ate leftover mac & cheese... then 7-7-7 amrap... not good.
yeah, i'm not 20, 30, or even 40 anymore ... HA!
7:00 AMRAP in the ATL with my 50+ yr old client and her exec team (who is drinking the CF BCAAs)
7 burpees
7 power snatch @ 75#
8 rounds, 2 burpees, a lot of fun, and a little heaving...
Friday & Saturday: FUDI 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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Took the last 2 days off in the hopes of resting enough for a double today. The goal here is to start getting my body accustomed to long, hard move days on the expedition ... here are my goals for the week
Thu 16/6 - Fri 17/6: Rest Days
Sat 18/6 - here we go!
Post - TTB and ab wheel from my “Pick 2” list ... Oh yeah, the Ab Wheel of delight... not so much
I want to do Fran on Saturday, but the annual H2O Warehouse Sale beckons and I have a wedding to plan for!
Rest Day
2 Rounds for time of: (25 min cap)
yeah … so I totally blew my chances for greatness! … I ate within an hour of the WOD … not good. Had to walk some so Bryce wouldn’t have to follow me with a pail (plus I suck at running) … but I learned KB snatchy thing for first time and that was incredibly fun!
KBS good, lifting rubber keggy thing good, running with full stomach BAD … 13:29 … really bad ... in a pukie kinda way
oh yeah, I did a “pick 2″ on my list for post-WOD
![Tery 11-1-2008 1-20-18[6]](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_bvsoN15JzXo/Tc_UUg_uo9I/AAAAAAAADKo/hmzC1vfzAjs/s1600-h/Tery-11-1-2008-1-20-1862.jpg "Tery 11-1-2008 1-20-18[6]")
Monday 5/9
Back Squat 3×3 @ 85-95-105?
Focused on ROM and getting rid of that wierd tootsie roll thing. ALL squat movements are on the top of my suck list, so I’m keeping it light and easy until I am consistent and more body-movement aware.
I’m not above scaling down if it means I can get it right EVERY time and get stronger... stronger glute/ham ROM is definitely on my list of goals. (note the skinny-fat photo of me on the left ... nice cleavage, but scary tummy pooch! eeesh!)
WOD
5 Rounds @ 7:38 of
1 Squat Snatch
4 Overhead Squats
10 Pull-ups
Went light to meet goal of a sub 8:00, but I think I wimped out because I never really got out of breath or pushed myself to get more depth on those OHS ... Pullups in 3-4′s and nice easy snatch/OHS. I was half asleep and totally humbled by the wave 2 ladies! When I finally adjust to this schedule, I’m gonna start chasing them!
I also think I was half asleep cause it was my first workout at 6am this year! Yep, getting up every day @ 4:30 is going to be an adjustment, but I did it and I’m psyched! yay! (unfortunately, Matt is NOT a big fan because it impeded on his “morning time”, so we’re gonna have to work something out)
Still feeling the awful effects of my “see food” diet ... I am still paying for that red bull, pizzas, and 4lb box of brownie bites in more ways than 1. Coach Zack, I need you!!!
Tuesday 5/10
A – Muscle-up: skill work. worked on hip-to-ring hallowed kips, ctb, false grip, and ring dip
B – Double-Unders (3 min AMRAP): inconsistent but was able to string ‘em
WOD: 40-30-20-10 reps of
Power Wall Balls (14/10#)
Box Jumps (16″)
Ego checked @ 8:42!
I deserved that :30 penalty for not scaling appropriately! Started with 14# and broke at 15 in round 1 … ditched the b*tch and got a 10#er to get in gear …
Post – 4 x 10 Unbroken Toes-to-bar: 4-8-8-6
Wednesday 5/11
Ashtanga Yoga - primary series. Worked out a few kinks and building my isometric strength back. I wanted to go to CFC today, but I committed to 2:1, I’m sticking to it and letting my ego take a back seat. I’ll see how I feel next week when the Paleo challenge is in full swing...
Thursday 5/12
Worked on DL, presses, and hallows @ CFC and then GHD & deadhangs @ home. Weight not so much important, but getting rid of oddball movement was 
(e.g., tootsie roll knees, squat wannabe DL, et al). I wanted to makeup Wednesday’s WOD, but I was sore and still nursing my junk food hangover ... also I think I just chickened out... prolly more the latter.
Glutes are gonna be sore for treating my body like an amusement park for all these months. I confess I feel a little deflated being weak and looking scrawny now...
It’s actually scary. Somewhere between getting engaged and the holidays, I became this raging junk food addict alá skinny-fat chick. I look pretty good - but I feel generally crappy, “thick”, and really un-driven. I also let a lot of other things go too, but I’ll leave that for my personal blog... keep calm and carry on ...
Friday 5/13
got up @ 4am to make 7am flight for many, many meetings ... then delayed flight and getting home @ 23:45. i feel like i got robbed by united airlines in more ways than 1
… but i got in 50 situps, 50 pushups, and 10 wannabe HSPUs in a little conference room of the admiral club… not a true wod and in my brooks brothers suit, but better than nothing. I planned to get back to CFC in time and couldn’t get back... my 2:1 goal thrown out the window
food was scarce, but i managed to find a few plain burgers, a wilty airport salad, a banana, starbucks, and a milkshake i’m sure will haunt me tomorrow …
Side note, my glutes aren’t sore ... at all. I thought they “should” be given the work I’ve been doing this week (assuming I did the work right). The truth is, my lower back is a tad sore ... which means my G/H activation needs more work. It’s frustrating.
Saturday 5/14 - Paleo Challenge Day 1... kinda ...
I felt the bacon burger, fries, milkshake, and all the garbage I’ve been eating ... and it showed in my FRAN performance today. Oh yeah, I scaled it. First time ever. Ego checked!
55# @ 8:07 ... oh yeah. It was sad. I added 1:00+ to my prior Fran (7:02) and dropped thruster weight (RX=65#) . . . I’ve become weaker, still underweight, and metcon “gas tank” needs to grow before I am ready. Upside is - what a way to set the bar low for my first day on the paleo challenge! I’m TOTALLY gonna see HUGE gains!
But ... I promised myself that I would get my ROM in order and then work on “performance”. My body is used to carrying heavy weight and I know it will be fierce again pretty soon. The advantage I have this year over last year is that I have a TON more knowledge, body awareness, and skills (thanks to Coaches Bryce, Rudy, Alex, the “old box” gang, and the amazing HQ peeps at all the certs). I’m working! I’m working!
Today I ate:
- handfuls of dried cherries
- handfuls of turkey jerky
- spoonfuls of almond butter
- tuna sashimi (had 2 packages similar to package on left)
- kale salad with shrimp cocktail, onions, and herbs
- coffee (pre-wod), endurox (post-wod), and roughly 2L water (2 nalgenes)
Personal note: I woke up today feeling like a load was taken off my shoulders. I also am proud of myself for starting to open up to others about Diana. I just hope that the few things Matt & I are aiming for go through and our plans can actually carry in... keep calm and carry on ... keep calm and carry on ...
Abbey was supposed to meet me today to work on our ideas for adventure racing, my denali training, and her resume... but she never showed and I have to admit that I was both surprised and disappointed. I always admired her discipline and steadfastness too. Well ... keep calm and carry on ...
sleep: 2 (planning for and doing 6am and 9am WODs are going to be a serious adjustment!)
diet: 4 (not consistent or disciplined, I definitely had a burger binge this week)
health: 6 (see above)
recovery: 8 (very strange! I hit it with integrity and expected to suffer more...)
physical energy: 7
mental energy: 8
stress: 6 (better, but still there)
Mon 3/28
21-15-9 reps @ 5:45 (yikes! v-close to time limit!!)
Hang Power Cleans (65#)
Wall Balls (14#)
Box Jumps (20″)
Would've liked to go a little lighter/lower to get speed up, but we don't have 5# bumpers or a lower box @ home. Need to work on metcon REGARDLESS - this was a struggle and I was really slow!!
Post – 3 x 10 Glute Ham Raises
oh, i'm gonna feel these in a couple of days...
http://beyondthewhiteboard.com/workout_sessions/1154041
Tue 3/29
Ashtanga yoga (full primary series) ... yeah. v-sore glutes... i wanna chalk it up to having an asian ass... but that'd be wimping out. my glut/hams are flexible because of yoga, but underdeveloped in terms of strength. i think my squat movements will really improve if i can improve that... work in progress
Wed 3/30
15 min AMRAP @ 7 rounds, 2 DL
9 Deadlifts (75#)
12 Push-ups
15 Box jumps (20")
coach said i wasn't working hard enough because i wasn't cursing... that's kinda sad ... and maybe true because i think there was 1 more round in me. my goal was to do 7 rounds, so i was trying too hard to time each round at 2:30 ... which felt way too slow. i also scaled down weight instead of just doing it RX'd... it was too light (even though my form went to crap in the last round when i finally decided to go faster)
oh well. when in doubt, challenge yourself. lesson learned..
http://beyondthewhiteboard.com/workout_sessions/1159112
Fri 4/1
Lack of access to equipment prevented me from hitting regular CFC WOD, but I managed to do ashtanga yoga (full primary series). Better than bananas for diminishing soreness and working out the kinks (really sore from glute/ham raises!)
Sat 4/2 (CFC Fri 4/1 Makeup)
WOD: 7 Rounds @ 13:42
3 Hang Power Snatch (75#)
5 Handstand Push-ups
7 Pull-ups
Yay! Was able to get a WOD in! V-slow, but HPS unbroken (maybe light?). Still working on full depth for HPU. CTB unbroken in first round, then 2-3's. Still working on getting my "GRRR!" back on.
Post-WOD
me laying on the floor ... and then 5 x :05 l-sits
http://beyondthewhiteboard.com/workout_sessions/1166777
Still need to do power cleans, though.
So out of 10 this week ...
back in the saddle. i just couldn’t stay away. i’m sore and behind in my work, but so happy to do a WOD.
Warmup: 20 overheads, 20 pushups, 20 pullups, 50 doubleunders (yeah! i love love love our new jumprope and i’m so owning it now!), and 10 ttb
Mainsite WOD:
Hang Power Snatch 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1
75-85-75-75-75-85-85(f)-85(f)-75-75(f)
Goal: 110PR from May 2010
(Adam, Ali G, and Skins here lookin strong before we go into the workout)
Power snatches 5-3-1+ (70%/80%/90%) @ 73-83-93(4)
Metcon 3 rounds @ 6:11
Brutal.
Thrusters slow but unbroken 1st rnd, then 4's and 3's the last 2. Didn't too feel "too" heavy at first but it snuck up on me and burpees took the rest. Stared at bar a lot but the burpees were steady. I need a bigger gas tank :)
Today also took paleo challenge photos. My before and after are more significant than I thought. TBA!
Back Squat 5-3-1+ @ 67.5%/76.5%/85.5%
Although my RX should have been 118-134-149, I didn’t feel like I had enough punch to do the weight today. So Coach helped me scale it down 10% to 108(5) – 120(3) – 135(1)
I had to redo 120lbs thrice before getting to depth and failed my 2nd attempt at 135lbs . . . my legs clearly went to mush while sick. I’ve always struggled with squat movements, but today was a very humbling statement about how much work needs to be done to get back to a 175lb squat. Looks like there is a lot of glut/hamstring work to be done in my immediate future. Oh joy!
But I can’t lie to myself. I am still 10+lbs under my target weight/lean mass. I simply don’t have my full strength or aggression back. I am simply not 100% . . . yet . . . but I’ll get there . . . in fact, I HAVE to get there in 89 days.
Metabolic Conditioning:
- 10 power snatches (75% of 1RM snatch)
- 50 double-unders
- 8 power snatches
- 40 double-unders
- 6 power snatches
- 30 double-unders
- 4 power snatches
- 20 double-unders
- 2 power snatches
- 10 double-unders
I love power cleans, jerks, and snatches. They’re functionally natural to me because it’s like how I pick up a heavy pack or an ice block during a climb. So seeing the snatches was exciting for me. Also, I was excited about the fact that we were doing doubleunders now after I’d strung a new PR of 20 . . .
But alas, while my snatches were solid, unbroken, and steady, my doubleunders were . . . well . . . they did me in. I’m convinced that doubleunders are a perishable skill. I ended up doing singles (3x to compensate) somewhere in the 3rd round and just struggled. A tad disappointed to be sure.
… but man, those snatches felt good. So good, in fact, that my IQ dropped a few points and I did a few extra on round 2 (10 reps instead of 8). I wasn’t so much winded as I was frustrated that I couldn’t string more than 3 doubleunders at a time or go a tad heavier (78# would have been my RX’d weight). So my results were 9:05 with 65lbs. Not top performer, not bottom performer, but just right I guess . . . steady and a little stronger than yesterday.
I’m ok with that. Coach said I looked stronger . . . coming from him and how rare it is to get praise, I’ll definitely take it.