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.
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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"

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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.
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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!!