Tuesday, November 30, 2010

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!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

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.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

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!
 


Sunday, November 21, 2010

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.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

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.