Crossfit log for Friday, November 30th

Almost didn't make it this morning. Turned off the alarm at 5:00am (which I had set half an hour earlier when I woke up at 4:30 and realize I hadn't set it!) rolled over, closed my eyes, got up and it was 5:36am. Supposed to be at the gym at 5:30am!!!!

Not much of a warm up.

Clean and jerk complex. 4 sets at 70%-75% of 1 rep max of:
1 power clean
1 hang clean
1 clean
2 jerks

did 85#, 95#, 115# 115#

Work out was a good over all work everything type workout
12 AMRAP
10 alternating 1 arm kettlebell clean and jerks 16kg
10 goblet squats 16kg
10 ring dips

Made 4 rounds plus 1 c&j, thought I'd be closer to 5 rounds but the dips really slowed me down, even with kipping. I'm good for 5, but the extra 5 each round took it's toll.

Goofy Training log for Thursday, November 29th

Another solid interval session.

Didn't think I was going to make it but I toughed it out.

1 mile warm up at 9:30/mile
6 x 4:00 on 1:30 rest
4:08/km
4.05/km
4.03/km
4:00/km
3:58/km
3:55/km

The last one was tough, I was like 1 minute in and wanted to quit but I was at 4.66 miles, and I really really wanted to quit, so I said to myself try and make it to 5 miles, and suddenly it wasn't so bad, the time goal of 3 minutes seem so much longer, at 5.0 miles I had like 1:15 to go, so I said, come on, you can do 1:00 and change! And I did!

Felt awesome.

40:15 for 8.15km

Crossfit log for Wednesday, Novermber 28th

WOD Wednesday.

8 bloody rounds
12 overhead walking lunges
1 rope climb
12 dead lifts 135#

Warming up my dead lift was told quite bluntly that my upper back and shoulder were a total "shit show". I guess I need to anchor my shoulders back and puff out my chest, but it's hard. Too many years of bad posture. Good to be aware of it so you can focus on correcting it.

First 4 rounds were okay, 5, 6, and 7 not so fun. 8 was just get it over with already.

Finished in 20:14.

Goofy Training log for Sunday, November 25th

25km done in the cold and wind.

By 8km I was feel much better than when I left. Had to hurry the last bit, was getting late to go to Le Nordik spa with Kiza for her birthday.

2:26:00

Goofy Training log for Saturday, November 24th

10 km this morning. First half was rough, second half was solid.

54:20

Crossfit log for Friday, November 23rd

Rough one this morning. Only a handful of us finished before the 20:00 cap.

7 rounds (14-12-10-8-6-4-2 reps) of
-kettle bell taters 20kg
-split snatch 75# (dropped to 65# after the first 6 reps)
-knees to elbows.




Brutal, just brutal.

Goofy Training log for Tuesday, November 22nd

Another solid run today.

1 mile warm up at 9:24/mile
5 x 4:00 at 9.0 mph

What does all that mean you might ask?

1.6km @ 5:50/km
5 x 1km (approx) at 4:08/km on 1:30 rest (12:00/km)

Felt great. Had a 6th interval in me, but was pressed for time.

Feeling back on track.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, Novermber 21st

Ugh. WOD Wednesday.

5 rounds for time:
8 Dead lift 185#
8 pull ups
8 handstand push ups

20:18

That was rough.

Goofy Training log for Tuesday, November 20th

Finally a good quality run!

Frog for 28:00 3.57miles

Felt good from the get go, just didn't have the mental to finish the last 2:00. Better than I've had in nearly a month!

Crossfit log for Monday, November 19th

Back squats: 4 sets of 8

Did 95#-115#-135#-135# and then 2 reps at 185#

The WOD was a 21-15-9 triplet:
Box jumps 24" box
Kettle bell swings, 20kg
Over head squats 75#

I decided to use my lifting shoes, I could manage the box jumps in them, but they'd be huge on the overhead squats.

I did 3 squats with the 75# bar, but it was just too hard. You really have to lock out your arms and really really engage you traps to pull you shoulder blades together to stabilize the weight overhead. I dropped it to 65# and did a couple more, but it still wasn't happening. So empty bar it was. But I was doing them. It was hard, but I did 45 over head squats. Some weren't pretty, but better than ever before.

One of my 2012 goals was a good overhead squat. I feel that I accomplished that today.

Goofy Training log for Sunday, November 18th

Well that wasn't so bad. 20km done. Seemed really long though, despite being under 2hrs.

10km yesterday morning. Tried to go fairly easy. Garmin died. Ended up around 55 min.

Crossfit log for Friday, November 16th

"Jackie"

1000m row
50 thrusters 45# (empty bar)
30 pull ups

10:44 - 0:20 slower than my PR.

Didn't break the thrusters efficiently.

On Sep 14th, I wrote:Decided to do 5 sets of 10 for the thrusters, but I was feeling so good I kept going, but thankfully I caught myself on #11 and took a break, the second 10 was just as easy, the 3rd, not so much, the 4th ended up being 2 sets of 5, but I was able to string together 10 to finish it out. Although I felt really strong for the first 20, you deteriorate very quickly, even with only 45#.

The above is from my PR. Should've done this again. Started with 20, and just couldn't sustain it. Next time I'll remember. I have a sub 10:00 in me, I'm sure.

Did strength afterwards, we had the choice, but I was voluntold to do the WOD first. Strict press after thrusters, not so good.

Was supposed to do 3 x 8 reps, it was more like 8 - 5 - 5 @ 75# should've dropped the weight but was too tired/lazy. It'll do.

Goofy Training log for Thursday, November 15th

7km run along the canal done.

No watch. Estimate 40 minutes ish.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5738744

Crossfit log for Wednesday, November 14th

WOD Wednesday!

Skill work: Rope climb.

OMG!

Thankfully only 2 rounds of
10 heavy thrusters 105#
1 rope climb
20 kettle bell snatches 16kg
15 thrusters 75#
20 kettle bell swings 16kg

Finished the first round in 7:16, total time was 17:22, took a whole 10 minutes for round 2. Heavy thrusters sucked second time through.

A 15# plate on either side made the difference. Some shared two bars and started at different spots in the round. I really didn't want start with rope climbs and end with heavy thruster so I went alone. I suggested to those sharing to start at the light thrusters so you would end with the kettle bell either way. A few took my advice.

Guest Crossfit log for Wednesday, November 14th

Kiza wrote:I'm using James's journal to brag about my workout last night!

As I left the house, he said "unbroken!" I wasn't sure what he meant.

Strength work was 3x3 heavy push jerks from the rack (not the floor) : (go to about 45 seconds in, and mute your volume - guy's voice is annoying).

I managed to do 85 lbs which is by far my highest weight for a push jerk!

The WOD was 4 rounds of:

10 wall balls(Rx women - 14lbs, blue was lighter, green was light) (about 1:34 into video)
15 push press- UNBROKEN (blue was 55 lbs - not sure what Rx was)
15 push ups (red was 20) (video to show the hand release)

So, the unbroken part meant that once you pick up the bar, you can't put it down, or, it doesn't count. Holy crap. It was hard....

....but, I did BLUE! It's the first time I was able to do a full workout in the blue category.

I think it was a breakthrough workout for me - in that I felt strong and that I belonged there.

oh, time was 13:57 or something like that.

We were in partners, so, if your partner was still using the push press bar, you had to wait - which was probably a good thing, since once you picked up the bar, you had to get the 15 push presses in without putting down the bar!

I'm so proud of you. You are strong.

Oh and the annoying voice is only MIKE BURGNER, they guy who basically wrote the book on Olympic lifting for Crossfit. If you ever do the Burgner warm up, he invented it. 

Crossfit log for Monday, November 12th

Ugh. No runs this weekend.

Day four of strep and my throat isn't healed, and I'm still tired and achy. Amoxil doesn't even seem to be putting a dent in it.

I went to the gym anyway, planning to go easy.

Did somewhat okay at the back squats.

The WOD was interesting.
5 rounds of:
5-5-5-5-5 dead lifts (blue was 185#-225#) I opted for 185#
30-25-20-15-10 double unders

At 185, is wasn't too hard and I somehow managed to string together a lot of 10 or more double unders. In my lifting shoes no less!

Finished first! 5:02 (granted other went heavier, but still).

It didn't leave me half dead, which was nice, and it felt good to workout again. Hopefully my lunch time run tomorrow will be good.

Crossfit log for Wednesday November 7th

Fight Gone Bad.

3 rounds for score: 5 minute (1 min at each station) 1 minute rest between rounds.
-wall balls 20# med ball 10' target (1 rep = 1 point)
-sumo dead lift high pull 75# bar (1 rep = 1 point)
-box jumps 24" box (1 rep = 1 point)
-push press (1 rep = 1 point)
-row (1 cal = 1 point)

July 20th, I wrote:
Last time I did this was the end of May and scored a huge PB at Rx weight (75# bar, 20# med ball) of 234 (up from 182, although I'd scored 250 @ 55#/14# between those two efforts).

Today I went 217. Not sure where I lost time, the wall balls sucked, and the sumo dead lift were rough too. Did fairly well on the push press and rower. Box jumps saved me, just cranked those out.

Anyway, can't PB every time. Coming off Fran, I'll take it.

Strangely enough, we did Fran on Monday.

Today I scored 226. Even starting with Rowing, which gives you an advantage as you don't lose time getting setup, I still didn't come close to my 234 PB.

P.S.

I guess those aches and pains weren't from Fran and Fight Gone Bad!

Looks like I might have strep throat again! Third time since last Christmas! Unreal.

Goofy Training log for Tuesday, November 6th

Did the frog run today.

Started at 6.4mph increasing by 0.2mph every 2:00. Had my new Wave Universe shoes, looking cool, feeling fast.

First 12 minutes didn't feel great, but I kept at it, by 20:00 I was in a good groove.

At 24:00 I committed to making it to 30:00, until the stupid treadmill went dark at 26:10. Unreal. I only needed 30 minutes and it couldn't even give me that. Grr.

Any, it was a solid 26 minutes, better than I've had since PEC, so I'll take it.

Monday, November 5th

To warm things up we did power cleans plus 2 thruster, building to "heavy". Heavy for me turn out to be 125lbs. I'll take it

Then we did Fran.

On July 18th, I wrote:Fran.

Previous Fran efforts:
Sept 2, 2011: 13:22 @ 75#
Oct 8, 2011: 9:44 @ 75#
Nov 19, 2011: 13:35 @ 85#
Jan 23, 2012: 8:12 @ 65#
April 6, 2012: 9:16 @ 75#

Today: 7:24 @ 75# !!!!

In November after my fiasco, some athletes that used lighter weight and band-assisted pull-ups had times close to 6:00. Francois said they needed to up the weight and us less assistive bands. They were getting too fast at their current effort.

Previously he had said, over 10 minutes and you aren't getting the metabolic conditioning. In fact he sometimes caps the workout at 10:00.

So I think that's my plan. I'll go back to 75# to get back under 10:00 and work until I can go sub 7:00 or sub 6:30 before I increase the weight again.

I went unbroken the first round at 65lbs in January, but I made it to only 16 of the first 21 today, so I also want to be able to do the first 21 thruster unbroken before I move up. I think next time might be the last at 75lbs. We'll see.

So at the very least, I got a good plan out of today's workout.

Plan is working. I think I'll add to that plan, that the first 21 thrusters have to be unbroken before I move up to 85#. I went unbroken the first round at 65# in January, and I made to 16 of the first 21 today. So I think next time might be the last at 75#. We'll see.

I broke up the work, round 1, thrusters 16 + 5, pull ups 15 + 6, round 2 thrusters 5 + 5 + 5, pull ups: 5 + 5 + 5, round 3: thrusters 5 + 2 + 2, pull ups 9! I was going to break them up, but coach Isabelle was standing right next to me yelling "UNBROKEN! UNBROKEN! DON'T STOP", makes it hard to drop off the bar with that going on!

Very pleased with this.

Well I lied.

I felt that it had been a long enough time since the last Fran that I was sure to under 7:00 at 75#, and the year is running out, so my goal of decent Fran Rx is slipping away. There may have been a bit of ego involved, but I felt strong, I had my new lifting shoes and 3 and a half months of training since the last time.

I did 85#

First round, unbroken, in 1:52. Broke the 15 thrusters into 5s, made to 9 pull ups straight, then added the remaining 6. But I was already at 5:12 on the clock. The last 9 thrusters went 5 and 4, at 6:38, so I tried to hammer the pull ups to go sub 7. Made to 6 and looked at the clock: 7:02, CRAP! Took a few deep breaths and jump back on for the last 3 and finished in 7:17

PR plus 10# heavier!

Goofy Training log for Sunday, November 4th

Yesterday's 13km went well but today's 26 km not so much. Took 45 minutes to find kind of groove and it did last long enough. Bailed at 21 km. Terrain was too hilly for what I had in the tank.

Still a step in the right direction. Next weekend well be better.

I'm sure it's due to a number of factors. I haven't gone over 22km in a long time. Even though I've done 10km/20km weekends as recently as a month ago, I haven't done much since the race. For some reason I thought I would be able to just jump back into the Goofy training schedule immediately.

Plus Friday's WOD left my feet sore from the sudden starting and stopping of the shuttle runs, and my glutes and quads sore from the snatches and walking lunges.

I also probably went a bit too hard on the Saturday 12km run.

I'm reducing my Crossfit load this week to Mon/Wed/Fri, with short runs on Tues and Thurs., I'm sure next weekend will be much better.

Shoe shopping.

So the shoe gods smiled at me on Wednesday. After discovering that Asics made lifting shoes I had a really hard time finding any in Canada, and the USA won't export here anymore. So I called Asics Canada (since they have no Canadian web presence) and found the Sports Experts at Bayshore and At Rideau had some. I called both asking if they had any in size 11 or 11.5

Rideau had them at $89 but only in size 12. Bayshore had an 11.5 and a 12 but on for $109. I knew the 12 wouldn't fit, but I put them on hold at both places just in case. That evening I met Nat Connors, a fellow Crossfitter on the bus on the way home and talked about lifting shoes. She informed that I should be looking for a half-size smaller, because you don't want any wiggle room. Crap.

I didn't even bother going to Rideau. I took a lunch time trip to Bayshore. (okay side rant, how is it possible that there is no direct bus route from Downtown to one of the biggest Malls in the city. Place d'Orleans, St-Laurent, South Keys all on major expressways, Bayshore? Milk runs. Good grief!)

I tried the 11.5 and they fit, but not snug at all. Bummer. "And you have nothing in 11?", after a quick trip to the back room the saleslady said the next size I have is only 10 1/2.  Bring those out please! I normally wear 11, so 10.5 might just work. As I'm trying them on I mention that the Rideau location has them on for $89, to which she replies, I just call them up and if they are, we'll price match them for sure! Sweet. I finish lacing them up and they fit perfectly.

I thanked the shoe gods and began the "amazing race" back to the office.

Now, apparently there is a price to be paid when the shoe gods grace you with favour. Thursday I didn't go to Crossfit, (Kiza did and they did clean and jerks) and when I went this morning, there was no strength work, so I have had these awesome weightlifting shoes for 2 whole days and not one opportunity to use them, with no prospects until Monday!!!!!

Oh well.

Crossfit log for Friday, November 2nd

Today's WOD was ... interesting. Once we figured out how it worked. (thanks to one of the athletes, the coaches couldn't decipher head coach Frank's machinations)

Every minute on the minute until failure
15' shuttle run
# of laps: 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14
1 min rest
one arm dumbbell snatches (alternating arms) 30# dumbbell
# of reps 6 - 8 - 10 - 12 - 14 - 16 - 18 - 20 - 22
1 min rest
overhead weighted lunges 25# for first three rounds, the upped it to 35#
# of steps 6 - 8 - 10 - 12 - 14 - 16 - 18 - 20 - 22

So not through each exercise once per round, the shuttle runs first (to failure, or max 14 laps), then rest, then snatches, rest and lunges. They shouldn't have capped it, it would've been a bit longer but not much. We ended up all finishing the run at 14 laps, and all but two made it to the end of the snatches and a few seconds to spare. I failed at the 18 lunges with 35# overhead. (I might have made it to the end if I'd stayed with the 25# plate).

It was a sweat fest.