Crossfit log for Monday, October 31st

Strength: Back squats
5 sets of 10-8-6-4-4
Did 95#-125#-135#-155#-165#

Workout of the Day (WOD):
... 5 rounds
5 hang clean 95# (Rx was 125#)
10 burpees
4 Turkish get-ups (2 per side) 8kg (I hate these)
Time - 15:20

The hang clean is different from the regular clean in that you don't started each clean from the ground, but lift the bar to your waste and start each rep from there. Did good, as I got fatigued, I had to really focus on technique to get the bar to my shoulders.

Burpees are bearable if you can get your feet close to your hands before you get up.

Turkish get-ups are stupid.

So 165lbs squats and solid hang cleans on the plus side.
Burpees and Turkish get-ups on the minus side.

A well balanced day!

Crossfit log for Friday, October 28th

Today being my birthday I didn't know what to expect. Some times they can be brutal.

It turned out to be tough, but not ridiculously so.

20 pull-ups
20 burpees
30 kettle bell swings 16kg
30 sit ups
41 double under
41 sumo dead lift high pulls
50 Russian twists 20# med ball
100 air squats

I had a massage yesterday and it really opened my chest and traps. I was able to do the 20 pull ups unbroken. The most I've ever done before without stopping is 9.

Double unders slowed me down again but strung together a bunch of 2, 3, 4 and some 5 in a row streaks.

The twists were rough, did essentially 5 sets of 10. That worked well.

Squats got hard at 25, so that's where I broke it up and did 4 sets.

Felt pretty good about it. Halo securely in place.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, October 26th

Solid workout today, even it I technically DNF'd

Strength was dead lifts, my back was just recovered from Monday, and I felt pretty solid.
5 sets 12-12-12-15-20 going lighter as the reps wen up.

Did 135#-135#-135#-115#-95#

Back was good, legs were good. Forearms, were not good. Had to take short breaks in the last 12, the 15 and the 20 rep sets, I just couldn't hold on to the bar. The lifting was fine.

WOD- was brutal.
5 rounds (did only 3)
5 front squats (heavy - I went with 135#)
25 push-ups.

I had really good form (for me) on the front squat, it was heavy for me but I held my form well. The push-ups killed me. Even the first round, the 3rd I had to do them on my knees. (luckily I'm an honorary lady in the mornings, so it was all good).

Time was 8:55. Stupid push-ups.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, October 25th

Rough day at Crossfit. Back is sore from yesterday, made it hard to keep my core braced.

Strength:
Shoulder press 12 -8-6-4-4 (progressively heavier)
Actual: 65#x10 - 65#x8 (last 2 push press) - 65#x6 - 75#x4 (last one push press) - 75#x3 ugh.

WOD: 21-15-9 wallballs 20#, palm-up, bent-over, barbell rows 65#
Time: 4:26

Then we did this weird leaping med ball throw.

Crossfit log for Monday, October 24th

Back at it after 2 days off.

Strength: Back squats (yes, again).
- 3x8reps, 2x15reps (heavier/lighter).
Did 145# 8-8-6 115# 15-12

My form is improving, but it's identifying more weaknesses. Especially in my lower back.

WOD:
5 rounds for time:
5-5-5-5-5 Dead lifts (could only manage 135# after the squats)
30-25-20-15-10 double unders, (did a mix of DU and singles 3 for 1 i.e. three single count for 1 double).

I would've been faster if I'd just done triple the singles, but I wanted to at least try and get the first 10 of each set as doubles.

Again with the dead lifts, new weaknesses discovered, upper back. Holding my shoulders back and down and chest out is proving harder that I would've imagined.

I guess that means some weaknesses have gotten stronger, if new ones are suddenly becoming apparent!

Crossfit log for Friday, October 21st

Didn't like the WOD today.

Strength we did back squats again. 5 sets 10-8-6-6-6 progressively higher weight.
Did: 95#-125#-145#-145#-145#

The WOD was a 10min AMRAP:
4 Turkish get-ups (2 each arm) (8kg kettle-bell)
15 Sumo dead lift high pull (16kg kettle-bell)
15 ab-mat sit-ups
15 Goblet squats (12kg kettle-bell)
15 push-ups

This was a disaster. Get-ups really slowed me down, they are a complicated move, especially when you aren't used to them. Then I forgot the push-ups the first round.

I only got through 2 rounds and started the get-ups on the third (3 of 4), but missing 15 push-ups. What a mess.

Made up for it on the core workout.
3 rounds not timed:
10 hollow rocks
10 knee to chest
10 med ball side throws.

It started to hurt on the 3rd round, I really should've done a fourth round.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, October 19th

Practised Cleans. I suck. But it's a skill that takes time to develop.

There are many different pieces that just don't come naturally. You really have to train your brain. Then putting them together becomes insane.

WOD:
4 rounds for time
-24 overhead walking lunges (2 lengths of the gym) 25#. Rx was 45#  yikes!
-20 burpees (my favorite)

13:42.

My poor hamstrings and glutes.

Tuesday I ran: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5149460

Just shy of 7km in 35 minutes.

The 2011 Wellness Challenge 5km for the GCWCC

I ran this race last year and blew up pretty bad. I had been in really good shape at the time having run my current 5km PB of 20:33 only a month later. Last year's edition of this race was just poorly executed.

I haven't done a ton of running lately, with my Crossfit Experiment in full swing, and the Army run out of the way, I've been less than motivated. But thanks to the Army run and some lunch time runs, I felt that a sub 22:00 should be attainable.

Last year I arrived just in time to get my chip and start running. This year, I entered my department as a team and got the bibs/chips in advance, so I decided to run to the venue, about 3.5km from where I work. This was a great idea. I ran relatively easy and was there with about 10 minutes to spare. I kept moving and anxiously awaited the start which was very anti-climactic. No horn, no gun. All of the sudden people were running.

This is a charity event put on by Stats Can, and the majority of the runners aren't experienced, so naturally they hadn't seeded themselves very well, even worse than normal races. So the first km was dodging slower runners. The second km was dodging somewhat faster runners who had started out too fast. I focused on running the tangents and running hard.

I pushed hard in the last km, because I was doing time math and thought I could get close to 21:00, but I ran out of steam with less than 500m to go, and just held of for dear life until I crossed the finish line. It was rough with no water stations or water belt, but I had a bottle stashed near the finish and went straight to it after the race.

I finished in 21:22 (chip) 62nd overall, which, as I just figured out, is actually faster than any of the four 5km races in 4 weeks I did at the beginning of the summer. So I have to be happy with that. Sub 20 is coming. Next season, for sure!

Crossfit log for Monday, October 17th

On Friday, despite not feeling well enough to do the WOD, I still managed the strength portion:

Front Squats 3x3 @ 145# happy with that.

I didn't feel like crap til the first round of the WOD. But I should've known better, the warm-up had me winded!

My first DNF

I don't think there is a worse feeling in the world than sitting on the side lines while your crew does a hard WOD.

I was going try and go Saturday, but I felt even worse. Thankfully Kiza let me spend most of the day in bed.

Today we did Dead lifts for strength:
4 sets 12-10-8-6
95#-125#-145#-155#
Then Kamil and I decided to add 10# and do 4 reps at 165#. It was starting to get heavy but doable.
I made the mistake of telling Isabelle that I was sure I could go over 200#, naturally she said: "Do it". So I did 205#. It wasn't that hard.

I looked at my old logs and found I had done 235# in the past (back when I didn't really know what I was doing). Next time 265# for sure, maybe even try for 275#.

The WOD was 5 rounds for time:
-5 Push press (65#)
-20 kettle bell swings (12kg)
-10 pull-ups (kipping)
-10 ab mat sit-ups

I think I was 13:55. It was rough, not fully recovered from my cold, and those KB swings were brutal.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, October 25th

So I've essentially done nothing since Fran. I was so sore, I spend Sunday and Monday either stretching or rolling around on a tennis or street hockey ball, to work out the kinks in my lats, traps and chest.

I was feeling better this morning, except for Delilah 4am accident, and she wouldn't go back to sleep again. Grrr. (Turns out she did fall asleep just after I left for the gym).

It was good to be back.

Strength work was barbell rows. Hard on the hamstrings.
4 sets of 8 to 12 reps. Settled on 75#
Did 8 - 12 - 9 - 12

WOD was 5 rounds for time of:
15 wallballs
15 med ball cleans
with a 20# medicine ball.
Time: 12:41

We were supposed to go lighter on the wall balls, but the girls were using the 14# one for their med ball cleans, so Kamil and I decided to just use the 20# ball for the whole thing.

Holy crap 20# is heavy! But I got 'er done. Lots of hip action on this one. Dead lifting the ball, drive with the hips and shrug to get it in the air, then get under it into a deep squat, the back up driving with the hips, then the wallballs are all about hip drive. So 30 hip drives per round x 5. Thats 150 hip drives under 20# load. Ugh.

I stretched my hip flexors at lunch, but after I ran 5km.

Ran 12:22 out and 12:18 back. Felt really good. I haven't been running enough lately.

Crossfit log for Saturday, October 8th

Fran.

On Sept 2nd, I wrote:Struggled through the thrusters, looking forward to the pull-ups (never ever thought I'd say that!) and managed a 13:22. Not bad for a first attempt.

So we tackled Fran again at Physics Crossfit today. François put a 10:00 minute cap on it. So I'm thinking: great! I won't even finish.

I put on 75# again, like last time. I knew I couldn't handle 95#.

I went all out, tried to take fewer and shorter breaks than last time, and really rifle through the pull ups. Had good practice yesterday with Jackie, so I still had the rhythm.

Thruster were still rough. After the first round I couldn't do more than 5 in a row, but my breaks were short.

I guess I've improved somewhat. Finished in 9:44! PB by 3:38. Not Rx (yet) but still a definite improvement.

Fran = 3 rounds 21-15-9 Thrusters - Pull-ups

Crossfit log for Friday, October 7th

This morning we did "Jackie" which is row 1000m, 50 reps of 45lbs thrusters, and 30 pull-ups, for time.

But first we did the strength workout: 5 sets of 5 back squats. I settle on 135lbs, and did well. Last time I did 115lbs but it was 4 sets of 10 reps. The thing is, I'm strong enough to lift it no problem, I was even able to recover one that I had lost my balance, but when doing the proper technique I have trouble, hip and should and spine mobility are the issue. I expect as these weaknesses develop I'll be able to go much heavier fairly quickly.

My time for Jackie was 15:09

Thrusters were rougher than expected after the row. Couldn't get the pull-up going, so I resorted to the band for 8 of the first 12, alternating kipping and band, getting frustrated that I couldn't get the kip going, finally after 12 I got mad and did 7 kipping then quickly did 3 more, then 7 and finally had to get back on the bar for 1 last one.

Done. Halo in place.

Lunch, I'll do the core workout we didn't have time for this am and do some mobility stuff on my shoulders.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, October 5th

Today was Glute day at Physics Crossfit.

The warmup consisted of mostly glute work. I don't know what most of it was called but here's the description:

10x kneeling with straight body, bring bum to heels and back up, keeping core and glutes tight.

30sec some kind of half bridge with feet planted, shins vertical and shoulders on the ground, pelvis in straight line between knees and shoulders.

15x pump from above position, bring pelvis to floor, and back, keeping glutes and core tight.

10x each side "fire hydrants", think dog taking a leak.

10x each side start on all fours, like "fire hydrant" but extend one leg straight back, and opposing arm straight forward, again, clenching glutes and maintaining neutral spine.

Repeat. I had a hard time keeping my pelvis from rotating sideways during the last two.

Strength: Bulgarian Split Squat (aka Isabelle's latest form of torture)
2 8kg kettle bells 4x8reps each leg.

WOD:
5 Rounds for time
Dead lift: 135# 5-5-5-5-5
Double unders: 25-20-15-10-5

Time: 7:03
135# was the perfect weight, I was able to maintain good form throughout. And I managed to string together 4-5 double unders in a row.

I did good.

Core: 75 Abmat sit-ups. Sucked. After 50, sucked even more. Actually I was solid up until the high 40s, then it got progressively harder.

Crossfit log for Monday, October 3rd

Today we did:
Strength : straight leg dead lift 4x10 @ 75#

Legs could have gone heavier but keeping my back neutral and shoulders down and back was hard.

WOD:
10 min AMRAP:
10 wall balls 14#
10 knee to chest
10 burpees (yuck)

did 5 rounds. 1st round was easy, fell apart quickly thereafter.

Core work:
Tabata Russian Twists. Brutal.

Tabata Bench dips. This was not such a good idea and not really traditional Crossfit to be doing such an isolated movement. Triceps are gonna be sore.

Bonus workout carrying both kids down the stairs at the same time (very slowly).

Crossfit log for Monday, October 1st

Today we did Fight Gone Bad.

Designed for an MMA fighter, when asked what he thought of it after he'd finished it he said: "That felt like a fight, gone bad".

The workout is high intensity 5 minute rounds with 1 minute break.

Each round is five stations for 1 minute each:

Push Press - Rx 75#/45# for reps
Row for calories
Wall ball - Rx 20#/14# (I did 14#) for reps
Sumo dead lift high pull - Rx 75#/45# for reps
Box jumps - Rx 20" (I did 22") for reps

Each rep or calorie is a point.

My total: 176

Didn't puke.

Core workout post FGB

We did :
10 V-snaps (aka hand to toe sit-up or v-ups http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aviRfr_y4N4)
30 Hollow rocks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzxiORnGYAE)
0:30 plank.

SUCKED! OMG the hollow rocks were so hard because everything was so fatigued already. Ugh.