Update...

Poor lonely blog...how I've missed you! I've been CFitting regularly, hitting PR's, learning new lifts, eating like a cave girl, loosing weight, and feeling great!

Since I last posted I finished my half marathon-Not a hugely awesome experience, except for the post race party which involved some amazing wine and cheese and good times with friends.  I ran a 2:05, just shy of my goal, but for not training all that hard, not too shabby. Here I am pushing towards the finish. Yes, I'm in pain...running 13.1miles with no cartilage in your knees is just kinda stupid...and boy do I need a TAN!

I've embarked on another paleo challenge, really trying to make this a lifestyle, not a diet.  I've lost some weight and if you're lucky i'll post some photos someday if I can stand the sight to show people the real results of what paleo can do for you.

I've recently learned how to sumo deadlift and today worked on the "heaving snatch balance".  I put up 105# and felt pretty awesome about that. We've not done a 1RM snatch in forever, so I know it is way more than the 80lbs I worked with in a WOD last week. :) (2xsnatch EMOM x 10min)

Worked some HSPUs on 6/20, but couldn't eek anything out beyond a 45# plate and an abmat. Sad that I wasn't stronger here.

Took a second stab at Elizabeth on 6/16 and used 75# for the squat cleans and skinny orange band for the ring dips. Finished around 16 mins....4min slower, with 10 more lbs..
Pulled a really ugly deadlift @ 250# PR...can't wait to hit this one again.
Ran my fastest 1mile time in well over a year on 6/8/11...a 7:30 as part of the WOD "Jerry".
Hit a 125# split jerk PR on 6/6..now if only my clean was that strong.
Hit a 120# clean PR at the end of my 1st paleo challenge.  Ready to get after this one too.

Looking to finish June strong and turn to an even STRONGER July!

Training Countdown

After a serious effort on Friday I followed it up on Saturday morning with a 10 mile run with my old running buddy Kayla.  She runs a running group out of the Pacers store in Logan Circle.  I got my butt out of bed, headed to the city, and joined some cool peeps for 8.25m run through beautiful Washington DC.  The course headed up historic 16th Street, skirted Rock Creek Park, wound down by the National Zoo, Georgetown waterfront, by the Kennedy Center, behind the Lincoln Memorial, then up 17th Street past the White House back to the store.  What a fun course.  Miles 6-7 flew by.  Once we got back into the city the stopping and starting really hurt my momentum.  I branched off after they finished the course for another 1.5 miles.  It was a bit short of 10m, not pretty, but pretty fun to run with people again on a cool course.

I bonked again around 6 miles and got the bacon nausea again. NOT COOL.  Trying to eat paleo and have enough energy/fuel to run these distances has been very hard.  I didn't get much support from the paleo challenge group.  A lot of "why are you still running" and "running long slow distances raises cortisol levels, making it difficult to loose weight and potentially make you gain weight".  I refuse to accept any of this.  I nice nudge towards the CF Endurance site would have helped.  Instead I had to think and research since I totally forgot about that program.  I should have used their WODs to train for the half, but lesson learned for the next race! I will eat paleo, just not the super strict paleo instructed by the challenge, which does not include fruit or nuts.  I've been "cheating" with bananas post run/post WOD to keep my energy levels up.  Really just a few berries would probably have the same effect.  I also learned doing some CFE reading, I need to eat lean protein/carbs in certain amounts pre-race and post race.  Eating paleo does aid much much faster recovery. That's for sure.

I will continue to blog on this topic and let you all know my results.  A coach seems to think that my training plan is counterintelligence to my goals (loose 10lbs, 120+ power clean, sub 2:10 half marathon) I'm holding steady at 157lbs, so no weight loss this week, but I've noticed a lot of body changes (slimmer thighs --pants not so tight, looser waist in my pants)  I'm thinking not enough rest is likely holding me back, but we head out to Chicago for a week on Thursday so we'll see what a week of relaxing and sleeping in will do for us!

This mornings WOD:
Regional affiliate WOD
21-15-9
Deadlifts (185 was RX, scaled to 155)
box jumps (24")
Time: 10:30

Was pretty proud of the box jumps this morning, not so much on the DL's.  More weaknesses to work.

Back Squat X3

New PR this morning. God did that feel awesome!
Back Squat x3
85, 105, 135, 155, 165, 170 (PR)

Fun times lifting with Shanyn and Bry this morning.  Everybody put out a stellar effort. I think the paleo magic must be kicking in. I slacked a little bit this weekend with some nuts, dried cranberries, and one small serving of plain froyo.

Today's breakfast consisted of chix salad with a little mayo, mustard, red onion, and a few dried cranberries (next week I can add some grapes back in there) and a banana. If I eat the nanners, I don't feel so miserable around 10-11am and can make it all the way until lunch w/o getting cranky.

I've seen the scale move all over the place in this first week.  Last Saturday after the challenge WODs I weighed in at a heafty 164.  By Monday am, I was at 160#.  By Saturday morning, 157#.  Post 8mile run, 154# (had to weigh in to see how much h20 i lost), Monday am, back up to 157#.  So, that's 10# of swinging in one week. If you take the Monday to Monday readings, I've lost 3#'s this week. I'd love to see another solid 2# this week.

On the running/training front--the 8 miles on Saturday went really well and I held a solid 9:20 pace for the first six miles and the hills on the way back slowed me down to an average 9:35 pace for the whole run.  Will put in 5 mid-week and 10 next weekend, about the same the following, then taper...at this point an olympic distance triathlon is looking so much easier.   I've also signed up for the Army 10 miler this fall.  My brother Andy and his wife Sarah will be joining me along with Nikki and our buddy Nate! Will be an awesome crew for sure.  Hoping to hit a nice 5K in October too with Christine, Chip and Tamara--all coming off of injuries this year.  Toying with the idea of doing the olympic distance triathlon at Luray in August...hmmm.

Oh and last Friday we did a barbell complex WOD called the Eliminator.
Looked like this:
55, 70, 85, 95, 105, 115, 125...
5DL, 3 Hang Clean, 1 Jerk
Nailed the round at 95#, and got one clean at 105...
It was a super fun WOD, just wish I could have hit that 105...That would have been a huge Jerk for me in that round since i've laid off the overhead work for almost 3 months now.  Luckily that shoulder is feeling better and this WOD went off pain free! :)

The Harold

Ok, I am a bit behind on blogging.  Mother in law was in town last week and just didn't have a lot of extra time to blog.  We'll start fresh again. I've decided its time to really start to HTFU (harden the fuck up) and get strong.  I had great results with the paleo, died off dealing with the shoulder injury, and now its time to get focused.  I've got a half marathon in 6 weeks and I really want to do 2 triathlons this year.

Today's WOD:
7 rounds for time:
7 deadlifts (155w/225m)
9 C2B pullups
200m sprint
Time: 25:15

I HTFU'd and did the 155# deadlifts and did pretty well.  Kept a solid pace of 4 touch and go, then three.  Pullups were my disdain, but I was focused on getting 2 solid kips in a row each round.  I was just happy to do that volume with nothing hurting in my shoulder! yea!

Tomorrow is strict press--we'll see how the shoulder does.  I also have to go back and record last week.  The highlight was a 5x back squat at 150 that seemed easy! :)d

Cindy with Lifts

Wednesday was an epic body weight met-con morning.  We really haven't had too many of these of late.  Here's what it looked like:

5 RFT
3 heavy deadlifts (155#)
3 rounds of Cindy  (5 pullup, 10 pushup, and 15 squats)
Time: 28:30

Who cares about the time, seriously...i pray i never have to do this WOD again.  The deadlifts were a complete afterthought in this workout and pretty much the easiest part.  After the first round of Cindy I thought I was supposed to go do more deadlifts, totally not realizing it was THREE rounds of Cindy...boy was that a game changer.

I got to work on the first set of 3 Cindy rounds.  Pullups went off fine, pushups felt ok, and squats were a little rough the first round from tabata squats the day before.  Then on to round number 2.  DL's were easy, pullups were fine, pushups started to get hard...I pushed through.  Round 3--not even halfway done...by the 3rd set of cindy, the pushups were impossible and I'd broken the pullups into sets of 3/2.  Round 4 was a complete gut check.  The pullups were holding me back and I had to finish in 30 minutes. I dropped to my knees on that middle round.  Round 5 was just sheer HTFU mentality. Get the work done....and I did.  I was smoked afterwards and am quite sore today.  Then I ended up with a head cold/sinus thing so I'll be taking a few more rest days.  But not total rest...lots of painting and housework the next few days!

Tuesday 
“Anti-in, Double-up”
wod1.) Every minute on the minute for 8 minutes perform 3 picture perfect postural alignment Deadlifts (touch and go preferred). In the remaining minute record as many double-unders as you can. 

Used 155# and did a "few" double unders afterwards. I think my total for the 8 rounds was 50 or so.

wod2.) Run: 3 x ( 200m + 400m)
Rest the exact time it takes you to do each interval in each set. Example: 200m run in 40 sec. rest 40 sec then 400m run, rest 400m time, back to run 200m, rest 200m run time…

I was right on the money at 40sec for the 200m and 2min for the 400.  This was a great little afterparty wod.  your legs were fried from the DL and DUs! 

Wednesday ended up being a rest day due to my stupid stomach that is not liking the paleo so much.  Let's just say its slow to digest so I had to take some medicine to make things happen.  I ended up quite ill that morning. Ugh.   Then we had massive snow that afternoon and into the evening so classes were canceled on Thursday morning.  Friday looked like this: 


Breathing Back Squats

wod1.)  20 rep breathing squat. 2-3 warm up sets at 5 reps then 1 working set at 20!
Suggested load is 75% of 1RM


I should have gone to the full 75% of the 1RM which would have been 125#, but I scaled down to 115#.  I wasn't feeling it on the warmups and didn't want to kill my back. 20 reps is crazy.  This was a super cool WOD that is apparently a throwback to '70s powerlifting days.  You start out and get your 5-8 reps out of the way.  You take a few breaths and get to rep 10...then the work begins.  I cranked out a few more then, you have to start your "breathing".  Big deep breath, do a rep, gasp for breath, take another big breath, do a rep, then gasp for breath.  It's crazy and a huge challenge.



WOD 2.) 12 Minute AMRAP
100 double-under cash-in then…
12 Wallball and XX chest to deck ring pushups
HTFU=12, Infidel=9, Bulldog=6

I think I did 4 rounds of this or so. The wallballs are super easy these days and I'm hitting somewhere above the women's X and the men's line.  Shooting for hitting the higher target these days.  Ring pushups are insane...I went for the 6 reps and just decided I need to seriously start working the pushups. 


Totally had a cheat weekend on the diet.  Both husband and I were ornery, hungry, and at each others throats.  We were out with friends on Friday night, invited to lunch with family on Saturday (who totally do not understand the no carb deal) then Sunday we just cracked. We feel like absolute crap---stomachs are bloated, etc, but damn it we're happy. I hate that when life gets you down turning to food helps to soothe the pain a bit.  I am realizing it doesn't solve anything, usually creates more issues, but well, feeling better temporarily certainly helps. I haven't seen huge movement on the scale as I thought I would.  I was down a solid 5lbs one day, then the next it was right back up there. Pants are fitting much much better and last week wore some pants that hadn't fit in over a year. Why won't the damn scale move though? 


Hoping to make this a 4-5 WOD week with some strict eating again.

Just stating the facts

Way behind on the blog. Lots and Lots and Lots on my mind. New year, new goals, new house (hence last week's hiatus), new diet (30 days of paleo starting Saturday), and probably a new box.  The house is consuming me, but I wanted to get the stats down.

Thursday
D-Day
15 wall balls
20 sledge strikes
25 GHDs
30 DU's
350m row

Had to sub 50 situps for 25 GHDs, 120 SU's for double unders.  Wallballs were actually pretty easy.
4 rounds of this was just lots of work--31:07

Wednesday
Rest Day

Tuesday

wod1.)TABATA mashup

20sec deadlifts, 10sec rest, 20sec burpees, 10sec rest x 8 rounds (8 each equals 16 intervals) 185w, 275m 

Used 155# for this.  Epic tabata...

wod2.) EVERY 3 Minutes run 400 meters x 5 rounds.   

Had to maintain pace for all 5 rounds within 5 seconds.  Ran an average of 2:00min per round. fastest was 1:58, slowest was 2:04. 

Monday

wod1.) 18min: OHSx1
wod2.) 12 min ladder up (amrap): OHS and Pullups 1,1 then 2,2 then 3,3… how high can you get?
HTFU: 65w-95m, Infidel: 50w,75m, bulldog: 35w, 55m 

I hit a solid 100# for the OHS and was pumped about that. Ladder up was 9 rounds even.  Killer WOD.


Week one of 2011 was a rest week due to remodeling the house.  Worked all day, worked all night too. Exhausting.  New year's eve was a 4 mile run and I posted a pretty decent time! Despite some foot pain and achillies issues, I felt really slow, but my pace was still about 8:30. I'll have to look up the offical time. :)

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!

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!
--------------------------------

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!

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! :)

Another PR!

Deadlifts today--boy was I ready for this. I had supermoto after watching CFOT videos from yesterday's WOD.  Plus, my last DL attempts were absolutely pitiful as memoralized in this blog.  My last 1X Max was on October 19th with a PR of 227#.

Today my sets looked like this
135(3)
165 (3)
185 (3)
205 (2)
225 (1)
235 (1)
240 (1) NEW PR!

The best part is that this was easy. I barely got dizzy at the end and didn't even have the arm shake going on. I think I've totally got my 250# in the bag next time.  I love deadlifts.

Finisher was:
3 Rounds
20 KB swings unbroken (35#)
15 pushups

Confidence

Four months after moving to Germany, I'm finally feeling like myself again in the gym. A new CF buddy, some changes in the gym, and killer WOD's, my confidence is back!


Tuesday WOD:
WOD #1
5RFT
5 DL (135#)
5 pushup
5 pushpress (45#)
Sub 5:00

WOD #2
5 rounds
10 knees to elbow
10 burpess

The prescribed WOD was seven rounds, two minutes for each round 155# DL, 5 muscle ups.  I cheered Jason through his 14 min RX'd WOD that he smoked, then it was my turn.  Given I can't do a muscle up and we don't have PU bars I subbed the pushups and push press.  My scaled WOD could have been harder, but I wanted the DL's done touch and go and I still suck at lowering the bar. Either way it was a good sweat. Toes to bar were supposed to be done as many as possible with burpees as punishment, but I couldn't hang onto the bar so I just did 10/10.  Anyway you slice it, I was smoked at the end.

Wednesday WOD:

PART I: 
Six rounds
OHS  4-6 reps, each rep is 4 count down, hold 2 count, up for 1 (42x1)
rest 2 min
AMRAP Pullups (I did negatives, 5 each round)
rest 2 min

The OHS work was  HUGE confidence boost. About a month ago I could barely lift the bar.  Why? Confidence, and lack of place to drop the bar...I had the space today and won back the confidence. My rounds looked like this:
55, 55, 55, 60, 65, 70
I got at least 5 reps each round and was able to do the 42X1 count without any trouble. I can't wait to test out a 3x or 1x max!

PART 2: 
10 min handstand work.   Bottom line---they are getting stronger! HSPU here I come!

PART 3: 
35 sec hill sprint, 2 min rest
Done on a treadmill- incline 13, speed 7.2. killer.

3x Deadlifts

Today was another day of "To WOD or not to WOD".   We arrived at the gym and it was closed--at 4pm! It was opening in an hour....we decided to wait and then get a workout knocked out.
On tap was DL's.

3X Max deadlift
85, 105,135, 155, 185, 200

Then, core work
2 Rounds
Handstand: 30sec, 30sec rest, 45 sec, 45 sec rest, 30sec, rest
Plank: same time sequence

I'm so cranky these days, I'm just going to spare you all and just say "BOOK IT".

10 Rounds

WOD:
10 RFT
15 Deadlifts (85#)
15 Pushups
Time: 25:00

Wow. 10 RFT for anything is killer!!  The RX'd weight posted on the mainsite for this WOD was 135#, but the mainsite doesn't post women's weight.  A few other women posted that they did 85# so I figured I'd go for it.   I still don't think my form is correct in lowering the deadlifts, but the back isn't hurting so it can't be that bad, right? Still, I need to get some video of it and see what it looks like.

Pushups--the first 5 sets were solid. the 6th was questionable so I dropped to my knees to crank out the rest. They are improving, but not where I want them to be.

Yesterday, Logan and I hit the pool for a cardio WOD.  She used to swim and lifegard and is a freakishly strong swimmer for not having been in a pool in a year! She even cranked out a 25m butterfly that looked effortless. The pool was crowded so we didn't get the workout that we wanted to, but we had fun nonetheless and vowed to make it a once a week event very soon! Plus, just a nice easy swim helped to really loosen up some sore muscles!

Deadlifts, Lunges, Run

Yesterday we did the CFOT workout from earlier this week:

15 Deadlifts
45 Jumping lunges
400m run

12 DL
36 JL
400m run

9 DL
27 JL
400m run
Time: 17ish minutes

I so wanted to hit the elite weight of 175# for women, but had to settle for 155#.  In Jerry's prescribed WOD he wanted touch and go, no dropping.  Well, here there is no dropping whatso ever and I haven't really practiced the lowering part of the DL.  I need to find a video on proper form again. I know it should follow the same track down as it did on the pull, but it still felt weird. Without my beloved CFOT coaches, and moto from team 0515 I opted for lower weight to remain injury free.  For the run, I had to run to the other part of the gym (30-40m) and jump on a treadmill and try to get it to sprinting speed as fast as I could, hence the slow overall time.  Oh well, the workout was still killer and I love the strange looks we get! :)

Chip and I also worked out with some new CF friends--Dominic and Logan.  I met Logan at the Bank getting my German/American bank account...somehow CF got mentioned and viola, emails were exchanged and now we have some new workout buddies.  She is just starting out, but is so excited to have another woman to workout with.  Last night I worked with her on her DL form since she had only done it once or twice before.  I gave Dominic a few pointers too since his back was rounding out quite a bit. We have plans to get together next week too to hit it again.


I hope I can someday do a barbell cert---I really do love this stuff and coach it and watching the body "get it" it really fun.
They are also into mountain biking so there will be plan for that in the spring and Dominic told us about a road bike club that meets on Sundays---and it is German! Can't wait for some warmer weather to get hooked up with that group too.  (It is currently 13 degrees)

Thursday and Friday WODs

Thursday WOD:
1,1,1,1,1 Deadlifts
Topload: 227 (PR)

What an amazing morning. I was ready to pull some weight this morning! And i did! we worked up to about 190 quickly, set into 215, my previous 1x max was 210. Hit 225 like a piece of cake. Perfect form. 227 was a little sloppy, but my pull wasn't even and my breath got screwup up. Shooting for 250 by my one year CF anniversary.

Friday WOD:
The Chief
5 rounds
AMRAP in 3 minutes, 1 minute rest in between rounds
3 power cleans (70#)
6 pushups
9 airsquats

I think I got 16 1/3 rounds. It took me three rounds to get warmed up on the cleans. Form is still suffering. But, I'm wondering it this isn't like the jerk...you just have to put some weight on the bar to get your body to really do what it needs to do? Either way, I was 15lbs heavier on the cleans than the last time we did this in the spring. I think I got about the same amount of rounds. I know I'm stronger this time around--i think I did knee pushups last time too--not this time.

I have to say though, what a two week streak:
-PR in Army 10 miler 1:30:06
-PR on 1x max Jerk (+20#)
-PR in 10k 50:26
-Max pullups=5 in row
-PR 1x deadlift (227#, +!7#)

I have to thank Jerry, Keturah, Andrea, Chris, 0515, and the entire CFOT team for constantly inspiring me to make the impossible possible, push myself to new limits, nudging me to throw a few more pounds on the bar, kip that one last pullup, and have fun all the while. CFOT is the best!

2 workouts and 1 cool new friend

Friday:
WOD:
7 rounds for time
3 heavy dead lifts (175#)
6 toes to bar
9 burpees
Time: 19:07

I tried something new yesterday. Working out at 5pm instead of 5 am! Totally different experiences. First I walked in with my eyes wide open, the sun was out, a new team, etc.

The crew was great and we pushed it hard. I wanted to do the "pro" version of this workout with the DL's at 185, but I tried it during warmups and I new that 21 reps was going to kill my back, so I backed off. Better to be smart and not hurt myself! The toes to bar move on the pullup bar is getting so much easier. I love this core move so much more than abmats. Oh, the burpees. It has been almost a month since we've met and really they felt great! my triceps and chest are clearly getting stronger. I kept the cycle rate up pretty high and tried to rest a little as possible. I needed the extra seconds on the DL's to recover from all the dizziness!

Afterwards, I was getting on the rower to do some extra work and this girl came over and said, "you're doing the extra?" I said, " yea, I was gonna run, but i'm doing an 8-10miler in the am..." The conversation with Alyssa went from there...where do you run? what trails? races? training? She was wearing a "Hood to Coast" shirt so I knew immediately she was hard core. (The Hood to Coast race is some 190 mile relay race from Mt. Hood to the Pacific coast in Oregon.) Then she said she is running 4 half marathons in October for charity. My jaw dropped. I immediatly invited her to join me for my run this morning and we made a date to meet at 7am. This is what I LOVE about crossfit. Incredibly friendly people who you feel like you already know because you have an instant common bond in crossfit. and they are up for any challenge, competitive, but in the coolest way possible, always encouraging. And you can meet one night, and be running buddies the next. Welcome to DC and Crossfit Old Town Alyssa!

Saturday:
WOD:
8.5 mile run
Time: 1:16

Met up with Alyssa and we took off into the grey humid mist along the GW trail going south to Mt. Vernon. We decided to run across the Woodrow Wilson bridge into Maryland...the bridge is over a mile long! We had a great conversation and fell right into stride with each other. After, she decided she was going to the crossfit WOD....100 thrusters for time, 5 pullup penatly for every drop. I thought about going light on the weight and just doing it, then realized 3 workouts in less than 24 hours will a pulled hamstring was just plain stupid. I just cheered everyone one, watched for "fouls", and gave a few pointers. The crew worked REALLY HARD this morning--it was impressive to watch! Then Alyssa and I headed to the King Street farmers market to pick up fruit and veggies for the week. YUM! What a great saturday.

Finally! A new PR

After a lousy Monday workout when I actually contemplated taking the rest of the week off, today was just the day in the box I needed. I went in shooting for a 200lb PR on the dead lift, 10lb heavier than my 1 rep pull on July 7th, just six weeks ago. Oh, and this is like my 4th real deadlift workout ever!!! The weight felt good this morning and the more I warmed up the stronger I felt. I did 190 easily, and pulled 200 next. 200 wasn't too pretty, but Jerry said it was good enough to go up some more. I just had to keep the bar closer to my shins on the bottom half of the lift.

The attempt at 210 was fun. the 6am crew was rolling in and after a little chit chat and cheering on Sean, I just went to the bar and pulled. It felt great and my form held! I definitely could have done 220, but my back is still a bit sore from the 'strength-con' last Tuesday. Check my facebook page for the video!

Worked the pullup kip with Keturah afterwards...I think my problems might have something to do with should flexibility, sigh. All I ask for is 5 pullups in a row--goal for that is Thanksgiving. My new DL goal is 250# by Christmas.