Angie and Helen

I'm not tracking my nutrition today. I ate well, I just don't feel like it. I'm in a weird place with nutrition right now. And I don't really feel like getting into it. I will, at some point, but I'm not really in the mood... plus I have no idea what times I ate at :)

I did Angie yesterday for the first time.

[Angie = 100 pull-ups, 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats]
Time: 23:43

I think I could do Angie again and shave some time off - I went ginger with my pull-ups, breaking them up into doubles mostly to preserve my hands since I was using the bar that tears my hands the most. I also took it easy on push-ups b/c I wasn't sure how 100 would feel so broke it into mainly doubles as well. All rests were super short 1-3 seconds at most during push/pull-ups, prob 3-5 secs on sit-ups and air squats. Felt good about limiting my rest times but would now like to limit the rest stops and hit it harder and preserve myself less. Now that I know how it feels I can hit her harder next time.

I followed that up with Helen today, even though I did her the other week.

[Helen =  3 rds: 400m run, 21 kettlebell swings @ 1 pood, 12 pull-ups]
Time: 12:01 PR!

Helen felt good, I'm still a shite slow runner but hopefully after doing more sprints this summer I can cut this time down. I super wussed out on pull-ups rarely chaining any and never chained more than 3 b/c my hands were pretty messed up from Angie. I opened up a blister in the palm of my left hand warming up, so in order to avoid opening up anymore that I started yesterday I changed my grip up and held the bar higher than usual - more in my fingers than palms, which gave me four new blisters (one that opened during the wod). Sooo, yeah my hands are pretty fucked right now. I have about ten separate places on my hands that hurt, only two requiring bandaids though, and those should be fine by tomorrow. The tender places just toughen up and the open blisters just need a day to heal so who cares if my hands look like shit and I have to take a day off lifting? I could use the forced rest anyway (if I were to take it).

I also benched twice this week. First time going for a new 1RM... ended at 127# but am pretty sure I coulda had 133# but my spotter didn't want me to drop the bar on my face... can't really be mad at that... or at least in my head I shouldn't be... but I am a little disappointed. I want to be pushed to my extreme. I don't want someone allowing me or enabling my failure. Let me fight for it! I wanna struggle. I need to struggle to hit a 1RM. Don't get me wrong... I do not blame her for me not getting it up there, I just wish she hadn't put her hands on so early. If it's coming down or if I call out for help, grab the bar, but the bar never went downward, just hovered. Hovering means I'm still fighting. Let me fight. And, I shoulda said something. I hate it when I don't speak up. But, I just wasn't comfortable enough to say anything to her about it. She makes me a little nervous about stepping on toes/corssing boundaries/etc, and she's been there coaching much longer than I've been a member there, so I just kept quiet. There's always another day, right? The second day I benched instead of going for a new 1RM, I just did a bunch of reps at lighter weights so that the next time I go for it I can get 133# without question. Previous PR was 125, so not a huge increase but feels good to hit a new PR even if it's small. New PR beats the hell outta failing a prev PR!!

Both my Helen times and Angie times landed me a space on the leaderboard at this non-CFC CrossFit, which feels good (I think my Helen time got me up there today... but I'm not 100% sure on that. Def sure on the angie time though). Makes me proud, personally. It's weird though - while I'm personally gratified by making the leaderboard, other people seem to be way more competitive about it than I am. Billy S wrote an awesome article awhile back on the CFC blog Conundrum expressing how I feel about competition... to sum it up- I wanna do my best. And I want to beat you. But, I also want YOU to do your best. And that last part... I dunno... I don't know that I think everyone here feels that same way.

Every day in the box, you come in and you work. You work with whatever the fuck you've got that day - based on what you ate, how you slept, your mood, the weather for fuck's sake. I may beat you today on the same workout you can beat me on tomorrow. That's life, dude. And, don't get me wrong, there are lots of people here who are supportive and seem geniunely happy when others do well. But there are also some who seem threatened or irritated, or even in disbelief when others hit the leaderboard and I just don't really understand that. Seriously, while it's cool to be on the leaderboard, it doesn't mean anything more than beating someone in any other workout. I can be first or last in any of the WODs throughout the week but no one gives a shit about that b/c it's not one of the 16 or so randomly chosen WODs that make up the leaderboard. You know why I did those WODs this week? Because angie was programmed (we do leaderboard WODs every wednesday), and Helen I did b/c one of my friends was coming in to do it, and I really like WOD'ing with people. I like to compete, I like to chase, I like to lead... I just like to workout. Plain and simple.

I dunno. I like this place, I do. I have just been a little miffed recently about a few things. And, I miss CFC. It'll be good to be back this weekend. I have a busy summer and lots to look forward to. I'm just, I dunno, just venting I guess.

Day 4 IF and mobility cert talk

I mean... when there's a motorcycle club having a BBQ next door to a CF box,

what else am I to do??

Day 4. Monday.

5:45am - wake up. Sooooo tired. 2 droppers of "kung fu fighter" herbal-don't-be-sick stuff.

6:45am - 10 oz. Coffee. Couldn't stomach this coffee black. ~1 1/2 T 2% milk (all they had...ugh), 1 packet sugar. I haven't added sugar to my coffee in ages but the milk just wasn't cutting it. And I had to drive to the airport so needed this coffee. 2%?! ugh.

8:15-10:30am - Napped on the plane ride Portland to Oakland. Woke up a bit hungry, but it went away pretty fast.

1:30pm - 4oz roasted no salt turkey breast, and a salad of arugula + roasted sweet potato, ~3 t. white truffle oil with 2 pinches sea salt and a fried egg on top. Yum. Possibly my new favorite salad.

3:00pm - still felt hungry, so had ~1 1/2 oz grilled chicken, 15 blueberries, and a handful of arugula. Also remembered I hadn't taken vitamins today so 2 tsp. fish oil, multi-vitamin, 3 vit C, 1 more dropper of kung fu fighter.

6:00pm - About 45 min. mobility work.

Hips:
1) Lacrosse ball in the hip crevice down to the bottom of my quads - good ouch. switch legs and repeat.
2) lay on ground butt with on wall, heels down (essentially a squat position) back flat on the floor, press knees out.
3) deep lunge with back knee on the ground and forward knee @ 90 degrees. hold front foot with same side of body hand and gently press out and hold for 5 sec, release, go deeper and hold 5 sec release until knee is almost on the ground. switch legs and repeat.
4) go back to the other leg adn actually lay that front leg down with knee on ground (same basic position but deeper and with front leg flat on ground) and press body down 5 sec, release, go deeper, release until chest and arms are flat or close to flat on ground in front of you. switch legs and repeat.

Shoulders:
1) using only one arm, tuck elbow in tight and raise arm like a front rack position but grab a band that is hanging from a bar. pull forward (extrernal rotation of the shoulder) for 15-20 sec, release, repeat. switch arms and repeat.
2) using only one arm at a time, get into a front rack position with elbow pressing hard against a bar just below shoulder height, pushing heading through the hole. switch arms and repeat a few times.
3)  using a hanging band, get body inside the band with arms over head, bands touching under the arms almost into the biceps. step forward and lean hard into this stretch. You should feel like youre almost about to fall onto the floor. Repeat three times and push deeper each time. Don't fall.
4) Pass-throughs.
5) Snatch balances.

7:00pm - a-coach. Pretty much led the whole class which was fun. AND Coach James said he was impressed by how much better my overhead squat was. he actually said wow :) woohoo!!

8:25pm - chugged down 10g BCAA pre-wod with only about 5 oz water b/c i was in a hurry and realized I hadn't eaten in a few hours. After the workout I was practically foaming at the mouth. More water next time, brainiac.

8:30pm - Metcon:

3 OHS, 21 box jumps @ 24" [OHS @ 75% 1RM, so 73#]
3 OHS, 21 burpees
3 OHS, 21 KBS @ 44#
3 OHS, 15 bj
3 OHS, 15 burpees
3 OHS, 15 KBS
3 OHS, 9 bj
3 OHS, 9 burpees
3 OHS, 9 KBS

Time: 13:59. OHS were much better than in the previous OHS wod, though I did fail 3 reps. Also realized that the nerve pain I feel is when i'm not holding the bar properly and am internally rotating my wrist into the bar. So, um, don't do that anymore.

9:30pm - RUSHED home from the gym, cooked super fast and pounded dinner down b/c  I was supposed to stop eating at 9:30! Ate in 15 minutes, so technically my feeding window was 8 hrs 15 mins today. Cheater.

--
Mobility Cert!

The movement and mobility cert was great! Kelly Starrett is funny and engaging... A great lecturer. And the material was phenomenal. He gave us testable and measurable ways to improve muscle and joint function, as well as simple tools that we can bring with us to help our athletes. I have a feeling a small foam roller or rolley stick, lacrosse ball, and band will become staples in my workout bag from now on. With the tools he gave us and the videos on his mobility WOD website, I feel much more prepared to work with athletes on how to teach them to improve their mobility.

I highly suggest this cert for other coaches, and intend to implement mobility work into my every day training. I also intend to implement at least one mobility movement into every warm-up (these to me are far better than the traditional stretching exercises I've done in the past).

Today in the warm-up I led the athletes through #s 3 and 4 of my above hip mobilizing things as we were working on OHS as the strength portion today, and so when we moved on to basic air squats I looked around and throughout the class everyone actually looked pretty damn good, and it was mainly a class of beginners. I was pretty damn astonished. Yaaay Mobility!!! Thank you Kelly Starrett!!!!!

Back to clean eating

Nutrition
9am- 2 eggs, 1 egg white

1:30pm- salad - mixed greens, ~1/4 c of carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, ~3oz chicken. Not impressive. ~1 1/2 T lite greek dressing, ~1T tzatziki sauce. Kind of a lettuce festival.

2:30pm- 20 oz. chai iced tea + 1 shot espresso

6pm- mixed sashimi, 12 pc, approx 7oz of tuna/salmon/yellowtail/other, plus 1T soy sauce & wasabi

10pm- 1/4lb. turkey burger, handful of arugula, 1 T. white truffel oil.

Workouts!!

Strength set 3pm
Find 1RM Front Squat. 151# PR!!! (prev 1RM 140)

Metcon 3:45pm
4 Rds for time:
10 FS @ 65%
10 KBS 1 pood
10 24" Box Jumps
Time- 12:34. Originally planned for 5 rds, but had to cut the wod short b/c there was a 4pm class.

Skillwork 9:15pm
Worked towards Skin the Cat and butterflies. Used 2 movements - Movement A was simply deadhang knee raises (essentially KTEs but raised knees together up as high as they'd go into my chest). Movement B was just holding tight in the starting position of the butterfly - tightening lats and pulling feet back and up as high as possible and holding tight.

Rd 1
A1 - 5x10 reps
A2 - 5x10 sec hold
Rd 2

A1 - 4x10 reps
A2 - 4x10 sec hold
... down to
Rd 5
A1 - 1x10 reps
A2 - 1x10 sec hold

I didn't time this as the goal here was to do everything strict, no kip, and to start from a still position for each rep. I shook my arms out a rested about 10-20 sec in between the sets of 10s, and rested a minute or so in between rounds. By the last round my knees were getting up waaay higher than in round 1. Skin the Cat here I come!!

Week Two

Sunday 5/1/2011
Skillwork: Butterfly work!! Need to start with feet back and scoop them up without starting with a swinging motion. Need to tighten lats and core for this to be an easier movement.

WOD: 150 push-ups for time. Every break for 2 seconds or more results in a 50m sprint. Steve's creation. Time: 14:04. Good arm killer.

Monday 5/2/2011
WOD 8pm: 3 Rds: 10 BJ @ 24”, 10 KBS @ 1 pood, 10 sit-ups. Time 4:26. 1st rd of BJs unbroken but 2nd and 3rd were not. Need to get better to string BJs at a slightly uncomfortable height.

Skillwork: 8pm: Lots of rope climb instruction while A-coaching (@7pm), then 2 full-out rope climbs before my WOD. 2nd went probably 75% as fast as the first – need to get better upper body strength so that I don’t slow down until after 3rd rope climbs in a row. Then worked on butterflies for about 30 minutes. I got the legs movement down and can rep out 3 in a row though my chin isn’t over the bar. Conversely, can get 1 rep with chin over the bar, but then I drop down hard. In order to get the legs motion I am overly controlling the movement which makes it hard to get enough power to get up over the bar, and when I am going all out I am able to get the 1 rep over the bar but can’t get the rhythm. Need to work on both of these to nail the movement.

Tuesday 5/3/2011
Skillwork: 6 am: Clean bar path work. Need to get my knees coming forward on the second pull to the hang position. Worked on sets of 3 mainly, though stayed at 83# and 93# for awhile as Dan suggested form improvements. Worked @ 33#, 53#, 63#, 73#, 83#, 93#, 103# in preparation for Helen meets Grace event on Friday. Then moved on to Jerks in sets of 3 @ 53# & 63#, 2 sets of 3 @ 73#, 2 sets of 3 @ 83#, and a few singles @ 93#.

WOD 1: 7 am: Half Grace. 2:57. I expected this to take much longer. Felt good.

WOD 2 series/Personal Punishment session with Coach Dan: 8am: 3 rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 10 x 9’ WB @ 14#. Time- 5 min-ish. 2 min rest then, 1 mile run – Time 8:20. Followed by 5x back and forth bag penalties for running too slowly of cleaning the heavy bag once, then dragging in from ladder edge to ladder edge across the box floor. Followed by 5 isometric WB pushup, clean & squat – with my left hand on the WB with right hand on the ground do a push-up then jump over and transfer hands (not rolling the ball but moving my body over the ball) so left hand is on ground and right hand on the WB and do a push-up, followed by jumping up into a squatted position, clean the WB into a full squat. Those 5 were the hardest parts I think!! I am not coordinated.

Wednesday 5/4/11
Strength set: Find 1RM Press. PR today!! 5x 33#, 3x 53, 63#, then 2 @ 73, 83#, 1 @ 88# (PR), 93f, 90.5 f, 90.5f. Could’ve hit 90.5# fresh though. Then worked Push Press @ 63, 83, 103#. Slight jerk in 2nd set of 103#.

Thursday 5/5/11
Skillwork: 12:30 pm Bikram Yoga!

Heavy Metal Strength 5pm: Front Squat 5-5-5-5-5 (ended @ 115#)

Heavy Metal WOD 5pm: 3 rounds for time of: 50m Tire Flips, 15 Front Squats 135/95#, 25 Dumbbell Snatches 35/25#, 400 m Row. Time: 24:30 Was SOOO overheated during this workout. No more bikram pre-metcons!

Friday 5/6/11
Team CF Competition - Helen Meets Grace: 8:30 pm Partner WOD 3 rds: 400m run, 21 KBS, 12 pull-ups, 30 C&J @ 95. Time: 13:42.

Saturday & Sunday 5/7 - 5/8/11
Rest days - in CHI-TOWN! CFC Anniversary Party. Thank god I wasn't tracking my nutrition on this trip. good LORD!

--> This week I didn't really stick to my goals of 7-10 min metcons and laying low. Fail. I did, however, cut back and not workout 10 times this week, which when I get really excited about working out is actually quite difficult for me. So, that's a win. Next week I'll be back to two-a-days and awesome punishment, but the following week I really need to get in more of the short time domains.

Week One - Heavy Week

Monday 4/25/2011 Metcon: Team WOD. Each team member rows 800m, while the other members do DUs, hollow rocks, plank holds (for seconds), & mountain climbers (both legs count as 1 rep). My total score 440.

Skillwork: Stringing TTB work. Need bigger kip, almost out of control to string these. Snatch progressions up to 55#. Worked on bar path mostly and shoulder mobility.

Tuesday 4/26/2011
Strength Set: Push Jerk 5-5-5 @40/50/60% 1RM. Accidentally used men’s bar, so thought I was lifting at the %ages, but actually was up about 10% using 65#, 75#, and 85#. Then, metcon was 2 WODs back to back with 1 min rest in b/w.

Metcon: WOD A: 30 DU, 10 Push press @ 55#, 10 HSPU (8 min cap). Again with the wrong bar so worked @ 65#... 1 min rest… WOD B: 200 m sprint, 10 BJ @ 24”, 10 air squats. WOD A completed 2 rds + some DUs, WOD B completed in 8:30 or so.
Skillwork: Skin the Cat work with Coach Dan. Need to focus on tightening lats (shove shoulders back to start the movement) and get a stronger core. Need to do GHDs and other ancillary skills work to improve.

Wednesday 4/27/2011
Activity: Surfing! Love that Stacy came to visit and made me do stuff :) 2.5 hrs

WOD: Cindy! 12 rds

Thursday 4/28/2011
Metcon@ 9am: 15 min AMRAP of 200m row, 10 SDHP @65#, 200m sprint, 10 KBS @ 1 pood, 20 sit-ups. 3 or so rounds. I think.
Heavy Metal WOD(s) @5pm:
1) 10 mins to find your 1RM OHS. 105#! PR!! (Stacy said my depth was good during this portion of the afternoon, but in later rounds struggled really bad to hit depth so unsure if I really hit this PR or not).
2) 5 Rds for time: 3 OHS @ 95#, 25m burpee broad jump. This was atrocious. Couldn’t find the bottom of my OHS so this really ended up being a few burpee broad jump sessions and a bunch of trying to get to the bottom of the squat.
3) 25 min AMRAP: thruster @ 95#, 1 wall climb with 50# sandbag, 7 burpee 24” box jump onto and overs, 1 wall climb with 50# sandbag, 7 KBS @ 1.5 pood. This was kinda a mess b/c there were so many of us waiting for wall climbs or boxes that it’s hard to say b/c I went out of order so frequently. Probably was in b/w 2-3 rounds.

Friday 4/29/2011
WOD: 10-1 exchange Body Complex Progression (air squat, push-up, sit-up, superman, jumping knee tuck) & Squat Clean @ 95# plus sprint 100m in b/w each round. Time 25:58. I was DYING towards the end of this wod. I could really feel that I had worked out so much this week and was simply exhausted by the time I got into this. Was fighting to finish without even wanting to finish by the end.

WOD: Running! 4.1 miles in 47:49.4

Saturday 4/30/2011
Rest Day.

-->by thursday and friday I was REALLY feeling burnt out. thursday evening after we worked OHS and moved on to the metcon the metcon felt atrocious, and friday i was fighting so hard to get up 95# cleans - way harder than normally necessary. i know that this new workout plan is heavy and maybe even a little crazy but i think it'll be good for me to learn to really fight through a week. so... we'll stick with this for a few weeks and then i'll either continue on or try something new.

the AllDay Chipper makes me less than chipper

Congrats Anthony "AllDay" Dayrit for becoming the CFC March Member of the Month. You, sir, are a badass for sure. I read your blog every day and am constantly impressed with your work in the box.

Massage. Get some. I heart massage days.

I'm actually excited about today's WOD. It looks horrendous. It looks long and exhausting but for some reason these are the type of WODs I tend to excel at... which is weird b/c I always thought endurance was one of my bigger struggles. But, I think it's less the endurance that I struggle with, and more the power of the wod and sustaining that power for short-extended periods. When it's a WOD that you've gotta pace it a bit I tend to do well. Hmm. Good to know I guess. Of course, I know that means I need to be working in the time domain that I'm failing in (short wods)... but they're just not as fun... probably b/c I'm not as good at them. Damn it. Stupid cyclical problems.

From NY/NJ Sectional (25 min cap)
30 Overhead squat (95/55 or 40-50% of 1RM of average lift in series)
30 CTB pull ups
30 Power snatches
30 Toes-to-bar
30 SDHP
30 Air Squats
30 Kettlebell swings (1.5/1 pood)

THAT above was written before I did the wod. Yuck. It was awful. Took 19 min and some seconds... 5 minutes of which were spent JUST on OH squats. They weren't heavy just awkward. I didn't warm up with them. Which was stupid. Stupid. Stupid. As punishment for being so stupid tomorrow is just a skills day. On OH squats. Maybe add in tabata row to punish myself some more. Stupid.

CTBs were 5s, then down to 2s and 1s by the end. Felt pretty good though. Snatches weren't heavy - just not used to stringing these. Did sets of 3-5. TTB in 3s and 2s. SDHP 6/6/6/6/6, squats 10/10/10 WAY faster than i expected - I flew through these. KBS 10/12/8.

--

Nutrition-

5:30 am - 2 eggs with asparagus, mushrooms and onions sauteed in coconut oil. 1 c. coffee with 1/4 c. coconut milk.

12:45 pm - 3 oz. roasted lamb (with sea salt). 8 oz. of kale + WF sauteed mushrooms/zucchini/peppers/red onions + asparagus with a bit of balsamic on top. Totally surprised how long I made it w/o wanting lunch. Normally I would've been starving hours before this. I think that the coffee I've been drinking is what tides me over longer. We'll see.
4:30 pm [Pre-wod] -  3 oz. sole, 1 cheery pie larabar. 
6:45 pm [Post-wod] - tequila with blackberry/mint/lemon. Delicious. Burger from J Wellington's with fried egg, giardiera peppers. Sans bun. Three of Jonny's french fries. 
10 pm ish - Coconut milk with dark choc chips, almond butter, and some enormous California grapes :) Variation on Amy's suggestion for healthy yummy fat treat for recovery after tough wod day.

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.

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!!!!

Tomorrow (Weds) is a SNEAK PREVIEW of the NEW CFC LOCATION!!

WE HAVE A NEW BOX!!!!

I'm super excited about Open House at the new box, 1444 W. Willow, with classes at 4, 5, 6, and 7pm tomorrow! Thursday and Friday classes will resume at the old box location (1962 N Clybourn), and then effective Saturday 2/20 classes will officially be moved to the new location!! AND THEN SATURDAY IS A PALEO CHILI AND DESSERT COOK-OFF?!?! Amazing. I love our new box already. I bought some elk meat for Amy that's been sitting in my freezer, and I'm totally stealing it to make paleo chili with it (sorry Amy).

As excited as I am for a new box, I think I'll be sad at the last Friday evening class at the old box. I'll miss that place. It's where I got to know all my friends in Chicago, and it's the first place I felt at home in this whole city. It's where I go when my head is full of unnecessary things that I want cleared out or when I need to get away. I am forever grateful to that place and to the people in it for my new life, and it will be sad when we move out. Sadder than moving out of my condo, actually, which is kind of funny. I'm sure I will grow to love our new box as I loved the old one, especially since the new one is even CLOSER to my apartment than the current box, and we'll have showers, and hand dryers, and a heated parking garage, and it's so much bigger than our current box... all of which is awesome. Plus, all the people I love will be moving to the new box which is key. Dinner at my place post-wod? Sure, it's only a few blocks away!! We can walk :)

And tomorrow we'll start a new initiative called Proving Grounds where we'll set a goal for ourselves and then work to achieve that goal by October 15th. WELL... I've already been thinking about just that sort of thing, except I have a boat load of goals to achieve. To achieve my enormous list I'm setting a deadline for 12/31/2010, but for Proving Grounds I've selected one very special goal to be accomplished sooner than that. I look forward to learning what everyone's goals are and am excited to be a part of helping everyone reach their goals.

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Today's workout:
Deadlift 5-5-5+
(1RM+10#) 58.5%/67.5%/76.5%
146# - 170# - 191# x 10 reps!!

12 min AMRAP of:
3 hang squat clean (60-65% of 1RM clean) used 73#
6 burpees
9 kbs (heavy) used 55# 

6 rds + 1 HSC

This was a horrible workout.  My back ACHED afterward and it took a long time to feel right again. The KBS were NOT unbroken - I got 5-4 most rounds, but got 4-3-2 in rd 5 or 6. HSC were all unbroken but slower than I wanted them to be. Everytime I dropped the bar back to the hang position it hurt my back - I should maybe learn a more comfortable way of doing that. Burpees were unbroken.

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Nutrition

8:30am - 1 egg, 2 oz. no salt turkey, 6 oz. spinach, 1 cup iced coffee w/ 1 t. raw sugar and 1/8 c. coconut milk. 4 fish oil, 1 vit. C

1:30 pm - 3 oz. no salt turkey; 9 oz. of: rainbow chard sauteed in 1/4 T. coconut oil, plus mushrooms and onions; sprinkle of sea salt & pepper. 1/3 L. Water. 4 fish oil.

2:15 pm - 1/8 c. Mint Galactica Organic Coconut Bliss... it's coconut milk ice cream. And it's amazing. Ingredients listed below. Apparently I'm not through cheating... but as far as cheating goes this BARELY counts.

3:30 pm [Pre-wod] - 4 oz. tuna sashimi, 1 1/2 t. almond butter, 8 oz. coconut water

5:20 pm [Post-wod/Pre-vball] - 3 oz. salmon sashimi, 8 oz. coconut water

6:30-7:00 pm [During/Post vball] - 8 oz. coconut water

10:20 pm - 4 oz. Halibut; 6 oz. broccoli & mushrooms with fresh sauteed garlic in 1 t. avocado oil; 2 t. almond butter. Am craving coconut milk, but think I need to cut down on my fat intake, as I'm feeling heavier recently (though the scale doesn't show it, I feel it). We'll see if I can tough it out and get to bed without caving.

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Ingredients of Mint Galactica Coconut Bliss : OG coconut milk, OG Agave Syrup, OG Fair Trade Dark Chocolate (OG Choc. liquor, OG sugar, OG cocoa powder, OG cocoa butter, OG Vanilla extract), OG coconut oil, OG Peppermint extract, OG Vanilla Extract. And Happiness.

I'm going to kill my cat...

...seriously he keeps finding random shit to tear up and play with that makes loud noises and I'm trying to get ready to go to sleep. I have to keep getting out of bed and hiding the shit he finds to play with. Obnoxious.

Wod and then volleyball tonight.

Press 5-3-1+
1RM @ 67.5%/76.5%/85.5%

58#-65#-73# (x 6 reps)

Then, for time (from 2009 Hell's Half Acre Regional):
21-15-9
Box jump (24")
Kettlebell swings (1.5/1 pood = 35#))
Sumo-deadlift high-pull (95/65#)

Time - 7:26

SDHP felt terrible. I really need to set aside time to work on that movement. It's one we don't do especially often and it always feels soo very heavy. Bryce said to think of it like a clean... It feels nothing like a clean though, and while I imagine that I could do a 65# hang power clean for a 21-15-9 wod unbroken, my sumos were nowhere near unbroken. I strung a bunch in the front end of the wod, but by the end I was in 3s mostly and a few singles. I also dropped the bar and Bryce took away a rep. I forgot we weren't supposed to drop. I definitely dropped others. I didn't remember the no dropping rule until I got called out in my 9 set. Was a bit leery with 24" box jump and had more trouble landing in the right place (which helps me get back on in a fast pace) so wasn't able to string them as well as usual.... I still got a bunch in a row but I wanted these unbroken. KBS @ 1 pood are AWESOME. All unbroken. Afterward the workout, however, more KBS was NOT AWESOME. I tried Chris' new KBS technique and nailed myself in the face with the bell. I can't wait to see how hot I look tomorrow with a big ass purple bruise on the bridge of my nose. It better go away by sectionals.

Dead Hangs - 5-3-3 (not sure about the # in the 2nd set). 2rd set i tried to do a switch grip with hands facing opposite the normal way I do them. I didn't like that. I like my right hand facing away from me and my left facing in.

Volleyball @ 8. Great 3 games. We won. Yaaay!! Rudy played - I forgot how fun he is to have on the team! He's great, which is a huge bonus, plus he's super supportive - always cheering us on and congratulating us or making us laugh. Definitely a great person to have on your team. Thanks for subbing, coach!

I noticed in game 3 that the other team looked a bit worn. One girl was sweating a lot and I realized I wasn't sweating at all. And then I thought about how I had done a hard ass workout just 1 1/2 hrs before vball. It reminded me of how far my endurance has improved since starting CFC. I love CrossFit.

Oh, and I had a small tear on my right hand that I though was fully healed, but it split open today during the SDHP, which sucked. It only hurt a tiny bit though, and I was glad we had Dead Hangs to do post-metcon instead of kipping pull-ups! Sucked during vball though. I could feel it pull when I hit. Or served. Or set. So, pretty often, but again it was a dull pain so no big.

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Nutrition

9:00 am - 1 egg + 2 egg whites; 6 oz. rainbow chard sauteed with 1/2 T. coconut oil, one pinch coconut flakes, ~1/16 c. dried cranberries; 1 small glass of water

12:00 pm - Emmitt's brownies. 3 of them. Mmm. Delicious. I heart Emmitt.

1:45 pm - 3 oz. spicy turkey jerky; 5 oz. rainbow chard sauteed with 1/2 T. coconut oil, one pinch coconut flakes, ~1/16 c. dried cranberries; 1 t. coconut cream; 1 small glass water; 1 chamomile tea (no caffeine)

5:20 pm [Pre-wod] - 11 oz paleo lasagna & spaghetti squash (leftovers from when Mo and I made it - some lamb sausage - probably ~1/2 oz to 1 oz), 1 T. sunbutter

7:15 pm [Post-wod] - trio bar (thanks, JJ!)

10:45 pm - 3 oz. rabbit tenderloin (2oz sauteed in coconut oil, 1 oz. grilled), 4 oz. coconut water, 2 oz. rainbow chard sauteed with 1/2 T. coconut oil, one pinch coconut flakes, ~1/16 c. dried cranberries; 1 t. coconut cream; 1 medium glass water; 1 SleepyTime tea (no caffeine)
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Oh! and one last thing. I did the stretches Mike suggested - once at the box after acoaching at 11, once at the box after my metcon today, and then again after vball. Both times at the box I laid on the roller for about 5 mins or so, and then the 1st and 3rd times I did the butt against the wall and arms up. I can already see significantly improved mobility. I also reviewed the snatch movements with a PVC. It's good to get in stretching and focus on the technique for a bit each day. I hope I remember to continue :)

Amy. I like you. But the bar hates you. - MG

Started the day off with a fun workout,
Press 3-3-3+
1RM (use CFT weight - 85#) @ 63%-72%-81%
54#-61#-69# (x 6 reps)

Metcon: 3 rounds,  Work 1 minute at each station for total reps of (FGB style):
Wall ball @ 14# to 10'
KBS (53/35) (dropped kb's are a non-rep)
Double-unders
Rest

Optional Post WOD
3x max HSPU (90 seconds rest)

Press felt strong. I felt good on those. I was excited about this metcon. Three exercises I am crap-ola at, so I couldn't miss this wod. Had evening plans (will explain later), so came in at 9am to get this in. Total was 123, WB reps 9-11-16, KB 23-19-20, DU 11-5-9. My 1st rd of WB was horrendous. Sad really. I missed way too many reps. I should have warmed up throwing at the red with a 20# WB. I've noticed that with WB and HSPUs I have to warm up the movement moreso than the other movements before I start them in a wod, and need to remember that in future wods - otherwise I will suck ass the first rd (note the steady improvement in nailed attempts as the rds progressed). Also, still not used to working out in the am. Need to remember to drink coffee if I'm feeling tired before the wod. The KBS were the LIGHTEST THINGS EVER! I was completely off-balance and almost threw the KB behind me to start out rds 1 and 2. Never thought that would happen :) Realized in rd 3 that I could pick up the speed since the weight was so light, but had never done a KBS that felt so light, so didn't realize how much faster I could've gone until the last 20 sec in rd 3. All unbroken here. The double-unders were, well, double-unders. But I kept my head and didn't get frustrated. My mental game has really improved as far as keeping my cool and not getting frustrated- now I just need to improve my mental focus to push past what I see as my current limits.

Skipped the HSPUs since I knew I was working on Snatches for a few hours that night so decided to move those to another day. Don't let me forget!!

Amy and I scheduled an olympic lifting session with Mike and Roger - awesome. The two of them worked with us for about 2 hours on snatches (5:30-7:30pm). Huge improvement! Worked up to 66#, which is a NEW PR on the full snatch :) And it didn't feel heavy, so I know I have more in me, but after snatching for 2 hrs I played it smart and didn't go up any higher. Mike gave me a shit ton of stretches to improve my flexibility on this lift and was even able to get my grip closer in which made a huge difference. I heart Mike and Roger.

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Nutrition
8:20am  [Pre-wod] 1 egg, 2 oz. no salt turkey, 16 oz. coconut water, ~15 walnuts/almonds/pecans/macadamias/dried cherries

10:00am [Post-wod] - ~3 oz. no salt turkey, 10 or so oz. coconut water

11:30 am - 4 oz. grilled swordfish, 8 oz. fresh kale plus sauteed kale+yellow peppers+eggplant mix and ~1 T. wild maine blueberry dressing, 2 T. sunbutter

3:50 pm - 2 t sunbutter, ~6 oz. coconut water

5:00 pm [Pre-skills wod] - 3 oz. no salt turkey, 16 oz. Starbucks coffee with 1 T. half and half, 4 raw sugars.

7:45 pm [Post-skills wod] - 3 oz. no salt turkey

9:00 pm - 11 oz. paleo chili (prepared with a ratio of 3:8 protein to carbs, so 3oz. turkey/bison, 8 oz. vegis), 2 T. guacamole

(Six meals today! Oops! 1 more than usual... but with the extra workout I guess it was good, no?)

F*@# Bryce

Friday -
9:30am - 1 egg, 2 oz. grd turkey, 4 oz. mushrooms. Wasn't feeling the mushrooms today but what're you gonna do.

12pm - 3 oz. super low sodium Whole Foods turkey, sauteed with onions and 1 t. coconut oil. 5 oz. sauteed (in ~1/2 T coconut oil) red chard + dandelion greens plus less than 1/3 vidalia onion. Topped the greens with 4 chopped walnut halves, 1 1/2 chopped macadamias plus ~15 dried (no sugar/no salt) cranberries.

This is the first meal I have ever made where I chose to put nuts into it. It's also the first meal I've ever eaten that had nuts in it, that I didn't slowly and painstakingly pick out every nut before eating. As I'm sure you've heard me say, I'm not a fucking squirrel, and I've never been into nuts/seeds. I have been eating Paleo since June, but did not eat nuts/seed for the 1st 7 months (except the occasional nut butter). I finally started eating nuts after Christmas, but only if they were separated out of my food as a side item. I have picked the nuts out of my food for a solid 27 years. And, today I actually chose to put nuts into my food. And it was delicious. Fuckin' nuts. Who knew?! 


5:30 pm - Pre-wod -  4 oz. Imitation crab (almost done), handful walnuts + dried cranberries, coconut water

8:45ish - Post-wod - ~4 oz. bison jerky, coconut water

9:45 pm - 3 oz. grassfed beef filet, 2 oz. mixed greens, 3 oz. yellow peppers, 2 T. Wild Maine Blueberry dessing
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Today's metcon. What a beast. Alex said afterward that it was a sectionals type workout. The kind of workout that takes you to that place and you just have to fight through it every second.

25-20-15-20-10-5 reps of
HEAVY KBS (53#)
Box Jumps (20")
Wall Ball (14# to the red line)


I used to get angry during wods when it was really hurting and when I needed to fight to stay tough during a wod, but haven't felt that way in awhile... until this. During the workout I thought over and over in my head I hated Bryce and cursed at him privately in my head... and post-wod Amy admitted that I may have also cursed at Bryce aloud once during a set of KBS.Sorry, Bryce, but it fucking hurt. And occasionally hating the coach who programmed that day give me something to focus on besides the pain.


Erin and Chris today apologized for yelling at me while they were working out today. No need to apologize guys - I feel the same way during WODs sometimes, and if yelling at someone gets you through the wod, I say go for it... so long as the person you're yelling at can take it.


And Bryce can take it.



I posted my time wrong - I thought it was 22:06, but went back into the box this am and realized I finished in 20:39. I am much happier about this time :)

Special K Chocolate

Last night was a good workout.

Power Clean 3-3-3+ @ 70%/80%/90% of (1RM+5) (1RM is 105)
Used 79/89/99 (x15 reps)


Bryce told me to aim for about 15 reps and I'm wondering if after I hit 15 if my body relaxed a bit and that why I failed on 16. Not sure.


3 x max L-Sit (parallete, ring, pull-up bar) 1 min rest
I've done 1 L-sit ever before so I didn't expect these to go too well. Also, I forgot to write these down... but my 1st r rds were 20 sec, not sure the last one it was either 20/25 seconds.

10 min AMRAP:
3 Back squats (108#)
12 knee push-ups
9 American kettlebell swings (55#)


I thought the BS were supposed to be done at 60% of 1RM, but it was supposed to be 65%... so should've done 114#. I wanted to go heavier than neceesary so chose 60% of my 1RM+10, but that was only 108#. I didn't feel super gassed during the wod (I subbed out burpees- no jumping till my stitches are out- for 2xknee pushups), but the 55# KBS is just a damn killer. It's so fucking heavy. All BS were unbroken and were the easiest part of the metcon. The push-ups were unbroken in rds 1-4, but in the 5th and 6th rds I broke them 6-6. The KBS were atrociously heavy, got 5-4 in the first 3 rds, 4-3-3 (yeah I did an extra rep my math sucks) in the 4th, and then the last 2 rds I think 3-3-3. At some point Bryce called out that my BS weren't low enough so I re-did one set of them.

After the metcon I was gonna see if I could power clean 108 but decided against it. I mean, the bar was already set up from my BS... but I thought better of it. I was tired, and thought that going for 1RM when tired is probably not the best idea.

My nutrition has been good since I got back from Christmas, which is why I rarely post about it. I even tried having fish and coconut water as my post-wod meal yesterday, though think I may go for raw fish next time, the flavor was just too much for post-wod. Last night for dinner though... I'd had a long and shitty day at work and after heavy ass KBS I decided I had earned a cheat meal. I had a big giant bowl of Special K Chocolate cereal for dinner. Milk and grains. Delicious.

This morning I am extra sore. I can still feel the jerks from Monday and the KBS from last night. I miss my heating pad.

1st day back at CFC... effen kettlebell

Today was my first workout back at CFC. I can't express what a difference it makes to be at our box versus working our at home or working out at another CrossFit.

Strength work:
Press 5-5-5+: 53-61-69 (x5)
Ring dips clear band Max (x3): 10-8-8 (last time 5-5-5)

I need work on technique for presses. Need to keep my hands outside my elbows (wider grip), need to flex my muscles all through my legs and lock my knees, need to increase speed out of the bottom. Should work on this tomorrow at light weights so I don't forget what I learned.

I doubled the ring dips I could do since 12/14, so was hoping I could bang out at least one unassisted tonight after the metcon. Didn't happen. Will keep working on these - I will be able to get at least one unassisted before Sectionals.

Metcon:
4rds: Burpees, KBS (55#), Row (calories) 45 sec on/15 off
Burpees: 15/11/11/12
KBS @ 55#: 8/6/5/7
Row: 12/11/10/11
Total: 119

Those KBS were fucking heavy. Heaviest I've ever gone. Good to step it up for Sectionals... but it was definitely a struggle. By the last 2 rds I could string 2-3 together, but the 1st 2 rds I couldn't get more than singles. I imagine it was just getting used to the weight.

Also started reading Paleo for Athletes (Loren Cordain & Joe Friel). It has a great listing of foods to eat pre- and post-workout... I'm going to switch my current nutrition focus from a weight loss focus to a performance-enhancing focus. I imagine I'll still lose the rest of weight I was hoping to lose, but this book seems to emphasize (so far anyway) reducing recovery time and making the most of your workouts. I'm only 60 pgs in but I'll post about it when I learn something I need to remember. I bought a bunch of fish today... book pushed for fish post-wod... not sure how interested I'm gonna be in eating that but I'll try it and see how it goes.

I'll post about the next girl I'm following tomorrow. This shit is long enough already and I wanna put a heating pad on my back. Fucking 55# kettlebell.