Thursday, January 29, 2009

Isabel...

Another tough, tough lady. Isabel looks like this...

Isabel
30 reps snatch
w-85

Last time we hit this, I used an RX'd weight, but I wasn't comfortable pulling from the floor. Today, I went from the floor. I could only pull 75, and even some of these weren't very pretty. It's hard for me to pull from the floor for some reason. I lose that ever important shrug and second pull. I bend my arms early on cleans, and bend my arms on snatches. So, working from the floor is very important for me in terms of my continued development with CF. I don't think I did horribly today, but there is def room for improvement on my pull from the floor. But, even with the added effort of pulling from the floor, I still managed to knock over three minutes off my time. So, something positive to think about.

More work on the pull from the floor is coming...

Front squat vid...

This was from Tuesday morning...

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Diane...

Diane is another tough, tough lady. We did this WOD once before and Danny was the only member of CFOT to go Rx'd on this. Today 3 more people joined him, and they are all tough cookies. I'm still struggling with the HSPU's on this one, so I can't quite go RX'd but we did things a bit differntly today, so hopefully I'll be getting these soon.

Diane
21-15-9
Deadlifts
HSPU

Weight 150

Time 13:37

This WOD felt good. Deadlifts have been such a bear for me lately, and I'm thinking back to last week when deadlifts with 155 were enough to frustrate me nearly to the point of tears mid-workout. I was so frustrated. It felt so heavy and I was rounding so badly! Today 150 didnt' feel "light" but it felt much lighter than it did last week.

The HSPU's I'm still not at a full range of motion with. So today, Jerry told us to put abmats or if we still couldn't hit the abmat, to put the abmat plus weight. I think for me, this is key because it gives me a barrier and I know if it's becoming easy for me to hit the barrier, it's time to go down to a smaller barrier and eventually to the floor. BW exercises are a problem for me but I just need to keep working them. I'm hoping to get a HSPU soon. You know, now that I've officially had my blog for a year, I've been going back and looking at my posts from last year. I found all my goals from last January. Have a look...

1. Post a sub 10 minute pro level Fran
2. Hit 20 chins on the max test
3. Hit 5 hand stand push-ups *with the standard of head to floor*
4. Hit 10 push ups *after form modification, but with the standard of nose, chest hips to the floor*

Now, clearly, I haven't mastered number 3, but I've blown the rest of those out of the water. Sub 10 minute Fran? Well, Crap. I should have put sub 7 minute Fran. :) LOL.... Time to start thinking about new goals I guess. The new place gives lots of opportunities to push my fitness even farther. How far can I go?

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

On the topic of PR's...

Ahhhh... snow days. :) They're great for lots of things, like catching up on my blogging while eating somewhat zone friendly bagel sammiches and drinking coffee. :) I know that my blog has been lacking as of late. My posts have been shorter than normal, and I haven't really been delving into CF the way I was, with a lot of personal reflection etc. But, I've been hearing more and more people talking about PR's and competing with others and getting frustrated about things, so I just wanted to post some thoughts in the event that they may help.

One of the great things about CF is that even though we're a family, it's still a place to push yourself and be competitive with the white board and yourself. But, one of the problems with CF is that it's a place where you can be competitive. See, competition, IMHO, is a double edged sword. It's great because you push yourself. But, it's a problem when you get wrapped up in it. I'll be the first to admit that sometimes, I get too wrappd up in it. I'm so focused on where my name and weights rank on the white board that I forget the real reasons that I'm doing this, and I forget about my own personal achievements. CF is great because in this environment, you have people to compete against and to help push you. But at the same time, you need to keep your perspective, and sometimes that's hard.

At the end of the day, it is really all about you. How do you feel? How are you doing? What's your progress like? THAT is what is most important. I know that we look at the white board and say, "God I really want to be as strong as _________ (insert name here)" but really, that's not what's important. What's important is finding your own strength goals and looking at yourself. How far have you come since you started CF? THAT is what you need to focus on. Your PR is awesome no matter how small you think it may be. It's a PR! It means you're getting stronger. It means you're progressing. It means you're moving forward. We can't all be superhuman anomolies. We need to be proud of ourselves for the strides we make and be proud of ourselves for taking the steps to lead healthy lives and be athletes instead of couch potatoes. It's far easier to make excuses and to sit on your couch and say "Tomorrow I'll start getting in shape" than it is to get out and hit a workout in the morning. It takes strength just to get out of bed and get to the gym sometimes. You have to have the resolve to get there.

Be proud of you. Stop thinking that all your successes are relative to what everyone else is doing. They're not. They're relative to what YOU'RE doing. Now, I know that some people are reading this post and thinking, "That's easy for her to say. She jerks 140." Ok, yeah, you're right. I do. So what? You know what? I've been doing this now for nearly a year and a half. I also came from a college sports background and was a swimmer from the time I was six years old. My background, plus my current training allowed me to get there. There was a time when I couldn't clean 35 lbs without getting frustrated, and you know what, it really wasn't all that long ago. In April of last year, I was ecstatic was a 60 lb clean PR, which compared to now, doesn't seem so impressive. But it was my PR, and I was proud of it. And I'm still proud of myself for setting PR's.

So, I guess my whole point of this post is just to say, be proud of YOU. Use the other people to push you, but stop looking at their succeses and putting down your own. Be proud of the progress you're making, and know that regardless of how much you lift, you made the workout and you're taking important steps to keep yourself healthy and be an awesome athlete. Regardless of your load, your time, your pull up number, you are a strong person just for getting out of bed in the morning. Love CrossFit, but don't forget to love yourself too.

*****

A video of me that I just found from last March... note the bar and the form...



I'm going to repost this video as a little reminder for you all.... this was the video I created one my one year anniversary with CF... it was done VERY tongue in cheek, but I think you can get the point...



I made this video so it was ready to post on my 1 year anniversary with CF. I posted it, then went to hit our WOD. On the day of my 1 year anniversary with CF, I then hit this WOD... truly, this shows what a year of CF can do... be patient grasshopper... good things happen over time.

Front squats X 3-3-3-3-3

Never in my life have I ever been so excited about squat racks... well until today that is! :) Now that we are in the new facility, we can do things a wee bit differently. For instance, now we can use squat racks for front squats et al and we don't have to clean everything! It's great! We've hit this workout a few times lately because Jerry has a philosophy about front squats being a key componant to developing a lot of our other skills. You need to have a great rack (haha, I said you need to have a great rack! sorry... I'm 12...) of your bar, and you really have to think about core tension with these. It's very easy to drop the elbows and dip forward in a front squat. It's a common form fault, but working on front squats a lot will help to develop that upright rack position which comes in handy for a lot of other things. So, I really don't mind working this workout every so often.

Today's wod those was a little different with the squat racks. I've use squat racks before back in my, *ehem* globo gym days, getting it on and off was ok. It was just weird not to have to clean the bar, or have human squat racks. I think I was able to game this workout a lot better today. I'm not sure if the racks gave me confidence and I wasn't worried about cleaning etc or what, but today I thought about this one a little more. A normal problem for me on workouts like this is to ramp up TOO slowly. I would go 85, 105, 115, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145 so by the time I actually got to my heavy top, I was pretty tired and just didn't have the gumption to get the weight up. So today I gamed things a little bit differently and I think it really helped. Here's how things broke down.

Front squats X 3
85 X 3
115 X 3
135 X 3
145 X 3
155 X 3

155 X 3 is a new PR for me. I was pretty stoked about that. Last time we hit this (2 weeks ago) I couldn't get 155 up for 1. I think the way I gamed things def helped and allowed me to go heavier. Next time 160? We'll see about that. :) I'm lovin' being in the new CFOT home though. :) Hmmm... I'm going to have to think of a nickname for the facility. I can't say the Blue Room anymore... maybe the Yellow Building of pain? Eh... I don't like that one... I'll have to get creative... give me a few days and I'm sure I'll come up with something... :P Until next time... the feast is mine! Yikes and away! (Oh now, come on, you know I had to bring THAT back :) )

Monday, January 26, 2009

Welcome home CFOT: moving for time, our innaugural WOD, and finally being a family...



You know, you'd think by now, I'd know how to spell inauguration, but I'm not sure if that's right, and to be honest, I'm too lazy right now to go look it up. :P This weekend, oh boy, this weeekend. This weekend was a flurry of moving, cleaning, unpacking, and working all to get ready for this day. Yesterday members of CFOT gathered to move all of our equipment into our new space so classes could begin. Today was a very special day for Jerry and all the members of CFOT. Today was our very FIRST workout in our new home. I will always and forever hold the Blue Room in my heart as a very special place, but getting into our new digs today was one of the greatest feelings ever. Forgive me for a moment while I wax sentimental.

See here's the thing. Every family has a place to come "home" too. There is always one central meeting location that they can call their own, and call their "home". Being in the Blue Room, yes, we had a central meeting location, but it wasn't ours. It wasn't something that belonged to Jerry and the members of the CFOT family. Jeremy and Capital Jiu Jitsu were wonderful but there's something about having your own space. Jerry has long had a dream of having his own place and today Jerry's dream of having his own space was finally made possible after months of stress, agony, sleepless nights, delayed permits, phone calls, emails, money, and blood, sweat, and tears. Today, after years and months of waiting, CFOT came home.

Today, one man's dream suddenly became a reality, and new goals and new dreams began to take shape. With more classes, more time, more equipment, more space, what is now possible for all the athletes of CFOT? CFOT came home today, and a new chapter has begun for all of us. I think Jerry's wife and daughters said it best on the sign they left for the AM crews. It simply said, "Welcome home CFOT." What a homecoming it was. The 0530 crew was larger than most as of late, and team 0600 was sporting at least 13 regulars with 3 new members to boot. I heard someone else echo my sentiments this morning when they said, "It finally feels like we're a family. We have a home." We do, and a beautiful, spacious one, with lots of toys, at that.

Here's to many more WOD's at 805 North Royal. Let's hope they're not all as nasty as the first. :)

Innaugural WOD
"Royal Row"
805 M row
30 thrusters (65 lbs)
30 jumping slamballs (15 lbs)
805 M row
30 hang clean to push press (65 lbs)
30 box jumps
805 M row
30 KB swings (45 lbs)
30 burpees

Time 32:57

I would just like to state for the record that it was probably :30 faster. See, I had my C-2 all set, and just as Jerry said 3-2-1.... wouldn't you know, my screen went blank. Curses... :P And PS, just in case you were wondering, this was a metcon nightmare.

Friday, January 23, 2009

The LAST WOD in the Blue Room... *tear*

So, today was the LAST official workout in the Blue Room of pain. *tear* I'm going to miss the place. I know it sounds sort of campy and cheesy, but I'm really going to miss the Blue Room. For a little over a year and a half now, I've been all but living in that CF room. I've sweated there (a TON!), bled there (a little), cried there (once or twice), made friends there, got my first pull-ups there, hit numerous PR's there, learned so much about myself, my workouts, and life in general there, it's kind of sad to let it go. But, we're going to get some AWESOME new digs and I'm totally stoked about that (especially since there will be a shower at the new digs and I can totally skip that whole driving home and showering step of my morning! WOOOOT! That will help me big time. It will also help because Jerry is going to have later classes in the evenings, so if I really for serious can't get out of bed at 0430, I can hit a later one, which right now is hard to do.

But, enough of the sentimentalizing (yeah, I just made that word up) Today's workout was the fair Gwen. It's so funny, you know, I curse out Fran and Cindy and Angie, but I heart fair Gwen. LOL. Anyhoo, fair Gwen looks like this.

21-15-9
Clean and jerk
No regrip
Touch and go only
Rest as needed

Load 80lbs

We didn't put clocks on ourselves for this one, which was a switch. I'm really getting used to racing the clock, so not doing that starts to feel funny. Form on cleans has slid downhill a little, so I was trying to focus on getting that back. Jerry said I had a couple solid and efficient cleans, so I need to find those few and keep focusing and dialing in on that. It felt good to dial down to some lower weight. I think I've been really focused on being super heavy lately, so being lighter felt good.

Sunday our WOD is moving for time, so I'm sure I'll get some heavy lifting in. I can't wait to get together with some of my bestests and really make Jerry's dream of having his own box a reality. It's going to be awesome and I can't wait. :)

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Onion Skin

The days in the Blue Room are numbered. Tear... :( We did our last Onion Skin workout on the swinging bars. Man, I'm going to miss them. :( Ah, but no reason to be sentimental, we're moving into our brand new home on Monday! Woot! :) I can't wait. Fixed bars, tires to flip, climbing ropes... ah... the possibilities are endless... :) Sunday's WOD will be moving for time, but yesterday's fun looked like this...

Onion Skin

2:30 to do max effort
Strict press (65lbs)
Chins

This workout was rough. I was still sore from doing 120 burpees and 90 pull-ups on Monday and trying to bang out max effort chins and strict presses was challenging. I feel like I'm definitely on a back swing these days. Jerry always says that you have to go back before you go forward, like a ratchet, and I hope that's true. My eating has fallen off completely and I'm trying to get back on track, but it's challenging. I'm still getting in the room, which really is half the battle, but I'd like to start to get back on track soon. I know that will start to happen when swimming ends and I have more time to devote to school and diet, and I'm not cramming things in where I can. I really can't wait for the next three-four weeks to wrap up. Really. I can't.

I can't wait to end swimming, get into the new place and start slowing down the pace of my life... things are going to start to get better. I just have to be patient... uh... unfortunately they do not sell cans of that at Tar-zhay. :P Ruh roh. :P

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Tuesday's DL fun...

I'm trying to leave my house as little as possible today... there are too many people in this area for my liking. Several of them lacking in what I feel are the necessary skills to hold a driver's license!!!! Bah... so am I in DC with the thousands freezing my butt off? No. I'm not even watching the speech because I'll belive his BS when I see it being put into action. A quick rant on politics before my workout jazz.....

I'm not very politically minded. Many may call me unAmerican for that, but it's hard to be politically minded when the people in charge of deciding things for the American people, don't know what half the American people need or want. They are so concerned with staying in their pretty little seats, that they actually don't do squat to help the country and squander our tax dollars. Were I to be elected, I would take one look at the country, and immediately go "Holy Shit" we need some serious help. Can anyone explain how we are giving billions in bailouts when our national debt is in the trillions? Can you explain to me why SS and medicare are in the toilet? Can anyone explain to me why our education system is broken and Washington is turning to NCLB to fix everything? The fact that these issues get ignored disgusts me, and makes me turn a blind eye towards Capitol Hill. Good solid candidates haven't come by in a long time, and I'll believe in Obama when his deeds match his words. Until then, he's just like every other beuracrat who has ever existed. Lots of talk, and lots of promises. So, for that, I'm ignoring the inauguration, historic or no, and going about my daily business. CF it is.

Today was more work on deadlifts, and after my debaucle last week with them, I really wanted to try in this workout to get form right. I rounded out a bunch of times. I was getting that really frustrated feeling again. I almost DNF'd this one too. I don't know why but lately these workouts are just getting into my head. I couldn't even use RX'd weight either. I felt really bad about that. I'd say its due to overtraining, because as EVA says, I've wanted to cry over everything and eat giant vats of ice cream, but I've been UNDER training, barely making it in four days a week. So, I don't know. I just need to roll with it. Maybe as Jerry also says, I'm on the back swing of the rachet of progress.

Today's WOD was
5 rft
10 DL 155 lbs
20 box jumps
30 ab mats

Total Time on this was 23:31. Slowest on the day. I'm not happy about that but as Jerry says, if I can finally nail down my weakness, then my other stuff should get better, and my glutes and hams, without a doubt, are certainly a weakness. Always something to work on as Jerry says.

Monday's MLK day workout...

Jerry has this thing for holidays. He always knows when we all have off work so he likes to make them harder. :P He's good like that. Soooo, MLK day was no exception. Here's the skinny... if you think it sounds fun... have at it...

10 RFT
9 chins
12 burpees
15 wall ball

Total time 37:42

That time was slow by comparison to other white boarders today, but burpees involve those push ups, and man do they slow me down. Other people were flying through, and there I was... 1...............2..............................3..................................4....................................................... Do you notice those dots increasing? Ohhhhh yeah... that's cause I was RESTING more... those SOB's really hurt. But, I finished. I get points. Yay points! :P

Sunday's clean badness...

Sooo... I've been slacking on the blog updating. I sorry. :( Things around this area have been crazy with the innauguration today, so I've been working a lot. I don't normally work weekends but I picked up Saturday night, then a double yesterday, and a shift tonight. About all that school work I was going to get done in my four days off... um.... oops. :P But honestly, Sunday's workout was so bad and I'm so embarassed I don't know if it's worth blogging about.

Normally, cleans are like the bread and butter of my CF stuff. Really. For some reason they just feel good to me. But like what happened on Thursday, I really didn't feel good form wise, and then it just got in my head. I don't know if I'm the only person that has those days or not, but I just flat out had a mental head case day. Once I got stuck in my head that I couldn't do it, I couldn't do it. I mean, it pissed me off. Really. I was so frustrated I had to put it down and walk away for the day. I couldn't even clean 125. I know that sounds retardo of me to say, but my PR clean is 145. Honestly? I felt like a big giant tool box.

I know there are a combination of factors at work here, but they all feel like excuses. I know we can't PR each time we walk in a room, but GD that doesn't mean I'm going to like it. So, I settled for a DNF today, and am resolving to start kicking my own backside again.... the Zone thing isn't going well like it should be so I really need to get mean on myself.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

CrossFit Games DL workout...

Wow, did Jerry ever pick a doozy of a workout today! Woo boy! This workout is no joke. I was going to go light today and try to work on some form because dl's are a weakness of mine. But, Jerry gave me some light nudging and so I tried the RX. The weight was really heavy for me because I was so worried about form. The first couple were ok, but by the end I was rounding pretty bad. I very obviously need to work on these. The workout looks like this

5 X DL (women 185)
10 burpees

This should be a fast metcon but I can't lift 185 very quickly. :( Booness. My total time was 10 something... :(

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Rest day...

You know, someday soon, I'm going to have more time on my hands and get back to writing my rest day ramblings. I really miss those. They were some rantabulous posts. Some completely pointless ones, but some thought provoking ones, even if you didn't necessarily agree with my thoughts. :P

Anyhoo, today was a rest day. My left quad is still uber sore from Sunday. I'm going to hit the Blue Room tomorrow and see how that feels. Hopefully better... I'm still upset about my poor jerks yesterday... :(

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Jerk 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Today I felt pretty poo-tastic but managed to get myself to CF anyway. I'm really wanting to get back to going 5 days a week but it's just hard right now with my schedule. Swimming will end soon and things will calm down and I can get back to being a MUCH better teacher, but right now for the moment I've sort of "embraced the suck" so to speak.

But I got to CF today, and that's what counts. I saw jerks and should have been uber happy, but my legs were still really bothering me from Sunday. I was walking with a limp because my left leg was so sore. I felt poo-tastic the whole time because I couldn't get my leg strength underneath me. But even feeling poo-tastic I was able to go like this.

65 X 5
85 X 1
105 X 1
115 X 1
125 X 1
130 X 1
135 X 1
140 X 1
145 X 1 (F)
145 X 1 (F)
145 X 1 (F)

I was really upset that I couldn't get 145. I was so close on all my attempts, but I just couldn't get my legs under me to push it up. I know I have 145 in me, perhaps even 150 and I'm sort of upset that I couldn't do it. Andrea did an awesome job and hit 145 and has the jerk record now which actually bums me out a lot more than I'd like to admit. I'm not good at many things and it's nice to see my name at the top from time to time. I know records aren't what's important, but still. It's sad to let that one go. 140 it is for now.... :(

Monday, January 12, 2009

Monday's metcon mayhem...

Oh my God, I couldn't walk today. That squatcleanalicious metcon kicked my ever loving backside. I was walking all sorts of crazy and couldn't bend over to do a darned thing. I guess maybe I should have eased back into things huh? Well you know what they say about that whole hindsight thing... :P

Anyhoo, I didn't get up in the AM cause I just couldn't, but I took some CF clothes with me in hopes that I might be able to make it in time for the 500 class after swim team, if the workout wasn't too leg heavy. I left practice at 430 and made it to CF just a hair late. So, the clock was already running by the time I hit the room but it didn't look too bad. The fun looked like this...

3 rounds for time
350 meter row
30 abmats
25 KB swings
15 burpees

Now, I had emailed Jerry in the am to ask about the workout because I didn't want to bust my butt to get to the PM class if I wasn't going to be able to do it. Miraculously, the numbers that he gave me had been changed when I got to the Blue Room... hhhhmmmmmmmm... :P Freakin' Andrea... :P LOL... It was cool though. My total time was 18:14, but I know it was faster than that because I had to wait on the rowers each time, but it's cool. I still busted my ass and went in despite the legs. It was good to get some of the tightness and the soreness out. I think it really helped me go in today and do that, so even though it totally sucked... I'm not a metcon ninja remember... I'm glad I went. Woot.

Sunday's squatcleanalicious metcon....

So, last week I was out with the craptastic bubonic plague that just STILL had not gone away. Seeing as how I've been sick since Thanksgiving, I decided that the best idea for me was to take a few days off, or at least at a reduced pace, and get some rest. So I slept a lot last week, watched a LOT of Burn Notice (or rather, woke up and hit play before falling back asleep) and took some time off CF. I finally hit the Blue Room again on Sunday. I chose QUITE the day to get back into the mix. Jerry's been giving us some SERIOUS metcon ninja work and Sunday was no exception. The squatcleanalicious work looked like this...

For time
800 M run
50 Hang squat cleans
800 M run

Now, Jerry didn't prescribe a load for this, but suggested that I go a load below my Grace challenge weight. Well my Grace Challenge weight is 100 lbs, and the next load down is 85. So I loaded up the bar to 85 and thought, wow, this seems really heavy. But, if you are a long time reader, ok, or ever a semi-regular reader, you know I have a whole stubborness problem going on. I'm a bit bull headed. :P So, even though I thought it felt heavy, I refused to drop down. Stupid, stupid, stupid... my first 800 was slow... and I was behind everyone on the cleans, but I busted through sets of 3 and caught up pretty quickly. But around about rep 17 I thought I was going to die. I hurt so bad, I had no idea how I was going to make it through all 50. It was wicked bad. But I kept eeking these out in two's and three's, and eventually wound up at 50. My total time for this workout was 19:48. Not too bad, but I hurt like hell. Walking after this was not so easy. :(

Friday, January 9, 2009

Out sick...

Some bug or virus or what have you has got me down this week and I haven't been in to CF since Tuesday. I'm just really run down. I've had this stupid thing since before Thanksgiving and I'd really just like it to go away so for once in my stubborn life I'm trying to be smart and take a few days off..... I'll hopefully be back on Sunday. We'll see.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Front squats 3-3-3-3-3

We've hit this workout three times in the last two weeks or so. I think Jerry is trying to tell us that we need a bit more work on our front squats. :P But regardless, like a happy little CF lemming, I will do what Jerry tells me to. :)

So, today's workout was front squats X 3-3-3-3-3. The first time we hit this workout I was only able to put up 140 X 3 as my max. I was sort of bummed with that, because it didn't feel good and because I couldn't even get 145 up once. The second time we did this, on the 29th I was more aggressive with my jumps and because of that I think I was able to get 145 X 3.

Today, well, today to me really didn't make a whole lot of sense. I'll just be honest about that right now. I woke up feeling like death, but went to CF anyway. Part of that whole resolving to be more dedicated and get the Zone back and blah blah blah. Anyhoo, despite feeling like death, I was actually able to PR today, which really I don't understand at all. 85 lbs felt ridonkulously heavy today. I'm not joking, it really did. So imagine my surprise when I hit a PR. My loads looked like this...

65 X 5
85 X 3
115 X 3
125 X 3
135 X 3
150 X 3
155 (F)

I think part of what allowed me to be successful today was my game plan. Oh yeah, my game plan. I had one of those... LOL. Basically, I was just much more aggressive in my jumps than I have been in the past. In the past, I've always spent a lot of time on lower weights, just warming up. Today, I skipped past weights and was more aggressive. I think that really helped. I was pretty stoked about the 150. I think that's a good day's work. I'll take it.

I have to admit though that I left school early today. I really wasn't feeling well. I finally caved and made a doctor's appointment since I've been sick since before Thanksgiving. He says slight sinus infection and small chance of mono. Greeeeeeattttt... just what I wanted to hear. *sigh* I feel very crappy but Coach Glassman is in town. It's once in a lifetime opportunity so I'm going to drag myself to dinner and meet him. As sick as I am, I am still excited....

Monday, January 5, 2009

Monday's metcon ninjary...

Hmmm.... metcon ninjary? I've invented a new word! Woot! Ok, but for serious, the workout today was a total metcon burner. I'm going to confess something that as a CF'er I'm almost embarassed about. I've never actually met pukie. I'm not sure if this means I'm a wuss, or is just due to the fact that I never eat before I workout... who knows... but anyway, during this workout, I actually thought it might happen. Jerry's been throwing out some good metcon work lately, and this one was no exception. Here's what the fun looked like...

5 rounds for time
400 meter run
30 abmats
20 kbhp (50lbs)
10 chins

Time: 30:05

Arg! So close to being under thirty minutes like the true metcon ninjas!!! Roar! Oh well, this was actually some really good work for me. I was pleased with the time and the work overall. The HP were a bit rough for me, but I was trying to break them into sets of 11/9 or 12/8 and was pretty successful with that. The chins were feeling a little better during this workout too, so that was encouraging. The run, oh dear... running has again become a weakness. Grrr... but what can I say? I'm not a runner. I wish I had the running of Leslie and Karen. Then I'd be awesome. But, I don't... so, always something to work on right? LOL... :P

Sunday's clean and jerk ladder...

So we all know that I am a rather large fan, ok ok fine, a HUGE fan of strength work. Sunday's smoker was definitely a good load of strength work. It looks deceiving. God, how often do we say that? But a clean and jerk ladder, seriously, ouch dude.

Ladders go a little something like this....

1 clean and jerk the first minute
2 clean and jerks the second minute
3 clean and jerks the third minute
and so on until you can't make the rep count

The women's weight for this was 85 lbs. The men's weight was 135 lbs. I really should have warmed up more because 85 lbs felt incredibly heavy. I felt weak and just out of whack, well for me anyway. 85 lbs is nowhere near close to my max but it felt really heavy on Sunday. This workout really is a doozy because not only is it a strength workout with the cleans, but it's also metcon since you're doing it on the clock. The combination, kind of like Fran, just leaves you feeling fried and wanting to die. Well, ok, maybe I'm the only one that feels that way.... but it left me wanting to die. :P

I made it up through 8 rounds and then had 8 reps of the 9th minute. SO CLOSE! Stacey hit 11 rounds on this. That girl is just a freakin' metcon/strength ninja. Seriously... I have no clue what it would take to actually beat Stacey at something. Something that is superhuman clearly.

Since I didn't do so well on my 85lbs, I dropped the weight to 65lbs and focused on some form tweaks that Chris noticed while I was working. I go really wide Chris said and am wasting a huge amount of energy. So, with 65lbs on the bar, I stayed tighter and didn't go out quite so wide, and really focused on making things more efficient. With 65 lbs I was able to get up through 10. I was completely fried and had shakey leg syndrom afterwards, but it was good to get that extra work in.

This workout is a great smoker and comes with my money back guarantee. You know the one that promises you'll be sweaty and lying on the floor afterwards. :) Enjoy! :P

Friday, January 2, 2009

Dan's Club

So after Jerry's little metcon marathons, I was really hoping today would be a strength day. I'm not a fan of metcon... blech... but I know I know, it is a necessary evil. But, I got my wish anyway... today was a strength day. We've hit this workout before, and I wasn't really happy with it last time we did it. So I was, not excited, but glad this one came up again. Here's what she looked like today...

Dan's Club
:90 to complete
5 strict press (80lbs)
:60 rest
:90 to complete
5 strict weighted chins (18XBW, 5X10, 1X12)
Total 6,147

At the end, calculate number of lbs moved on strict. Then for chins, take body weight plus weight moved and calculate total for chins. Add together for total. Last time, I only used 70 lbs for this, so I was able to do better with the chins. This time, I used 80 lbs on the strict but struggled with the chins. I know I've been talking about weaknesses lately, and the chins have been feeling particularly weak. I'm not sure if it's the extra weight I'm hauling around or what, but we need to work on it. And by we, I really mean me. :P Of course... Tomorrow is a rest day.. I will enjoy it before hitting the blue room again on Sunday.

I really do hope that everyone had a great holiday season! New year... new goals. What are your resolutions? Strict more? More chins? Squat more? I'd love to hear. Perhaps we can even, dare I say, form an online thing to keep each other honest! We could even use my blog. Just a thought for my regular readers! And even maybe my not so regular ones. :) BTW... new year also means new friends... if you've been reading, but hiding in the woodwork, now would be an excellent time to out yourself and make new friends... someone in Herndon loves me... Texas too (Crazy Wife CrossFit? LOVE IT!)... and someone in Florida... ;) I seeeeeeee youuuuuuuu! ;)

Tuesday's Marathon...

So, being on vacation has been great for a lot of reasons. One, I get to catch up on my sleep, two, I get to visit with friends and hang out, three I get to CrossFit all the days that I want! :) Well, I got up on Tuesday attempting to go to the 0730 class only to find out, no more 730! Whoops! It was ok though because there was a 500class that I could come back for. So, I putzed around for much of the day, got me some late Christmas presents at REI (fuzzy bunny coat and fleecy pants are the BEST!!!) then headed off to go coach before hitting CF at 500.

Now, we've discussed (or rather, I've discussed and you've read) my weaknesses as a CF'er. Weaknesses are metcon and hammy/leg strength. Let me tell you, that this week Jerry has had some doozies up his sleeve. I had to work Wednesday morning and wasn't going to be able to CF, but after seeing what he had in store on Tuesday, I was glad about that. Here's what the "marathon" looked like.

3 rounds for time
800 M run
50 KB swings (36lbs)
40 Push-ups
30 Box jumps
20 Chins

Time 51:35

Seriously, I'm not a metcon ninja. But after the extra work I did on Monday (burpees and chins) I was totally not a metcon ninja. The push-ups nearly killed me. They alone probably took me about 10 minutes. But, the good news is, I think my arm strength is improving. Bad knews is, my chins are getting way worse. Largely in part I think to my weight gain. Yeah, ok, it's the holidays and everyone gains weight, but seriously, I've gained almost 5 lbs of what I lost back, and that's frustrating. It means more to move, more to pull, more to carry in general. So, seriously, back on the zone it is. No, seriously.... seriously this time... no fakin'. Starting Monday... when the routine returns, so will my Zone. Time to get busy. (Not like that...man you guys are pervs! :P )