06.16.11 - Make Up (Wednesday)

3-3-3-3 Snatch Balance

6-5-4-3-2 Press

6-5-4-3-2 Back Squat

Snatch: 35/40/45/50#

Press: 35/55/65/75/85# (1 rep only, x2 = fail)

Back Squat: 35/55/65/75/85 x3/95 x3/105 x2/110 x1**

Then, 2 reps press at 80#.

Comments: Well it's been a while since I got a 1RM for the Press and Back Squat. Both were recorded at 85#. I had a goal of beating both of those today, but only had success with the squat. When I got to the 2 reps @85, it was too easy so I did 3. Then I just decided to keep adding and doing 3 until it got heavy enough to do 2. Then I went for just one. I ended up 25# over my previous PR, and I could have gone heavier. The most uncomfortable part of this lift was the weight of the bar balancing on the back of my neck before doing the movement.

The press hurt my feelings. I got that 85# up once, but could not complete a second consecutive rep. So I went back after the squats and went for it at 80# and got those 2 up. 1RM PR stays at 85#.

I had never done a Snatch Balance before. It was intimidating. You stand with the bar across your shoulders, wide grip, and then you drop under it, careful not to push the bar upward, into your snatch position. I went really light on this because it scared me. Totally lost my "balance" on a rep using just the bar and it ended up behind me, with my arms all twisted backwards. Have I mentioned how annoying it is that they keep insisting we "don't drop the bar" now? I was not hurt but I could have been. That's just stupid.

**New PR!!!

05.11.11 - Woman Makers

10-8-6-4-2 Bench Press

Partner WOD
10 Rounds Each (alternating) of:
5 Man Makers/10 Knees to Elbows

Bench Press: 55/75/85/95/100#**
Time: 33:37 (pretty sure)
Comments: Holy dogs. Girl/knees man makers with a really weak push-up portion. Used 15# dumbbells. K2E: I was lucky if I got knees to waist! This one was brutal but Wendt did the whole workout legit, with boy push-ups and true knees to elbows thru the whole thing! Amazing!! I was sweating like mad, knee prints etc. on the ground, and really worried about ripping my hands on the K2Es, which were so poor by the end it would be embarrassing if I wasn't just so glad I kept going. Probably should have scaled to some kind of sit-up type situation after about round 4.

**2RM matched my previous 1RM for bench press!!! Woot.

06.15.10 - Penalties

Deadlift
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

For time:

Advanced: 95#/65#
Intermediate: 75#/45#
Beginner: 65#/35#

250m Row
20 Thrusters
250m Row
20 SDLHP
250m Row
20 OH Squats
250m Row
20 Push Jerks
250m Row
20 Power Cleans
250m Row
20 Front Squats

** Each time you set the bar down in the middle of an exercise, your penatly is 4 burpees to be done immediately before picking up the bar again.

Deadlift: 215 (PR! By 30#s!)
Time: 18:32 (No burpees!)
Comments: I can't believe the deadlift. I remember one of my first days at ACF learning how to do it and lifting 105#, which at the time was hard. Did the intermediate 45# and maybe feel like I should have pushed it to 55#. It was SO HOT and HUMID down there I was forming drip puddles on my row. I loved this work out, and knew I would when I saw it this morning. Felt pretty good overall but a little scared for how I'll feel when I wake up tomorrow.

06.09.10 - Partner It Up

5-5-3-3-1-1-1 Press for Max

Partner AMRAP (As many reps as possible)
(55/35#)

3 Cycles Each of:

Kettlebell burpee
KB Sumo Dead Lift High Pull (SDHP)
KB Swing

5 Air Squats while "resting" as partner takes a turn.

Press Max: 85# (PR!)
AMRAP: 38
Comments: Personal Record on the Press! By 10#! Sweet. I had 90# in my head, but that was my (old) Push Press (now 95). One of my favorite things about CrossFit is the ability to see your improvement along the way, and today was a nice surprise with that press.

On to the AMRAP – Holy Hell. That KB burpee sucked! I could not do it right or well and maybe had two total that were even "countable", but who's counting. Lots of fresh bruises on the knees as I attempted to scale the push-up. Found out the A/C is out at the gym, which is a relief because I have been a sweaty disgusting mess the past couple weeks in there. Katy and I partnered up and I did only 30# on the KB. I tried some 35# swings and it was a struggle to raise that thing to full extension so scaled it down.

Oh, and don't tell anyone but I didn't do ALL the air squats. I'm a slacker but sometimes breathing wins.

10.29.10 - WS Tower Trot

10K (6.2 miles)

Time: 1:12.59
Comments: Katy and I both ran a 10k this weekend. I would have Never. Ever. In a million years. Even considered signing up for one. Ever. Before. In My Life. But after last week's 5k, and after agreeing to do another one yesterday, (only to find out the 5k started an hour later than the 10K at the on-site registration), I thought, What the hell? Let's do the 10k at 8:30 instead. I CAN NOT believe I have zero repercussions from this event. I am SLIGHTLY sore in the hips and ankles. This is nothing compared to the way I feel after any given Monday at the gym. I am also 100% confident that without my previous 6-7 months of CrossFit work outs, this accomplishment would have been an impossible reality. It is the furthest I have ever ran in my life! I SUCK at running! I told people afterward that it didn't really compare to a CrossFit workout in discomfort level. Not even close. It took a lot longer, but was just easy-breezy in comparison.

I averaged under 11:45-min miles. This seriously blows me away. PR in that it's the longest I've ever run. By far.

05.24.10 - AMRAP

3-3-3-3-3 Push Press

AMRAP
As many reps as possible in 12 minutes.

10 Squat Cleans
20 Sit-ups

3RM: 95#
Reps: 4.75
Comments: I tortured myself with too much "fun" this weekend and payed for it today. Sweating my ass off felt kinda good, actually. And for some reason I was able to match my 1RM on the push press, which tells me I need to try for a new PR. Dang it was hot down there! The gym was crowded today – lots of new faces.

05.17.10 - Tabata with a Twist

Overhead Squat for Max
5-5-3-3-1-1-1

Tabata Style
(8 sets of each exercise, 20 sec active/10 sec rest, for 16 total minutes)

Jumping Pull-ups
Supermans
Dumbell Push Press
Jumping Split Lunges

OHS: 75# (PR!)
Tabata: 8/8/5/8
Comments: Tabata is deceptively challenging. 20 seconds is a LONG TIME, while 10 seconds is VERY SHORT. Used 20# dumbells. Last time we did Tabata we recorded our LOWEST number of reps, which is what I've done here. However, 8's were pretty consistent for each exercise throughout all 8 sets. Tried hard to maintain a rhythm. I did hit some 10s & 11s, but not on the push press. That was just awful.

PR on the OHS by 5#!

Added a 5th Goal: Bench Press 135# (45#bar and 2 45# plates - Thanks Tone!)

05.13.10 - Make It Up (Monday's)

Back In Action

5 Rounds for Time:

30 Kettlebell Swings
20 Burpees
10 Pull-ups

Time: 27:21
Comments: I DID 100 BURPEES!!! (I mean, I txt'd my brother and called my parents about it – I am such a nerd!) After threatening all day that maybe I would do only 4 rounds, or maybe 15 burpees instead, I did all the reps. That's the most burpees I've done in a workout so far and I have to say it's one of my proudest accomplishments at ACF. ;) Only sorta kidding. Maybe a bigger accomplishment was declining happy hour tonight to make-up Monday? Grey band was actually sorta launching me over the bar, but I'm not complaining. Used only 20# on the KBS. Wouldn't change a thing – the burpees were my real challenge today.

05.12.10 - No Name MetCon

5-5-5-3-3-1-1 Bench Press for Max

4 Rounds of:

24 Air Squats
21 Sit-ups
18 Box Jumps
15 Push-ups
12 Body Rows
9 Ring Dips

Bench: 100# (PR!)
Time: 21:05

Comments: This one reminded me of when I started at Atlas. All the things we sort of learned first maybe. I knew it was going to be long and hard. It was.

05.03.10 - Active Rest/Skills Week

Self-Myofascial Release (Rollers)
Corrective Static Stretching
Rowing Fundamentals

Comments: So it's active/forced rest week. Today we focused on these things. Liked doing the rollers but it tests my patience. I was eternally grateful we didn't use them on our arms, because the backs of mine from the elbow up are still sensitive to the touch from Friday. After I was done with everything I went back in the studio and considered trying it out for a little while on my own for about 2.2 seconds. I think I need another day or two before I subject myself to that degree of torture. Stretching with the band felt good.

Our last focus was the Row. We were to do a 2000m at 70%. So I set out, kept it slow and steady. I was pulling about 18-22 per minute, about 2:00-2:15/500 pace. Ah, I beat my PR by one second? I broke a sweat but wasn't even winded. It's been about 3 months since my last recorded 2000. My time today was 8:50.

04.30.10 - Press and Dip

3-3-1-1-1 Front Squat

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (95/65#)
Push Press
Ring Dips

Front Squat 1 Rep Max: 110# (PR!)
Time: 13:14

Comments: Personal record on the front squat. Did the prescribed weight on the push press! Ohmyshoulders. Used a green band on the dips. I might even go to blue on these next time. Green almost felt too easy? (I got a solid green band this time, not like the one I used for those silly pull-ups earlier this week). I'm friggin' beat actually. I could barely push myself off the floor when I was done stretching after, my arms were so spent. Payback I guess from Wednesday and I may or may have not been a little hungover from last night. But I thought this workout was pretty solid and I quite liked it. Tim was watching my lifts and he didn't tell me I was doing anything wrong so I thought that was good.

Oh yeah, and did 4 days this week again. Niiice.

04.20.10 - Loving the new Box

1000m Row

Then 5 Rounds:
20 Pull-ups
7 Push Jerks (135/95#)

Time: 20:28
Row Time: 4:01 (Dang!)
Comments: I REALLY wanted to break 4 minutes on the row. This was my first attempt at a 1000 meters for time. I was utterly shocked I got off the rower with most of the boys in my class. I'm pissed I didn't break 4, but it was still my personal record. Yippee.

Pull-ups were brutal even with the grey band by about the second round. I used 55# on the push jerks and should have used 65# for sure.

In other news: Sarah E. interviewed me after class (on video! NIGHTMARE!) with the following questions –

1. What's your favorite thing about Crossfit? Forgetting about everything else while doing a WOD.
2. What's the hardest thing about Crossfit? Keeping track/count of reps.
3. What makes it worth it? It's FUN?
4. Describe Crossfit in one word: TOUGH.

Honestly you could ask me these questions 20 times and I'd have a different answer. These answers seem so limited when I think about the big picture. For instance: The people I've met/ Getting there/ A sense of real accomplishment when I finish something I didn't think was possible/ TORTURE. Or: Every day is different/ Man Makers/ The challenge of everything/ SUBCULTURE. Really I could go on and on...