Hellllooooo! It's so nice to be back with you all my friends in blogger land. I have been away too long and I have a lot to catch you up on.... or so I think. The bad thing is, I can't really remember the middle of the week anymore.... so maybe not really catching you up so much?
It was a rough start to the week this week but I have to say that I came through the end of the week pretty well. This was the first time I've really felt challenged to remain Primal, but despite the rough start, and the less than favorable eating conditions, I managed to keep it as Primal as I could. My will power apparently returned en force on Wednesday and despite the temptation, I kept my hand out of the candy jar. The problem is not that I really want candy, but in particular this week that I was being forced for the first time in nearly 2 months to have to sit still and attend. After being off for 2 months and not really needing to be tied to a chair or particular spot, this was agony for me. The teacher was actually quite good, but I'm used to much more going on than just sitting in a chair. So needless to say I was restless. Not bored or unengaged, but restless. I have a bad habit of attempting to do more than 1, ok fine, 5 things at a time, so just sitting there was killer.
So, my answer, since it was in front of me, was to eat. I didn't need that much food, but it was there and keeping me more focused on the teacher. I realized that I was boredom eating though and on Wednesday, like I said, got it under control. I still wasn't 100% perfect (like I'd like to be) but the end of the week was fffffaaaarrrr and away better than the beginning of the week. Now that that is out of the way, I feel a little more prepared and a little more secure about going back to school next week. I will have access to a fridge and microwave and won't be dependent on anyone, so I feel confident that with some pre-planning/pre-packing, I'll be able to do ok. Not to mention, I don't keep that crap in my room so I won't be around it and staring at it all the time.
I'm not really all that enthused about going back to school this year, especially after the situation I just found out about yesterday, but what can you do. I'd share the situation but it's probably not very prudent of me, and besides that, it would just be more venting on my behalf. So I'll just say that I'm not excited.
But have no fear, just because I ate like crap doesn't mean I worked out like crap. I was actually very pleased with how well I fought to stay in the box this week. I hit five days this week, including today, and while they didn't feel particularly good (due largely I suspect to lack of sleep) I was glad I kept my drive going despite all the challenges of the week. I was still trying to work full time this week at the restaurant so three long 15+ hour days back to back is a lot. Especially when it f's with your sleep schedule and only allows you to have 4 hours of sleep a night.... :P But I was in at 0515 and I am glad I got the work in.
Wednesday was a relatively unimpressive back squat day. I hit 205 for a new PR but I feel like I really should be able to lift a whole lot more. I got stuck in the hole and couldn't drive up with 215 and I'm just not sure what's up with that. Again, it could have been lack of sleep or lack of focus, but CF always says performance on demand, and well my performance was wanting. Thursday was a rest day (3 on 1 off) and then yesterday we hit a pretty wicked circuit.
Thursday
7 rft
3 heavy deads
6 toes to bar
9 burpees
For my heavy deads I chose the top women's weight, and decided to give 205 a try. I really think the key for me to figuring out deadlifts has to be that I pull some moderately heavy weight from time to time. At 185 form faults are eh, at 200 or so they start to show big time. I think using a still heavy, but lighter weight to force me to work on my form will be helpful. I can't just use strength and not form to get it up. Did that make sense? Anyway, I got all 7 rounds in, and felt like I had done some seriously good work on my deads. I rounded a bit, but by the end when I was really tired, I really focused on tightening my core, and taking a bigger breath than usual. I think some of my last deads were some of the best ones for that reason. I still am not a huge fan of them, but I felt like I gave the wod a good push yesterday.
Today however, was not so bueno, but that just may be because the workout totally sucked. No, I mean really sucked. Another of Jerry's brilliant, masterful, ick tastic wod's.
100 Thrusters for time
5 pu for every drop or foul
65 lbs for women 95 lbs for men
This was like a god awful version of Fran. A long and seriously shitty version of Fran. I didn't want to burn out, so I thought that doing rounds of 10 would be feasible. So I stopped at 10, ha, I say stopped like I had more energy to keep going, ha, that's kind of funny. Then did my 5 pu's and then got back on the bar to do another 10. I did 10 more, barely and then did my 5 pu's. After that it was game off... I could only do 5's. You realize that it's a long count and a lot of pull-ups to count by 5's to 100. Ugh.... but I didn't quit. Like I said the other day, that is one thing about myself that I do like. I don't quit. I finished. It wasn't pretty but I did it.
Now, what am I doing? Well I'm contemplating dinner, definitely resting, watching NCIS Season 6, intermittently also watching Generation Kill (read the book... quite intriguing...), and as soon as I shower, it's time to get on the ball with more school stuff. I've missed everyone! :)
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Back squats, rest day, and taking a class...
Probably coming tomorrow but the end of that is the key part. I'm taking a class from 800-330 this week and worked last night, tonight, and tomorrrow night. I'll try to find time tomorrow inbetween work and class to update! But on a positive note, despite having no microwave or fridge access this week, and having a really rough first two days of the week, I toned down MAJORLY the bad eating yesterday. I didn't even have to move the chocolate bowl. The will power returned. I still overate, but not as badly, out of boredom. But I discovered that standing and just shifting my weight (off to the side so I wasn't disturbing anyone) was enough movement (ie stimulation) for my brain to be ok.... so that definitely helped! I'm glad I'm struggling with all this this week and not next week!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Squeaky clean!
Jerry threw another metstrength WOD at us today and I have to say, I was hoping for a lifting day, but I guess I'll get that tomorrow instead. (max back squats! :) ) As pleased as I am about how my strength is coming these days, I know I still have a lot of work to do in the box. Ring dips are especially a weakness for me, as are now cleans apparently? It's like we've gone to racks and I've completely forgotten how to clean a bar. WTF? Anyway, today's WOD was a struggle for me but I didn't quit and I got it done.
If you were to ask me to list one thing I like about myself, I would say for me that this is one of the things I really am proud of. Sometimes, I get so disheartened when I see things like ring dips or what have you, but I don't quit. I don't give up on a WOD or myself halfway though. I'm proud of my stubborness you could say, and I'm proud I stuck with this WOD today. This really was a challenge for me. I hit fatigue on the ring dips around round 6 and really had to struggle with the other four rounds. The WOD today looked like this.
10 rft or 30 minutes
3 heavy hang power cleans
6 ring dips
9 box jumps
By round 6 or so my cleans felt a little better, but I noticed today how slow I've become on the bar with regards to my cleans. Whereas my speed with jerks etc has gotten better, my clean strength has sort of faltered big time. Again, regardless though, I didn't quit on the WOD. I kept going and really had to push to get this is. I was at round 5 by around 12 minutes, but only round 7 at about 19-20. I was worried that I was not going to get all 10 rounds in and I really wanted to. Ring dips are such a challenge for me that I didn't want to walk away not finishing this wod today. I hit round 10 at about 26 minutes and busted through the cleans to get to the dips knowing full well they were going to take me awhile.
At minute 28 I could see the clock ticking away and sort of hit panic mode, but Jerry helped get me through the last few dips so I could finish my box jumps. I landed on the floor at 29:01. I cut it pretty close today, but man I was happy to get that in. That really was a hard rx'd WOD for me. I think though for me, the key to improving now needs to focus on form and technique for things I don't do well, and speed for the things I do ok. I think dialing in with that and my diet can take me to that next level of badassitude that I want. Someday I really want to be a firebreather......
If you were to ask me to list one thing I like about myself, I would say for me that this is one of the things I really am proud of. Sometimes, I get so disheartened when I see things like ring dips or what have you, but I don't quit. I don't give up on a WOD or myself halfway though. I'm proud of my stubborness you could say, and I'm proud I stuck with this WOD today. This really was a challenge for me. I hit fatigue on the ring dips around round 6 and really had to struggle with the other four rounds. The WOD today looked like this.
10 rft or 30 minutes
3 heavy hang power cleans
6 ring dips
9 box jumps
By round 6 or so my cleans felt a little better, but I noticed today how slow I've become on the bar with regards to my cleans. Whereas my speed with jerks etc has gotten better, my clean strength has sort of faltered big time. Again, regardless though, I didn't quit on the WOD. I kept going and really had to push to get this is. I was at round 5 by around 12 minutes, but only round 7 at about 19-20. I was worried that I was not going to get all 10 rounds in and I really wanted to. Ring dips are such a challenge for me that I didn't want to walk away not finishing this wod today. I hit round 10 at about 26 minutes and busted through the cleans to get to the dips knowing full well they were going to take me awhile.
At minute 28 I could see the clock ticking away and sort of hit panic mode, but Jerry helped get me through the last few dips so I could finish my box jumps. I landed on the floor at 29:01. I cut it pretty close today, but man I was happy to get that in. That really was a hard rx'd WOD for me. I think though for me, the key to improving now needs to focus on form and technique for things I don't do well, and speed for the things I do ok. I think dialing in with that and my diet can take me to that next level of badassitude that I want. Someday I really want to be a firebreather......
Did I mention I hate running?
It's been a hectic week already as I'm back in a classroom... sort of. I'm not officially back to school yet, but this week am being forced to take a class on Responsive Classroom. It's not horrible but it's definitely a sign that the summer has come to a close... how sad!
I'm going to come right out and say one thing before I get into yesterday's WOD. I've not been a good Primal girl these last few days. What did I see as soon as I sat down yesterday? An entire bowl of chocolate sitting in the middle of each and every table. And what did I do? I ate it. Mark Sisson talks in his book about eating something because it's there. I find that so long as I can control my own eating, ie, I can cook it etc, I'm good with the Primal world. But once outside factors start getting thrown in, all goes to pot. Both yesterday and today I struggled to stay out of the chocolate bin. I also struggled because, I took good food, but out of boredom, ate it so I could have something to do besides sit in a chair and listen. How terrible is that? I've gone super over my carbs for two days now just because.
To no end it drives me crazy, and it makes me start having some of those self-depricating feelings again. Feelings like "I'm not going to be able to do this" "I can't do this" "I hate that I do this." You know the type. It was the biggest downer I've had since starting this almost a month ago. I can tell, maybe not because of my weight, but definitely my WOD's that this program is having an effect on me, and it makes me nuts that counterintuitively my body wants to eat, and eat bad things, just cause they're there. I've thought of moving the chocolate bowl to another table, but seeing as how I'm sharing it with four other people, I don't want to deny them of anything just because I've got my lifestyle going on. I'm really going to have to dig deep for the resolve not to eat any of the chocolate, and steer clear of the snacks at the back of the room that are also present. I hadn't had Tostitos in such a long time, and today they just looked so good! :( I'm also going to have to dig deep to find a way around the lunch conundrum. There is a Harris Teeter not too far from the school, so perhaps instead of doing the sandwiches or chips etc at the class, I can use my time to go buy something. Apparently I still have a long way to go with my eating. I'm not nearly as cured as I thought I was. It's a very humbling day.
Now, speaking though of good things, yesterday we had a WOD where we had to run. I was not a fan! But the running was followed immediately by snatches and C2B pull-ups. Yesterday's WOD was a true testament to the strength gains that I've made in the box lately. Not only has my running improved, but the girl who struggled to do 1 C2B pull-up a few months ago, was able to do them all. I say woot! Our WOD yesterday looked like this
400 M run
15 snatches
15 C2B pull-ups
400 M run
12 snatches
12 C2B pull-ups
400 M run
9 snatches
9 C2B pull-ups
Weight- 85lbs
Time- 17:22
The running of course did not feel good (when does it ever?) but it wasn't as bad as in the past. Perhpaps part of that is the release in the oppressive humidity we've had as of late. It was much cooler yesterday morning and made the running seem to come easier to me. After hitting the run though, I was pretty winded and was having a hard time tightening up for the snatch. I got through them though, and used the "pro" weight of 85lbs. That's not too far from my max snatch weight though, so it was definitely a challenge for me.
My C2B pull-ups were not speedy by any means, but to go from barely being able to do 1 in May to be able to do a set of 3 or 4 really says a lot. I think I still need to work more on getting a wider grip for C2B and also just that final pull into the bar. One of my, not faults, by form signatures has always been to be farther behind the bar than most on pull-ups. I think for me this is something to work on in order to get better at C2B pull-ups. Always something to work on, but altogether, a decent feeling WOD.
I'm going to come right out and say one thing before I get into yesterday's WOD. I've not been a good Primal girl these last few days. What did I see as soon as I sat down yesterday? An entire bowl of chocolate sitting in the middle of each and every table. And what did I do? I ate it. Mark Sisson talks in his book about eating something because it's there. I find that so long as I can control my own eating, ie, I can cook it etc, I'm good with the Primal world. But once outside factors start getting thrown in, all goes to pot. Both yesterday and today I struggled to stay out of the chocolate bin. I also struggled because, I took good food, but out of boredom, ate it so I could have something to do besides sit in a chair and listen. How terrible is that? I've gone super over my carbs for two days now just because.
To no end it drives me crazy, and it makes me start having some of those self-depricating feelings again. Feelings like "I'm not going to be able to do this" "I can't do this" "I hate that I do this." You know the type. It was the biggest downer I've had since starting this almost a month ago. I can tell, maybe not because of my weight, but definitely my WOD's that this program is having an effect on me, and it makes me nuts that counterintuitively my body wants to eat, and eat bad things, just cause they're there. I've thought of moving the chocolate bowl to another table, but seeing as how I'm sharing it with four other people, I don't want to deny them of anything just because I've got my lifestyle going on. I'm really going to have to dig deep for the resolve not to eat any of the chocolate, and steer clear of the snacks at the back of the room that are also present. I hadn't had Tostitos in such a long time, and today they just looked so good! :( I'm also going to have to dig deep to find a way around the lunch conundrum. There is a Harris Teeter not too far from the school, so perhaps instead of doing the sandwiches or chips etc at the class, I can use my time to go buy something. Apparently I still have a long way to go with my eating. I'm not nearly as cured as I thought I was. It's a very humbling day.
Now, speaking though of good things, yesterday we had a WOD where we had to run. I was not a fan! But the running was followed immediately by snatches and C2B pull-ups. Yesterday's WOD was a true testament to the strength gains that I've made in the box lately. Not only has my running improved, but the girl who struggled to do 1 C2B pull-up a few months ago, was able to do them all. I say woot! Our WOD yesterday looked like this
400 M run
15 snatches
15 C2B pull-ups
400 M run
12 snatches
12 C2B pull-ups
400 M run
9 snatches
9 C2B pull-ups
Weight- 85lbs
Time- 17:22
The running of course did not feel good (when does it ever?) but it wasn't as bad as in the past. Perhpaps part of that is the release in the oppressive humidity we've had as of late. It was much cooler yesterday morning and made the running seem to come easier to me. After hitting the run though, I was pretty winded and was having a hard time tightening up for the snatch. I got through them though, and used the "pro" weight of 85lbs. That's not too far from my max snatch weight though, so it was definitely a challenge for me.
My C2B pull-ups were not speedy by any means, but to go from barely being able to do 1 in May to be able to do a set of 3 or 4 really says a lot. I think I still need to work more on getting a wider grip for C2B and also just that final pull into the bar. One of my, not faults, by form signatures has always been to be farther behind the bar than most on pull-ups. I think for me this is something to work on in order to get better at C2B pull-ups. Always something to work on, but altogether, a decent feeling WOD.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Owwwwww...
Let's make this one short and sweet shall we?
3 RFT
600M run
500M row
40 Double unders (sub 40 box jumps if you don't have double unders)
I subbed box jumps as I'm not coordinated enough to do double unders.
Time 29:41
Ow... See what I mean?
3 RFT
600M run
500M row
40 Double unders (sub 40 box jumps if you don't have double unders)
I subbed box jumps as I'm not coordinated enough to do double unders.
Time 29:41
Ow... See what I mean?
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
There are not enough explatives for this blog title...
So basically, we all know that I hate metcon workouts. They are so horrible for me and I hate them. Did I mention that I hate them? Well today was another disgusting metcon. Chelsea. Ugh.
Every minute on the minute complete
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 squats
Sound familiar? Oh yeah. Cindy. But this time, go for 30 minutes. Once you can't do it in a minute anymore, just go AMRAP. F'ing blows. I was done after 3 rounds. 3! How f'ing retarded is that. My push-ups were so slow that I couldn't do it. I finished with 16 full rounds which is 160 push-ups mind you, and for the girl who SUCKS at them, that's one hell of a lot of push-ups. Anyway, I'm angry about this wod today and not at all pleased. Roar!
Every minute on the minute complete
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 squats
Sound familiar? Oh yeah. Cindy. But this time, go for 30 minutes. Once you can't do it in a minute anymore, just go AMRAP. F'ing blows. I was done after 3 rounds. 3! How f'ing retarded is that. My push-ups were so slow that I couldn't do it. I finished with 16 full rounds which is 160 push-ups mind you, and for the girl who SUCKS at them, that's one hell of a lot of push-ups. Anyway, I'm angry about this wod today and not at all pleased. Roar!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
The old me's DEAD and gone...
Sing it Justin...
I've been traveling down this road to long... the old me's dead and gone, dead and gone...
Ok, ok, fine... I'll spare you more of the Justin/T.I combo, but for the longest time.... whooooaaaaaa, for the longest time, time! Whoooooaa for the longest time! Hey I said I'd spare you Justin/T.I, I never made any promises about Billy Joel. ;) Anyway, for the longest time, deadlifts have been a weakness for me. I'm terrified of them because I'm very scared about potentially pulling my back out. I'm very quad and back dominant so deadlifts are hard because for me they are counterintuitive. Whereas all our great runners and the like are great with deads, I'm sort of ubo retardo.
So, today I went to the 12:30 class to hit these, hoping for a little moto from Jerry to get me going. But lo and behold, Jerry does not do 1230 on Tues/Thurs. Oh noes! But Melissa did a great job of keeping my head in the game and getting me to lift well. My form was pretty good until about 220. Things started to break down just a bit and I started to do that funny core tension thing I do. I tend to get above my knees and then let go of my core tension, so I round, not off the floor, but on the way up to the finish of the lift. It's weird. Today we were doing max singles and my weights looked like this.
85X5
105X3
125X1
145X1
165X1
185X1
205X1
220X1
230X1 (PR)
240X1 (PR)
250X1 (PR)
That final PR today was ugly. Straight up, I rounded off the floor and it looked nasty. But, I guess what counts is that I got it up right? A PR is a PR, but still. I don't feel good about it. 240 form wise was OK, I mean, I jerked the bar off the floor, I didn't have solid tension, but other than that I maintained pretty well. 250 though, I was tired and I just let go of my tension. The funny thing is though, that even despite that, 250 felt easy. I felt like I easily had 260 or 270 in me. I hadn't hit shakey leg syndrome yet. Oh well, maybe one day soon I'll get my form under control and then we can find a true max for me. One day. :P
Oh, as an aside.... the 26 pull-ups yesterday got me back on the record board at CFOT with pull-ups. THAT felt great. :) Woot. Here's to PR's.
I've been traveling down this road to long... the old me's dead and gone, dead and gone...
Ok, ok, fine... I'll spare you more of the Justin/T.I combo, but for the longest time.... whooooaaaaaa, for the longest time, time! Whoooooaa for the longest time! Hey I said I'd spare you Justin/T.I, I never made any promises about Billy Joel. ;) Anyway, for the longest time, deadlifts have been a weakness for me. I'm terrified of them because I'm very scared about potentially pulling my back out. I'm very quad and back dominant so deadlifts are hard because for me they are counterintuitive. Whereas all our great runners and the like are great with deads, I'm sort of ubo retardo.
So, today I went to the 12:30 class to hit these, hoping for a little moto from Jerry to get me going. But lo and behold, Jerry does not do 1230 on Tues/Thurs. Oh noes! But Melissa did a great job of keeping my head in the game and getting me to lift well. My form was pretty good until about 220. Things started to break down just a bit and I started to do that funny core tension thing I do. I tend to get above my knees and then let go of my core tension, so I round, not off the floor, but on the way up to the finish of the lift. It's weird. Today we were doing max singles and my weights looked like this.
85X5
105X3
125X1
145X1
165X1
185X1
205X1
220X1
230X1 (PR)
240X1 (PR)
250X1 (PR)
That final PR today was ugly. Straight up, I rounded off the floor and it looked nasty. But, I guess what counts is that I got it up right? A PR is a PR, but still. I don't feel good about it. 240 form wise was OK, I mean, I jerked the bar off the floor, I didn't have solid tension, but other than that I maintained pretty well. 250 though, I was tired and I just let go of my tension. The funny thing is though, that even despite that, 250 felt easy. I felt like I easily had 260 or 270 in me. I hadn't hit shakey leg syndrome yet. Oh well, maybe one day soon I'll get my form under control and then we can find a true max for me. One day. :P
Oh, as an aside.... the 26 pull-ups yesterday got me back on the record board at CFOT with pull-ups. THAT felt great. :) Woot. Here's to PR's.
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