eyes dotted, T’s crossed, and the little promises

This is a photo of me having sushi ... kinda like my birthday sushi fun fest on Friday ... talk about junk food hangover the next day!
Suz’s comment the other day highlighted it best, “it’s funny, those little promises you make to yourself”. She’s spot on. I’ve noticed that Crossfitters have their little unspoken “code” of badassness.
Going lighter? Then must go unbroken. Going RX? Only if they are good reps. Going to break? Then only for 5 seconds.

... the things we rationalise in our heads to let ourselves be human
So I thought, “yeah, your digestive tract played hard, so make it up to yourself ... old school!”. Do a 2-a-day this week!

SURE. Just try it, how bad can it be if you rest at least 4 hours in between?! Just eat more ... you’re in pretty good shape, right?! how bad can it be?!

um. really bad. really really really really bad. Oh boy, I think I’m gonna be sore on Thursday... I can tell and I totally see the foolishness of my ways. BCAA’s and yoga, don’t fail me now! Bad ego! Bad! Bad!

Made up Monday’s workout:

filthy 50 @ 29:34

• 50 box jump
• 50 pullups
• 50 lunges
• 50 TTB
• 50 push press @ 45#
• 50 back extensions
• 50 wall balls @14#
• 50 burpees
• 50 double-unders

OMG, I love chippers… my first filthy 50 and it was delightfully awful.

Idid this @ home: subbed KTE with TTB… pretty broken up but v-short breaks … had to go 45# bar and 14# ball because that’s all we’ve got @ home.
goal was sub 30:00 … 29:34 … YEAH BABY!!!

Saturday’s workout:

150 kb swings (10 min cap)

Every break = 5x 2-for-1 wall balls
LOVE LOVE LOVE KBS ... HATE HATE HATE WB ... 6:02

i hate WB so much that i REFUSED to let that thing go... nothing lighter than 1 pood at home, so
if broken means putting the KB on the ground, then i went unbroken.
um. no post or pre-wod ... not a chance.

---

Notes: eating enough solid food throughout the day made the difference ... 4 solid meals of at least 25g protein and several snack sessions got me through today... that and hearing matt tell me that he didn’t want to climb with me if I was going to whine and make excuses.

I know myself well enough that I don’t come out of the gates with guns blazing or always have eyes dotted and T’s crossed ... in fact, I usually need a red hot poker shoved up to get me going ... but once I do, I can keep going ... and going ... so we’ll see how I feel. I’ll just try to work out tomorrow and see how it goes...

Tue 7 June: WOD & Personal Goals

This is a photo of my goals for the week. When I originally set them, I decided that I wanted to move more efficiently and build more confidence before throwing on the weight. I have great PRs from last year’s expedition training, but I relied too much on EMOTION and not on EFFICIENCY.

If I can improve HOW I work, I believe I can exceed those PRs. I also decided that this year, I am going LISTEN more and just do what the coaches say (i.e., be more “coachable”). I confess that I get performance anxiety and am honestly intimidated, but I really trust them... I mean, if it weren’t for Bryce, Rudy, Alex, and the CFC gang, I wouldn’t have been able to physically do what I did last year... TBD....

So, I tried my first 2-a-day today ... partly because I wanted to see if I could do it and partly to get mentally prepared for the onslaught of training & adapation in the coming months ... also because of peer pressure. Yes, peer pressure. CrossFit nurtures peer pressure, guilt, and perfectionism. If you grew up with a large, close-knit family, catholic guilt, competitive team sports, and someone close who is/was in the Millitary or Law Enforcement ... then you’re a prime candidate for CF addiction. Good stuff.

This 2-a-Day included making up Monday’s WOD and then visiting my friends @ Construct. Drywall and Anderson gave me so much flack about not visiting that I HAD to go... seriously, it’s like living around my siblings again ... except white and a helluva lot more fit ;)

... anyhoo ...

1. Ran 2m (15:56) through the forest preserve while Matt was at the Doc ... even so early, the ferocious heat beat me up and I was seriously dragging ... not to mention that I am not the best runner in the world (coach has scary video of my sorry ass as proof, trust me on this one) ... this run was a good indicator of how much work I need to do by October
2. Went to CFC and worked on TTB, doubleunders, C&J, and cleans. 4 rounds @ 6 TTB + 30 DU, not timed, but I didn’t allow more than 10 second breaks in between each movement. It was a nice warmup.
   I love the coaches - they weren’t on duty so to speak, but still gave me pointers. It was very generous of them, but I have to admit that their attention gave me performance anxiety. Some people like the attention, I can handle some, but I hate the feeling of the spotlight when I’m out of my comfort zone... INTJ...
3. Then it was off to CF Construct ...
   Pre-WOD : weighted pull ups ...I started with isometric holds on deadhangs, then dribbled 1 or 2 @ 15# ... weak sauce!

   WOD: 5 rounds @ 5:49
   5 shoulder to over head @ 80#
   10 burpees

   They started as push presses, and then they became push jerks as the burpees kicked my butt. Need to keep those elbows up so I'm not wasting so much energy. Burpees slow, but steady. I confess to going lighter than necessary, but this was my 2nd WOD today and I didn’t get to rest the suggested 4 hours in between WODs ... I also believe that Drywall, Anderson, and Marty let me win... frickin Westside my arse!

   Derek has done a terrific job with CF Construct. I'm going to send a few friends who live in his neighborhood his way. I really enjoyed seeing remnants of the old CFC box there and it was just so nice to hang with some of the old gang. Good people all around.

---

so far ranking from 1-10 ...

• sleep: 7
• diet: 9+
• health: 8
• stress: 9 (ugh) 
• recovery: 8
• mental energy: 7
• physical energy: 7

Back to work!

Monday 5/30

Memorial Day WOD

Randy

Randy Simmons, 51, a 27 year LAPD veteran and SWAT team member was killed February 6, 2008 in the line of duty. Officer Simmons is survived by his wife and two children. This is my 2nd year doing this WOD to honour that thin blue line. I love and admire Matt so much, it hurts.

75 power snatches (55#) @ 6:51 … I’d have preferred to go at 50#, but we don’t have a 33# women’s bar ... regardless, this is a :47 gain from 7:38!!! yay!

This is one of my favorite workouts because it feels the most “natural” to me - the ROM feels like when I pick up my backpack so I don’t psyche myself out. Today was my first day back since being sick last week and then judging CF Regionals 12 hours a day all weekend ... so I was looking forward to it.

Overall, I still feel weak and the tank still feels small, but overall, I feel “cleaner”, I’m not as grouchy, and I’m recovering better. Perhaps this is a sign that the paleo diet is starting to kick in and I just need to up the caloric intake and toughen up mentally. yay!

Tuesday 5/31

Pre-WOD:
Press 5 x 65-75-80-85(3) ... PR was 90, so I have some work to do. I posted video of the round I failed.

WOD @ home
30-20-10 reps of: (8 min cap)

Push Press (65#)

Kettlebell Swings (1 pood)

6:58... slow, felt weak, and lack 33# bar to scale down at home, but my goal was to go unbroken and keep sub 7:00 ... which I barely did (yay!)

Post-WOD:
10 deadhangs: 3-3-2-2 (I'll get you #4!!!)
20 TTB: 7-5-5-3 still kipping in between but was able to string 2 together a couple of times (yay!)
50 DU: 6-17-21-12 breaking less - I pretended I was Paws!

---

Hey! I just now noticed that this is the 2nd sub-7:00 workout I’ve done this week. Cool!

ranking from 1-10 so far...
sleep: 9
diet: 9
health: 7
stress: 5
recovery: 8
mental energy: 8
physical energy: 7

Notes: I confess that I’m still not feeling my “GRRR” yet ... Rudy is right about finding the right priorities and setting goals accordingly ... without them, that sense of urgency, commitment, and inner drive won’t be there to push you. I love to climb and the mountains motivate me like no other, but I always find myself mentally wandering until the 6-9 month mark comes around and it hits me like a ton of bricks that it’s time to work. Truthfully, I’m finding the mental/emotional aspect to be my biggest struggle because I want to be more consistent with my training year-round instead of seasonally.

Matt is really good at that and is so disciplined - he’s a good role model in that respect so I just have to keep at it. On a related note, I’ve been v-consistent with my paleo diet and Matt has been inspired to follow suit. I love a good win-win situation!

Sun 5/22: WOD

15 min AMRAP @ Home: 10 rounds + 2 TTB
5 Toes-to-Bar
10 Push Press (95/65 or 40% of 1RM jerk)
15 Jumping Lunges

Took my junk food angst out on the bar @ 55# (maybe too light because I really didn’t feel the “hurting” during the last few rounds?). The bar did a great job shredding my hands during the push presses - could be that my lax grip wasn’t helping.

Also, I wasn’t particularly “fast”, but I found a pace and stuck to it. The jumping squats were hard on my knees so I might be doing something wrong. Met my goal of no breaks and less than a 5 count in between.

Felt tired, but good today.

---

ranking from 1-10 today…
sleep: 9
diet: 8
health: 8
stress: 6
recovery: 7
mental energy: 8
physical energy: 7 (maybe not enough protein?)

hmm...

5 reps each of deadlift, hang clean, push press, and squat @ 45-45-55-65-75

kept things light to focus on good movement and consistency. didn't feel bad at all.

there was a little knee tracking, over extension of head/back, and droopy elbows ... but i corrected them as i went and kept pretty consistent. last round was funny when i cleaned too low and ended up sitting on the groud ... no worries, though. i leaned forward and pushed through! ha!

video to come shortly...

yeow. makeup days can hurt.

warm up: 30 second hold for each per round for 20 minutes of Handstand Hold, Squat Hold, L Sit Hold, Chin Over Bar Hold result: 4 rounds, part of handstand hold the yoga helped me get the rounds done and fatigue wasn't much of an issue (more balance)... so if i keep at it, i should squeeze out another 1-2 next time i try something like this

WOD: Push press 3-3-3-3-3-3-3

Result 95 lbs, 105 lbs, 105 lbs(2), 115 lbs, 115 lbs(2), 120 lbs(2), and 115 lbs

v-inconsistent! weight felt good, but handled "heavier" than in the past. strength will come with time, but sheesh... my inconsistent movements showed in my inconsistent results. have to work on exploding under the bar more efficiently and locking out quicker. (side note: training with a cold bar in 32f weather sucks)

oh man, maybe i should’ve avoided doing 2 WODs today. i didn’t think the static WOD as a warmup was gonna be bad until i got into rounds 5-6 in the push presses. yeeeaah ... i’m gonna be sooooo sore tomorrow.

Sleep: 5
Stress: 7.5
Energy: 6 all-around
Health: cough still bad ... it really sucks!

20100427 Training: Turtle Recovery

I felt every one of my 40 years today
when I woke up...
Press 3x5

5 Rounds for time of:
20 Push press (75/55 or 45-50% of 1RM press)
15 Pull ups

Post skill - 3x15 push-ups (time each set, 1 min rest)

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Comments

3x5 presses @ 80-80-85(f)-80
failed on rep #3 @ 85lbs ... naughty ego, naughty!

turtle-paced metcon @ 15:08
um, just realised i did 50% of my 1RM push press instead of strict press...
yeah, thought 65# felt too heavy... also did some push jerks in there too.
pullups were 5's, 3's, then 2's ... very poor recovery today after
yesterday's tireflip/farmer carry WOD thrashing. (good fun, but i paid
dearly for it today... also didn't help that i ate 3 cheeseburgers, arroz
con pollo, and a huge cheese omelette in addition to the huge paleo kit i
carry around for snacks... tough balance between clean food for efficient
recovery and "naughty food" that lets you put on needed lbs.)

Stress: 8
Sleep: 4hrs
Recovery: 3
Mental energy: 6
Physical energy: 5

20100215 Training: 80 days left

Press 5-5-5+ of 1rm+5lbs @ 58.5%, 67.5%, 76.5%
58-68-78(4)

Ugh! So weak! It's just taking me so long to recover. I want to be 30 again so that I can bounce
back right away after being sick. Sheeesh.

... by the way, Weight Math IS different than Normal Math. For some reason, I thought my first round
would be 84#, so I loaded it and wondered why it seemed so heavy for a first round ... I could FEEL
the coaches rolling their eyes as they laughed and shook their heads. Time to readjust and get to
business.

The 1st round felt smooth, 2nd round was a little tougher, but the 3rd gave me trouble. I was pretty
frustrated that 78# would do that after 3 reps given that I can usually power through weight like
this less awkwardly. Keep working...

Metcon 5 Rounds @ 6:10 (plus or minus 1 round of push presses)
15 Push press (55#)
15 Box jumps (21")

Right. So this is embarrassing. Not only did it take me too long to get set up and psyched, but I
managed to drop my IQ along the way as well. I had it in my head that we started with box jumps so I
did my 5 rounds ... believing my last round was push presses ... only to realize that I did a 6th
extra round when I called time and Coach got a puzzled look on her face...

As punishment, I got teased relentlessly ... again ... nothing worse than being ganged up on by
Paws, BeeDub, and Mango all at once.

3x max push ups (90s rest) @ 15-10-8

Improving. Wish I could do more. I want to be able to bang out 25 each round

Posted via email from Tery's Bits & Bobs

2009 11 30 WOD back after Thanksgiving

today wasn't easy. It's one of my favorite workouts as I'm really learning to love oly weightlifting, but it sneaks up on you no matter how much you like it. HPC's are one of the new lifts I'm really beginning to like and get a little proficiency in.

Strength: Snatch @ 65-85-95f-95f-95

Spent time working on form and efficiency. Ran out of time to attempt 105# a second time, but practice will get me there.
Metabolic Conditioning: 21-15-9 reps @ 5:40
- Hang power clean @ 65
- Push press/jerk @ 65

I went slightly heavier than the RX'd 50% of Clean and jerk max (my PR is 125# so far) but it felt good to push myself to failure. Truthfully, I could have made the sub 5:00 goal, but I made the mistake of breaking during the 2nd round and dropping the bar to rest too much . . . instead of resting while holding at the top, I wasted time dropping the bar, cleaning it up, and then finishing the push presses . . . and then I stared at the bar a lot too. It easily added a minute I didn't need to add. Ironically, I was killing the first round and fought well through the last . . . I just didn't keep up a steady pace through the 2nd.

Ran 5k to the box and part way home . . . it was dark and it's Chicago . . . plus I run really slow!!! ;)

2009 10 04 my monosyllabic WOD

practised 2x-unders (still suck), pullups, and hang/power snatch (form form form!)

pull ups @ 5-5-5 (blue & pink)

metcon: 14:10 30-20-10 reps of
- Push Press (53#)
- Pull ups (green)

with final 800m run (in my case, run/limp)

ugh. i become monosyllabic during the WOD - consequently, my IQ drops too. with that said, i called time after i finished the presses/pullups without running the 800m ... i'm such a lamer! (8:58, i wish!) had to re-do a few pullups and broke string, but strung 5 presses at a time. i'm still not 100% yet and missed most of my races this year, but perhaps this humbling time will help me reset and run better PS: watching anjali was inspiring today - she cursed at the bar, kept going, and finished strong

2009 09 26 WOD: Fight Gone Bad

3 Rounds total, 5 stations for 1min - each 5min round allows 1min break before next one.

 

Stations:

• Wall-ball: 20# ball, 10 ft target (per rep)
• Sumo deadlift high-pull: 75# (per rep)
• Box Jump: 20" box (per rep)
• Push-press: 75# (per rep)
• Row: per calorie

The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. On "rotate" signal, athlete(s) must move to next station immediately. One point is given for each rep or each row calorie. Highest scores win.

 

Although I was not competing, I was really nervous. We were in St Charles with other affiliates in the region - other regions competed as well. Pretty amazing!

 

This is how I did: Intermediate
WB 15-18-15
SDHP 20-20-19
Box 16-16-16 (step mod)
PP 16-18-18
Row 13-12-11

 

My goal was 200, I scored 243

 

Next year, I look forward to trying RX and getting better numbers (fabu strategy, Rudy, thanks!). if it weren't for Kerry asking me what the Denali summit looked like whenever I struggled and the incredible energy in there, I wouldn't have pushed harder. It was fun cheering the team and watching these amazing athletes. So yeah, I think I'm getting addicted - I start off scared as hell of these workouts, but the endorphin rush afterwards is like crack

2009 09 22: another FGB variant

this was by far the most brutal session i’ve experienced so far. strength and conditioning took on new meaning today; great challenge!

7 Rounds @ 31:53
- 10 Wallball @ 12#
- 10 Sumo-deadlift high-pull @ 55# (?)
- 10 Box jumps @ 24″
- 10 Push press @ 55# (?)
- 10 Cal Row

mod box jump to step after jumping a few times and feeling pain shoot down my leg.

“pukie” killed my time … in fact, several times. thanks to bryce for putting the bucket next to my wall ball spot so i didn’t have to run to the bathroom so much …

lessons learned:
- wasted a lot of time taking breaks during sets; should’ve paced myself
- need a quicker way to work the o-weights without sacrificing correct form
- i was really slow, but i did as RX’d and finished … it just means i need more conditioning

… i noticed that i have little guns too now … yeah, baby!

2009 09 18 WOD: "Fight Gone Heavy!"

3 rounds of:

• DB Thruster 25/20 (Reps)
• Sumo deadlift high-pull, 95 pounds (Reps)
• Box Jump, 24" box (Reps)
• Push-press, 95 pounds (Reps)
• Decline Row Damper on 10 (Calories)

In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute.The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. On call of "rotate", the athletes must move to next station immediately for best score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point.

 

FGH @ 154pts

• DBT Thruster (20#ea): 10-7-6
• SDHP (55#): 9-8-7
• Box (24"): 17-13-17
• PP (55#): 15-10-10
• Decline Row (cal): 9-8-8

lessons learned:
- thought the chief sucked, until i met FGH
- keep consistent rhythm, even if slow. i killed my performance taking breaks
- i need to work on upper body strength; things like push presses, pushups, pullups or any of those variants are really sub-par

2009 08 30 WOD - fractional "Fight Gone Bad"

My Warm up: 400m run
With 3 rounds: 8 pushups, 8 pullups, 10 situps, 5 pvc squats, 3 samsons

Wooooow, "fight gone bad" (even fractional) is pure sadism. I LOVE IT!

Rules: 3 rounds of 5 stations with 1min break after ea round. Round 1@30sec, round 2@60sec, and round 3@90sec

WOD as Rx'ed:
* Wall-ball: 20 pound ball, 10 ft target. (Reps)
* Sumo deadlift high-pull: 75 pounds (Reps)
* Box Jump: 20" box (Reps)
* Push-press: 75 pounds (Reps)
* Row: calories (Calories)

My score: 209
* WB: 12,16,20 (10lb/10ft)
* SDHP: 10-14-18 (45lb)
* Box: 8-11-14 (12", had to step up on a few the last 2 rounds)
* PP: 12-18-23 (45lb)
* Row: 3-12-18

Notes: - Is it a PR if it's my first time? :) - I can do a 4-5 pull-ups without the assistance of a band (Kipping is a miracle! Thank you Bryce!) - My ego doesn't understand why I can't do more weight. Its humbling as I learn and that I HAVE to let my IT heal first