07.26.11 - And... Back

5-5-5-5-5 1 Leg Cross-over Kettlebell Deadlift (both legs)

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Deadlift
Ring Push-up

KB: 20/25/30/35/35#
Time: 7:50
Comments: Nice 4 weeks off with the back, 4th of July, pre-trip, trip, and post-trip weeks basically spent just running around, laying around and hanging with the family. Used only 105# on DLs and hand-release knee push-ups. Got a good sweat and I'm sure I'll be sore as hell tomorrow even with the super-scale. The gym looked nice. Locker room, too.

06.21.11 - Holy Planks

3-3-3-3-3 Floor Press

4 Rounds of 40 seconds ON/20 seconds REST:

Hand-release push-ups
Dumbbell Box Step-ups
Right side plank
Left side plank

1 minute rest between rounds.

Floor Press: 45/55/75/85/95#
Comments: Knees for push-ups, 15# dumbbells with 12 box + 45# plate. Could not do left side planks. Right side sucked. I sweat my butt off on this one, but mostly from the planks. I think my spleen was "popping" during the push-ups too for some reason.

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!!!

06.14.11 - HERO SMALL

Workout named after US Army Staff Sergeant Marc Small

3 Rounds for time:
1000m Row
50 Burpees
50 Box Jumps
800m Run

I took one look at this this morning and said No Way.
I know my limits and WODs with over 100 burpees cross that line.
Came up with this alternative to do on my own:

4 Rounds:
400m Run
10 Burpees
10 Air Squats
10 Push-ups
10 Sit-ups

Time: Between 20/25 minutes.
Comments: Wendt just texted and said SMALL took her 57:47, which means it would have taken me 1: 57:47... Good decision. I was able to meet Katy at the track by home for my make-shift alt., our first WOD together in just about exactly a year! Maybe even exactly! 7 weeks after giving birth and she still smoked me on the runs. This was a good, tough little workout to do on your own. When we were finished, sitting in the grass catching our breath, we laughed at the idea of doing 110 more burpees than we'd just done, and running another half mile, and rowing close to 2 miles. I think I made a good decision, but still got a decent workout in, and a good sweat. All outside!!

06.13.11 - Tabata Torture

3-3-3-3-3 Deadlift
3-3-3-3-3 HIGH Box Jump
2 min. rest in between

5 Rounds AFAP:
20 Kettlebell Swings
30 second L-Sits

Bottom-to-Bottom Tabata Air Squats

DL: 105/125/135/145/155 with 20" box
Time: Approx 20? No idea I don't think I was paying attention.
Comments: Could have gone heavier on the DLs. Used a 25# KB. Alternated between box, bent-knee L-sits and hanging from bar, bent-knees. Failed usually between 10 and 15 seconds. Killer on the wrists while on the box. KBs were ok. Good weight for unbroken... but... HOLY HELL those Tabata squats were excruciating. Seeing stars, fearing blackout, dying. An active squat during a so-called 10 second "rest" period is torture, plain and simple. Standing up out of it was too much.

06.09.11 - Make Up (Tuesday)

500/400/300/200/100 Rows

20/16/12/8/4:
Body Rows
Mountain Climbers
Sit-ups

Time: 20:38
Comments: Is this week over yet? No? I'm so exhausted. Thank GOD there were no squats tonight. Sub'd 25# Russian Kettlebell swings for the mountain climbers. I wouldn't have survived that but I'm also still babying my foot. And icing my neck. Kind of a mess but been to CrossFit 6 of the past 9 days. So ready for 3 days off right now!

06.08.11 - Jerks 'n' More

5-5-5-5-5 Split Jerks

5 Rounds:

20 Hand-release Push-ups
1 min. rest
15 Squat Jumps
1 min. rest
10 Dumbbell Squat Clean and Jerks (45/35#)
1 min. rest

Split Jerks: 55/75/85/95/XX#
Time: 23:55
Comments: Tweaked something in my back/neck on the split jerks, didn't do the 5th set. Icing it now. During warm-up a kid said to me, This one doesn't look so bad. My response? That usually means you're about to be bamboozled. Yep, it was a bamboozeler, but I am wise to these now. I really thought the squat jumps were going to kill me, but it was actually the squat clean and jerks that sucked the most... and I only used 15# dumbbells! Also couldn't do any of it completely unbroken. I was definitely sore/fatigued going into it, but over on the new side, with no A/C pumping, it was a sweat-exhaust-a-thon. I got so thirsty the whalers from the whaleship Essex came to mind, and I was hanging on the wall during my rest periods, just trying to regulate my breathing. This one landed me on the floor at the end, in a puddle of my own sweat. I think even my eyeballs were trying to sweat. They were a bloodshot mess after.

06.06.11 - Push Press

5-5-5-5-5 Front Squat

5 Rounds, 1 min. rest between rounds:
15 Push Press (75/65/45#)*
30 Air Squats

*3 burpess immediately for any bars to floor.

Front Squat: 35/55/75/95/105#
Time: 12:06
Comments: Another good one. Front squats started to scare me by round 4 four so that was a good test. I honestly considered doing Rx weight on this one this morning – until I tried 65#! Then I scaled down to 55# and I think that was a good call. Again, got really challenging around round 4. We worked out on the new side!! It was hot as hell but still cool. No music meant the soundtrack was heavy breathing. Also cool. Our class was a good group. Everyone seemed kinda joke-y and in good moods. Plus it was nice and small at 7 people to 2 coaches. A bit like the old days!

06.03.11 - 30-On, 30-Off

30 Seconds ON, 30 Seconds OFF
Then, 1 min. rest between exercises.

5 Rounds each Exercise

Wall Balls
Box Jumps
Dumbbell Push Press
Kettlebell Sumo Deadlift High Pulls

Record lowest number of reps for each set: 13/12/12/14
Comments: Went into this one pretty sore. Most of my body is hurting me today (Saturday). Used 10# ball, 12" box, 15# DBs, and 30# KB. We were supposed to keep our reps pretty consistent, which I did. This was challenging, but not too hard. I've been loving the interval training WODs we've been getting a lot of lately. I greatly benefit from quick rest in between efforts.

06.02.11 - Make Up Day

When I first read the WOD for Tuesday, I didn't even pretend to pack my bag in the morning. 150 pull-ups and 150 burpees? Sorry. I skipped but was glad to use this as a base for getting to the gym for make-up Thursday.

My Modified WOD

30 Pull-ups
10 Burpees
20 Pull-ups
20 Burpees
10 Pull-ups
30 Burpees

Time: Around 25 minutes*
Comments: It was really crowed in the gym. Multiple classes were running and believe it or not, it was hard to find a space to do the burpees. I will admit I was taking breaks that were too long in between reps, but there were times I was wandering around trying to find a place to do them. It was annoying and several times I considered just leaving. But I didn't. I can't wait for the other side to open.

I heard people who did the full thing, which started 50-40-30... took somewhere around the mid 30s. Even without taking the extra rest I did, this full WOD would have taken me an hour if i could even finish it. I will say that in the end, I wished I started at 40. 100's would have been way better than 60's.

*The clock running for the other class got shut off.

06.01.11 - Clean Complex

Skill: Pistols

5 Rounds

1 Min. AMRAP Clean Complex*:
1 Deadlift
3 Hang Cleans
1 Front Squat

1 Min. Rest
1 Min. Row for Calories
1 Min. Rest

*50% 1RM Clean

Clean Complex: 4/4/3.5/3.5/4(3?) rounds - I was losing count!
Row: 19/19/16/16/16 calories
Comments: I stink at pistols and I don't care about them. So there. I was excited for this WOD but I had no idea how hard it was going to be. I felt like with the rest I'd be good to go... But by round three I was TIRED! Did not so much enjoy trying to do that front squat after those minute rows. Yow. Trouble on the stairs after. Never had Coach Jill before. She was fun/different. Lots of shouts of encouragement making me feel like a slacker even though I could barely move. Used 55# – a little over 50% of my 90# clean.

05.18.11 - Unbroken

Skill: Pistols

4 Rounds for Max Reps:
40 seconds On/20 seconds Rest per Set

Box Jumps
Push Press (75/55#)
Row (for calories)
Wall Balls

1 minute rest in between Rounds

Total Reps: 207 (52/48/52/55)
Comments: LOVED THIS WOD. Used 12" box, 55# bar, and 10# ball. Something clicked at the start of round 3 and I felt tired, but strong and ready to push myself. Sweat my a** off, breathing heavy, but felt GREAT too. Couldn't believe it when my numbers started climbing back up after round 2. Seriously this was a favorite of all WODs.

05.16.11 - "Get Low" Back Squat

Romanian Dead Lifts

4-6 Reps x 5 Sets Back Squat
2 seconds pause at bottom of movement, rest 2 minutes b/w efforts

Russian KBS, unbroken & heavy:
21 reps x 4 sets, 45s rest

Partner Rows:
250m Row x 4 @ 90%
Rest as required for partner to accomplish set (goal: <60s)

Dead Lift: Never did these Romanian ones before? So used a bar, then 55# just to learn it.
Back Squat: 45/65/85/105x3/105#x3*
KB: 20/25/35/35#
Row: 1:47/1:50/1:52/1:51 (500m average)

Comments: Didn't get the 4-6 reps at the heavier weight, but still far exceeded my 1RM back squat, even with the 2 sec. pause at the bottom. This felt good actually. Used my checkpoints for form and I think that really helped. Went heavier than I wanted on the KB, but got thru it. Died during the rows. DIED. But I am happy with the numbers. Was hoping to stay under 2:00, so these low 50s was good for me. But I was, like I said, DYING during them. I still feel hot and tired. The back of my neck hurts. Not sure what got kinked in there, but I think I worked some of my weekend run pain out, so that's good too.

*My recorded 1RM for back squat is 85#, and today I did a 3RM at 20# over that number... I guess I need to get a current 1RM recorded...

05.14.11 - ABTA 5k

Saturday Marcia and I ran the American Brain Tumor Association's Path to Progress 5k. I didn't do so hot and I'd like to blame the weather. These were not my personal optimal conditions. I am definitely NOT a runner (at all!) and in fact this was the furthest distance I've run since about this time last year (when I was in way better shape). Compared to running in t-shirts and shorts a year ago, I had on a t-shirt, thermal, and a fleece. The wind was intense. It was freezing cold and damp, though luckily not raining. I didn't really warm up and I felt heavy and lethargic the entire time.

Besides having to stop to re-tie BOTH shoes, I did run the whole time, which was a goal for me. But I was about two minutes slower than last year. I recovered pretty quickly upon finishing, but strained something behind my right knee, and left ankle. Not bad but uncomfortable for a couple days. My hips also bothered me a little more, and believe it or not, so did my shoulders, as they bounced along for 30+ minutes, still sore from Wednesday's bench pressing. But, I did it, and that's what counts.

Time: 34:06 (10:59/mile - under 11 minutes! Yay!)

Marcia beat me by over a minute at 33:03. Nice Marsh!!

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.

05.10.11 - PR Mania!

5-5-5-5-5 Front Squats

5 tall box jumps in between sets. Rest 2 min.

30-20-10

Box Jumps (24/20")

Kettlebell Swings (45/35#)

500m Row (400m Run)

5RM Front Squat: 95#

Time: 16:09

Comments: After stretching we did a mini-tabata warm-up (KBs and squats) that I liked. I used 12" box* and 20# KB. Tried to hold a 2 min. 500 and fell apart at about 450 meters, sliding to around 2.14 average. It was hot as hell in there. Did the 20s and then decided maybe outside (with some wind) would feel better. Nope. It was like a sauna. I could barely move my feet/legs running? I'm going to blame it on the sudden body-shocking heat wave. Planned on going back to the row for round 3, but even the awful run felt "easier" than that first row. I think my legs hurt the most today and I'm going to blame the squats. My 1RM is 110# so those numbers seem pretty decent for 5RM. Progression went 65/75/80/85/95#.

*I'm sick of mentioning it so for the last time, I'm scaling all jumping indefinitely for fear of re-injuring my foot which continues to act up every once in a while. Sorry for all posts wimpy in the jumping department.

05.05.11 - Boot Camp

Well yesterday was my first ACF Boot Camp. Ryan promised we'd be sore today and yep, he was right. Like all my CrossFit experiences, it was awful and wonderful.

Warm-up:

20 slow-motion squats (exploding jumps out of last 10)

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 French Push-ups

800m group "catch-up" run

WOD:

In groups of 3 people, rotating exercises, 10x –

1 Runs 300m

1 Holds plank

1 Air squats

Comments: This whole thing took about an hour. The French push-ups hurt. My legs turned to jelly on the warm-up run, and I was seriously huffing and puffing. I started with the squats for my group and did 22 on the first round. After the first run, about half the squatting time turned to recovery time and I went to somewhere between 12 and 17 squats each round. My planks, usually still in recovery, were not so hot. I think I held more of a pike position than a plank one. Whatever – I could still barely breath and I was gearing up for the next run during those. I'm sure I was the slowest runner out there. This was a hard work out for me with all the running, but after a really sedentary week of Skills WODs, it felt great to barely be able to breath and sweat my ass off. Outside no less.

05.03.11 - The Squat

Skills Week Continues...

Tuesday: Squatting with Chris

Comments: Got more out of this one than yesterday. Did a full warm-up to get the blood pumping and definitely learned a good quick checklist to make sure everything is engaged correctly next time I'm lifting heavy. Didn't have a partner. Poor Jennifer stepped in and I was terrified I was going to pull her right over! But it was good and my squats felt good. Chris came by at the end to see our form lifting actual weight and I got a thumbs up. Right On!

05.02.11 - New Location

Skills Week

Monday: Mobility/Shoulder Girdle

Comments: Not happy with "skills week" so far. We basically stood around for an hour. One side of the space is finished, the other, the CrossFit side, unfinished. It's going to make for a week of lame, super cramped "WODs" I'm afraid. Crossing my fingers I at least break a sweat doing squats with Tim tomorrow. When I read "mobility" I was at least hoping for some of that sweating due to pain rolling/bending/stretching. Not tonight. I don't think I've ever been more disappointed at a night in the "box". No bueno.

04.28.11 - WOD #6

7 Minute AMRAP

3 Thrusters

3 Pull-ups

6 Thrusters

6 Pull-ups

9 Thrusters

9 Pull-ups...

Continue to increase by 3s until time's up.

100/65# (chest to bar), 75/55# (red band), 65/45# (jumping)

Reps: 51 (12 Thrusters + 3 pull-ups)

Comments: This got ugly real quick. The pull-ups I mean. Used a green band and still could barely manage to get my chin over the bar after the first set of three. Tried to DO them in sets of 3 moving forward but even that was short lived. Ended up basically doing one at a time by the end. But I loved the thrusters.