad I was there to help Jade and everyone else honor Ryan.

Today is a rest day with the next workout in the 2017 CrossFit Open scheduled for tomorrow.