Thursday, July 29, 2010

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.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

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!

Friday, July 23, 2010

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. 

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

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! 

Saturday, July 17, 2010

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?

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

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 hereI 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!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

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!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

"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.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

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.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Struggling with Motivation, Again

Tuesday
3 RFT
20 KBHP (35lbs)
20 Lunges
20 Dips
20 Pushups
20 AbMats

Something I concocted while still in my pj's this morning. Boy was putting dips and pushups back to back was so dumb. By round 2, my triceps were frozen.  Crap. Round 2 I did 20 dips, 10 pushups and round 3 was the reverse.  This took me forever--I had no desire to move fast. It was hot outside (unusal for Germany at 8am) and I just wanted to stop. This was not fun anymore, it was a chore. I even whined to myself about all the ants in the grass while doing my pushups and abmats.  Wow, what a whiner...i put the clock out of my mind and just finished it.

Thursday
So the parents were dropped off at the airport and we had quite the adventure on the way home--stuck on the autobahn for 1.5 hours. Sigh--totally needed a nap after that. After a nap, I met Chip at the gym after a meeting he had.  This was the first time we'd been to the gym together in months.  I had no motivation to do anything so I said, ok, you tell me what to do.  After some stretching for warmups, we hit a 2K row for time.  2K! I hate rowing, especially long distances.

2K row for time: 8:42.  I tried so hard to make the rower go faster, I really tried and I don't know how to make it go faster! Grrr. My goal was to beat Chip, who is now 5+ months post stroke.  He's so strong...he finished just 1:20 behind me at a solid 10min.

Then, I wanted to some OHS and GHD's.  My plan was 5 Rounds--10 OHS (45#), 10GHD.  I finished 3 rounds before I felt like I was going to pass out.  Summer requires hydration, a mere little fact I forgot about yesterday.  Totally dumb.  Regardless, 45lbs felt heavy and my wrist is so out of whack---GHD's still felt strong.

Training alone again requires every ounce of me when I don't have a life, a consistent schedule, a job, or anything forcing you to even get out of bed each day.  I would love to follow and affiliate program or train virtually or something, but the lack of equipment, and fellow people makes it nearly impossible. I'm going to try to get back on track here in July, but I know it will be a stretch. Especially since I'm sitting here at 10am in my jammies with no plan to move from the couch.  we'll wrap this up here and stay tuned for a post on fat loss vs. muscle loss....going to do some research.