Railroad

5 RFT
400 m run
20 situps
20 sledge strikes
20 kb swings
Time: 26:15

Great little metcon this morning. Took a week off and boy was I paying for that! I had every intention of working out over Christmas, but failed miserably. I instead ate my little heart out and paid dearly for it.
This WOD is my favorite kind of workout and in the summer, would have blitzed through this.  It was a balmy 23 degrees for the run this morning and my lungs froze. Situps and KBS were strong.  Sledge is always fun, but on round three the darn thing bounced off the tire onto my shin!!! I have quite the goose egg now. It's quite painful...I don't recommend hitting yourself with a hammer.

More fun tomorrow including a NYE nightime run!

McGhee

Capt. McGhee--A hero WOD as a pre-christmas gift from Jerry!
30 Min AMRAP
5 deadlifts
13 pushups
9 boxjumps
Results: 10 rounds, plus 3 DL at 155#

This is just a long slog of a WOD.  DL's were solid all the way through, pushups were just shy of chest to deck until the last 2 rounds when i dropped to my knees due to a really sore wrist (forgot to stretch it!) 
Not judging this one as good or bad, I just did it.

Have been suffering from being extremely tired, poor eating, dehydration, and overall lack of umph in my WODs.  I know its the long hours of work and work on the house, but mostly its a poor diet.  When I first got back we were on track with dinners, lunch was coming around, and then after the closing on the house, chaos broke loose.  Dinner out, makeshift lunches, cookies, snacks...all bad.  And now I'm feeling it.  I need to get off my arse and drink more water at work. No more excuses. 

January will bring many changes in the Gabriel house...a new house, two crossfitters, two employed and working adults in the same house, and maybe a little bit of routine. I cannot wait! 

Hubby and I are starting a 30 day Paleo challenge  on Jan. 16th. 2011 Race calendare is starting to form.
Stay tuned!

Merry Christmas to all my CF blog world friends--I seriously wouldn't have made it through this year still crossfitting without you all!

Celtic Soltice 5-Miler and Back Squat PR

Friday I was back in the box and the WOD was so bad for me I can't even write about it. It was a DNF where I literally walked out, sat in the car and cried for a minute and went home. Damn pullups. I chalked it up to a week of being sick and not being ready to come back yet.

Saturday I ran an annual race, the Celtic Solstice 5-miler up in Baltimore, MD.  It's a beautiful race through Druid Hills Park--hilly, around a lake, always the weekend before Chrismas, so nice and chilly. They do have the coolest race schwag and post race wood--hot wine and italian shortbread cookies! Yum.  Ran a great race for having been sick--46:30.  Not as fast as my turkey trot, and far from my PR of this course at around 40min...yes, I once ran an entire race posting sub 8 min miles...oh to be speedy again! It was an enjoyable run and it reminded me how much I actually LIKE running and how much I miss training for races.  Post new year plans will include a weekly running group for sure.  Just after we get moved into that house!

Monday morning WOD was Back squats x2.  155# for 2! Woot! We had a 20 minute time limit and I'm convinced I could have probably sank 165 if I had time. It felt great to fell strong again.

WOD 2: 30 pullups, 30 dips.  Not for time, I just did 'em. Done. I did try a few unassisted dips on the rings and I've got about two in me.  They are feeling strong as well!

FLU!

Has had me down and out all week. Going to hit some intervals tomorrow!

Jerks, Sleep, and OHS

Behind on the blogging these days! I need to keep up with at least posting the results.  Life is still insane, we are without all of our household goods (furniture, kitchen stuff, the majority of my clothes/shoes/jackets, etc...pluse we bought a house at the end of November and the work required is all time consuming. Luckily all the work on the house burns lots of calories. Its 3 levels to tons of stairs, work on ladders, and on and on. We get so busy we forget to eat sometimes too, which is bad, because then we eat crap, but it's keeping the pounds off! Not able to CF and run as much as I'd like, but we're getting the WODs in for sure.

Last week we hit Jerks on Wednesday.

Max Jerkx1
I hit 105, and was a little disappointed.  I had hit a push press of 105 a few weeks prior so the Jerk should have been more.  I'm chalking it up to lack of sleep and poor eating.  That will dog you in any WOD.

I took Thursday as a rest day and my iphone alarm failed me on Friday morning.  The damn phone didn't charge despite being plugged into the charger. Blurg!  The weekend was packed with housework. Hours and hours of it.

Monday, December 13th
OHSx1
Top load: 100#

I was pretty happy with the 100#.  I failed at an attempt at 105#.  I lost it on the jerk up and just couldn't stabilitze. I nailed 100 today and it was easy so next time, watch out.  OHS is one of my favorite lifts.  I don't know why--especially when so many people struggle with it.  I matched my previous PR on this so I'm pretty stoked.  Jerry's six week strength series is just what I needed to get my arse strong again!

Second WOD was:
12 min AMRAP
7 OHS
7 ring dips
7 burpees

I completed 5 rounds using 55# on the bar.  I think i could have done more, but it was nice to be able to snatch the bar and just go for it and hit all 7 reps in a row. The rings felt unusally strong with the skinny red band.  I guess its a sign of progress.  OH, and I don't hate burpees anymore. They are officially off of my hate list. :)

I'm fighting the sniffles so we'll see how this week works out. I may just rest so I don't end up with the ebola virus that everyone else I know and work with has had lately!

Smokin' PR's

WOD 1: 20 min to establish Front Squat x1
Max Effort--145# PR!

WOD 2: 12 min AMRAP  of 10 pullups, 30 air squats, 10 box jumps.
3 rounds and 8 pullups.  I continue to suck at pullups and REALLY need to work on linking the kips in 2011.

Felt super strong this morning, even on the pullups at times too.  And we're fitting into one more pair of pants that I could not even button 4 weeks ago. yipee for more work outfits!

First Friday December and SNATCH

Friday
First Friday's at CFOT mean that you get to pick a Hero/Girl workout and crush it. Your choice.  I hate FF's because Hero and Girls are chalk full of lots of pullups. UGH. My hands were still shredded, so lots of pullups were not a smart option.  Nor was a long brutal metcon---the endurance isn't yet there.

I picked Jackie: 1000m row, 50 35# thursters, 30 pullups. Easy right? Ummm, no. The row was solid, just over 4minutes, thrusters were evil.  I was still so sore from Tuesday. TUESDAY PEOPLE!! Jeeez. Then pullups...I'd given up on time at this point. I was past 10 minutes and the body was shutting down.  I didn't quit, but some minutes later I finally finished. I shut off the clock mentally and just finished the pullups 2 at a time.

Monday
Wod 1: 12 min high hang squat snatch x 1
The point was to work the movement and mobility of the squat snatch.  My squat was miserable for the first few attempts with the bar, and I ditched the bar for the training bar. Blurg...the training bar.  I just had to dial in the form and soon enough I was up to 55#.  I nailed 60# a few times and then the squat got sloppy.  New PR on the squat snatch-60#!

Wod 2: 12, 9, 6, 3  Snatch and Push Press
Left the bar loaded at 55# and hit some snatches as a warmup and then a few push press.  Jerry wanted to bump me up to 65#, but I declined....we'll get there. Trying not to throw out my back as I'm still working the core strength. Snatch felt strong and all the push presses were unbroken.  I breezed through the WOD in 7:40.  

Clean and Jerk PR and Wicked Kettlebells

A must read for the day, from Blair Morrison, Fitness is...

Monday

10 Min-3 cleans, 1 jerk from the high hang
10 min-2 cleans, 1 jerk from just above the knees
10 min-1RM power C&J

Loved the ramp up here to REALLY work on the form.  Top load was 105#, my first Clean and Jerk PR, and a PR (i think) for both lifts individually!

The best part was lifting with my BF Nikki.  We were neck and neck the whole WOD.  Mostly silent, letting each other just do her thing, but there for each other with that "you got this", "fast elbows", "deep breath".  We were so in sync it was great.  Then we both nailed the 105, each of us doubting ourselves, but believing the other had it.  Nothing more rewarding that a morning in the gym with a friend, hitting a ton of badass C&J.

Tuesday

So the strength WOD was 5xback squats with chains.  I realized that 3 weeks back in the box at the start of a six week strength series and mediocre diet are not going to get me 10lb lighter.  I'm consistently weighing in at CFOT at 165lbs.  I would like to be back to 155 by February.  I had my month to work on just getting in the groove again, now its time to hit it hard. That means more met-cons, better food, less sugar, and supplemental cardio. Ugh. I JUST want my pant to fit...I know it will come but i hate sitting all day in tight pants!!

I did the "Alt" WOD this morning...which is most often 2x worse than the oly lifts.  Today looked like this:

Evil Kettlebell WOD
At the "Infidel" level....one less than HTFU....
40 burpess, 80 kettlebell swings, 120 goblet squats, 80 KBHP, 40 jumping lunges.
Women 35/Men 53

Holy crap...doesn't look bad on paper right? Wrong. Hard as nails.  The goal was not to drop the KB, but that didn't happen, yea right. I breezed right on through the burpees, KB swings weren't too bad...knocked those out in sets of 20, squats were the ultimate killer. started with sets of 10, then moved up to sets of 15.  HP's were 10-15 at a time, and I split the lunges into 4 sets of 10.  This was a mental killer.  You just want to stop after about 50 KB swings! I finished in 28:07 and was proud of my effort even though I dropped the weight....a lot.

Turkey Trot

So Thanksgiving day was the annual 5 mile turkey trot in Old Town Alexandria.  Met up with some of the girls before hand, but decided to just run my own race.  It was a cool crisp fall morning and had just finished raining.  The start line was packed!! It was a small race, about 3000 people, dogs, kids, stollers and the like.  I love this race because of how family friendly it is.  It's a day about family, friends, and giving thanks and that's exactly what the race is about too.

So 5 miles...not a lot of running has been happening lately, but I managed to keep a solid race pace and not push to the point where I was dying on the last mile.  Final time was 42: 50 something so given that my first mile was about 9 minutes, the last 4 were done at a solid 8:30 or less pace.  Pretty solid for not a whole lot of training.

The rest of the day was spent eating, stretching, eating, and enjoying the company of family and friends!

New 1RM Push Press

WOD 1: 15 min to establish 1RM PP. 
Top load: 105# New PR
Will shoot for 115ish next time! The pounding on the arms this week have left my arms very very tired.

2min rest

WOD 2: 15 AMRAP of 200m sprint, 20 push ups, 20 GHD or 30 ABMATS.   A very weak attempt and finished at 3 2/3 rounds.  Arms are smoked.  Push ups are again my nemesis.

Epic HTFU Strength-Con

So the Monday WOD post on the CFOT website was as follows:

101122 Monday “The Nudge”

2 Muscle-Up, 2 Thruster, 2 Snatch, 3MU, 3Thr, 3SN, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2.

HTFU: 85W, 135M – Infidel: 75W, 115M – Bulldog:65W, 95M

Subs: (Sub 2 Ring Dip +2 Pullup for 1 MU) (Sub 3 Wallball for 1 thruster) (Sub 4 KB High Pull for 1 Snatch)  

Ok, I had to read this a few times and break it down.  Must sub the MU's. Ok, that means 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4 pullups and ring dips, then 2,3,4,5,6,5,4,3,2,1 Thruster and Snatch. That's a lot of work no matter what your load. I haven't snatched in months...really, so I wanted to go light and work the form. Same with thrusters since I've been having trouble staying on my heels on squats.  Hip mobility issues...working that in my oh so copious free time.... 

Everything felt good on the warmup, snatch felt ok! Decided to go with 55lbs so I could have a chance of finishing the WOD. I barely made it. Just barely.  I was cruising on the PU's at a steady 2-3 in a row, and hammering out ring dips with a skinny red band unbroken.  Thrusters were strong and snatch was a piece of cake and felt amazing.  The ladder up was nice and steady, no real breaks except on the pullups.  The ladder down was a whole different story.  On the second set of 10 pullups my hand tore in two places.  I finished the 10...barely.  On the second round 8, I gave up on the pullups.  I had a gaping oozing hole in my palm.  My chalk paste couldn't stop the bleed.  My whole philosophy on this is to just not be stupid.  Most normal people think it is generally stupid to do so many pullups your hands bleed-I don't think so.  I think you cross the point of stupidity when your hands start to look like hamburger and there is no prize for the pain and mess at the end.  So I DNF'd the pullups, but hammered out the ring dips, thrusters and snatch.  Time was about 32 minutes--someone's wallball killed the the clock a minute or so prior. 

So many times I wanted to quit this WOD. Totally just give up. I realized my strength is still there for 1-3 RM efforts, but the longer "strength-cons" as we call them (long heavy strength/met con mix) are just not in my bag.  That takes serious endurance, overall strength, and some extreme mental fortitude.  I know it will come back, but this WOD reminded of how far I have yet to go.  

This was a WOD where you truly had to HTFU--Harden the F$%^ up--or be left in the dust.   I was not going to be left in the dust.

Tuesday WOD

From the Mid-Atlantic Hopper a few weeks ago.

WOD 1:  3 minute AMRAP Back Squats 

My effort: 32 reps @ 95#.  I again went light since I have no idea of my true 1RM for BSQ's.

WOD 2: For time- 500m row, 44DU's.   Row was blazing at a 1:50 pace until the last 200m, then the legs gave out. Finished row in 1:56.  Subbed 3-1 single unders for DU's.  Time: 3:40.

I practiced DU's before WOD 2 and I was getting no where. I watched everyone else and decided I had to whip that rope FASTER.  I knocked out 10 in a row, then 8 in a row...was hoping to go for the 44, but after the row, that wasn't happening!   

Next up tomorrow is push presses and a turkey trot on Thursday!

 

Front Squats, more squats, then Run

20 minute time limit
3 RM front squat
Top Load: 3x120
2x125 (I wussed out on the third, but I totally had it)

Then

Bottom to Bottom Tabata
:20 work :10 rest in the BOTTOM SQUAT position
Record lowest # of reps=9

After last bottom hold...
Run 1 mile: 8:37 boy were the legs wobbly.

I could have pushed the mile run much much harder, but it was dark--pitch black along the river and I ran with someone who hadn't run the loop before.  Front squats felt awesome even after BSQ's on Tuesday.  Tabata with a hold at the bottom was an evil evil twist! I should have done better on these, but the leg endurance is still coming back.   Wednesday and Thursday life totally got away from me and I didn't make it to the box....one was a planned rest day, but the other, well, let's just say apartment living keeps me up some nights...

Ready for another awesome week in the box!

PS--just looked up my PR for front squats.  Recorded 125x2 on November 19th of last year.  Boy does that feel good.

It feels good to be home

I've been home exactly a month now and things are starting to click.  I started back at work and the box last week and got of to a great start.  Routines feel so good.  Waking up a 0440 is not so hard when you have somewhere to be with people you like!

I have a lot of thoughts, reflections, and feelings that I would love to write about but I'm terribly short on time.  I'm going to just be posting my stats here for a bit--we started a six week strength cycle last week and it has been great to get some baselines on my oly lifts and other skills.  Here is the log of my last week which includes, Crossfit, yoga, and a Trail Race!   Now to get the eating back on track and my size 10 pants should fit again in no time.  I had to go buy new pants for work since all of my pants are too uncomfortable right now.  I won't say they don't fit, but they certainly don't feel right or look very good. That's a whole other depressing story, but I'm going to be weighing my diet options--strict paleo for 30 days? Strict Zone? Weight watchers? God only knows that left to my own devices I will not be successful. Either way, a food journal starts today to start counting calories, protein, and carb intake. 

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Tuesday, November 16th
3RM Back Squat with Chains

My effort: 105#.  The chains are a whole new animal.  The chains themselves weigh about 80 extra pounds, but on the downward motion they are weightless then coming out of the bottom of the squat you have to explode to get the pile of metal off the floor.  The real key though is your breath and keeping your abs tighter than you ever thought.  I felt this was a pretty solid effort.

Then, WOD 2.) once through: 30 GHD Situp, 60 Jumping Lunge , 90 Double under, 60 Air Sq, 30 Swings .   Subbed abmats, single jumps at 180 reps, and 45# KBS. 


Monday, November 15th
 WOD 1). 20min: 3 position Clean&Jerk. This is basically a 3RM Clean&Jerk but each clean is from a different position. You can dump and reset each rep. High hang Clean&Jerk, above knee Clean&Jerk, Floor Clean&Jerk. 
My effort: 95#.  Failed at the above the knee, but from the floor was solid.  90# for the full 3  For some reason this is the only record of a clean AND jerk WOD i have...i guess I avoidd C&J days.
 

*Rest 3 min*

WOD2).  10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 Dips, and (24) Box Jump

 My time: 9:57   Used a red band and 24' box jumps
Sunday, November 14th
Backyard Burn 5 mile Trail Run
My foray back into racing.  Was with my girls again, Tamara, Kayla, Michelle, Nikki, and new addition Jill, plus Chip and Stuart cheering us on!  I'll do a separate post on this later
Time: 52:43 for 5.5miles  19/76 for age group of 30-40

Saturday, November 13
Stretch and Conditioning Yoga with Chip and Nikki.  75 minutes of nice long stretches and yoga poses.  Was theraputic for us all!

Friday, November 12th 

WOD 1). Overhead SQ x 3 (18minutes) 

*rest 3 min*

WOD 2). “Big Bad Wolf”

12 MIN CUT-OFF 3 rounds: 10 OHS(75w-115m), 10 Burpee, 10 Pullup

Time: 9:57

I used just 45# on the bar for the 3 rounds, but did each set unbroken. The point was speed.  Did all 30 pullups without much belly aching.  It felt amazing...and I tore a callous and bled. I felt tough again!

Wednesday, November 9th
Push Pressx3=85
WOD 2). 3min max Ring Dips, 3min max Double-under,  3min max GHD Situp, 3min max Calories row. 1 min rest between each.  I forget my total, but a week later my abs still ache from the 50 GHD's I did...so sad.

Home Sweet Home

Its been a long couple of weeks, but it feels so good be "home".  Last night I stayed with my BFF Nikki so I could hit the 0515 class at CrossFit Old Town.  Yes that 5:15am. Requires an early bedtime and an out the door time of at least 0500.  This used to be my m.o. at least four days a week.  I was worried about how the old body would react to such intensity again at such an early hour. I walked through that door though and all those worries went away. No nerves, just sense of calm and normalcy. I was at my home box.  Lots of new faces, lots of old friends and coaches too.  Little time for chatting...just hit the warmup and fell into the groove--back extensions, walking sampson stretch, bootstrappers....

the WOD was:
3 RFT
10 deadlifts
50 double unders
not a named WOD but a classic on the competition circuit for sure.
 
RX'd weight for women is 185#--heavy! I settled on 125#, but I think I could have easily done 135 to make it harder.   I did the first round with DU's...hit sets of 3-4 right off the bat, then my rope got all freaky on me and started twisting and crap and I just finished the first 50, then did 30 box jumps for rounds 2-3. Total time was 11min.  DL's felt solid and did the first set unbroken, second set with one small break and third set 2 small breaks to regrip. The box jumps sucked, but just like burpees you must have the mentality of just one at a time, one at a time. No records, no stellar performances, but solid hard work, a great sweat, and adrenaline to power the day. Got to love the crossfit energy---oh how i missed you.

It will be a few weeks before I'm back in there regularly, but I can't wait to shed the bavarian bulge and get me some muscles back and just generally feel GOOD.

Nikki made these AMAZING munchy bars last night from a new blog we're following, Oh She Glows.  Totally primal and if you lay off the sugary toppings its not so bad.  Nik literally whipped these up in no time flat and I could have eaten the whole pan. yummo. She whipped up some blueberry topping and viola` dessert! Props to DH Chip too for grilling some yummy turkey breasts and veggies.

Stay tuned for more CF fun.

Oh, and for those wondering about the Army Ten-Miler. It was a DNS as in did not start.  Mental breakdown from exhaustion on Saturday night and needed Sunday to recover. Oh well..not the end of the world. Next up is the Backyard Burn 5 Mile trail race in about 10 days with ALL my girls. Can't wait!

When Life Gets in the Way

PCS Move. Living out of a suitcase at someone else's house. Crazy Army schedules and requirements.  That has been the life of late and workouts and diet have been all talk and no action.  As Toby Keith says, I need a "Little Less talk and a lot more action!" Ha.

Since my last post Chip and I headed to Berchtesgarden Land/Schoenau am Konigsee, the site of my last post, for some true R&R.  We did some nice "trail walks"--I won't call them hikes since they weren't very taxing, but they challenged Chip and got him out and trying new things again.  He was so strong on the trail--as a soldier, strapping on a pack and climbing was second nature and he looked so strong.  We spend most of the weekend outside, drinking beer, and basking in the Alpine sun.

I've managed one solid run this week--a fast 35minutes with some wicked hills and felt really strong.  Hit a Tabata WOD with Chip at the Bamberg gym (NOT CF friendly) of Row, situps, pusups, squats.  Nothing to write home about here--just did it. Planned runs the last two mornings but just cannot get motivated.

When your diet goes to shit, you're stressed, and off even the worst of routines, I'm doomed. I'm realizing that the lax diet of rich german food and double the necessary carbs is starting to take a toll.  When I slip up on carbs I don't feel that immediate sickness some get--mine takes awhile to sink in.  The sluggishness, lack of energy overall, constantly sleepy for no good reason is back.  My belly aches all the time, I'm bloated beyond belief (hoping a sauna visit tomorrow will help that) and I know it is all diet and stress.  I'm trying my best not to get down about it, but its hard not to.  I want to be the girl who can handle all this crap and still feel great and look great. Wonderwoman I am clearly not.  I know I can get back in shape quickly, just dying to get to the point where I can start living my life instead of the one the Army forces me to live.

Only 3 more days here and we'll be back in the land of crap food and bad beer and no bakeries (thank heavens!) My goal is to hit the box at Crossfit Old Town 1-2 times next week, then the Army Ten Miler is a week from Sunday.  After that, we hope to have some clue about what the heck is going on with life, which WILL include a CF box--my hope it to be back training full time at CF Old Town in a mere week and a half.  My new favorite photo:

Auf Wiederschauen Deutschland! (from the balcony at our hotel)

Oktoberfest and Schonau am Konigsee

Love me some hiking where the "Hills Are Alive!"

Travel post for you all who live vicariously through our travels!!

On 27 September we traveled to Munich for the annual Oktoberfest.  This year was the 200th anniversary of "die Wiesen", as the German's call it.   Lots of fun and beer had by all. And yes, we all dressed up and drank well, lets say more than 3 MaB's each. That's more than 3 liters each kids...that's a lot of beer in one day and let me tell you, I was drying out for days! 

Next up was a trip with Nikki to Schonau am Konigsee.  It's about an hour or so south of Munich, near Salzburg Austria. It's the southeastern most tip of Germany and it is beautiful!! We spent two glorious days outside hiking.  Here are some of the shots we captured!

Banks of the Konigsee near St. Bartholomew

Sunrise on our first morning. This makes you want to get up and GO!

Another view of Obersee

Obersee

Thank you CFOT for all the squat work!

Beautiful Reflection on Lake Obersee--only reachable by boat, then a 45min hike!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These hiking locations are not far from the famed "Eagle's Nest"--one of Hitler's old hidouts. Scrap that tourist option and go for the true lure of the area. Das Gibergen ruft! (The mountains call!)  The next day we hiked the Almbach gorge.  Absolutely beautiful despite some overcast cloudy weather!

They call this the "Painter's Easel". Um yea...sadly we lost the sun in the afternoon. 

 

 

 

 

WODs what?!

This week is an absolute blur!!! Moving week here at the Gabriel house....movers are here now packing up our life and we'll see it again in about 3 months...joys of Army life.

I've gotten in a little work this week including a 40min training run and a Tuesday WOD at the gym.

Tuesday WOD
5RFT
5 pullups
10 walking lunges with 25# overhead
15 airsquats
Time 12min

Slow. Slow. Slow...but those damn pullups are hampering my times. I can't get more than 2 at a time...mostly singles.  Then I tore a callous and started bleeding...good times. Trying not to do too much overhead since my old lat/shoulder injury has me in pain almost 24/7.  Warmup included pushups and burpees and cool down included some GHD's and back extensions. Scheduled a doctor's appointment for the end of the month so that should get me back on track after the spine is back in place.

Hoping to hit a WOD tonight and get in a training run in the am before heading back to the Alps for the weekend.

Counting the days until I can get back in the box and start dialing in the diet....as the days go by fewer and fewer pants are fitting....we're almost at freakout stage, but know that about 30% of it is stress and anxiety about the move.

Still Alive

So my last post was over a week ago--I promise I've not been a total slacker.  A total eater, I will admit to being!

On the day of my last post, I actually helped my friend Jason coach a fundamentals class at the Schweinfurt gym.  He had a group of 4 women, most of them with little prior athletic experience, and we worked on deadlift and push presses.  We had to work with a few pretty hard on the form, but we got everyone to an acceptable level before pressing on to the WOD.  10-9-8-7....med ball DL, push presses. It was fun to help push them through those middle rounds when everything hurt and form was miserable.  Pressed hard on slowing down and doing each move properly.  Then I did the WOD myself....

100# DL
15lb DB push press
Time was about 6 minutes.  DL's felt strong.

The next several days were spent with my best friend Nikki and Chip.  We went to Oktoberfest then spent the last few days hiking in the Alps.  Photos to come!
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A week after my last WOD, countless liters of beer later, bread, spatzel, bread, schnitzel, etc I hit the WOD "Jack" at CF Ramstein.  


"Jack"
Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
115 pound Push press, 10 reps
10 KB Swings, 1.5 pood
10 Box jumps, 24 inch box
 Total Rounds--9

I used just a 45# bar, 1 pood, and a 20" boxjump.  I should have done more on the PP,  but I did all 9 rounds unbroken. KB's were also done unbroken.  The box jumps sucked---it has been a LONG time since i've done real box jumps.  They used to be in my "wheelhouse", but that is no longer.....but I powered through!   48 hours later however, I'm still super sore in my right shoulder/neck and its on fire. Also, I felt extremely sluggish, fat, bloated during this WOD.  Carbs MUST come to an end very soon.

Today I hit a 1000m swim at the pool with Chip.  The shoulder was tight and sore and sticky when rotating but I otherwise felt strong.  Some MWOD and stretching are in order for tonight!

Laziness Overcome

This week has been a little crazy with all the moving and last minute chores, but I managed to squeeze in a WOD last night because I could not let a beautiful sunny day pass me by.

Earlier in the day I was mowing the lawn and doing other yardwork and I sat for awhile and started at that pullup bar hanging from my garage.  The thing whispers little taunts at me fairly often--I've ignored them for months.  I got this bar for my birthday back in April and after a few attempts at pullups decided that I hated it.  It's a rogue swinging bar and I could not hold on, it gave wicked calouses after 1-2 kips.  As I've written before, I've mostly given up on pullups.  Yesterday, I got on that bar and tried again. I got two in a row.

I finished the yard work and started devising a little WOD for the yard. Looked like this:

5 Rounds
5 pullups
10 kbswings
15 box jumps

I wasn't going to do this for time since I had no idea how the pullups were going to go. I just wanted to get the pullups going.  And I DID! I even got three in a row a few times.  Now that I have switched my grip to the wrapped thumb version, its much easier.  Plus, my bar is just a bit skinnier than than the rogue bars at the gym.  No more taunting---now I'll be out there more often.  Hopefully doing a few every day!

Pullup laziness is offically over.

-----------------
On another note, you must all read this post from Blair Morrison's Anywherefit blog.
More on my quest to "Ring the Bell" coming soon.

Front Squats and Run

After 2 weeks of being under the weather, I'm back in the gym.  I'm feeling really weak and everything is really hard.

Monday:
Front squat x3
75, 85, 95, 105, 105, 115(2)

This was a weak effort, but you got to start somewhere. I should have had 115 for 3 but the form fell  on rep #2 and I wasn't sure how to correct it so instead of screwing with my back, I called it a day.  Conditioning was row intervals:
500m-2:09
400m-1:47
300m-i forget
200m-1:17
100m-:50
Rest 2-3 minutes between intervals.  Was chatting with Jason and we think the rowers are a bit off and not cleaned/maintained since both our rowing times of late have been quite slow.  I was fairly happy with the effort.

Tuesday:
4.5mile trail run
Have to get back out there. I tried running on Sunday and nearly had an asthma attack. Not cool.  Trying to build up to another 7miler.  The legs are sluggish and my cardio since being sick is just not there. So this week is several attempts and shorter runs just to stay conditioned.

Small steps

After a little over a week of being sick you have to start back with small steps to see where you body is at. Are you going to hack up a lung? Will your sinuses hold on to the goo for 30 minutes? Will your heart keep a normal beat?

I still have the remanents of my cold/sinus infection, but am "feeling" better.  Yesterday, I tested myself on c_wiss's "10" workout.  I popped in a dvd for distraction and did it in my living room.  Not so much moto here, but got the work done.

"10"
10 pushups
10 abmat situps
10 squats
Time: 17min
After reading her pushup link I vowed to stay off my knees the entire time and I DID IT! They were not beautiful chest to deck, but I went to parallel or beyond each rep and no touching of the thighs on the ground. This cost me a few minutes for sure, but whatevs.  I did all the pushups off my knees and managed not to hack a lung. No more knees for me!

Today I had a little trouble finding some moto to do ANYTHING. We got our orders to report back to Washington DC this morning so my day was consumed with briefings about proper moving procedures. Oh what fun! My mind is elsewhere if you can't tell...counting the days, making appointments, worrying about where we will live next, money, and how I'm going to make all my work clothes fit in 8 short weeks. Well, they will only fit if i get my ass moving!

WOD:
~4 mile train run-easy pace
then
3 rounds
20 kbhp (35#)
20 lunges
10 ring dips (red band)
I didn't time myself on any of this.  I didn't want any pressure given how sick I've been. I'll get back to the intensity when I'm 100%.  The intensity was pretty high though, sweating, heart racing, etc. It all felt good.  Going to hit a strength WOD in the am, then its back to moving chaos!

K.O.

So, since Paris I've gotten in two workouts, then last Thursday woke up with the cold of all colds....post nasal drip, splitting headache, the chills.  W.T.F!!!  This turned into almost three days of my nose running like a faucet, and now a cough that sounds like I'm a total chain smoker.

I've been completely worthless aside from a bit of house cleaning and some yard work. Complete knock out. Hoping to get in a light workout the next few days until my head totally clears.

Paris

Paris, what else is there to say? We did a ton of walking and stair climbing.  We had a good time and I enjoyed practicing all my new photography skills and giving my new lens a workout. Luckily, the whole eating thing was curbed by a broken front tooth--that's why my smiles are so dumb looking! Oh well. Paris is not my favorite city--its like a New York or Chicago only the people are less friendly.  The museums were good, and the sparkly Eiffel Tower was nice. And, another visit with my favorite gargoyle was pretty sweet too.

Long Run

Beautiful day for a run. Put in a 7 mile training run. The air was crisp and cool, the sun was shining, and nothing was getting in my way of a run today.  The course was a mix of forested trail and paved trail, hills and flat parts.  Total time was 1:05 with a 9:20 pace.  I had to walk a few times as I let myself get out of breath on some hills, but I stopped only long enough to not hyperventilate!  Pacing myself has always been tough when running alone. Staying on track for the Army 10 race.

I then proceeded to sabatoge my body with bad food all day.  I forgot how hungry running 7 miles makes you and how tired you are! I had to totally take a nap this afternoon and was worthless for a few hours.  Hopefully with a few more runs like this that feeling will go away. I've got a solid 7 more weeks to train so there is hope of running a PR yet.

I didn't get in my swim or a heavy lifting day this week, but with the long weekend of traveling, we'll try for it next week.  Next week is a new re-committment to food...a zone/primal attempt.  I need to control portions, eat more than 1 true meal a day, cut the caffine and sugar, and eliminate the bad carbs and re-learn to love salad and vegetables. September will be hard with Nikki coming for a week and all the beer that will be drunk at Oktoberfest, but if I can eat clean for 3 weeks, I can let loose a little while she's here! C wiss---keep me posted on your box's challenge.  I want to join virtually.

Pullups

So for those of you regular readers, you know I've been on a bit of a pullup hiatus.  Pullup bars are not all that accessable here in our military gums (sad, huh?) and if there are any, you can pretty much only do a strict pull on them.  The ones outside are nice, but its so rainy here. Well, we asked for and have now received a Rogue pullup bar system. Yea! Right?

Well, as can be expected the first WOD was UGLY. UGLY.  I thought that some Cindy would be good for me. 5 pullups is managable, right? Um, no...sadly. I discovered today that I learned my kipping pullups on a skinny bar--i.e. the circumference of the bar was small.  Rogue bars are much thicker and require significantly more grip strength since I can't quite keep my hands all the way on their when I come down from the kip...I just slide right off! I could only get two in a row at most. The rest were singles.  I was quite sad. BUT--I'm not giving up.   I have my red band and it will just be my friend for a little while.  I'm also open to suggestions about pullup technique and building grip strength. I am strong enough to get up there--I just can't hold on!!  Finished a measly 6 rounds and finished with situps and planks.

In other news--I have a new challenge.  My BFF Nikki, (far left in photo) needed to set a crossfit goal. We have agreed to a pullup challenge.  She must have 1 pullup by the time I return to DC.  I must have 5 in a row.  GIRL...IT'S ON!!  This will take serious dedication from us both.

Army 10 miler training is going well. I got in a fast 3 mile trail run last night and am shooting for another 6 miler tomorrow--nice and easy 9min mile pace. I also signed up for a race in the Backyard Burn Series as a comeback race with my running buddies.  A five mile trail run! We're all signed up to run!

Fairfax 4-Miler, New Years Eve 2008

 

 

 

Paris is on tap for the weekend I'll have a little travel blogging for you next week.

Back Squats and Diet

Made it to the gym this morning to lift:
Back Squats x3
5@85
3@100
3@115
3@125
3@135
5@115
5@95
Finisher:
3 rounds
5 dips (static bars, unassisted)
15 kb swings
15GHD situps

Had planned on a spin class tonight, but tweaked my back stretching or something...more stretch and rest tonight. 

On the diet front--c wiss of no crying in crossfit is proposing a blogging world paleo/primal re-invigoration.  The summer has been hard on many of us, with work, jobs, husbands deployed, and a myriad of other things.  The carbs are back in my life big time....pasta, bread, pizza, ice cream, crackers, cookies....all things that a year ago I would have never dreamed of touching. I want them gone. I want my belly to feel good again. I want to have energy and feel like I can conquer the world--I want all my clothes to fit when I have to start back to work.  I don't like it when the little devil tells me that another bag of cookies or chips while hiding under a blanket on my couch will "make me feel better." Bull shit. (well sorta). 

I'm in a place where I have no support system to help me with this. I'm living alone, not working, spending most of my time alone, and stuck traveling a lot.  Part of me tells me to enjoy the foods of europe within reason and stop worrying, but really? That's how I got here in the first place...saying its "ok" to cheat here and there. I still believe it is ok to have a cheat day, but only when they are deserved.  I look at myself in the gym these days and I'm often embarassed to say I'm a crossfitter...a certified one at that.  Clearly, I can't take my own coaching.  So, what do you say blogoland? Thoughts on a virtual challenge/accountability system? We'd love to hear your ideas/comments!  We could even start a little email chat list or something....

Slacking for Real

4 days off?! What the heck. I feel like a blob! Planned to do something this evening and the weather continues to crap on me and forces me further under the blankets burrowing into the couch cushions. Weather really plays a factor in my mood--I need sunshine more than once a week.

This weeks goals: 1xswim, 1x 3-4 mile run, 1x 6-7 mile run, back squats, 20+min metcon. I have 4 days to get my arse to complete this.  Headed to Paris for the Labor day weekend where there will be a lot of walking, but no exercising.

I've got to get back on an eating plan. Enough of the carbs, crap, ice cream and woe is me eating. I'm nice and "fluffy" and I don't like it. If I'm headed back to work in a few months, I'd better get crackin' so all my clothes will fit nicely.  Maybe I could catch a stomach bug too or something, or the I worry so much I can't eat bug...that would be nice. Being on the road so much, living without a kitchen 2-3 days a week,  and eating out every weekend makes any sort of "diet" in this country near impossible. It's not like you can just drop in somewhere and get a grilled chicken salad...

Ok, oh weak one-get back on the plan. NOW.

Training Run

Fantastice run today--face was the color of a raspberry and caked with salt when I was done.   Six miles in about 50 minutes.  The exact time is a little off because my last half mile was a an enormous hill that I had to walk a bit of.  I kept an 8:35min mile pace almost the entire 50 minutes!  I picked a nice flat out and back course on a long country road that skirts the forest. Was a peaceful run and a great test of how all my trail running is keeping me fairly in shape! With some serious training the next 6-7 weeks, I might be able to break the 90min goal for the 10miler.

20 MIN Metcon

WOD #1: 
1000 m swim
I wanted to swim 1800, but the pool got full with a bunch of old people just swimming aimlessly. Without lap lanes, it became dangerous to keep your head in the water.   Felt pretty strong today--will hit the pool again later in the week!


WOD #2
20 Min AMRAP 
10 DB shoulder Press, 10 Burpee, 10 Box Jump
Total: 9 rounds

So after the pool I came home and ate crap.  The weekends away from home and on the road just throw me off! The fridge is empty, I'm sad and bored and what do I do? Eat...crap.  Well, that means another WOD is in order. I did CFOT's alternate WOD for the day and boy was it a kicker. 
I think this little couplet should have had one more element to it, but regardless, it made you work on your mental game. I used 15lb dumbbells which turned out to be perfect. I was able to do most of the sets of 10 unbroken and some with just a slight rest in the middle. Burpees---oh how i hate thee. They are one of my most improved moves of the year though. As my friend Soni says--JUST KEEP MOVING--DON'T STOP. That's what I did on the burps and the box jumps. 
I had a solid sweat going on and people were totally staring at me--"what is that silly girl doing, flailing and jumping around in the corner?".  I think it helped that I had my ipod shuffle on me to keep me focused.  If it ever stops raining (yes, its STILL raining) I hope to get a long bike ride in one of these days.

Cleans

Quick lift this AM:

5@55 (Hang)
5@65 (Hang)
3@75 (Hang)
1@85 (Power)
1@95 (Power)
1@100 (Too ugly to count!)
5@75 (Hang)

The last time I did max cleans was back in April.  It's been a LONG time. I hit 105 that day--a PR.  Nowhere near that today.  The form was great in the lower weights and I nailed 85 and felt great. 95 was a little sloppy and 100 was too ugly to count. Then I dropped and just did a few more to nail the form.  I will try to hit a clean WOD next week too.  Can't let the form and strength get too far from me.  I think if I had a coach and someone to push me on these I would be hanging in the 115-120.  In the next year I would love to nail a 120# clean.  Only with a little work, right? 

Oh and the reason i go from the hang and then power is because we don't have bumper plates! Going from the power position with just 65# on the bar will kill one's back--not cool. Once I can put the bigger wheels on, I can manage from the floor much easier.

Not so much CF this week...

So after the great Sunday WOD, Monday turned out to be a crap day--no WOD.  Tuesday I had a bunch of dental work done and was not feeling very well, but did a short WOD anyways--nice little burner

Quick WOD: 4RFT

20 pushups
20 GHD situps
20 Walking lunges-w 25# plate overhead
Time: 12:30

Wednesday I ended up in a spinning class at the gym with a friend.  I remember why I love crossfit---short, fast, varied.  An hour on the bike going nowhere is so not fun anymore. I just keep in mind its good to test the slow twitch muscles sometimes too.

Today was my ATM training run. My friend Mindi joined me on this beautiful evening. Sunny, 65 degrees, slight breeze. Just perfect! We did a great 5 mile loop that took us through the forest, on a path that skirted the forest, through park, and viola--back at my house!   It was 5.2 miles in 50:30.  According to my Garmin we averaged a 9:45min/mile pace.  A great training pace for the 10miler.  Our first few miles were just over 10:00min/miles, but we were clearly cruising at the end. Just how it should be!

Run and Air Squat WOD--Progress?

So, as bummed as I was about Chip leaving for Landstuhl early this afternoon I wasn't going to just mope and sit on the couch.  I do too much of that already! :)  I was about to change and again came the rain!!! jesus, it rains a ton here.  The landlord stopped by to chat for a minute and he said we've had 80 liters of rain in August so far--which is apparently a ton.  Germans use some kind of rain guage to measure volume instead of height.  Despite the rain, the park was filled with families--if the rain doesn't scare the Germans, then I won't let it scare me.  Off I went to start my WOD---an easy at home one!

Warmup:
1mile run (easy pace) and stretching

WOD:
4RFT
400m run
50 airsquats
Time: 10:29

As I did this WOD it seemed easier and faster than the last time I did this.  Apparently it was--the last time I did this was in May.  I had reversed the exercises and did the squats first though. Do you think that reall makes a difference--I mean a whole 5 minutes of difference? It's the same amount of work. Or, maybe my running has gotten that much better? I complained that in May I was running the first 200m uphill--ha, uphill, upschmill. It's not a hill compared to what's around the corner! I barely notice the slight rise now.  Is my instensity better? Pushing myself through the air squats faster maybe? I know for sure I didn't walk one bit on the run this time around, which I probably did last time. Was it the mile warmup instead of doing it too cold? Not sure, but hell--I'll take a 5 minute PR.  That's almost a metcon ninja time.

Trail Run, Deadlifts, Swimming

I promise I've not been slacking!

Tuesday
5 mile trail run-steady rolling hills, with a small mountain at the finish
Time: 48:30 

Maintained a 9:20-9:30 mile pace until the last 1/2mile which I had to walk part of since it was super steep and super long.  I felt pretty good about this, but worried that it takes me so darn long to really get "warm".  Also, this was supposed to be an "easy" training run and I felt like I wanted to die most of the time. I'm pretty sure there will be no PR's at the Army 10-miler this year.  Last year I ran a 1:30, which was a PR and this year wanted to go sub-1:30.   Considering all I want to do is stuff my face with french fries and sugar these days, and I have no training buddies, I'll be lucky to make it out alive.  Going to hit some sprints and a six miler this week.

Wednesday
3x5 Deadlifts
95, 135, 155, 185, 205, 205

So DL's used to be my favorite.  Since my last effort, I've not wanted to even attempt them and have to stare into the fact of how weak I've become. But, you can't avoid things forever. I took the camera and took some video to check my form each round.  Wasn't great, wasn't terrible.  I wasn't thrilled with 205, it felt as heavy as shit, and 205 used to be nothing for me. I realized in the horrible aftermath or soreness that it is not so much my leg strength or even my upper body strength--its my back/core strength that I've lost so much of.  Back in the days of CFOT, my core was a ROCK, my back was super strong, and somehow all that is gone.  I think part of it is not following a strict overall lifting program and the other part is that Jerry had all these little ways to sneak in core work when you didn't even realize it during warmups, afterparty's, etc.

After party was another mile swim. I should really start adding the mile run after lifting as well as the mile swim! Took me about 26 minutes with a nice rest at the halfway point.

Thursday and Friday
Rest Days. Friday was unplanned, but sometimes that where life takes ya.

Saturday
More swimming.  Went with Chip and we just swam laps to get in some exercise. I know I did more than 1600m, but stopped counting after that! :)

Happy Monday!

Ok, so I've had a few days off.  The rain last week nixed my planned 5 mile run on Thursday, then disorganization ruined my Friday morning.  I spent the weekend in Strasbourg, France, with my handsome husband--where the workout was walking and eating! Strasbourg is a small town on the German/French border that was fought over for many years between the Franks and Prussians.  It has lots of french and german influences in language, culture, and architechure, and food! The highlight was walking along the canals enjoying the pretty scenery and basking in a perfect summer day.  Since this blog is also a little about traveling, I've included some photos!

Photos: (1) Chip and I along the canal in Petite France (2) Notre Dame Cathedreal (3) La`Backoffe - traditional alsacian dish with Lamb, potatoes and veggies in a white wine sauce- baked all day (4) Quiche Lorraine-why we ARE in Alsace-Lorraine! It was translated in English as "bacon cake"...um yea..give me some BACON CAKE. It was buttery, bacon, egg goodness, 

Time to get back at it today for sure. Diet was pretty clean today and while I'm hungry tonight, I'll forgo the evening ice cream snack, since it feels so good to feel good!

The CF Old Town WOD was 5x5 push press today with an "after party" of a brutal couplet: 33pushups, 27 KB swings, 21 DB thrusters--scaled down from there for rounds 2/3.   The presses were off to a solid start. Round 3 at 65# felt strong and round 4 at 70# was solid.  I went for 75# for 5--my 1RM is 80#....I nailed all 5 reps.  Boy did that feel good!  I rested a little bit and was ready to dig into the after party madness.  By pushup 15 I was in rough shape...all 27 swings went unbroken...then to the thrusters. My arms quit on about rep 12...just quit.  I tried a few more reps where I really tried to work the hips, but the arms gave out. Finnito. I knew I was meeting a friend at the pool for a quick swim in a hour so I didn't feel so bad.

My real after party was a 1 mile swim! yes--a mile swim.  It felt amazing.  The first 500m flew by and I just kept going. I felt strong after 1200m so I did a few laps of breast stroke, then finished off with a solid 200m freestlye. I love that crossfit keeps me strong so that I can just do things like pop into the pool randomly and swim a mile and feel awesome afterwards. I didn't time myself, but I'm going to start getting some rough estimates of how long this takes me.

SPRINT

So my buddy Jason is back in town, recovering from nagging injuries, but willing to keep at the crossfit madness with me before he PCS's home. We hit the track for this:

10 x 100m sprint, rest 1 minute between rounds. 

It's been a long time since I've done any serious sprinting and this actually felt really good. First few rounds were at about 12seconds. I managed to keep between 12-14seconds each round. Now was this a strict 100m? No, but we were pretty close. I chased Jason each and every time, it was awesome to finally have someone to push me.

After party was four rounds of 1 min planks, then 30seconds on the pullup bar doing pullups, strict hang, l-sits, a combo or whatever. I found out that I can hold myself up up over the bar for just shy of 30 seconds. That may not sound like much, but when I started crossfit I couldn't: (1) get myself over the bar or (2) hold myself above the bar (after assistance getting up there) for even 3 seconds. I call that progess! It's humbling to think back to that first day on the bar, a little over a year ago, Jerry lifting me up, saying "HOLD IT", and my weak arms crumbling in mere seconds. I've not been practicing pullups much at all, so the fact I can still string 4 or so in a row and get up on that bar makes me happy.

OHS-Oh how I forgot you

Monday, Monday. OHS, OHS....why not right?

Warmup:
3 rounds
10 pushups
10 KB swings
20 lunges

Strength: 5XOHS
45, 55, 65, 75
one word: weak....my wrist was all out of whack and my core was weak, weak, weak. I would have gone for 85 but I was chicken about hurting myself. I think i'll do some more OHS next week.

Then I did this WOD from Angie's blog (Yes, I steal lots of her WODs!)

For time:
1000 Meter row
30 Overhead squats (Men 135 lbs, Women 85 lbs)
1200 Meter run

Row was slow at about 4:20, OHS's were scaled to 65#.  I did 10, then nearly dropped the bar on my head, did the last 10 at 55#. Run was on the treadmill and was dreadful.
Time: 15:31 scaled.

I did not slack last Friday either.  Got outside and enjoyed the 50 degree weather and did a workout down at these stairs in my neighborhood...wicked steep. Next time I would love to take this 10 rounds.

5RFT
stair sprint
10 pushups
20 squats
time 12:13

Squattin'

Easy WOD today as still not feeling 100%.

Back Squat 5X3
85, 105, 115, 125, 130

This is 20lbs off my PR, but I felt really strong today. Even 130 felt pretty easy. All that said, the last time I did a 5X3 backsquat was November...a freakin' long time ago.  Plus, with no spotters, I'm not about to screw up my back.  Can't wait to hit this again.

Finisher: Mile run--8:30...just takin' it easy. Lots of stretching.

Down but not out

I've had a horrible week and have some kind of stomach thing...combination of lots of bad food, wicked stress, a bit of the blues, and a full moon. Training is at the bottom of my list right now, but on my mind constantly.  I think I'll at least go to the gym tomorrow to get out of the house and move around a bit. I'm always convinced a good sweat will cure just about anything!

Running and a FUN WOD

After Wednesday's DNF, I was pretty bummed.  It was day 2 of yet another separation from my husband (out of the almost 7 years we've been together, we've only really lived together in the same State/city/country for about 3)  There is always a withdrawl period that includes some moping, eating bad foods, and a bottle of wine.  I moped, I ate, and I drank.  That night I was chatting with my friend Nikki--my lifeline to the real world--and told her I was contemplating dropping out of the Army 10-miler. I'm not inspired to run, I loathe it.  I miss my running partners. It's so much more fun with some girly chatter, and someone to push your limits...oh and coffee afterwards! As I went to bed, I said, ok...test yourself. Get up and run tomorrow and see how it goes.

9am Thursday I laced up the trail runners, pressed play on the ipod, then ducked into the forest. 5 minutes in I wanted to quit. 10 mintues in I wanted to shoot myself. I'm bored, my hamstring hurts, and I'm bored.  By 15 minutes I've got my stride, I found a good song losing myself in the music and I found a new area of the forest to explore.  My goal was 45 minutes. 1 hour if I was feeling good.  Total time: 54 minutes....I have no clue how far it was, but I ran the whole time, hills and all.   I can't say it felt good, but sometimes you just have to prove to yourself you can do it.

The other day CFOT posted this WOD and it looked FUN!

3-5 RFT (Scale to your level)
600m run
10 hang cleans (85#women)
20 KB swings
30 anchored situps

I scaled the cleans to 65# on Round 1, then scaled up to 70# on rounds 2-3. Run was on the treadmill. Time was 23:10. I think I could have done more weight on the cleans, but really wanted to make sure the form was good before I went heavy.  My clean form truly sucks.  I would have loved to go 5 rounds on this, but had lots to do this morning--hopping the train to Landstuhl!! I think I'm going to hit this one again in a month or so. I really enjoyed it. 

WUSS!

Tuesday: Press x 3, Push Press x 3, Push Jerk x 3

A. 12 minute time limit: Find your 3 Rep max in the Press

B. 12 minute time limit: Find your 3 Rep max in the Push Press

C. 12 minute time limit: Find your 3 Rep max in the Push Jerk

A. 75x3, 80x1  New 1xPR (it was solid!)
B. 95x3
C. DNF
Ok, so I jumped way to fast on the press...and did 80 when I thought it was 75. Oops. I was pissed until I recounted the weight. Then I was like "yippe".  Push presses hurt my wrists so bad.  I felt strong but reracking each rep was killer on my wrists.  After hitting 95, I stopped and went to the jerk since I felt the form going by rep 3. I stripped the bar down to work on the movement and well...my wrists just said no. I called it a day.  And I'm so pissed I quit.  Do any of you have wrist issues like this? It felt like a strength issue, not mechanical. Do I just have weak wrists?!

Warmup was solid today: 
3 Rounds
10KB swings
10 squats--cleaning up my form.
5 dips on the bars--first round I got all 5! Then the next two I did 4/1, 4/1. Felt strong. Will do 10 next time! :)

Monday WOD
3RFT
10 KBHP (45#)
10 DB thrusters
10 situps
100ft lunges
Time: 6:38

This was a quick little WOD at the CF Ramstein location. This just happened to be on the WB and I went with it.  There were 2 other guys there doing other WODs, so I just did this one. A smoker!  I finished it up with some 400m sprints with a guy I met whose name I can't remember. His WOD was 20AMRAP of 400m sprints. Eww. I joined him for his last 5 sprints. Round 1 was a 1:13 for me and I held them all under 1:30. It felt slow, but the clock doesn't lie. A nice little finisher. Hoping to hit one of their Saturday sessions soon! 

Sexy Back

So after two days of failed attempts at working out, I was determined to do it right today.  Thursday night I got in half a bike ride---flat on the way back. Mindi taught me how to change a flat though. Yea for new skills! And its fun to look like a badass with bike grease all over ya. Too bad we drained the air before we got the tire right.  Friday was just a waste...depressed.

I woke up early today and was catching on my blog reading.  I just have to say a big THANK YOU to all you out there in blogland.  You are such and inspiration and I would kill for one of your WODs a week. It is also good to know that others are struggling with the same things I am--motivation, working out alone, stress, the hell that military life can sometimes leave you in.

I am a huge fan of CrossFit Angie right now because her affiliates WODs are right up my alley, i.e. doable in my backyard without a lot of equipment.  This morning was nice and cool so this WOD looked like a great one to hit:

WOD
5 RFT
30 Wallball (14#)
15 burpees
Time: 18:28

Finisher: 1 mile trail run (try that after 150 burpees) It was ugly.

I breezed through round 1 in 2:30, round 2 in about 3:30 and got slower from there.  I just kept "chunking" each round. 10, 10, 10...5, 5, 5.  catch breath between rounds.  On round 4, Sexy Back came on my ipod...not a huge fan of JT, but just the right beat.  Then I started thinking about how last summer I felt amazing, confident, happy with myself. I loved hanging out at the pool on the weekends, and didn't blink about having to put on my suit--even if it was a bikini. Not so much this summer...but you got to start somewhere.  Hopefully by just plugging along at these WODs and not giving up, I can get my "Sexy" back. 

This WOD will do that. Core must be tight on burpees. Abs and Gluts cannot sag.  I also discovered that wallballs get easier if you just stick your butt really far back, while in the ass to grass position, then tighten your abs and thrust/swing with your hips, it takes a good deal of the quad work out of the movement--mine were screaming by round 2.

Hoping to maybe hit CF Ramstein on Monday. Maybe? Maybe?

Back in the saddle with Tabata and Squat Cleans

Tuesday WOD
Tabata: squats/pullups/burpees/push press/row
Tabata's are rough, but luckily they go by fast.  Squats were solid averaging about 15-16 each round.  Pullups were actually jumping negatives...the other bars were all blocked off.  I got about 3 solid each round. burpees were a solid 5 each round, push press was sad at 4-5 at 45#, row was a total of 38 calories.  I didn't really count the numbers, just tried to stay consistent. Finisher was 3 rounds of 10GHD situps, 10 back extensions.

Wednesday WOD
SQUAT CLEANS--3X5 

Last recorded here.  I thought I totally had a PR day....I guess I did, sort of. My last 3X squat clean work I set a baseline at 80, then a few weeks later, pulled 90 for 1X.  Today I did 90 for 3X-looked like this:
65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90 

These were done from the hang position since I'm not using bumper plates.  The plates I use are set the bar too low to the ground to pull properly from the power position. That said, my pull felt awesome and rolling the bar back on the fingertips is becoming much more natural. The squats were strong despite some still really sore quads.  I kept my elbows high the whole time and just see-sawed the rise on the last squat just a bit. But, that's cuz I know my core is lacking some strength these days. I know with a consistent lifting schedule and some coaching I could easily hit #100. 

So, while I thought my days of Oly lifts were numbered, this was a great little comeback session. Good form and a strong effort. That's all I ask for. It's so hot here, I think I'll be hitting the pool tomorrow!

Updates and Good News!

Fallen behind...doesn't mean I'm not still trying to move.  The moto levels are rock bottom, performance is poor. That said, I'm still moving, or at least trying to. Here are the updates:

Friday WOD
20 Min AMRAP
5 Turkish Get-UPs
10 Dips
15 Wallballs
Total: 5 rounds

I've never done a TGU before.  Chip coached me through the moves since he learned with Jerry at CFOT back in the day.  I wasn't strong enough for the 35# KB, so I used a set of 8lb dumbbells.  Held both in my right hand and did them...worked on form and that was hard enough. Ring dips were on the red band and felt good.  Used my 14lb homemade wallball "Killer".  I actually held fairly good intensity here and felt like a solid WOD when I was done.

Saturday
1 Hour Bike ride in 90 degree heat and direct sun.  Mostly hills.  Quads were dying from the week and just felt slow and dehydrated.  Allergies were killer out there in farm country.

Sunday
Rest!

Monday
30 min trail run
then
5 rounds
10 pushups
20 Abmats
Felt miserable and out of shape! nothing like a simple workout to kick your ass and put you in your place. I know where my place is!

Got some good news this morning--my husband will be headed out to Landstuhl Army Hospital for some more intensive therapy for 8 weeks (to start). We're hoping to get him out there on Monday.   I'll be spending some time out there as well, which means frequent visits to CrossFit Ramstein! Keeping our fingers crossed for a permanent PCS out there for the remainder of his Army career, which would be a blessing for us both.  A fresh start, CrossFit opportunities, and a potential return to work for me!

"LUCE" and some other stuff

After my evaluation for the month, and a little planning, I decided I was going to just follow some mainsite WODs and add some running, swimming, and biking as I see fit.

Tuesday
"LUCE"
Wearing a 20 pound vest, 3RFT
1K Run
10 Muscle-ups
100 Squats

What I love about Crossfit is that it is scalable. That is just what I did.  (1) Ditch the vest...yea right. (2) Scale muscle ups to 3:1 pullups/dips. (3) 90PU and 90 dips unassisted was not going to happen, at least on the equipment I had.  I used my red band for dips and the pullup machine for assisted PUs.  Got to start somewhere. I was just doing this workout to finish it--it took me 49:50.  Pathetic, I know, but my quads are still hurting today from 300 airsquats and the 3k run. Back to the basics, right? And, I love to honor our fallen heroes.  When my quads are burning beyond belief and sweat is stinging my eyes, I think about how Luce suffered.  When my triceps give out and I snap the band in my face, I don't quit, I get back up there and finish my dips, his family is hurting far worse than I. I say a prayer for all of our fallen soldier, marines, and airmen and all those who continue to fight for our nation.

Wednesdy
For time:
225 pound Back squat, 20 reps
40 Toes to bar
60 Kettlebell swings, 2 pood

Again, scaled! Back squats were miserable after 300 squats from the day before. Only hit 85lbs, but I haven't back squatted in what 3 months? My quads were fried. FRIED I say. Toes to bars were done in sets of 10, 10, 5, 5, 5, 5 and KB were scaled to 44lb for the first 30, then scaled back again (35#) because my back was in pain.

Thursday
Quads still hurt. Hard to sit. Hot outside.

WOD
2k swim!  Just got in the pool and swam. Felt amazing.

July Evaluation

I've spent the last few days doing a lot of thinking, brooding, internally kicking and screaming at myself, and generally being down on myself.  About a year ago, I finally felt like I was on a true path to fitness, learning knew things (like oly lifts), pushing myself farther and faster than I had in years. My diet was cleaned up and life was looking good.  I felt good about myself, I loved my new muscles, all my clothes fit, I slept well (even though my husband was deployed), and I felt like I could take on the world again. This was all due to CrossFit Old Town. I didn't think anything could bring me down. Wrong. 

I've had my ups and downs since leaving the affilate in December, diving into training mostly by myself.  This spring I had a motivation to stay on top of things in going to the Level I certification--I didn't want to make a fool of myself. And, I had a training partner who was training for the european regionals.  His program kicked my butt back into pretty good shape.  Post Level I cert, post regional training with Jason, post 1 month off for family time, traveling, and eating, I find myself nearly back at the beginning.

On Sunday, Chip and I went to the gym and I was going to work some deadlifts. One of my strongest lifts, technically not to difficult. Um yea, not anymore.  Everything felt akward and heavy. I had Chip come watch a pull at 190--totally rounded my back. Dropped the weight, still rounding. sigh, just 10 weeks ago I pulled a beautiful PR of 240 and stopped there because I didn't have anyone to spot my form.  On Monday morning, I set out for a nice 3 mile run around the neighborhood. I've been running the trails, but not keeping track of pace or time.  It went horribly.  The first mile felt great, an 8:15 pace,  but the minute I hit some hills I petered out. Soon after I found myself walking because the humidity had triggered my asthma and my back was killing me from bad deadlifts the day before. What a mess. Later in the day I joined Chip in the pool.  I went with the "lets not keep track of time/distance and just swim" attitude.  I felt good, fairly strong, and am finding bi-lateral breathing easier.  I figured out what was wrong with my form in turning to the left to breathe--its so much easier now!  After several downers of late, the DL's, some OHS's, running, etc, I've literally wondered about throwing in the towel. I know that voice though, the voice of doubt and depression, and I must quash that voice before it gets too loud.

So where have my musings of the last few days left me?
(1) Not going to do the triathlon in September--It requires a wetsuit, which I don't have and haven't a clue where to purchase. A wetsuit, hotel room, gas to get there and back, are just extremely costly.  I've done one and I can tri again another year.  I would rather focus on being crossfit again, rather than try to do crossfit and get back into shape on the 3 sports...
(2) Training will be  focused on traditional crossfit for overall strength and conditioning and then I will focus on the Army 10 miler at the end of October. I'm going to try to incorporate 2 CF endurance workouts per week and one long run to help with that. I'm going to back off on the heavy oly lifts and focus on getting good form back.  No 1RM efforts, will focus on lighter 3x and 5x efforts for at least 6 weeks or until I feel stronger and more confident I won't hurt myself. 
(3) Nutrition. No french fries, no ice cream, no beer for 30 days. Started yesterday. Oh and no gummi bears. I hope to start tracking caloric, carb, protein, and fat intake to see where I'm at. I haven't written down what I've eaten in a long time. Time to buckle down again and stop making excuses for being lazy and making poor choices.
(4) Now write out a plan and stick to it!
(5) Remove ass from couch, put on gym clothes, and get to work.