I'm eating dinner at 11, I'm tired, and I have to stay up and work. Suck.

WOD:

Press 3x3 @ 75# (1RM is 85#)
Was heavy and struggled on the 3rd rep of each set but think I should've gone a bit heavier... maybe 78 or 80#.

3 rounds for time of:
20 Wall balls (20/14)
15 Burpees
400M Run

This felt fucking awful. Awful. Awful. I'm shite at wallball, this we know, and shite at running, but burpees? Seriously those were awful too. WB in the first rd was 10/10 which I was actually really good for me and I thought would be something I could maintain. Nope. Don't remember round 2 ( I think 5s maybe?), but the 3rd rd I was back to my old standby with sets of 2s, 3s, and 4s.  Burpees should've been all unbroken, but the last set I stopped at 10 and literally whined inside my head to myself, begging myself to quit. They were also slower than I usually do them. Didn't notice my run times but in the last rd I was in LAST PLACE and forced myself to sprint to catch up and pass the girl who was last. 14:41. Awful.

I waited about 15-20 mins and then wanted to get the snatch strength set in but just didn't have the form today. Maybe it was my Nike Free's. Maybe it was just not my day today. Was getting under the bar easily every time, but was exaggerating the hip extension into a back bend (which I know thanks to Kurt's watchful eye - thanks Kurt). 

Snatches:

3-2-2 @ 65#-70#-75#

Was supposed to do 3-2-2-1-1 but just wasn't feeling, so thought I should listen to my body and give it a rest.

Then, played 3 games of vball. Not an impressive showing by anyone on our team... except Jonny - who subbed for us tonight and played great! Did I mention he learned to play vball today? Definitely makes a difference being super athletic and learning a new sport. I love CFers. We're the best at everything ;)

--

Nutrition:

9:30ish - 2 eggs over sauteed rainbow chard.

11 am - 10 oz. iced coffee w/ 1/8 c. coconut milk.

Forgot about lunch. Oops.

4:30 pm [Pre-wod] - 3 oz. sauteed sole, 6 oz. kale with WF sauteed vegis (red onion and various peppers), with a pinch of white truffle oil and maybe 1 1/2 t. balsamic vinegar; 1 t cashew butter.

6:15pm [Post-wod] - 1/2 container Vanilla Creme Muscle Milk (8g fat, 7g carbs, 16g protein)

7:45 pm [After 2nd and 3rd vball game, so during and post vball] - other 1/2 of the muscle milk.

11:00 pm - (who eats dinner at 11pm??) 3 oz. grilled grassfed sirloin, 6 oz. kale with WF sauteed vegis (red onion, zuzhini, mushroom and various peppers), with a pinch of white truffle oil and maybe 1 t. balsamic vinegar.

Almost made it a full rest day. Almost.

Intended on taking a full rest day to recover from yesterday's killer day. Almost made it the whole day... but then decided I wanted to get some double-under work in just after 9pm. Not an especially successful DU day. Felt sluggish with the rope and was even struggling to string 50 singles, so decided to call it a day instead of letting myself get frustrated... well, that plus after I had worked for about 8 minutes my neighbors decided to pound on the wall to let me know they didn't like it when I jumped around in the apartment (whatever). But, then I was itching for some kind of metcon so went out for a run. Ran 1.52 miles in somewhere b/w 11 and 13 mins (which is b/w a 7:20 and 8:40 mile pace)... which is actually good for me, especially if it was on the low end. Need to actually buy a stopwatch. Jackass. I sprinted every other block to give myself something interesting to do. Didn't want to keep sprinting every other block towards the end of the run but forced myself to suck it up and do it.

Nutrition:

9:30 am - 2 eggs over asparagus, mushrooms and onions sauteed in coconut oil. Dash of pink Himalayan sea salt.

11:30 am - 1 c. coffee w/ 1/4 c. coconut milk. Added a bit of vanilla creme muscle milk and then felt bad about it. It's still higher in Glycemic Index then I need if I'm not working out. Bad girl. Only post-wod (or in b/w wods). Delicious though ;)
2:30 pm - 4 oz. slice of lamb roast (prepared by WF with sea salt-otherwise paleo) with lettuce, cucumbers, yellow peppers with 1 t. walnut oil and ~2 t. balsamic vinegar.
4:45 pm - 3 oz. no salt rotisserie chicken breast, 1 cashew cookie larabar, 8 oz. coconut water consumed over the next 2 hrs.
8:30 pm - ~2 oz. Chopped CDL salad leftovers with ~ 1 1/2 oz. chicken; 2 oz sole sauteed in coconut oil. Started craving something sweet so did DUs/ran instead. Pretty effective actually - I didn't crave sweet after my run. Instead I'm gonna take a hot bath, maybe enjoy some sleepytime tea and watch some oly videos!! Woooo!!

Nice to see you again, old friend.

Soooo... it's been awhile. I know. I'm not very good at this keeping at this sort of thing. I came back though didn't I?

Let's see... the number of cupcakes I've had since Sectionals... at least six. The number of cupcakes I've had since moving to Chicago in August 2007... probably also six. Seriously?! What's my deal? No more cheating. Well, okay, no more big sugar craving indulgences... like delicious cupcakes. I don't think I'll make it until Regionals without a few cheats... like the Beer pairing dinner at Publican that I'm totally stoked about next Monday :) I think trying to go an entire month without cheating would be a huge pain in my ass and I just don't wanna do it. So I'm gonna allow a few minor cheats... minor. If I could cut it down to 1 cheat meal per week I think I'll be good as gold. And hopefully not a full cheat meal each time, hopefully just 1 cheat item in that meal. We'll see.

I have a calendar listing all the CFC programmed workouts, all my supplemental wods and any other active things (like volleyball and trips to Roger and Mike's for oly lifting work). I've decided to put off the Deadlift work until after Regionals so I can focus on bigger weaknesses (double-unders, HSPUs, OH squats, running most specifically) that might trip me up there. It's a little absurd, my calendar... but I feel good about it.

Yesterday's Regionals Tune-up WODs:

WOD 1: In 12 minutes, find 1RM snatch. Add 2lb bonus for each muscle-up completed.

Score = 85#- 7#PR! Attempted MUs pre-wod but I just don't have them so didn't bother during the 12min.

WOD 2: 3 rds for time of: Row 500m, 21 Kettlebell Swings (20kg), Run 400m.

Time = A year. Will check the actual time and repost later tonight.

WOD 3: AMRAP in 10 minutes of: 6 Squat cleans (95#), 9 CTB Pull-ups, 12 BJ (20").

Score = 3 rds + 6 Cleans + 2 CTB

What a killer day. The 2nd WOD kicked my ass. Lung burn like I have NEVER felt it before. Whooping cough forever afterward.

During the 2nd wod literally thought I couldn't finish during the 2nd row and the 3rd run. It felt absolutely horrendous. I think I only made it through that event b/c of Kurt shouting in my ear on the row and Rudy/Zack/E-Diesel guiding me in on that last run. Need to start working in that awful pain threshold more often so I can push harder in it and not cash out. You know that place where you wanna die? Yea, I'm saying I need to get there more often (what?! does that sound ridiculous to anyone else?). It's weird though - as much as I thought my last rds were horrendous and felt like I was quitting and not pushing hard enough - I wasn't that far off my time from the earlier rounds... so, somehow I think I'm managing it okay, I'm just not sure what to do while in that place and instead of looking outward to a coach I need to learn to look inward and push through it.

Then, 3 games of volleyball. Felt great while playing actually - super open hip flexors, no muscle fatigue, just the tiniest bit sluggish on a couple plays. Served deeper and harder than usual, which was fun and unexpected. Totally expected to feel like shit b/c of all the work I did earlier in the day but actually felt pretty awesome.

A-Team... what what?!

Super excited to have made the CFC Affiliate Team and to be competing at Regionals. I had lots of goals for where I wanted to be and what I wanted to improve on and now they've just gotten completely restructured and the time table moved up substantially. In addition to the below goals I just want to improve my pacing on the row and on my runs. I want to be able to sprint my ass off and not crash. Overall, I just wanna get better.

I just barely made this A-Team. In fact, I kinda didn't make it - I'm first alternate, but since our #2 girl can't make it to Regionals, I'm in. I'm proud of earning this opportunity and am going to work my ass off to show that I earned my spot on this team and that I belong on the team. I'm a competitor and I'm not gonna let up, I'm gonna work as hard as possible over these next few months and I'm gonna be ready to compete at Regionals. I'm gonna be more than ready. Seriously. I can't fucking wait.

Box jumps @ 20” x 50 reps unbroken

Clean and Jerk – 125# 1RM

Double-unders – 100 reps in 2 minutes (not necessarily unbroken)

HSPU – 3 unbroken reps, no abmat

Muscle-up - 1 kipping and/or strict

OH squat – 110# 1RM

Pull-ups - 25 unbroken (kipping) on the Big Boy Bar

Push-ups – 25 unbroken

Ring dips - 10 unbroken

Run 1 mile Sub-9 min

Snatch – 1RM 90#
Wall Ball - 3 x 20 reps @ 14#, 60 sec rest in b/w rds. Unbroken or under 60 sec per round.

"I'm no longer wincing when I watch you do an OH squat"

Workout:

Strength set - OH Squat 5x1 @ 80#. I used my 1RM b/c I know that isn't the heaviest I can go based on strength, I'm just being limited by my  horrendous form. And when I say horrendous, please know I am not exaggerating. Need to remember to lead with my butt and not let my knees drift forward. Today I practiced getting down into an OH squat in front of a bench - about four-five inches away. Need to repeat that with a PVC until it becomes natural. I did make progress. It's still really ugly, but Rudy managed to give me a pretty big compliment about it after I worked it for awhile... see the title of this blog.

Met con was an AMRAP. 12 min: 5 burpees, 10 pull ups, 15 sit ups. Post WOD skill - 3 x max handstand push ups with 1 controlled negative at conclusion of each set (90 seconds rest)

6 Rounds + 5 burpees/10 pull-ups/6 sit-ups

Used the fat bar since I need to get used to working on it. Strung 5/5 the first 2 sets, then broken into 2/3s after. Started ripping my left hand down near my palm, realized I was overgripping and loosened my grip a bit, sorta releasing/relaxing my grip once my chin was over the bar. Then I ripped on my right hand. Go figure. Not bad though, doesn't hurt today at all.

Good workout. Kept moving throughout but would've like to be closer to unbroken on the pull-ups. Need to work on those on the new bar more.

--

8:30 am (ish) - 2 eggs, ~4oz rainbow chard.

12:30 pm (ish) - 4 oz. assorted butter lettuce, 2 oz. baked eggplant, 3 oz. grilled sole with 1 t. avocado oil + balsamic vinegar

3:30 pm - ~2 T. cashew/almond/macadamia nut butters, 3 slivers dried organic apples (no sugar/additives). i c. chocolate puerh tea with 2 T. coconut milk.

5:45 pm [Pre-wod] - 3 oz. grd. lamb with ~4 oz. rainbow chard and 4 slivers dried organic apples.

10:30 pm - steak fajita meat with onions and red peppers (whole thing was probably 10 oz. though I'm not sure of the ratio vegis:meat). Ate some of the rice & refried beans.

Last A-Team WOD (Success!!) and Cheatey McCheaterson

Friday - Chipper!!

100 Box Jumps (24'/20")
80 KBS (1.5/1 pood)
60 Wall Balls
40 pull-ups
20 cals on the rower

... last Affiliate Team Qualifying WOD.

And I finished first!!! Okay... first so far. Not everyone has finished. But I was really stoked about my time. Megan, Jess and I went together and I think at some point each one of us had the lead. Of those movements, the weakest link for me was WallBall. I really need to up my game there. That's where I really fell behind. I got to the wall first of the girls and had a bunch of breathing room but they caught up quick b/c they actually strung WBs together... and I just couldn't. I got singles and doubles, and that's just not a competitive pace. Although, I counted for Bryce and his pull-ups were all singles and he was fast as as shit in this wod... but I guess I can only afford to do singles if I'm much faster at every other movement. The BJs were slower than I expected - strung mostly tens. The KBS went better than I expected - sets of 15. Pull-ups weren't where I wanted them to be but I haven't worked them since we moved to the new location. I need to get back on them - they used to be my favorite thing to do and I haven't spent enough time with them lately. I think I was stringing fives and first and then eventually threes. The row hurt more than any row has ever hurt. I was glad to have breathing room there because I thought I was going to die after every pull. It friggin hurt. I was still pleased with the strength of my pulls... getting anywhere b/w 1 and 2 pulls to a calorie (which is good b/c I did not want to pull anymore times than absolutely necessary).

 

So, after that, the weekend was fulla cheats... did a FUN drinking team wod Saturday morning (20 min AMRAP: 50 single-unders, 15 push-ups, 20 Power WB, 12 oz beer) with Billy Q and John A - SO MUCH FUN!! Finished 5 rounds. Drank beer and Jamison shots all day. Passed the f out at 6 pm, and slept till 7 am the next day. Ate like shit - had bagels (delicious), donut holes, corned beef/cream cheese roll-ups in the early afternoon and then didn't eat again that day (smart). Ate like shit Sunday too - Pequod's pizza (almost finished 2 slices peperoni) plus Snickerdoodle cupcake from Sweet Mandy B's... then Texas Queso at dinner, followed 1/2 piece chocolate cake a la mode and 1/2 piece carrot cake with Amy. Mmmhmm. It was a big fat cheaty weekend. I ate some healthy things sporadically in there but all that needs noting for this wkend was my laundry list of cheats.

Active Rest Day Sunday - played 3 games vball. Most fun vball game, maybe ever. I heart Jason, E-Diesel, and Seth. I've never laughed so hard during games!! SUPER fun!!!!

If you're not a fan of the f word... you should probably skip this post...

Wednesday's WOD:
Then, 5 rounds for time of:
8 Overhead squats (115/65#)
30 Double-unders

FIRST. I was proud of my OH squats. They were not great. They weren't even good. But I got through them. Same weight as Sectionals, and the 3rd set I got 8 without putting the bar down. Maybe also got all 8 in the 1st set (don't remember). Def broke it in the 2nd, but I could've held it up there if I allowed myself to hold the bar back as far as I wanted to (which I did in the next set). Definite progress.

Double-unders can suck it. They were a train wreck. I was missing them left and right, but was able to keep my head and not get too frustrated until the 3rd set. Then, I may have fallen off a truck. That was falling off a cliff. Bryce was counting for me and he called out "Four!" and I thought I was on 7... and for some reason that was... just... fucking... IT. Bryce says I didn't say anything offensive, which later I found surprising, and I remember not punching him in the face (although i really really wanted to, well, stomach moreso than face... he's so damn tall, I'd never have gotten to his face) but I just lost it. I got so angry and worked up. I got back in and started jumping but I was so fucking angry. It was like sectionals all over again... except at Sectionals I was a mix of emotions...sad, embarrassed, disappointed, and angry... and here I was just angry. Bryce told me to wait, to give myself a second or something like that, and I walked around the room to get my shit together. And that's when it got worse. I started completely freaking out. My breathing got erratic and I was shaking. Full body shaking. What the fuck!? I thought I was going to fucking lose it. Scream. Cry, maybe? I have no idea what. It's so unlike me to get that emotional in front of anyone. Much less a room full of people. But it was the worst I've ever felt in a workout. Last double-under wod I was disappointed b/c I had just gotten "better" at them so expected to be better but this time I knew I wasn't better but thought I could at least get through it. After I hit the time cap I went out the the garage to cool down... feeling awful and embarrassed and trying to stop being so damn angry. I came back in, looked Bryce in the eye and apologized - I felt awful for all the things I thought I said to him... well, all the terrible things I said to him in my head (thankfully I didn't say them aloud. seriously). I could tell he felt terrible for how upset he knew I was... and it made me hate him a teensy bit less ;)


The reality is - I got through over 60 double-unders in that wod. Maybe over 75. Which is a shit ton many times to do something I suck pretty hard at. And I got through the fucking OH squats. I have FOR SURE improved at those!!! This wod was made up of the two things I am worst at so thinking it wouldn't crush me was silly. And, I have no idea what my finish was (I'll write it down once I get into the box today) because I haven't been able to look at the board since then to see my DNF total. I wasn't going to write about this at all (or ever talk about it) but failures like this are important.


Losing my shit because I'm not successfully completing a rep isn't going to help me get another rep... well, unless it's heavy as fuck (HAF - for emmitt), in which case the anger may help! But, even with HAF lifts, the anger has to be controlled. I was in control in the beginning. I was hanging by a fucking thread though, and I let my judge's count throw my whole game off. I let it throw my control out the fucking window, because I thought I'd done better than he thought I had. Come on. I know better than that. Judging sucks, and no one's gonna take away reps that you got... unless the judge is a total a-hole, incompetent, or a cheating jerk... and Bryce is none of those things (that may be the nicest thing I've said about him since... the incident).


So, yeah. I took Thursday off ;) I went and had burgers with Jonny and Scott and I even had a strawberry shake (it's been, I dunno, maybe a YEAR since I've had a shake. Indescribably delicious). And then I went to bikram yoga, which I love because it kicks my ass and stretches me out and I get to sweat it ALL out.


Today I'll be back in to to a Chipper - looks long but totally manageable. No chance of DNFing, as I'm comfortable with all of these movements and feel strong in all but one of them. I'm excited about it. I feel I can excel on it. Wallballs will be a bitch but that's okay. at least there's no double-unders ;)

2k row - could've been better

2 k Row today. Finished 8:34.9 Prev 2k row was 8:39, so 5 sec PR.

I RUSHED out of the gate on this one. Had my iPhone and Rihanna's Shut up and Drive was the first song up. Sooo, I jammed to the song and I rowed. Fast. Stayed under 1:48 for the first 500m. What a mistake. I crashed and burned and the rest of my row was around 2:10. Super disappointing, but lesson learned - music is something new I'm adding into my training and so I've gotta work out the kinks. Also, I've been pulling 1:45 for my 250m and 500m rows for the past few weeks which got me a bit too excited about my improvement. Thought I could row at that pace and then slow to 1:55 for the remainder. Should've paced to go under 2:02 all the way through the row and no faster than 1:55 until the last sprint at the very end. Next time :)

Ended the workout with a bunch of HandStand holds, and a few HSPU to 2 abmats. Also scared the shit outta Mandie, Bryce, and Emmitt by trying to get my ass up on the wall on paralettes. It was NOT a successful attempt. The 2nd time though Emm and Steve pulled me up a bit and then I held on up there for a little while. Nice to change it up adn try something new, even if I suck at it :)

Then, played 6 games of vball. We came in second in our season. Wanted first obviously, but was okay getting beat by the team who took first. They were better than us, so I can accept that. Also, the captain of their team (I am making that up - who knows if he the capt was but he seemed in charge) invited me to go to the bathroom with him while we were waiting on Megan and Jason to get back from the bathroom. So, there's that.

Developed a supplemental workouts calendar to supplement my training with the things I want to focus on the most. Will include:

• 1 full day of rest each week. FULL-ON REST. This is important if I am going to be able to continue to myself as hard as I want to with supplemental work and our regular programming.
• 1 active rest day (bikram yoga and/or skills but no metcon or heavy lifts)
• 1 day gymnastic work (pull-ups, muscle-ups, KTE, TTB, etc.)
• 1 day OH work (OH lunges, HSPU, HS negatives, HS holds, OH squats)
• 1 day Oly work (most likely this will be my day with Roger and Mike)
• 1 day cardio/respiratory endurance work (row, run, mostly sprints but some long distances too, jump rope)
• 1 day deadlifting with Emily

Sounds exhausting really, but I'm excited. I'm excited to have a focused plan set out, and I think it'll be good for me to learn to lay out programming for myself, as all coaches need to know a bit about programming so this should help me learn a new skill that will help me in my CrossFit future :)

Also talked to Bryce a bit about focus. I really wanted to push myself on the CF Total on Monday and was really proud of the numbers I put up. I had my headphones on and only focused on myself and I think I need to incorporate more of that focus into my daily training. Only way I'm gonna improve is to get serious about it... so we'll see where that takes me.
--
8:00am - 2 eggs; 3 1/2 oz. mushrooms; 1 cup coffee + 1/8 c coconut milk.
1:15 pm - 4 oz. steak; ~7 oz. mixed butter lettuce, sauteed asparagus & roasted yellow peppers (homemade so not soaking in oil), with 1/3 avocado, white truffle infused grapeseed oil & balsamic vinegar, black pepper and a shake of sea salt. Delicious. Anyone who doesn't like salads isn't doing it right. Amazing.
-Had some cashew/almond/macadamia nut butter today at some point as a snack. Not sure when :)
4:30 pm [Pre-wod] - 4 oz swordfish; 1/2 coconut cream larabar.

5:30 pm [Post wod] - 2 oz. skate wing.

6:30 pm [Pre-vball] - 1 oz. skate wing; 1/2 coconut cream larabar.

-During vball - 1 L water plus 2 bites of Jason's oatmeal raisin power bar.

10:15 pm - 3-4 oz. no salt rotisserie chicken; kale, roasted yellow peppers, handful raspberries with 1/4 avocado; white truffle infused grapeseed oil & balsamic vinegar

CrossFit Total + me = PR! No ice pack today!!!

CROSSFIT TOTAL!!!

CFT = 530 (PR!! Prev CFT was 490)

BS - 190# (prev CFT was 165#, prev PR before that was 185#, so back on track!)
Press - 85# (matched PR)
DL - 255# (prev PR was 240#)

Woo!!

Tonight I was tired of not feeling proud of my wods. I decided that I was gonna go in and fucking lift. I wasn't going to be social, I wasn't going to hang out, I was going to lift heavy ass weights (HAF for Emmitt), and I wasn't going home without a strong showing tonight. Downloaded some angry music (Megadeth, Pantera, Korn, Marilyn Manson, Hatebreed, Godsmack... you get the idea) and then I worked by myself, with music loud enough to block everything else out. Next time I need to get a playlist ready as I constantly flipped around in the beginning, as some Pantera songs that I like to listen to on any other day aren't good for lifting... by the end I gave up and was listening to Marilyn Manson's The Beautiful People on repeat so I wouldn't have to mess with it. Will def set up a good playlist before my 2k row. This was especially beneficial for me. Helped me focus just on me, which is helpful since right now I'm struggling with focus and pushing myself beyond my usual limits/capacity.

A great fucking day.

PLUS, Em mentioned a 10 week deadlift program by Ed Coan (renowned as a 220-lbs powerlifter who has set over 70 world records. 70?!?!) that she wants to try and I think I'm gonna take her up on it. Sounds awesome, and I could use some substantial growth in all my lifts/wods so I'm excited to start it. Here's an interview with Ed Coan. Pretty fucking cool.
http://www.criticalbench.com/Ed-Coan.htm

Great quote from the interview:

Interviewer: "You don't train muscles like biceps?"

Ed Coan: "Nope, biceps are like ornaments on a xmas tree"

--
Not sure if I'm gonna keep posting nutrition... I guess I'll do it awhile longer... it is helpful I think to keep oneself on track. We'll see.
--
Nutrition

8:15 am - 2 eggs; broccoli sauteed in 1 t. coconut oil and red pepper flakes (spicy and YUM!)

9:00 am - coffee w/ 1/8 c. coconut milk

10:30 am - cashew cookie larabar
2:00 pm - ~6 oz. hamburger on salad greens with grilled portabellas, carmelized onions, avocado, oil, balsamic vinegar, tomatoes; ~9 oz. herbal tea. Delicious.
6:30 pm [Pre-wod] - 3 oz. grilled tuna steak; ~6 oz. coconut water; 8 oz. coffee + 1/8 c coconut milk.
8:30 pm [Post-wod] 2 oz no salt turkey breast, ~3 oz. coconut water.
Didn't feel like making dinner after the workout, so skipped it. One missed meal won't kill me, right?

2008 Games Grace WOD

2008 Games Grace- 

30 reps Clean & Jerks @ 155#/100# (must pass through full squat) for time.

Ten minute cap.

DNF - 27 reps (failed 2 jerks). Finished at 11:11 (?i think? I laid down on the floor once I hit the time cap, and John told me to get up and finish. So I did. Thanks, John.)

I knew this would hurt, but was not prepared for how much it would hurt.

I got all cleans without fail. Yaay! 29 cleans in ten minutes @ 10# below my PR. That's something I'm definitely proud of. I started with (full squat) cleans but as I got tired they slowly became power cleans into front squats. I failed two jerks. I would've had 29 if I hadn't failed those two damn jerks. I probably could've pushed through, no? If I only had one more needed rep? John was counting for me and said my jerks were almost all pressed out at the top. If my technique were better and I could've jerked these instead of pressing them could I have finished? Would I have had been have to push myself enough to finish?

I read Gillian Mounsey's blog about doing double fran. She talked about how double fran crushed her mentally. I read about it the day before this workout... fitting. It's exactly how I felt. I wanted to quit. Desperately wanted to quit. She talked about not being able to will herself to go unbroken. For me it was struggling to will myself to pick up the bar. I haven't done much work at that level of pain, I simple haven't worked at that pain threshold.I remember a row a month or so ago where I paused for a moment in total pain. That's the threshold I'm talking about.

I think that's where I need to starts working. Heavier, faster, and harder than I've ever gone before. I've got to learn to be able to push myself there, stay there and work there.

If you can dodge a wrench...

A-coached the 11 on Thursday. Jogged to and from the box about 5-6 minutes each way for 0.5 miles. Jog there felt nice and leisurely, jog back felt like shit. I was gonna try and sprint and see how quickly I could make it home but I did not feel good. I'm guessing it was b/c I was hungry? Or, hate the cold (it felt colder later in the day. Weird.)? Or, maybe b/c I hate running and haven't done it is so long my body was rebelling... Looking forward to the 5k run tomorrow!!

Friday - coached my first class today! Didn't get to plan for it, but I think I did alright. Didn't feel nervous or unsure (except for a few moments here and there - "Can we have music?" "Ummm, suuuure, I can make this thing work... somehow"). Was a difficult class for just one coach (esp a new coach) as four separate workouts were going on at once, one of which included instructing athletes on muscle-ups! Felt good about it though - was able to move around the room (give a few instructions, watch for the first few tries and then have them repeat the motions while I walked around to check on others, come back for step 2, etc.).

Ran a 5k today. I've ALWAYS hated running. ALWAYS. First 5k run ever was by myself after I'd been CrossFitting for about 6 mos. 8/2009: sub 47 mins. Yeah. THAT bad. 2nd 5k was in 11/2009: 31:07. Today: 28:44. Woot. I may start running sometimes. Running sprints and running longer runs. To include 5ks. What? Who am I??

The new Skinny Pete 5 k is a slightly longer run (3.22 mi). Also, I almost died running into the black pit of despair (front hallway), and then toppled over Murph who was proud of my improved run pace... so much so that he ran right under my feet and tried to jump up as I tried to cross the finish line. Yaay me! for not biting it in front of everyone at the box. It was close though.

OHS work - 5-3-1+ reps @ 57#, 65#, 73#. Got 2 reps at 73. Struggled getting my butt back first. Haven't played much with OHS and heavier weights. I've been working on super light weights and multiple reps but haven't spent enough time on reps at heavier weights. Guess I know what I need to do. What was I thinking anything, working low weights repeatedly?? Constantly varied means... well, constantly varied. silly girl.

And then, I played Dodgeball with E-Diesel. I couldn't believe I agreed to play but she needed another girl and, seriously? It was a lot of fun. A lot. Would totally do it again :)

Didn't track nutrition yesterday or today. Meh. I'm pretty okay with that. Ate paleo. Gotta head to bed. It's 1 am and I've gotta a-coach and wod tomorrow first thing.

OH and I ordered some great CF shirts and they came in today. Awesome shirts. I heart CF.

HSPUs. How I need you.

A-coached the 6am. Enjoyed being up so early, getting to a-coach under the Big Coach, and starting my day super early so I can end earlier today. Woohoo! Plan to do that again on Friday assuming all goes well with work b/w now and then :)

Warmed up with a 250m row with a 1:45 pace pre-Qual. wod below. Fastest I've ever pulled for that stretch. Getting excited about the upcoming 2k...

Qualifying wod # 2

90/75/60/45/30/15 seconds for max reps of:
Handstand push ups (head must touch floor on each rep, no kipping)
Chest-to-bar pull ups

NOTE: Must attempt at least one HSPU.

Got some scary news right before the wod so was a bit shook up. Wasn't my best performance, but c'est la vie, no? Attempted one HSPU, and then rested the rest of the time while other would have attempted (or gotten) HSPUs. Got a full hand stand negative (ie got my head to the ground... where it stayed for about ten seconds and I pulled off the wall - WHICH, ps, is a PR. I've never gotten a full hand stand negative to the ground before - I've always bailed out early). So, 0 HSPUs. 48 CTB though. Stephanie and I went head to head. She got 49... I got 48. Damn it. Just ONE HSPU would've at least bought me a tie.

Worked HSPUs post-wod to 2 abmats per Bryce's direction. 3-2-3. Had NO problem staying on the wall today which is SUPER weird for me. Never had that happen before actually. I think I prefer the cement block wall to HSPU against.

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Nutrition

5:30 am - 2 eggs, sauteed rainbow chard. Forgot to measure. It was friggin early. Think it was about 4-5 oz. 1 cup coffee plus ~1/4 c. coconut milk.

11:00 am - 3 oz. sole filet sauteed in 1/2 t. avocado oil; 6 oz. brussel sprouts blanched then sauteed in some water (water that they were blanched in to put the vitamins back into the brussel sprouts), 1/6 t. coconut oil, with 2/3 heavy pinch coconut flakes topped with 10 blueberries (after cooking). Definitely would've been better with less water and more coconut oil and just a few more blueberries. 1 T. cashew butter.

3:30 pm [Pre-wod] - 3 oz. no salt rotisserie chicken breast; 1 T. cashew butter; ~8 oz/ coconut water

5:00 pm [Post wod] - didn't feel like eating. So, nothing.

8:00 pm - 6 oysters, ~3 oz. ribs, ~1 oz. mushrooms with ~1 1/2 oz. egg souffle, 3 small cups coffee with cream (~9 oz. coffee + 1/4 c cream), nutty caramel tart. What?!

1st Qualifier WOD for the A-Team

Qualifier Wod. Current Rank: 5th
3 rds: 10 thrusters @ 85#/ 10 burpees
8:something. Maybe 8:15? :17?

Got through round 2 at 3:30 and thought I was just gonna crush this wod. Then apparently took a nap. Not sure what took so long in the last rd. Once I realized I wasn't gonna finish before the current 3rd place I stopped and was gonna quit, thinking it didn't matter anymore but then remembered that every place gets points so had to get back in. That likely cost me 4th place in this wod. Idiot. Oh well, back in for another qualifier tomorrow!

Also, followed the metcon up with some power snatch work: 5-3-1 reps of 70-80-90% of max snatch. Too bad I thought my max snatch was 83#. It's actually 78# (I can muscle 83# up, but haven't hit it properly) . Oops. Did 58#-68#-75#. Took a bit to get into a rhythm (plus I was kinda burnt out after the metcon), but the 58# felt good in reps 3-5, 68# felt good on the 3rd rep. The other non-good-feeling reps were mostly muscled-up overhead. When I first learned snatches I couldn't get my ass down into a full squat, so they were all power. Now that I can get down, I hate power snatches. You'd gotta throw the damn bar way too high for my liking. Meh. Then did a few OHS with the pvc, the 15#, and 20# bars. Worked on form and fast sets of 10 at each weight. Felt SUPER easy. Didn't want to go up in weight at all - just waned to run through the motion and get my body more accustomed to this lift.
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Nutrition

8:35 am - 2 eggs, 7 oz, rainbow chard sauteed in 2/3 T. coconut oil.

11:00am - 8 oz coffee with 1/2 c. coconut milk

1:30 pm - 2 1/2 oz. skate wing sauteed in garlic, pepper, and 1/2 t. avocado oil; 1 1/2 oz. raw kale tossed with 1/2 t. white truffle infused grapeseed oil, 10 cut up blueberries, squeeze of fresh lemon. This wasn't a lot of food in ounces, but kale takes up so much damn room on a plate! We'll see if I get hungry early or if this tides me through to my next meal :)

3:15 pm  [Pre wod] -  Nope. 1 T. cashew butter, 2 oz. no salt rotisserie chicken breast. (Didn't realize this was my pre-wod meal. Forgot that I had to work out at 4!!)

4:00 om [Pre-wod cont'd] - chugged ~8 oz coconut water

4:45 pm [Post wod] - 2 1/2 oz. skate wing sauteed in garlic, pepper, and 1/2 t. avocado oil; ~8 oz coconut water

6-7 pm [During vball] - ~8 oz. coconut water.

7:30 pm - 1 tagalong. I heart Chris Skafidas. After these damn qualifier wods are over I'm eating the other four. Not all at once mind you. The donut coma is still too fresh a memory. I'm keeping them in the freezer so they won't go stale, Chris, don't you worry.

9:30 pm - 4 oz. no salt rotisserie chicken breast sauteed with white truffle infused grapeseed oil and 3 oz. cooked mushrooms on top of 3 oz. kale with lemon and avocado oil. Approx. 1 T. oil total. Plus 1 T. cashew butter.

Last week and Level I Cert!!

So, it's kinda been awhile. I know. After sectionals I got super busy with work and lost some of the energy I was putting into CrossFit. I was tired and while I didn't wanna take a break from working out, but my workouts weren't impressive, and blogging just stopped all together. My apartment is a disaster. It looks like a bomb exploded. I can be messy and disorganized but this is beyond compare. And that's how I know I'm floundering and need something. Some kind of change.

Last week I flew to VA Monday morning and was there until I flew to LA on Friday morning. I worked out Monday evening, Tuesday morning, skipped Weds b/c the WOD there was running (I didn't wanna pay $20 to run so I thought I'd take a rest day and get back at it Thursday). Thursday the gym I was working out at was closed (oops) and I was going to take off work early and work out but I had an awful day at work, stayed four hours later than I anticipated and had dinner plans so had to skip working out that day. Friday I got into LA mid-afternoon and saw some of my favorite friends in the world. Planned to leave LA around 6, get to my hotel and work out, but dinner ran late and since I never see those friends I decided to forgo my workout to spend more time with them.

Saturday morning I tried to get up early and workout in the hotel "gym" - so sad. I ran on the treadmill (did I mention it was POURING down rain??) for about 1 1/4 miles switching back and forth b/w sprinting and running and jogging. I also set the treadmill to adjust the hill randomly (though it was less random and more like steadily going up throughout the run which was fine). I did 10 push-ups and my arms were exhausted! I thought you've got to be kidding me...

In retrospect, non-paleo eating DOES affect my workouts and my overall level of energy. I was EXHAUSTED on Saturday during my early morning workout.

Thursday night I ate a delicious but non-paleo dinner prepared by a friend of my sister's (pan friend and breaded fish, salad with goat cheese, carrots and string beans) on Thursday and a shit ton of alcohol that night - no mixers of course, but wine, sparkling rose, and a bunch of straight liquor. I know I shouldn't have but the week I'd had was long and exhausting and the day I had was HORRENDOUS ("I wanna quit my job" horrendous) so I cheated.

Friday I was good - ate paleo all day and even brought steak and sauteed swiss chard on the plane so I wouldn't have to eat bad plan food. I allowed myself two glasses of tequila, and then planned on calling it a night and then the waiter brought the table a gift - creme brulee and this chocolate fudgey mousse cake. I do not have that kind of self-control, so I definitely ate some of both of them. Damn it. I did feel bad about that one. Especially since I hadn't worked out the day before and knew I wasn't working out that night since it was already so late and I had an hour drive ahead of me.

Saturday and Sunday I ate well (though breakfast wasn't so great Sat - ate the "buffet" breakfast food - eggs, piece of sausage, & some hashbrowns, 1 c. coffee with coconut milk & 1 t. sugar. I thought they had a person cooking breakfast not a buffet, which is why I didn't plan anything for breakfast. Lunch was 4 oz. no-salt turkey, peppers, and sunbutter. Dinner was halibut with steamed spinach and a tomato/cucumber/red onion salad. I asked for no salt on my dinner and I think they doubled the salt instead... it tasted super salty. I need to plan ahead better for breakfast when I got on trips. Sunday breakfast was much better - eggs, peppers, and 1 c. coffee with coconut milk & 1 t. sugar. Lunch was 4 oz. no-salt turkey, peppers, and 1 T. sunbutter. Snack around 5:30 was 2 oz. turkey and some peppers. Dinner was a burger (no bun, cheese or anything non-paleo) with bacon and avocado and a small side salad with oil and vinegar. No drinks.

Monday I woke at a friends place and was able to cook again. Lovely. I had 1 egg, 2 oz. no-salt turkey and some peppers, 8 oz. coffee with coconut milk. No sugar. I'm quitting refined sugar for real. 4 oz. carne asada from Whole Foods plus 4 oz. kale with mushrooms and red peppers and olive oil, plus 8 oz coconut water. For dinner I had 4 more oz. carne asada from another Whole Foods, 1 T. cashew butter, and 5 oz. collard greens prepared with orange juice and raisins. I wanted to work out (specifically run sprints) Monday night after I got home from the airport but my body was still pretty sore from the weekend workouts and drills, so I was convinced to take the day as a rest day since I'd have a qualifying wod for the A-team the following day and should be fresh for that.

Saturday and Sunday I was at my Level I Certification. Amazing weekend. Learned so much about proper form and learned not only to better my own form but how to teach better form and how to correct improper form. Also got to hang out with some fantastic CFers. Loved the people I met who were getting theirs certs as well as the super impressive instructor roster including Pat Barber, Jason Khalipa, and Jolie Gentry (who is pregnant and still has better form than probably anyone I know) and Stephane Rochet and Andrew Thompson - the list goes on. I had an amazing time, and got a lot out of the cert both individually and as a coach-in-training! Individually, I was told my pull-ups are super strong, got my squats significantly improved, sped up my Fran time by 45 sec and went Rx'd for the 1st time. As far as learning to be a better coach, I learned form MUCH better, got to see faults and how to correct those faults, and learned what I believe to be the most important lesson - technique needs to get better before intensity should. I can't be afraid to tell someone to drop weight if I think their form isn't good enough to support that weight. If I don't do that for an athlete I'm coaching, I'm doing them a disservice.

Sat wods: tabata air squats, drills on DL/SDHP/MedBallCleans, Squat/FS/OHS, Press/PP/PushJerk, Fran
Sun wods: Muscle-up work, pull-up work, Snatch work, Team wod: 1 person at each of these stations for (I think) 12 mins: 1 pood KBS, push-ups, run, rest. Score is total # of KBS+pushups amongst entire team.

PS my new Fran time is 7:12!!