Week of 8/22 - 8/28

Monday 8/22

Strength

Overhead Squat: Intermediate 5-5-5-5 @

I focused on the whole squat progression today. Squats in general are tough given my crap knees, hyper-mobility, and glute/ham/core weakness, so I’m going to work on moving well before moving heavy... plus, listening to my knees make that grinding sound is pretty gross.

Workout of the Day

1 min AMRAP on/1 min off for 20 minutes
2 Hang Power Snatch (70#)
3 Box Jumps (20”)
4 Burpees

HPS are definitely better - Matt and Rudy are spot on about my lack of confidence under the bar and full squat movements. Like expedition training, it’s all about getting myself inoculated to the uncomfortable until its familiar enough to be comfortable.

Box and burpees are ok - like many other things, this was more of a mental toughness thing for me. I am physically fit enough to work without break and control my breathing such that I don’t hyperventilate, but I have to work through the mental challenge of pushing through the discomfort and focusing on the plan.

Post-WOD

5 x 10 Strict Pull-ups ... I am slowly getting to my 10 unbroken goal ... I was able to tweak out 4’s and 5’s ... bar at home slips so I need to fix that but pullups are a work in progress

Tuesday 8/23

5k with K$sha, 50cent, David Guetta, and Rage ... they help me move, but nothing like chasing a pack of CFC'ers... :15 improvement from last year's "skinny pete 5k" of 26:36

Saturday 8/27

Workout of the Day

5 rounds @ 9:04

5 HSPU (small band)

10 KBS (1.5p)

30 doubleunders

HSPU were slow, but steady and unbroken. KBS went steady and unbroken too. I almost went totally unbroken, but the 3rd round of doubleunders got me twice. This was a great WOD

Post-WOD

no access to pullup bar in ohio woods, so i worked on my super-suck list of situps, airsquats, and wallballs … 50 each

Week of 8/8: glug glug glug

Did Monday on Tuesday...

T = toughed it out @ 08.09.2011 at 8:28 pm

WOD @ Home

30-20-10 reps of: (5:00 – 9:00 Finish Time)
Wall Balls (14#)
Burpees
Box Jumps (21″)

these 3 movements are on my suck list top 5 … esp wall balls since anything with a squat in it is a PITA… literally.

saw the cap and promised myself I’d finish sub 8 … um … not so much … 8:31 … i was moving along steady until i hit the wall at the end of round 2 (of course) … then it became a dog fight … in mud … this WOD was deceptive, brutal, and rather awesome.

Tanked Wednesday, Made-up on Thursday

T = tanked the diet @ 08.10.2011 at 5:04 pm

oooh…. i ate a snickers, a reeses, a whole whopper meal (bacon, cheese, fries, soda, you name it), 2 ice cream cones, and then a pack of zingers … feel kinda sick now.

I have 51 days until my wedding, 19% body fat, and raging headaches from no coffee/caffeine for the past week… I am dreading the WOD because I am a raging addict now and am having trouble staying “clean”… help.

Front Squat

Intermed – 6×3 @ 73% of 1RM Back Squat (125# ... I know it’s light, don’t judge me! I have work to do!)

I really struggled with the last few on set 6 … my rear is gonna be sore so I’m guessing I did something right… grow baby, grow!

PS: of all the squat movements, i really like front squats … not sure if it’s balance or the elbow thing, but I seem to move better here?

WOD for Time @ home

50 Double-Unders
10 Overhead Squats (55#)
40 Double-Unders
8 OHS
30 Double-Unders
6 OHS
20 Double-Unders
4 OHS
10 Double-Unders
2 OHS

6:34 ... I made a typo on the CFC blog by :10 ... but on the grander scheme of things, this should make no difference given how much work I have to do for the next 9 months.

This was fun. My double-unders have improved enough to makeup for my OHS weaknesses in terms of buying time back (unbroken until the last round) ... the shock was actually feeling strong enough to get OHS to depth without bottoming out each time and remembering all the cues from Kurt and Glenn ... "turn the dinner plates and pull the string up!" ... it's wierd, but it worked, it was tough, and it was (finally) ... legit

OHS still needs a lot of work, but I'm getting there. I liked the front squats. They seem the most comfortable. I hope I start to like them as much as I like double-unders now.

Saturday 8/13

30:30 x 4 of:
Box Jumps (20)
Push-ups (strict)

Rest 5 minutes

30:30 x 4 of:
Row (Cals)
Push Press (55)

Rest 5 minutes

30:30 x 4 of:
Pull-ups
Burpees

Score = Total Reps Completed = 314

T = Take care of this, T  @ 08.13.2011 at 2:38 pm

I glugged through 314 reps … I kinda expected that given how bad diet and undisciplined I’ve been as of late. Box jumps weren’t as steady and consistent as I’d like, pushups kinda died off a little early, pushand burpees just wouldn’t go faster.

Sunday 8/14

Expedition training and rescue tech stuff ... we were actually pretty good today. We moved along - anchors, fixed line ascents, 3:1/6:1 pulleys, heavy hauling, sandbag stuff, and knots ... we’ll start doing everything for time soon as well as with full gear on ... I’m still concerned about my size and the additional weight I’ll be carrying, but all I can do is keep working at it for the next 9 months.

---

Overall this week

• sleep: 7
• health: 6
• recovery: 6
• mental energy: 8
• stress: 8.5 ... hell, give it a 9.5 ... this wedding planning stuff is getting annoying ... really annoying ... really, really annoying ... I had to let the wedding planner go, members of my bridal party can’t help but to create drama, people trying to invite themselves or bring strangers, USPS losing mail, people not RSVP’ing at all, or people telling me what “I need to serve...” at the reception ... seriously, we really should have stuck to our first inclination to run off and get married on the mountain ... I’m starting to completely appreciate Matt’s general apprehension towards social gatherings now ... fucking hell
• physical energy: 6ish ... I’m sure my CRAP diet as of late has a lot to do with my oddball lethargy, “fluffiness”, and general gluggishness as of late 
• diet:  -2  ...  I have a serious junk food addiction. No BS, I’m having trouble controlling myself, I obsess about it, and I sneak off and eat crap that makes me really sick. A few people speculate that it’s “stress eating” ... I’m sure the wedding and deferring school a year while I take consulting gigs has a lot to do with it.

Nothing like a chipper to check the ego (and test your patience!)

Did the masters' WOD today with Mischief Matt & The Barky Bunch ... when I saw Matt suffer through those burpees, I realised I was next and all the bravado immediately went to shaking scared ...

CF Games Master’s WOD @ 24:22

• 10 Handstand push-ups (baby bands)
• 20 Wall ball (14#)
• 30 Toes-to-bar
• 40 Power cleans (75#)
• 50 Burpees
• 60 SDHP (1.5p KB)

There's lots of work to be done in terms of consistency, mental toughness, and efficient ROM.

I had to stop somewhere in the burpees to use my inhaler ... it's been a long time since I've had such a bad bronchial spasm, but it's my own bloomin’ fault for working out in the heat like that.

Power cleans started off cruddy but got corrected early thanks to Matt's cues. KB helped me to use my posterior chain and hip flexors better (or so Matt says) and I can tell I will feel it tomorrow. Glute and hamstring chain, grow baby, grow!!

It’s all good, though. I have work to do and chipping away at it like this was a good way to see how patient I really am and how steady I can be during longer durations... it takes 16-19 days of really hard work before you can make your first summit attempt (in addition to absolutely no comforts whatsoever) ... then what’s a 20-30min workout then, right?!

Man, not doing a proper climb in a year has made me soft! (and small! hahaha!)

T = Time to MAN UP

Friday & Saturday: FUD

I gotta come clean. I have FUD. This acronym usually means FEAR, UNCERTAINTY, and DOUBT... however, in my case, it’s:

FEAR. UNDISCIPLINED. DISTRACTED.

Matt & I are climbing Denali again. Unsupported. I’ve never climbed high altitude unsupported before. So in order for us to ascend and descend safely, I have to AT LEAST have the same capabilities (if not more) than last year. Having said that, there’s a lot of work to be done.

Fear.

It took Rudy's tough love yesterday during the Snatch/C&J skills test to get me to MAN UP and admit that I can be a total sissy. Sometimes I am afraid of training with Rudy because he sees through my BS like glass and calls it out unfiltered - gotta be willing to hear the blunt truth, grow a pair, and get on with it. The truth ain’t always pretty or nicely packaged.

1. I am scared to lift heavy

I lifted about 30% less than my PRs today ... (85/135? from 110/175)

I can blame being underweight, I can blame poor nutrition, I can blame a lot of things, but the fact is that I am afraid. I have never been afraid of going for all the weight I can ... GO HEAVY OR GO HOME, right?!

Well, I am afraid because I TOTALLY let myself go over the past year and I am lazy (19% body fat @ 132lbs now compared to the 15% body fat @ 155 right before we left for Denali).

I have no one to blame but myself for picking up the all-you-can-eat-cupcake-funyuns-ice-cream-fried-chicken habit that I now have... but the fact is that I got scared to lift less weight that I carry on the mountain... less than when Matt and I go on our little forest jaunts... less than the FRICKIN C&J/Rope Climb WOD I finished a few days prior! If that isn’t a blaring reminder how mental and technique oriented oly lifting is, I don’t know what is.

This just means that I need to lift more, get over myself, and build my confidence. I’m usually the one trying to help others build their confidence and listening to their BS, but the truth is that I’m right there too.

2. I am scared of the work I gotta do

I never had this problem when I first started CrossFitting because I didn’t know better... failing wasn’t a big deal and everything was a new learning experience. “Hey! That’s looks neat, let’s try it!”

I am scared of what is ahead. I had to sacrifice and work so hard to get ready for Denali last year. Eating 3000-5000 calories a day became a job, 2-a-days were emotionally draining, and school sucked out whatever mental energy I had left in me. Thank god I tapered before the expedition.

... 2 years later? I guess it’s the pressure because I “should” know better ... I know what I’m supposed to do after 20+ years of climbing and training. Even CFHQ certified me with a piece of paper saying that I know what I’m supposed to do (well, that’s for another rant) ... but I still have movements I need to correct or I’ve become rusty at them. For example, I now struggle at ALL squat movements ... more than before (and that’s saying something). So Saturday's OHS workout highlighted that.

21-15-9 reps @ 7-something
Overhead Squats (55#)
CTB Pull-ups

OHS were bad. Really bad. So bad that Glenn and I, dropped the weight, ignored the clock and just tried to get them legit. Even Rudy called out how bad it was from the loft... I was really working hard, my body just wouldn’t frickin listen.

It wasn’t the fatigue or the weight. It was being able to get into a good squat. Glenn and Matt are right about “too mobile/too flexible” ... yoga makes me really, really, really flexible ... so much that I bottom out, drop the hips too much, or let my core/back soften out on the descent so that getting back up lacks any power or leverage ... they are right about having to work harder at strengthening those deficits. I also don’t get on my heels enough and use my posterior glute/ham chain... my kinesthetic awareness stinks!

3. I am afraid of failing

I’m still not quite able to talk about everything that happened on the mountain ... nor will I ever be. It’s not the first time I’ve seen or dealt with stuff like this, but that doesn’t mean that I’ve toughened up to it. I just know that in high altitude and/or in a big storm, failure means severe injury or death... given that it’s just me and Matt, I guess the pressure to succeed and avoid failure is higher because this man, for better or worse, IS my life. Talk about finding the “E” in SMARTE goals ...

So fear is a big thorn right now. I know I can deal with it ... I have failed plenty before and know I will in the future ... I just have to be patient, listen, and trust myself ... and the people around me.

UnDisciplined.

Matt argues that I’m soft there because I’ve “outsourced” those good habits and skills to other people. When you have no choice but to be self-sufficient, you develop the skill and habits to be disciplined, efficient, and consistent ... ironic that I’m learning this from someone who I have a decade + of life experience over ... and poetic justice.

My career has been built on my ability to innovate and take risks other people wouldn’t consider. I have been expected to think, live, and breathe outside of the box ... hell, outside of the whole building ... so discipline and consistency will be a work in progress... and a measurable deficit until I am better at it.

Distracted.

Anyone who knows me knows that I‘m like a 12-year old with ADD ... I love everything. I am distracted and want to get my grubby paws on everything. I am foolish enough to think I can multitask ... one would think that after almost half a century, I’d have figured out how to prioritise, focus, and execute efficiently.

... but why do those things when you can have someone do that for you? For over 2 decades, I’d set the agenda, dictate priorities, and let my support circle corral me... I know I’ve blathered about this before, but I can’t emphasise enough how important it is for me to become more self-sufficient and not get distracted.

Fun Levels

Tery: that WOD was definitely level 2 fun!
Friend: level 2 fun? define please...

Tery: level 1 fun = just being there is fun ... it is addictive and can easily become part of your lifestyle.
Friend: like a 5k run or a WOD?
Tery: definitely. For me, it'd be ice climbing in Ouray or the Cascades ...  also short climbs like most of the routes on Rainier, Baker, Hood, and Adams

Tery: level 2 fun = there are some challenging, sucky bits, but it's still fun and is something you find yourself doing over and over.
Friend: example?
Tery: for some, a marathon, a triathlon, or ironman. For me, technical climbs between 10k and 14k feet like some peaks in La Cordellia Blanca or the French Alps. Ouray, Cascades and Chugach also have some technical routes that will sizzle the body a fair bit... but when you look around, any pain fades really fast.

Tery: level 3 fun = loads of challening, sucky bits, but it's bearable and fun if you do it with a good friend ... something you definitely have to train for mentally and physically. Not something you can do very often, but when you do, it's pretty epic.
Friend: ... and?
Tery: for some people, perhaps an ultra or those century bike rides. For me, it's the West Buttress death march on Denali, doing volunteer clean up on the Everest North Col, climbing the chimneys on Alpamayo, rescue patrol on the Tetons, and making it to any ridge along Torres Del Paine ... this is a growing list

Tery: level 4 fun = sucks like hell most of the time and usually risks your life, but it's just something you HAVE to do. Chances are, you won't do it more than twice given that you and your partner find yourselves questioning your states of mind when you decided to do it in the first place. For some people, that might be K2 or Annapurna. For me, that's the West Rib or the Ferrari Route.
Friend: ...this is your favorite kind of fun, isn't it?
Tery: Usually, but after doing whatever it is for the first time, it becomes level 3 fun or I never do it again. I'm discovering that everyone has their own view of what level 4 is for them. When I was younger and had something to prove, I was all about the level 4 fun. Now I find myself sticking with level 3 and taking calculated risks to balance things off.

mental chipper delights

1K Row
1 Mile Run
50 CTB Pull-ups
100 Games Standard Push-ups
200 Air Squats
1 Mile Run

Ok, I gotta say this. While today’s wod was AWESOME and I’ve come a long way on rowing and pullup skills, I am once again the DORKNESS MONSTER … I took a wrong turn somewhere, then down the block and saw THAT THE BOX WASN’T THERE! So I ran back around… 48:15?

Pushups were v-slow, but steady in broken in sets of 10 doing 5 on the knees and 5 strict... breaks no longer than 5-7 seconds ... it’s the little things. Pullups are getting better and I managed to keep each attempt at multiples until the last 10 reps ... when my arms stated to give out, I had to chip it out with singles... yeah, I had to work up a good angry for those.

The real trouble were with the squats ... all squat movements tend to give me a hard time. I broke those up in 15’s and 20’s and got pretty woozy around 150 ... mentally, I was all over it. Physically? Ooh... sometimes the body refuses to do what you want it to. But I had my sights on the end and got that last mile done ... well ... after going around the wrong block and then going back to finally find the finish :)