Pull up and jump squat ladders...

My first thought today after hearing about the ladder... "Oh f*ck. This is going to hurt." Well, in keeping with the theme of me always being right (in case you didn't get that memo, uh, well I am), well, I was right. :P This seriously hurt. If you have ever done a ladder, you know that it looks deceivingly easy. If you have never done a ladder, pray that you are never forced to. When I was done today, I sat in the chair through most of the second class simply because I couldn't move. For those of you who thought it was just cause I wanted to stay and watch, FOOOOOOLED YOU!!!! :P

So anyhoo, the ladder. If you've never done one, allow me a quick explanation. The ladder works like this. When the clock starts you have 1 minute. In the first minute, do 1 of your excercise, then rest. When the minute is over, a new minute starts and you do 2 of your exercise. When that minute is over, a new minute starts and you do 3 of your excercise and so on and so forth. Now, the ladder is done, when you get to a number of excercises you cannot complete in 1 minute.

Today we got a double dose of ladders. We started first with a chin ladder, and followed by a jump squat ladder. Let me just tell you, balls. Just balls. Both of these hurt like you would not believe. My lats are on permafire right now. You know, when they're on fire, but it's continuous and doesn't stop? :P Yeah that.

I started with the chins and I got through round 13. I just eeked out 13 so I knew 14 wasn't going to happen. So I stopped myself. I took a minute or so and then got busy on the jump squats. I completed round 20 of the jump squats. A jump squat is a regular squat done with a dumbbell in the front rack position, and done with a jump at the end. Now, these rounds may look a little low, and it may seem easy, but let me assure you. I didn't quite understand why I hurt so bad either until I did the math. Oh yes, the school teacher did the math. :P In total, I wound up doing 91 chins. Dang! That's a lot, and enough to hurt you. Or well, me. Also, in going through round 20 of the squats, I wound up doing 210 squats! Remember, those were weighted so they were even worse than just regular air squats. Owwwwww... :P No wonder I can't walk... dang it.

I was talking after class with Ray today who dropped in from New York!!! and we were talking about deadlift form. I bent over to try to pick up the bar and my legs started shaking. Talk about the fatigue talking! :P This is a good gasser. Seriously... it's another one of those, "this really sucks, but I like it" workouts. :) Tomorrow may be a complete rest day for me... I haven't decided yet. I was T-I-R-E-D this morning. I almost gave myself five more minutes, which would have probably been detremental this morning. Thankfully I did not. Can't wait til tomorrow!!! I think I may go to the zoo! If anyone else wants to play hooky and come let me know! :) :) :) We can see the Pandas!!! :)

This one sucks, but I like it...

I know when halfway through the workout I'm complaining that I hate something, it's a good workout. Even though it's the holiday weekend, Jerry wasn't taking it easy on us. Today we ran a little bit of a different format so I'll do my best to 'splain. Here's what today's fun looked like...

Warm-up
Chins, push ups, and Abmat sit-ups

WOD
Choose 1

Option 1 CFOT conditioning circuit
5 rounds for time
21 KB swings
15 DB Thrusters
9 Push-ups

Option 2 (my choice)
5 rounds for time
15 DL
12 Hang power cleans
9 Front squats
6 Push jerk/presses

I chose option 2, and man 2 rounds in, I wanted to quit. All movements were done with an 85 lb bar so there was no scaling. Meaning, you couldn't do 85 lb squats, but only 65 presses. This flat out hurt.... no lie. I think I did a really good job with this though. I put the bar down a lot, but I was pretty quick to pick it back up. I didn't rest that much, and I was actually able to tie all the deads together and most of the squats. I had to break the cleans and the presses. My legs really really hurt cause the bar was tearing them up, and 85 was just a lot for the presses. But overall this one felt pretty good. I finished in just over 24. 24:04. Jerry said 24:11, but he missed me the first two times I called time. :P Otherwise I wouldn't argue. :P

On a side note, I have to say, being on work for this long I think is having an effect on my Blue Room performance. I know you guys think it's just waitressing no big, but I don't think you understand. We were slammed on both Thursday and last night, and I ran a heck of a lot of stairs. Working, especially when I don't crawl home until after 11 really wears me down.... :( On Tuesday that will be my first day off in 11 days. I'm going to sleep. A lot...

Some strict work and my sitcom... and it's in the mail....

Seriously, I think they should make a sitcom about my life. For as much random crap as happens to me, it should at the very least be entertaining. So yesterday, I was still trying to accomplish the goal I had set the on Wednesday, so I had pushed my blog writing until the afternoon. Well, I decided to make lunch and then write. Since it was so nice I thought, hey, I'll grill! So I took my chicken outside, started the grill, and went inside while it heated up. Well, apparently, when we had the barbeque, I didn't clean the grill, because the next thing I know, my grill was basically on fire, and I don't mean because of the gas. I seriously had visions of the whole danged thing going up in flames, but I shut off the gas, and the flames died after a few moments. I think I managed to damage the ignition switch though, because now it won't light at all! Ack!

So, I finally had just gotten the lunch situation sorted out, and sat down to watch my movie, Persuasion (how I do love my Jane Austen....shut it... I do), and write at my computer when, that noise. You know. That noise that tells you all the power in your house has just gone out. There was no storm, no apparent reason for it, so imagine my frustration. I had to get ready for work without power, and then when I finally got home last night after an utter ass kicking (at one point I had a seven and two sixes on the third floor, with a five, two threes, and a two on the second floor) we STILL had no power at 1130. I finally went to bed and the power kicked back on around 230 this morning. So, now I can tell you all about yesterday! Aren't you absolutely ecstatic?!!?! ;)

Yesterday was a little bit of a different circuit and it only had 2 exercises. Compared to the list from Wednesday, that is very different. So, here's what it looked like.

5 Rounds
Every 2:30
Max strict press
Max chins

Strict press has notoriously been bad for me because the last three times I've done it, I've wound up not being able to move my neck. So, I was going to sub push presses, but instead just dialed the weight back a bit. Normally I would have used 65 for this, but went with 55 for safety's sake. I think I had a bit of a head case with the stricts yesterday, especially on round one. I was so worried about screwing my neck up that I felt like I was just being very conservative. My numbers on the five rounds broke down like this:

Round Strict Chins
1 10 19
2 10 11
3 11 12
4 11 13
5 12 13

Doing chins after strict ps is hard! My shoulders felt all wonked out and stuff..... it just didn't feel good. The raise in the number towards the end tells me I was def too easy in the first few rounds. So, if we do this again, I'll try the heavier weight and quit being such a Nancy. :P We finished with some Tabatas, but since mine were so pitiful, I don't even want to mention them. My hamstrings are STILL tight from the deads on Tuesday... this should tell you something. Andrea's comment about me being quad dom is way true. I have no posterior chain!!!!!!! Ack! Another thing to work on... :( It's always something CrossFit, it's always something... :P

Now, I bet you're wondering what the last part of my title is all about and why I keep mentioning this mystery "goal" that I needed to accomplish this week. Well, just cool your heels, I'm gonna tell you. :P So, if you've been reading my blog for awhile, you may remember that back around spring break I was talking about getting some of my writing published, and I mentioned that I happen to enjoy writing children's stories. Well, SOL's came and Chicago came, and the end of the year came, and the writing just got shelved. Well, the story has been finished for some time, and I've just needed to get off my butt and finish a query letter so I could send it out. Well, I found a publisher that seems to be looking for what I have, and I finished my query letter (after 3 days!!!) and I have officially submitted my first story. Well, not officially, it's not in New York yet, it's in the mail obviously, but it will be officially submitted soon.

I know that this is a terrible long shot. Editors receive hundreds and hundreds of things each week/month. But, here's what I'm hoping. I'm hoping that she at least likes the concept, and may make a suggestion or two. This is my first go round, and I'm still trying to get the hang of formatting a manuscript, and query letters. That first letter took me three days to write and it was only 1 page! GACK! So anyway, "tink happy toughts" for me, and maybe who knows, maybe I'll be that lucky diamond in the rough who gets picked. That'd be the best thing ever, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm fully expecting rejection, but hoping for a little critique to push me along the way.

So in keeping with the wrap up for yesterday, I have a few final thoughts to add. Beautiful women are strong physically, but also mentally. They have a mental toughness that keeps them going. They have the drive and determination to chase down their goals and dreams, not worrying about rejection or failure, and never being afraid of sweat and a little hard work. They take risks, they go for it, not worrying what others may think. They look the odds in the face and tell them to "kiss off". Strong women look adversity in the face and say, "bring it on". Strong women get off their asses while others say, "I wish I could do that." The ladies of CFOT and the ladies that read this blog are strong. Don't doubt that each and every one of them has every single one of those qualities. I'm proud of them and I'm proud to be their friend and teammate.

Happy 4th everyone!

The Battle of the Sexes rages at CFOT...

So, today I got up and headed off to CFOT like a happy little lemming, ready to get my daily dose of ass whooping, but was unprepared for the MADNESS that ensued today. Before I get into that though, I apologize for the delay in the ramblings... I had a goal of something I was trying to accomplish today, and I had to work tonight, so my ramblings were waylaid. Anyhoo, back to the topic at hand.

When I got to the Blue Room of Pain this morning, Jerry said today was going to be a rematch. While I was out of town a few weeks ago and was busy trying to muscle my way through "Tiger", CFOT had a raging Young Gunz vs. Old Timerz workout. Old Timerz squeaked out a win at the end, and after realizing what Jerry meant, I thought today was going to be a great rematch. But then, from the peanut gallery came a voice. A voice which so clearly said, "Or we could just do boys versus girls" and oh shit, it was on like Donkey Kong. Adrienne's one little spark, set off a freakin' prairie fire. So here's how this all went down. Jerry did some number crunching, so I'll include that at the end as well.

Certain exercises were worth a certain number of points... we'll start with the highest one...
6 points for 400 meter Farmer's Walk 25lbs for women
5 points for 1200 meter run

2 points for all of the below
OHS X 20 45 for women (changed after my first set from 65)
Knees to Elbows X 20
Burpees X 20
Bullwhips X 100
Abmat situps X 40
Row X 500 meters
Wall Ball X 30
Ring dips X 20
Muscle ups X 10
HSPU X 10

During the last 10 minutes of the battle we were allowed to team up with a teammate. Adrienne and I rocked through sets of situps like it was our job. We also hit some ring dips there at the end. We were lean mean fighting machines. Jerry, being the number cruncher that he is, crunched numbers throughout the whole day to see how this was going to break down. Going into the 1700 class, the women had a marginal lead... although I had though after the massive showing at 0645 today that we had lost the huge lead we had, but we hung in there! So, my contribution today to the team was... 33 points. Not too shabby. I did the bullwhips though, and 2 sets of OHS... they took me awhile. So anyhoo, numbers, right... gotta love Dick, er... I mean Jerry... ;)

At 0600 there were 7 people
4 Women scored 144 - 3 men scored 100

At 0645 there were 18 people!
8 Women scored 273 - 10 men scored 343

At 0730 there were 10 people
3 Women scored 97 - 7 men scored 238

At 0900 there were 4 people
1 Woman scored 31 - 3 men scored 87

At 1700 there were 14 people
7 Woman scored 226 - 7 men scored 255

Final:
23 Women scored 771
30 Men Scored 1023

Women 33.5
Men 34.1

.6 points! I honestly think that this says a lot about the women at CFOT. We have some serious fire breathing men out there, and for us to hang in there with them shows just how tough we are. I am very proud of all the ladies who jumped into the fray today! Speaking of Battle of the Sexes, and ladies and girl power and all that... I saw this article the other day and it just seems to fit so well with the post today. This is courtesy of Jon Gilson at Again Faster. It resonates with me at the moment.

"If I were feeling a little more lawless, I’d gather all the copies of Cosmo and Seventeen, douse them in kerosene, and strike a match. I’d throw in reams of print ads from Calvin Klein and watch with delight as Kate Moss’ stick-thin image was reduced to carbon. I’d add copies of Shape and Runner’s World until the flames reached toward the heavens, and then I’d crank call the editorial desk at Muscle and Fitness until they stopped publishing pictures of women on steroids.

I’d get the master tapes of America’s Next Top Model and dub over them with “Nasty Girls”, broadcasting the results on every television station in America. I’d skywrite “CrossFit.com” across the Boston skyline, and gently admonish the hoards of long distance runners trotting along the Charles River—with a bullhorn.

I’d take every woman with mass media-induced ideals of beauty, and I’d show them what it really means to be beautiful.

Beautiful women are strong and powerful. They are athletes, capable of every feat under the sun. They have muscles, borne of hard work and sweat. They gauge their self-worth through accomplishments, not by the numbers on the bathroom scale. They understand that muscle weighs more than fat, and they love the fact that designer jeans don’t fit over their well-developed quads.

They know that high repetitions using light weights is a path to mediocrity, and “toning” is a complete and utter myth. They refuse to succumb to the marketers that prey on insecurity, leaving the pre-packaged diet dinners and fat-burning pills on the shelf to pass their expiration date.

Beautiful women train with intensity. The derive self-image from the quality of their work and their ability to excel. They don’t wear makeup to the gym, and they wouldn’t be caught dead with a vinyl pink dumbbell. They move iron, they do pull-ups, they jump, sprint, punch, and kick, and they use the elliptical machine—as a place to hang their jump rope.

They spend their weekends in sport, climbing walls, winning races, and running rivers. They laugh as they sprint circles around the unschooled, turning the image-obsessed into benchwarmers. Beautiful women don’t care if they’re soaked in sweat and covered in dirt, if their nails are chipped or their hair out of place. They care only about quality of life.

Beautiful women are happy, healthy, and strong, and they’re right there beside me, tossing conventional beauty on the ever-growing flames of what used to be.

Be beautiful."

I wish Jon would have added in there that he would also be replacing shows like the Real Housewives of Orange County with tapes of Fran, and pictures of torn calluses. You don't need to wear a $1000 dress to be beautiful and you certainly don't need plastic surgery. Strength and determination are beautiful. Tell me it doesn't take determination to push through Angie with 3 torn and bleeding calluses... I gotta tell you... I hope that there is a fire station close to Jungle's, cause the ladies of CFOT are smokin! They are strong and beautiful, and men, don't worry... we'll get you in the rematch. You better all sleep with one eye open... ;)

Back in the saddle...

So after 3 days off, it was inevitable that I was going to have to get back in the CrossFit saddle. I picked quite a day to do that. No usual lifting warm-ups or quick cals today. Oh no, we get straight into the running. I'm not sure how really to explain what is going on with my knees except to say they feel tight and too many stairs or too much walking makes them throb. Running was getting a lot better for me, but it seems to have slipped back into a nemesis for me. I'm not sure why. I haven't stopped running. In fact we're running on average twice a week in circuits, plus I'm doing things on my own on Saturdays. But I'll tell you, the last few runs I've done have been terrible. Badger, Saturday, and today were so slow for me. I really have felt disgusted with the effort. I was just sucking wind big time. I know we are all allowed to have off days, and sometimes off weeks, but this seems ridiculous. I felt like poo all last week, and now it's continuing and I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I'm sleeping, I'm still Zoning (for the most part), and nothing has changed. I really don't get it. I just feel heavy, like lead. It really sucks. But enough of my complaining because that's not why you dropped by. You dropped by to see what kind of pain Jerry hath brought. Our fun looked like this...

Warm-up
3 rounds for time
400 meter run
25 jumping slamballs (15 lbs)

WOD
5 rounds
1:00 on each station
Clock never stops
AMRAP at each station
Calculate total 1 pt per excercise

Deadlifts (85 lbs)
Box jumps
Abmat sit-ups

The circuit today was a metcon gasser, but it felt pretty good. Way better than the running/slamball circuit. I actually totalled 289 on this, but I kinda feel like I cheated. The girls in the 0645 class used 4 mats for box jumps and I only did 3. I still put in the work, don't get me wrong, but I felt after the fact that I should have done 4. You know how that always goes... :P The dealifts felt pretty solid, and I actually was able to crank out a decent number for each round. I was really working on keeping my butt high and back. Andrea mentioned the other day that she thought I was really quad dominant on some of my movements, so today was a good day to get that posterior chain to work. Abmat sits felt a little off, but I think it's just form. So, all in all, not a bad day's work.

Now, if you didn't read yesterday's post, you should... I don't very often get very uppity up about something I write, but I like the way that the post yesterday came out... so go read it! :P

CrossFit Old Town is my Easy...

Before you get bent out of shape reading my title today, please go back and reread it. It does not say "CFOT is Easy". No. It says CFOT is MY Easy. So you're probably thinking that it sounds like I can't use correct grammar and that I'm rambling and making no sense. Well, I am rambling, but it will make sense, or at least I hope it will. Today is another rest day for me thanks still in part to my 4 mile walk the other night plus my double shift yesterday, so that means that on my workout front, there is nothing new to report. However, you know me and my ability to leave my blog alone for a day, and that's about as good as me leaving CrossFit alone for a day. So, here I am with my rest day ramblings. Ooh, that was almost alliteration. :P

You know, ever since I dated Bobby, I guess you could say that I have had a slight fascination, ok, fine, a strong fascination, with the men of Easy Company (101st Airborne, 506 PIR) who served in WWII. I had never dated anyone who had a military background and Bobby is chalk full of knowledge with regards to the military in general and military history. Especially paratroopers since he was trained to be one. Through him, I wound up becoming very engrossed in the story of the men of Easy Company. Now, for those of you reading right now, I'm sure you're wondering how a group of paratroopers could have anything to do with CrossFit. Just sit tight because I'm getting to it.

Since my fascination has gotten going, I have read several books on Easy Company, specific men of Easy Company, and the leaders of Easy Company. The book that I just finished yesterday was one such book about two gentlemen who were part of Easy Company, and remained lifelong friends ever after in south Philly. If you know the story of Easy, then you know the story of "Wild Bill" and "Babe". While I was reading their story, something that Bill said made me stop and think. He said that everyone deserved the credit for winning WWII, not just Easy. He said that Easy wasn't a group of heroes, but what made Easy so unique was their ability to band together, stay together, and stick together during and ever after the war. Until recently, Easy Company men got together every single year to talk to each other and catch up.

What makes Easy Company's story so powerful is that these men banded together in a way few, if any other regiments did. No one stayed together the way they did. Perhaps part of it had to do with the fact that their unit trained together and then stayed together during the war, which was unheard of at the time, but regardless, it's amazing. Before losing both legs in Bastogne (Battle of the Bulge), Joy Toye had been wounded 3 times, gone AWOL from the aid station and hospitals and returned to his unit because he didn't WANT to become a replacement in another unit. Popeye Wynn went AWOL after being injured at Brecourt Manor (part of the Normandy invasion) so that he didn't have to miss the jump into Holland during Operation Market Garden and thus become a replacement outside Easy. These men took the worst of the worst and stayed together. They felt leaving their friends by being wounded was letting them down. Despite their pains and illnesses and injuries, they wanted to stay together because they never wanted to let each other down. They helped each other through the worst of possible times, and were always there to pick each other up. Imagine being surrounded by a group of Germans who had larger and more guns than you did. Imagine that it is below freezing, and you have no warm clothes. Those men were in those circumstances and found a way to support each other. They became a community, a "Band of Brothers".

To me, CFOT is my Easy Company. This group of people has trained together, many of us now for over a year. Everytime I have fallen facedown in the dirt, all I had to do was look around to see the hands of people there and willing to pull me back up. Everytime I look at that barbell and want to quit, I hear the voices of those people encouraging me on. When life has gotten rough, and it looked like things wouldn't be bright again, there were people all around willing to share smiles and help get me to a better place. CFOT is my Easy because they never give up on me. Easy Company never believed in leaving a man behind, and neither does CFOT. Every person calls time, or comes across that finish line. It's the reality of the room. CFOT has created something powerful. Something that I suspect few other affiliates can match. I have heard stories, but none seem to resonate in the same tone that ours does. While in their doors, affiliates seem to have great rapport. But leave those doors, and many seem to fade away. Easy never faded away, and when CFOT leaves the doors, we don't either. Whether we are in the room or not, CFOT is CFOT. We call each other, message each other, blog to each other. In many ways, we have created the same kind of community that Easy has. A very supportive and caring, and yet still ass kicking community. Do we complete heroic feats like the men of Easy did? No, certainly not... although completing some of our workouts may feel like it. But, does CFOT inspire me, and get me through some of the dark days the way the men of Easy did for each other? Absolutely.

I understand that some may think my relation of CFOT to Easy is a bit of a stretch, and some may even be offended. But I want to go back to what Bill said, the bond is what made them unique and that's what I'm getting at. I'm not saying we're heroes, but I think the same can be said about CFOT. I think our bond is very unique. There's nowhere, albeit ocassionally my bed, I would rather be than in the Blue Room at 0600 with my crew. Furthermore, Bill notes that Easy was held together by strong leadership. In particular, that of Dick Winters. Dick Winters was a smart man. He made smart decisions based on his military knowledge, and also common sense, something that some leaders didn't use. He was a mans' man. He looked after his troops and made sure to try to take care of each and every one of them. Hmmm... does that remind you of anyone? I can't think of anyone with better fitness sense, or just a sense of knowing his athletes, not only as athletes but as people, than Jerry. He truly does his best to look after each and every one of us. I can't picture a better leader for CFOT. True leadership begins the process of promoting that community, and Jerry does that. Jerry is our Dick. Hmmmm, that sounds kinda mean, but I think you can see my point. CrossFit certainly isn't Easy... but CFOT is MY Easy. They are MY "Band of Brothers".



PS- If these names, places, groups etc. don't really make any sense to you, here are a few related readings that may help you understand.

Band of Brothers-Stephen Ambrose
Beyond Band of Brothers- Dick Winters
Biggest Brother-Larry Alexander
Brothers in Battle*Best of Friends- "Wild Bill" Guarnere and Edward "Babe" Heffron with Robyn Post
Call of Duty: My life before, during, and after the Band of Brothers- Lynn "Buck" Compton (have not read yet, released May '08)
Easy Company Soldier: The endless combat of a sargent from WWII's Band of Brothers- Don Malarky (have not read yet, released May '08)

Today's WOD...

Work 12.5 hours while dealing with people who don't understand that restaurants sometimes get busy and it will take me longer than 5 seconds to return with your extra butter/refill/napkins/ketchups/foot up the arse... while dealing with said persons, also run up and down stairs frequently to move alcoholic beverages and food from floor to floor... and don't forget, split and do 2 floors of dining to make this day more fun... 3-2-1....