I did it!

I did my first dead hang pull-up today. Totally awesome day... I didn't even mind that a thunderstorm started when I had to go home. Well, that might have had something to do with Molly giving me a ride. She has a jeep, so it was no problem driving through the water that was 40 cm high. However, it was a problem to get to the car. I don't think my shoes will be dry any time soon.

Jeg lavede min første strict pull-up i dag. Total fed dag... Jeg havde ikke engang noget imod at der startede en tordenstorm da jeg skulle hjem. Okay, det kan også have noget at gøre med at jeg fik et lift af Molly. Hun har en jeep, så det var ikke noget problem at køre igennem 40 cm højt vand. Men, det var dog et problem at komme hen til bilen. Jeg tror ikke mine sko bliver tørre lige foreløbig.

Getting chased by the weather

Suddenly, as I was driving home today, there was a flash of light immediately followed by a loud bang. I looked up at the sky and could see the dark clouds getting closer. So all the way home I was chased by the dark clouds, and only just made it home a couple of minutes before it started pouring. (Sorry for yet another weather update. It really does change very quickly here.)

Lige pludselig, da jeg var på vej hjem i dag, var der et lysglimt efterfulgt af et højt skrald. Jeg kiggede op på himlen og kunne se mørke skyer der nærmede sig. Hele vejen hjem blev jeg jagtet af mørke skyer og jeg nåede kun lige hjem et par minutter før det begyndte at øsregne. (Jeg undskylder for endnu en update omkring vejret. Det ændrer sig altså virkelig hurtigt her.)

Grill party

My supervisor here in the US, Emad, invited the group for a barbeque at his house this evening. There was a lot of good food, and my brownies were a definite hit. 

Min vejleder her i USA, Emad, havde inviteret gruppen til en grillfest i aften. Der var rigtig meget godt mad, og mine brownies gik rent ind. 

Moving for my friend

My friend is moving. He has been living in a furnished apartment in the university housing, and he is moving to an unfurnished one about 150 m away. So I helped him move his stuff this evening. Due to my extensive knowledge about assembling furniture (courtesy of Ikea), assembling the table he bought on craigslist was a breeze.

Min ven skal flytte. Han har boet i en møbleret lejlighed udbudt af universitetet, og nu flytter han til en umøbleret en omkring 150 m væk. Så jeg hjalp ham med at flytte hans ting her til aften. Pga. min omfattende viden omkring at samle møbler (takket være Ikea), var det en leg at samle det bord han havde købt brugt på nettet.

Summer band concert

There was a summer band concert in the main quad of the university this evening. I went to listen to it after working out. It was a nice warm evening, very relaxing. And of course, the whole thing began with everyone standing for the national anthem.

Der var en sommer band koncert på den centrale plads ved universitetet her til aften. Jeg tog hen for at høre det efter træning. Det var en dejligt lun aften, meget afslappende. Of selvfølgelig startede det hele med at alle rejste sig for at høre nationalsangen.

Drag Racing

Brandon from my gym (the young guy) is also dragracing in his spare time. The weekend before last, he entered his first competition and won. I think that is very cool.

Brandon fra mit træningscenter (den unge fyr) kører også dragracing i sin fritid. Forrige weekend deltog han i sin første konkurrence, og han vandt. Jeg synes det er ret sejt.

Is crossfit really this hard?

As I wrote yesterday, I brought my indian friend from the office to the gym today. We weren't even finished with the warm-up when he said that he was dissy. He rested for a little bit while I did the strength work. Afterwards, he was ready to go again, and he also did some strength. 

The actual workout of the day was: 

10 min AMRAP (as many rounds as possible)

10 push-ups

20 lunges

Run 100 m

After one round he stopped. He later told me that he was about to puke, and that was why he stopped. I was kind of surprised that he couldn't finish, but I guess it is kind of tough if you are not used to doing any physical activity.

Som jeg skrev i går, så tog jeg min indiske ven fra gruppen med til træning i dag. Vi var ikke engang færdig med opvarmningen da han sagde at han var svummel. Han slappede af et øjeblik imens jeg lavede noget styrketræning. Bagefter var han klar, og så lavede han også noget styrke. 

Selve workouten i dag bestod af:

10 min AMRAP (så mange runder som muligt)

10 push-ups

20 lunges

Løb 100 m

Efter en enkelt runde stoppede han. Han sagde bagefter at han var ved at brække sig, og at det var derfor han stoppede. Jeg var ret overrasket over at han ikke kunne afslutte det, men det er åbenbart virkelig hårdt når man ikke er vant til at lave nogen former for fysisk aktivitet.

I am bringing crossfit to the people

A friend from my office asked if he could go to the gym with my one day, so I am bringing him tomorrow. I am excited about it, this should be fun.

En ven fra min gruppe spurgte om han måtte prøve at komme med mig hen og træne, så jeg tager ham med imorgen. Jeg glæder mig, det skal nok blive sjovt.

The garden

Nancy is growing different vegetables in the garden. She has said that I can use what I want. Unfortunately, the squirrels an rabbits have eaten the most of it. I was just able to get the last bits of spinach for my lunch today. 

Nancy har lidt forskellige grøntsager i haven. Hun har sagt at jeg må tage hvad jeg gerne vil have. Uheldigvis har egern og kaniner taget det meste. Jeg kunne lige få de sidste sørgelige rester af spinaten til min frokost i dag. 

Look what was waiting for me when I got home

Flowers from the best boyfriend ever. 

Blomster fra den bedste kæreste.

Back in the midwest

After a great trip in New York, I am now back in Illinois. Nancy let me borrow her car to go to the store this evening. The weather has been very hot and humid today, so as a true american I drove to the store in a blue minivan at 9.30 pm in 30°C. 

Efter en fed tur i New York, er jeg nu tilbage i Illinois. Nancy lod mig låne hendes bil, så jeg kunne tage ud og handle her til aften. Vejret har været rigtig varmt og fugtigt i dag, så som en rigtig amerikaner kørte jeg ud og handle i en blå minivan kl. 21.30 i 30°C.

Thank you

... to Iben and Sara for a great day in a great city. We spent most of the day in Harlem. The morning was spent in worship of the lord in a Harlem church. It was a special and very long experience. Then, we had lunch at an old american style diner called the Harlem Shake. Shopping is fun in Harlem, and meeting the people there is also a fun experience, although you sometimes feel like the three stupid danish tourists that are easily fooled.

We followed in the footsteps of Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha, and went to dinner at Buddakan. It is a hip restaurant in Chelsea, where Carrie and Big have their rehersal dinner. The food was very good, but also expensive.

On the way home we stopped by Times Square to see it in the dark, and Iben and I embarrassed Sara by asking the police men to take pictures with us. 

... til Iben og Sara for en fantastisk dag i en fantastisk by. Vi tibragte det meste af dagen i Harlem. Vi brugte morgenen på at tilbede herren i en Harlem kirke. Det var en speciel og meget lang oplevelse. Vi spiste frokost på en amerikansk diner i gammel stil der hed Harlem Shake. Shopping er sjovt i Harlem, og det er også rigtig sjovt at møde menneskerne der, også selvom man nogle gange føler at man er tre dumme danske turister der er nemme at narre. 

Vi fulgte i fodsporene af Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte og Samantha, og spiste middag på Buddakan. Det er en hip restaurant i Chelsea hvor Carrie og Big holder middag dagen før deres bryllup. Madan var rigtig god, men også dyr.

På vejen hjem tog vi forbi Times Square for at se det i mørke, og Iben og jeg gjorde Sara pinlig berørt ved at få taget billeder sammen med politiet.

Rain, rain, rain...

I have travelled to New York to meet with two of my best friendsiben and Sara. They have come all the way from Denmark to see me. :-) it is so good to see them again.

It has been raining all day, so we have just been shopping. Many hours and dollars later, we are now relaxing in bed, waiting for the storm that is about to hit.

Jeg er taget til New York for at mødes med to af mine bedste venner, Iben og Sara. De er kommer hele vejen fra Danmark for at se mig. :-) det er virkelig dejligt at se dem igen.

Det jar regnet hele dagen i dag, så vi har bare brugt dagen på at shoppe. Mange timer og dollars senere, ligger vi nu og slapper af i sengen imens vi venter på den storm der skal til at ramme.

Just another sunday

If you go to see crossfit regionals every Sunday. The tornado on Friday never made it all the way to us, so we could sit in the garage door and watch the bad weather that came and went in around ten minutes.

Today I am in Chicago to see the north central crossfit regionals. It is very impressive and inspiring. 

Hvis du tager til crossfit regionals hver søndag. Tornadoen i fredags nåede aldrig helt hen til os inden den drejede af, så vi kunne sidde i garage åbningen og se på det dårlige vejr der kom og gik i løbet af ca. Ti minutter. 

Idag er jeg i Chicago for at se north central crossfit regionals. Det er meget imponerende og inspirerende.