Crossfit log for Monday, December 30th: Achievement One unlocked.

Physics was closed today, so I went to the Y at lunch for some mobility.

But first I decided to have a go at my power clean PR. I hadn't tried in a while and I felt that my goal from Oct 5, 2012 was within reach. I figured I should try to attain at least one of my goal for 2013. Granted this was set before I decided to make 2013 my year of mobility.

My current PR of 175# was set last September 23rd. So I slowly worked up to 135#, then 2 reps at 155#, then a single 165#, 175#, and finally 185#.  It was almost anti climactic. I pulled and there it was.  I had to take a couple of steps forward, but I was holding 185# across my delts in a front rack position that moments before had been on the floor.  So I had to try for 190#, but it didn't go. So there it is. One of six goals met.

The others will fall soon.  Except maybe the snatch and dead lift, but we'll see.

Nice way to close out 2013.  

Progress update of revised weightlifting goals. Derived from intermediate level for my body weight (at the time the goals were set!) at www.exrx.net

New Power Clean PR.  Goal attained!

Lift / target weight / current PR
Bench / 190lbs / 185lbs Apr 30, 2013 (up from 165lbs) 5lbs away
Deadlift / 300lbs / 285lbs Apr 25, 2013 (up from 265lbs)
Press / 130lbs / 125lbs Oct 30, 2013 (up from 120lbs) 5lbs away
Power Clean / 185lbs / 185lbs Dec 30, 2013 (up from 175lbs) !!!!!!
Power snatch / 140lbs / 115lbs Aug, 15, 2013 (up from 105lbs)
Back Squat / 255lbs / 245lbs Sept 17, 2013 (up from 235lbs) 10lbs away

Other lift PRs:
Front Squat 215# Sept 11, 2013
Push Press: 165# (up from 155#) Oct 30, 2013
Clean: 185# (up from 180#) Dec 23, 2013
Jerk: 185# (up from 180#) Oct 30, 2013
Snatch: 130# July 22, 2013
Clean and Jerk: 175# July 24, 2013

Crossfit log for Friday, December 27th

Coach was a no show this morning.  Alarm issues.  Christmas time. He is forgiven.  I know he feels horrible about it.

Whatever, shit happens.

So I went to the Y at lunch.  Friday's are usually bench days, so I did bench.  3 sets of 8 at 135# and then upright rows at 95# also 3 x 8.

Then I did some mobility, mostly hips and hams.

Sadly the steam room wasn't working, so I settled for the dry sauna.

Quads are sore from yesterday's squats.  Surprising.


Hard to imagine a year ago this time I was tapering for the Goofy race and a half challenge.   Time flies.

Crossfit log for Thursday, December 26th

Went to the Y near my house.

I don't go there often. I don't like the equipment there as much, and I don't know the people like the downtown Y.

So I did some mobility work with the foam roller and some stretching.

Then I did some squats.  Worked up to 185#.  Did 5 sets of 5.

Did 3 reps at 205#.  I was going to do a few more sets at that weight but decided up up it to 225# for 2 reps.  Did that twice (or maybe three times, I'm not sure).

Then I tried an overhead squat with just the bar and lifting shoes.  Not bad.  I think I'm getting really close.

So I did my physio exercises and tried again. Similar.  Close.

Maybe it just needs practice. I'll try and do 3 sets of 3 every workout. See how that goes.

Crossfit tomorrow at Physics. 

Crossfit log for Monday, December 23rd: Fran Rx

Today was a long time in coming.

The first time I tried Fran was on September 2nd, 2011.  I even tried Rx in my naiveté. But quickly peeled off 20# after only 2 reps! Ha.

Last time was with 85#.  I finished in 6:36.  I had committed to not going up in weight until I could break 7:00 at my current weight. So my next Fran would be at Rx.

My next Fran was today.

I wasn't ready for it, but really, are you ever ready for Fran?

Despite going to bed even earlier than usual, I spent a good 10 minutes of positive self-talk to get myself out of bed. Dex had been up coughing in the night, but Kiza went to him. Then I started coughing. Some congestion in my upper lungs just wouldn't clear. So, using arguements like, it's likely my last workout of the year, I'll regret it if I don't, etc.  I finally got moving, took my creatine and ubiquinol and headed out the door. But had to scrape the ice off the car, combined with the delay getting up, I was 10 minutes late.

Natasha was really glad to see me, until I showed up, it was just her and Coach Alex. She wouldn't have to suffer alone.

We started with 1 rep max clean and jerk.  I finally managed to clean 185# from the floor for a PR, but just couldn't lock it out in the jerk.  I actually caught it in the front rack after failing, and was able to give it a second go, but same result.  One arm locked the other not.

I was so focused on the clean, I hadn't committed to the jerk I guess.

Then it was time for Fran. 

My lungs weren't quite clear, and my nose was a bit congested too. I actually ran to blow my nose during the workout!

Ended up breaking up the thrusters on the first round, plan was 10, 11, but ended up being, 10, 6, 5.  Man 95# is heavy!

Same break up for pull ups, which is really unusual for me, but I was winded from the thrusters.

I was somewhere around 3:30 after the first round, so I was confident I'd make my goal of sub 10minutes. But I still had more than half the workout left.

Round 2 was 5, 5, 5 for the thrusters.  The last 5 was really hard to finish without dropping.  Pull ups were better, 7,4 and 4. Couldn't catch my breath.

Nearly coughed up a lung at this point.  Had planned on going 3, 3, 3 on the last set of thrusters, but I was feeling better after my coughing fit, and coach was yelling: "Do all nine! Don't stop".  Not quite, I did 5 and 4.

The last of the pull ups were unbroken thankfully, but the break after the thrusters was a good 15 - 20 seconds.

9 minute flat on the clock.  My first official Fran time.

Now I have a number to chip away at.  I'm confident that I can do better next time, if I'm not sick!


Progress update of revised weightlifting goals. Derived from intermediate level for my body weight at www.exrx.net

New Clean PR.

Lift / target weight / current PR
Bench / 190lbs / 185lbs Apr 30, 2013 (up from 165lbs) 5lbs away
Deadlift / 300lbs / 285lbs Apr 25, 2013 (up from 265lbs)
Press / 130lbs / 125lbs Oct 30, 2013 (up from 120lbs) 5lbs away
Power Clean / 185lbs / 175lbs Sept 23, 2013 (up from 157lbs) 10lbs away!
Power snatch / 140lbs / 115lbs Aug, 15, 2013 (up from 105lbs)
Back Squat / 255lbs / 245lbs Sept 17, 2013 (up from 235lbs) 10lbs away

Other lift PRs:
Front Squat 215# Sept 11, 2013
Push Press: 165# (up from 155#) Oct 30, 2013
Clean: 185# (up from 180#) Dec 23, 2013
Jerk: 185# (up from 180#) Oct 30, 2013
Snatch: 130# July 22, 2013
Clean and Jerk: 175# July 24, 2013

Crossfit log for Friday, December 20th: Bring Sally Up.

Last September Rich Froning tweeted a challenge to the Crossfit Community.

Jason Khalipa and his box answered with the following video:


So naturally every Crossfitter in the world had to give it a go.

I tried it in September at 95# and couldn't finish.

The Lyrics go:

Bring sally up, And bring sally down
Lift and squat, Gotta tear the ground

So, you guessed it, when they say "Bring Sally up" you get up, when they say "Bring Sally down" you squat. During the second line, you stay in the bottom position.  Every few reps of this you get a longer pause for the following lyrics:

Old miss Lucy's dead and gone, left me here to weep and moan

This is also while in the bottom position, for several seconds.  In other words: pure Hell.

The breakdown between the longer pauses is 8 reps, 6 reps, 5 reps, 12 reps.

On the 6 reps, I missed one (stayed standing for one rep), on the 5 reps, I missed another one and had to take the long pause before the 12 reps standing.  I made only 6 reps on the 12 before I had to rack it.

My mid back was so tight from trying to keep my torso upright, I couldn't hold the bottom of the squat.  And by the end my hips were screaming.

A couple of guys at the Y were game to give it a try.  We were supposed to be 5, but one was a no-show, and Ben bailed, so he was time keeper/DJ.  So it was me, Adam and Dave. 

This time, I planned on doing 65# or maybe 75#, but as the time to start approached, the more confident I felt that I could do 95#.

My recent mobility work, my bottom position is much better than ever before, and reading "Supple Leopard" last night, finally noticed Kelly Starrett's "all purpose squat stance" was a bit wider than my usual position.

I tried a few reps with a slightly wider than hip width stance, and it was night and day.  I did a few reps at 95# pausing at the bottom and I knew, I could do it.

So Adam and I did 95# and Dave did 135# (he is so strong in the squat)... and away we went.

The 8 reps went by without a hitch, 6 reps not problem. Coming out of the bottom for the set of 5 was rough, and in the middle of the set of 5 the music paused, so we were stuck in the bottom a bit longer. That sucked, big time. Coming out of the bottom for the set of 12 was torture!  But we were finally at the set of 12, the home stretch.

We made 7 reps and music paused again (bad signal at the Y, we really need to download the MP3 for next time), but this time when we were at the top, so it was a bit of a break. A couple more reps, and done.

We were all glad when it was over, no one more so than Dave at 135#. But he did it.  We all did. There was much rejoicing.

I was so pumped to have completed at 95# having failed last time, I think 115# would be doable. Next time for sure.

Crossfit log for Thursday, December 19th

I really liked the strength portion, but with each set, the WOD looked less and less appealing.

Once again my sore toe wasn't a factor.

Strength was bench press and strict pull ups, super set, 5 sets of 5 each.

Did 145# for the first two sets of bench, and 155# for the last three.  Good choice, the last rep of each was a fight, but I got them all unassisted.

Pull ups I did unweighted and that was a good thing.

The WOD looked fairly easy, even afterwards is was difficult to say what made it so hard, each piece wasn't bad in itself, but together they were really rough.

5 rounds for time:
11 wall balls 14# med ball
9 kettle bell swings  24kg
7 handstand push ups  (started with two abmats but almost immediatly switched to box assisted).
5 burpees
3 dead lifts 185#  (blue scaled for men was 205# but I wasn't going there, 185# was women's red, so I did that).

I was already at 6:40 starting round 3, it was crazy.  Granted I had to go get a box for the hand stand push ups.

It was just rough all around.  Glad its over.  More glad I went.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, December 17th - back in the game.

Between getting sick, surgery, recovery, falling down the stairs and spraining my toe, it's been 13 days since my last real workout.

I've gone to the Y a couple of times for mobility work and did one day of squats and press.

So given my nearly 2 weeks off, I decided, when I went back I'd do women's scaled for 1 full week, just to get back in the swing of things.

This morning was bitterly cold, and I did not want to get out of bed to go to the gym at 5:00am, but after 5 minutes of self-talk I came to the obvious conclusion that I'd regret it if I didn't, and I would very likely feel fantastic afterwards.

So I crawled out of bed, took my new nutritional supplement regimen and got in my frigid car for the short drive to the gym.

Strength was two series of 4 sets each:
series one: 1 power clean + 5 strict press  (increase weight each set)
series two: 1 hang clean + 3 split jerks + 1 clean

series one I did 95#, 100#, 105#, 110#, on the last set I could only muster 3 presses.

series two I did 125#, was planning on 135# but decide to go easy being my first day back.  Split jerks weren't happening with my sore toe (from falling down the stairs two days post op, for unrelated reasons)!  So I did power jerk instead.

After my second set, coach called last set because we had to start the WOD. It was a short one, but we'd have to go in waves since we were 7 and there are only three rowers.  So three sets for series two, instead of 4.

WOD was "Jackie"
Same for men and women, no scaling option.  So there goes my plan to go easy.

1 round for time:
1000m row
50 thrusters 45#
30 pull ups.

I've been pretty consistent lately with Jackie,  going 10:26 (PR) 10:44 and 10:49.

Today I went 10:36.  I tried to not drop the bar during the thrusters, while still doing the 10 reps then rest, but in the rack position.  I made it to 30 reps but then had to put it down.   Finished of with 2 sets of 10, putting the bar down again between sets.

Pull ups were horrible.  First 10 not a problem, second 10 turned into 5, then coach gave me a "no-rep" on the last of the second 5, so I had 11 left instead of 10.  Grrr.   So I finished with 5 then 6.

I'm not sure how I feel about it.  On the one hand, I was within my recent scores, but I was fresh and well rested. But maybe a bit out of shape after two weeks off.

I won't harp on it, the nice thing about Crossfit is tomorrow I start with a blank slate.

I'm really glad I got up.  I will take tomorrow off, I expect I'll be sore, but I'll be back at it on Thursday for sure!

Surgery Day.

4:48am - awake before my alarm. Dreaming of quite the adventure getting to the hospital, running through a rain soaked triathlon sidewalk sale, through an old drunk couple's living room, and a construction site. Only to find the hospital overrun by mutants (not the x-men kind).

5:51am - on a bus. Must remember to get off at Hurdman and not go into work. Reading Dance with Dragons.

6:16am - half an hour early at the hospital. Oh well. I'll read some more. 

6:47am - check in. Meet Linda one of the nurses. Go through the questions and info about how things will proceed. 

7:04am -  change into gown.  Take the time to remove my long underwear for the bus ride here, don't want to be that toasty once I'm on the stretcher.  Stow my lunch and clothes.

7:20am - blood pressure is nice and low  124 over 68.  Then the waiting begins.

8:40am - Listening to the patients brief the nurses about their conditions was sobering.  I was easily the healthiest person on the floor.  High blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, back spasms were just a few of the ailments that had to be considered going into surgery. Thankful for my health.

8:55am - Karin, the nurse from my pre-op briefing last week shows up. Had a quick chat, she hijacked my care from Linda. 

9:15am - Dr. Wilson, the anaesthesiologist finally shows up, likes the look of my throat, easy intubation.  A few minutes later an orderly comes by to wheel me to the pre-op area.

Here I see Dr. Delpero.   He's a soft spoken mild mannered former Colonel, with a very calm demeanour.  I like him.  A good role model for the students under his wing.  I hope they appreciate him.

I also meet a different Linda and Marie-Eve, two french nurses who go through the usual identify verification questions as Dr. Wilson put the IV in my hand.

Next thing I know, I'm being wheeled into the OR and I hardly had time to take in the room and I was out.

Next thing I know I'm waking in recovery.  Nurse Karin is there, taking my vitals. Helping me sit up. (She noticed my Superman tattoo and ask to snap a pic)!

Rested for a little while and before noon I was with Kiza, headed to the car.

My eyes were sore, but not unbearably.  Vision was same as before.  The images from my double vision were much closer than ever.  Remains to be seen how close once the muscles settle.

The car ride was rough, I began to feel nauseated as we arrived home and was thankfully able to make it to the sewer grate before tossing my cookies.

I spent the rest of the day in bed, mostly sleeping.

So a fairly uneventful experience, truth be told.  I hope the results turn out good.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, December 4th

I must be patient.

I started my nutritional supplement program Monday, and it's already day 2 and I still don't see a difference.  Duh, it'll take more time than that, I should know better.

WOD Wednesday was a deceiver.

Much like the workout from September 12th, we thought they'd made a mistake.  It was even a Hero WOD. It looked too easy. This couldn't be right.

Oh but it was.

"Whitman"
5 round for time
15 kettle bell swings  24kg
15 power cleans 95#
15 box jumps 24" box

Three rounds would have been a good hard WOD. Five was just no fun.

The first set of box jumps were really hard, couldn't get my feet up!  Subsequent rounds were okay, as I found my legs, but man I was worried that first round.

Started the second round at 3:39, finished at 7:24.

I didn't get any better.  Finished in 21:36.  In my defence I did Rx weight (scaled was 75# on the bar and 20kg kettle bell).

Glad that's over.

Suprise! Surgery is next week.

So I went to my "pre-surgery" appointment with my ophthalmologist, to once again confirm the angle of variance in my eyes for my surgery in April.

Should have been a routine, boring, run of the mill appointment, but it wasn't.

There was a cancellation for December 11th, 8 days away and if I was interested I could take that slot.  Eek!

So all of a sudden I'm signing consent forms, checking my calender, texting Kiza to confirm her availability.  Craziness!

My last surgery was more straightforward, with a local anaesthetic, as the just severed a muscle that was pulling my eye up, because the alternate muscle pulling it back down was essentially absent.

This time, they will be repositioning the muscles that pull my eyes inward on both eyes to hopefully get them parallel, at least when looking forward.

This will require general anaesthetic, and will put the two images from my eyes very close proximity to each other, which may drive me mad, since it may be more difficult to ignore one of the images.

I am very hopeful, but more than a little apprehensive.

I want my eyes to be normal.  I know, in my logical mind, that it is not a very likely possibility (actually not a possibility at all).  Perhaps if I'd tackle this years ago, it might have been, but even then, not likely.

The best I can hope for is better than it is now.

They say that happy people don't have the best of everything, the make the best of what they have, so that's what I'll do, whatever may come of this, I'll make the best of it.

Wish me luck!

Crossfit log for Monday, December 2nd

Olympic lifting class.

Worked with Luke again, he's a bit stronger than I am so pushes my limits. Good thing.

Started with snatch work.  Work up to singles at 90% of max

Then we did some snatch pulls, essentially a snatch minus getting under the bar and catching it, at 70% of max.  3 sets of 4.  Use straps

The was the torture session:
80% of max,  snatch from the hang, then return bar to hang, lower bar to just above ground to a slow 4 count, back up to full extension to a slow 4 count, repeat. Three times through is one set.  3 sets.


Then we did back squats at minimum 100% of clean and jerk max, for 4 sets of 5
Did 185#, 205#, 205#, 205#.

Good hard workout.

Crossfit log for Friday, November 29th

Linda. 

Again.  This is what I wrote on November 1st, last time we did Linda:

You know those days where you go to the gym and have a good tough workout and feel energized and ready to face the day.

Yeah well that didn't happen today.

Linda is a brutal, draining, work horse WOD

I was planning on starting my nutritional supplement program for today's workout but didn't get to it.

I wish I had, a pre-WOD supplement might have helped

Linda: 10 rounds (reps were: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) 
- dead lifts 1.5 times body weight
- bench press, body weight
- clean, 0.75 body weight

There was no 30 minute cap this time, get through it.

I scaled thing differently this time, but I still ended up stopping at 30 minutes. Making it to the end of round 6.

I went heavier on the dead lifts (205# instead of 185#), heavier on the bench, (145# instead of 135#), but lighter on the cleans, (125# instead of 135#)

Dead lifts were okay, but on the seventh round, my back was sore and I didn't want to do even 4 dead lifts.

Bench was a mistake, but one I'm glad I made.  On the fourth round, I couldn't make the last of 7 reps.  So I dropped the weight to 105# (just the way the barbell math worked for me and my partner, Peter), but I did 33 reps at 145#, so I'm happy with that.

Cleans were fine, but my back was getting sore from the dead lifts.

So all in all I feel I did better than last time.   Even though I'd like to complete this workout, I sincerely hope not to see it on the board any time soon.

Crossfit log for Thursday, November 28th

I was wondering why I was so sore, especially in my obliques and lats as I arrived at the box this morning.

We hadn't really worked those muscles this week.  Maybe the rope climbs, or the toes to bar, but not really.

Then it dawned on me: shovelling.    I guess it was a good workout after all.

We did some snatch work.  We had the choice of snatch pulls or snatch dead lift. Since we'd done quite a few pull workouts at Olympic lifting classes, I opted for the dead lifts.  3 sets of 3 at 185#, after working up to that weight naturally.

Then we did heavy back squats, max effort for 3 reps.  Worked up to 225# and as time was running out, decided to call that my max effort.  I've done 240# for two, so I should have at least tried 235# but 225# was hard.

The WOD was a good one.  For me anyway.

10 min AMRAP
-10 wall balls  20# medicine ball
-4 pull ups (add 1 pull up each round)

So, round one: 10 wall balls, 4 pull ups, round two: 10 wall balls 5 pull ups, etc...

I did all the wall balls unbroken, and all the pull ups until the last round (round 8 for 11 pull ups) I had to stop at 9 and jump back up for the last 2. I managed to get through the 10 wall balls with 2 seconds left on the clock, so not even enough time for a single pull up in round 9.

I honestly don't understand how Adam beat me.  I was a machine.  I think I took too much time between stations, and apparently Adam is like lightening when it comes to wall balls (although, given the laws of gravity I don't know how I could go any faster)!

Either way, I'm happy with my result.  I pushed really hard and did almost everything unbroken.

Did the math, 90 wall balls and 60 pull ups in 10 minutes.  Not bad.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, November 27th: Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Today started with a warm up of shovel a path to the car, clear the car and shovel behind the car to get out of the drive way.

Showed up 5 minutes late, but Alex was still writing the workout on the board, so I didn't miss anything.

Very interesting workout.  I really liked it.

Partner WOD, 16 min AMRAP  (weights given for men/women)
1 x rope climb
2 x box jump 30"/24"
3 x dead lift 185#/125#
4 x toes to bar or knees to chest
5 x thrusters 75#/55#

Partner A goes through everything, then partner B does, repeat.

I ended up doing 85# for the thrusters, Rx was 95#, but more importantly, on a 35# women's bar, I could use 25# plates, which are okay to drop.

My partner was Lana.  She did really well. She wasn't used to doing toes to bar, but managed to get many of them and resorted to knees to chest when she had to.

This WOD was about thrusters.  One rope climb, no problem.  A couple of box jumps no sweat. Dead lifts weren't that heavy, and only 3 reps. Toes to bar, okay, tricky if you don't have the right technique, but only 4, completely manageable.

5 thrusters at 85# where where this got interesting.  The first few rounds
 were fine, but it got harder with each round.

We averaged about 1:30 per rounds  completing 10 full rounds, and Lana finishing the dead lifts of round 11 at the buzzer.

Crossfit log for Monday, November 25th

I don't know if its the extra mobility work I've been doing since my last physio appointment, or the salt water bath the Nordik Spa on Friday morning, but for the first time in I don't know how long I didn't feel sore and defeated going into this morning's workout.

5:30 am on a Monday isn't usually the time to feel energized and empowered, but that was me, today.

We started with 5 sets of :
2 split jerks, rest 1:30
5 front squats, rest 1:30

Weight was 70%-75% of max cleans and jerk. I opted for 135#, right in the middle of 70%(130#) and 75%(139#).  Felt good.  I failed to lock out a couple of jerks, but at that weight was able to press them out overhead.

Felt pretty good in the overhead position, so I guess the mobility work is helping.

Front squats at 135# were fine.

Next was 4 sets of 4 deficit dead lifts, standing on a 25# plate, I did two sets at 185#, but coach said I was rounding my back at the bottom.  I gave it one more try but right away he said no.  So I redid set 3 and did set 4 from the floor.

The workout was devious, looked tough but manageable on the board, but once I got started, holy crap!

8 min AMRAP, increasing reps each round (2, 4, 6, 8...)
- squat cleans  115#
- burpees

The plan was go hard on the burpees, take my time on the cleans.  Well, I didn't have a choice.  Getting up from the cleans got really difficult, really quickly.

Made it through the 2 first rounds and was only 2 minutes in,  this was going to be long!  The 6 cleans on round 3 really slowed me down, so the burpees went well. Made it through the 10 cleans of round 5 but only had time for 4 burpees.

Score 4 rounds + 14 reps

Crossfit log for Friday, November 22nd

Took yesterday off for physio and back at it big time today.

For strength we did 5 rounds of 5 strict press, rest 1 minute, 5 strict pull ups, rest 1 minute.

I did 95#, and it was a good weight.  The last rep was a bit of a fight to get up.  I did the pull ups just body weight and had no trouble doing all 5 sets of 5.

The WOD today was "DT"
5 rounds for time
12 dead lifts
9 hang power cleans
6 power jerks/push press

All using the same bar, so same weight.  Rx is 155lbs, only Adam and Botch did this weight.

I hummed and hawed, and thought Natasha was doing 105 (women's Rx), and my ego said I had to go heavier. I've done 95# and 105# in the past, but I don't think I've ever done 115#.  So that's what I chose. As it turns out Natasha did 85#so I could have gone lighter and still satisfied my ego, but I'm glad I didn't.

I was happy with my 16:06 performance, until I read my old blog posts complaining about going over 15 minutes.  Oh well.  I went hard.  I tried to make sure when I picked up the bar I was not putting it down until the before last rep.

I say before last, because with "DT", the strategy is this, if you have to drop, don't drop on the last rep of the dead lift or the clean, since you will have to dead lift it to start your first clean and you'll have to clean it to start your first jerk.  It makes more sense to drop on the 11th dead lift, take a break, the do the 12th dead lift as you start your cleans.  Same goes for the last clean before starting the jerks.

On the third round I finally committed to keeping my hook grip when catching the cleans, this made it much easier to get through them, but on round 4 my hands got sweaty and I lost the grip on the 7th rep, and I had to drop it.  So when I picked it back up, I made sure to do the last 3 cleans and immediately start the jerks.

I worked hard.  I'm happy with my 16:06.   It was the heaviest "DT" I've ever done.

Physio and mobility work: it does the body good.

After my frustrating experience with one armed overhead kettle bell squats, I made an appointment with my physiotherapist. I've done a ton of work over the past year to get my body in a state where I can perform most of the movements required by Crossfit, movements that every normal healthy body should be able to perform.

The good news is I have the necessary range of motion, but I lack the motor control to achieve that range of motion.  Which is especially good news because it's easier to fix than flexibility and mobility issues.

He gave me some more exercises, plus I found a great blog post by Eric Ressey with some more exercises of overhead work, and I've been using the foam roller to beat the crap out of my pecs, lats, traps and back.

On top of all this I'm still working my hamstrings, glutes and hips to try and get deeper in the squat, and Mitch suggested my quads may be tight.  Great.  There aren't enough hours in the day to roll and massage an stretch and mobilize and strengthen all the body parts I need to address!

At least it's progress, but more importantly, it's a plan, that will lead to more progress.

My year of mobility is running out.  I may have to extend it a bit.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, November 20th

It was somewhat more difficult to get out of bed this morning.

I tried a new "pre-workout" drink mix, Adam gave me to see if it would have any impact on my workout.  It's called "N.O. Xplode"

Didn't really notice any difference.

No strength work today.   But it was a Hero WOD called 'Jack'

20 minute AMRAP
-10 push press  95#
-10 kettle bell swings 20kg
-10 box jumps, 24" box

I paced myself well.  Averaged 2:30 per round

had one lousy box jump left when the time was up! Score was 7 rounds + 29 reps. 1 short of 8 rounds.

The first 2 rounds were around 2:00, so I got progressively slower, but I kept my breaks short.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, November 19th

Back to back workouts aren't a good idea.

That being said, I woke up this morning after Olympic lifting class yesterday evening feeling alert and refreshed a full 15 minutes before my alarm.

I even took my time getting ready, not the usual mad rush to get out the door, and arrived at the gym early. 

We started with a quick strength set of cleans from the hang position, at 70-75% of max which worked out to be 135# for me.

The next part was more difficult and longer.  A 14 minute EMOM

-Odd minutes, strict ring dips, 5 reps.  Rest the remaining time.
-even minutes, power clean from the floor, 5 reps, touch and go. 
You could add weight as the workout progressed. I chose not to.  Stuck with my trusty 135#

The WOD was a gut wrencher.
10 minute cap
5 rounds
Wallballs  40-30-20-10
burpees over plate 5-10-15-20

Only made 3 rounds plus 2 wall balls.  Round 3 really sucked.

Crossfit log for Monday, November 18th

Olympic lifting class is a crowded, fast paced, hard work affair.

As soon as the clock hits 6:30, it's go, go, go.

Started with 3 sets of 4 drop snatch, with empty bar.  Essentially to place the bar across you back/traps with a wide snatch grip, extend fully to the balls of your feet and extended torso then dropping under the bar to catch it with arms locked in an over head squat or lunch if, like me, you cannot overhead squat.

We moved to snatch balance + squat/lunge, for 3 reps, progressing in weight for 3 sets.  Did 65#, 95# and 105#.

The real worked was next, with front squat from the rack plus a split jerk working up to 80% of max then doing 5 sets of 1 front squat, 2 jerks, 1 front squat.

Worked up quickly, since we were well warmed up, but maybe too quickly. First 2 sets were at 155#, but I was having trouble locking it out. Moved down to 145# and it was much better.

The final part was power snatch, from the hang, with straps, to work out power through the middle.  5 sets of 6 reps at 60-65% of max.  After 4 sets I was done.  Should have stayed at 60% instead of pushing 65%.  Oh well, done is done.

Tomorrow is gonna suck.

Crossfit log for Friday, November 15th

Really didn't want to get out of bed this morning.

I have to remember that I'll feel much better once I'm at the gym.  I forced myself  up and out.  It was cold and dark but I had work to do.

The strength portion was another multi-part affairs with 60 seconds rest between stations 3 times through:
- close grip bench press  8 reps  (95#, 115#, 135#)
- strict pull ups (chest to bar to failure, or regular min 5 reps)
- paralet shoot throughs (don't ask)  5 reps
- feet elevated ring rows 8 reps

Wasn't what I'd call fun but I did it. The last set of bench press at 135# was rough.

The WOD was a crazy Fran variation:
500m row (cash in)
21 thrusters 95#
4 rope climbs
15 thrusters 95#
3 rope climbs
9 thrusters 95#
2 rope climbs

Scaled was 75# and 1 fewer rope climbs each round.  I'm a strong rope climber, and I've committed to doing Fran at Rx next time, so I couldn't scale it, I had to go for it.

It was really hard, and too me forever, but I'm glad I did it.  Thruster off the rower suck. There's no two ways about it.  There was just no recover.  Every thruster was a fight, every rope climb a challenge.

Time 17:55

Glad I got out of bed.

Spontaneous tears

Yesterday morning I stood in my kitchen and sobbed.

I have no idea why.

Kiza told me that I should help Delilah with her oral presentation since I was better at organizing her talking point sequences.  Then I lost it.

I suspect a number of occurrences coincided to bring about this unexpected outburst.

First and likely most significantly was the passing of Kiza's grandmother Dorothy.  A proud world war two veteran, who drove senior brass of the RCAF during the war (domestically). She was a vocal defender of her political views (ranging from veterans rights to gay rights) and was well known (if not always well liked) by a good number of politicians at all levels, journalists and citizens of Thunder Bay.  She led a good, full and long life.  She directly impacted the lives of countless others, mostly, but not only, by means of instructing young drivers for many years.  Despite some dark times, hers was a life many would be envious of.  She will be missed by so many.  I wish I'd known her in you younger days.  She was a interesting gal.

Remembrance day this year was all the more poignant because of her recent passing.

Second was the difficult workout on Tuesday morning which exposed my still very limited mobility in my over head squat, despite well over a year of addressing the contributing issues, it makes me feel like I've been wasting my time.  So much effort and seemingly nothing to show for it.

Lastly, I ate crap all weekend.  Since Kiza was away with Delilah at Grandma's funeral in Thunder Bay, Dexter and I led a somewhat bachelor-like lifestyle for 4 days.  McDonald's for one meal. A treat of a small container of ice cream from the grocery store which I had more than my share.  An unnecessary helping of macaroni and cheese. And finally at the movies with Caleb and Genie on Monday afternoon, I consumed an entire 300g bag of M&M almonds.

If my paleo diet has taught me anything, it's that these kinds of food play havoc with my emotional state.

Another factor that just dawned on my is the time Kiza has spent away from home in the past six weeks.  Between the funeral this past weekend and three trips out of town for work, I've spend more nights alone in my bed than with her.  More nights than ever before in my adult life.

Being an intravert, I depend a great deal on Kiza for my social interactions.  I don't remember the last time I've felt so lonely, even with the kids around.

It kinda felt good to just cry.  Such a release of raw emotion that we rarely experience as adults.

Well I'm glad that's out of my system.  Kiza is back, I'm back to eating right and I've already booked an appointment with my physio to look at next steps for dealing with my mobility limitations.

Upwards and onwards.  That sounds like something Dorothy would've said.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, November 13th

WOD Wednesday

Crossfit Open workout 12.3

18 minute AMRAP
- 15 box jumps  24"
- 12 push press 95#  (Rx=115#)
- 9 Toes to bar

I'm not feeling very strong these days.  I have no umph.  Especially after yesterday's display of limited mobility, despite over a year of focusing on improving mobility.

I drudged my way through the workout.  On round 2, I wrecked on a box jump and took a chunk out of my right shin.  Would have been much worse if not for my bacon knee socks.

Took me a good while to recover.  

Ended up only doing 4 complete rounds plus 27 (box jumps and push press), buzzer went as I jump on the bar for toes to bar.

It'll do.

Crossfit log for Tuesday November 12th

What a horrible day.

Friday massage, Saturday hot bath, Sunday and Monday rest, all add up to incredible potential.

Untapped potential, wasted potential, unused potential.

Started with overhead squats.  What a joke. I've been trying to get an OHS for years and I hadn't tried in while, so with all this recover and fresh muscles today was the day.

Not even close.   3 sets of 3 became 3 failed attempts with an empty bar and calling it quits

Then we had 4 sets front squat + push press for load on 1 min rest followed by one armed kettle bell overhead squats.

Didn't matter what the weight was I couldn't squat while keeping the weight overhead,  my arm would invariable be forced forward.  I walked away after the second set.

As I put my equipment away, while everyone else was happily (more or less) squatting and push pressing, tears welled in my eyes.

I wanted to leave, but I decided to do the workout anyway.

5 rounds of 185# dead lifts 5 reps and bar dips 10 reps. 10 minute cap.  Finished in 9:51.  I was reduced to singles and doubles on the bar dips on the last two rounds. 

At least I finished before the time cap.

I've been adding my old log entries to this blog for a while now, slowly working backwards through time. I had set a goal of getting an OHS by year's end back in 2011 and again last year. 2013 is coming to an end and I suck just as bad as I did 2 years ago.

I was looking forward to putting my year of mobility behind me and starting my year of strength.  But I can't see that happening.  I've booked an appointment with Rob Crispo to see if there is anything I can do. 

I know it's a long journey, and I can't get discouraged.  I've come a long way, but it seems like I still have such a long way to go.

Keep moving forward. That's all I can do. Just do the work. One day, it'll all come together.  Or so I have to keep telling myself.

Crossfit log for Friday, November 8th

I should have stayed in bed.

Part one:  4 rounds to establish max weight for
- one length of gym farmer carry, 1 minute rest
- weighted dips 5 reps. 1 minute rest

Part two:  4 rounds to establish max weight for:
- one length of gym (12 steps) front rack axle walking lunges, 1 minute rest
- weighted pull ups, 2 reps.  1 minute rest

WOD:
7 minute amrap 
# reps = # rounds  (round 1, 1 rep, round 2, 2 reps, etc...)
-handstand push ups
-clean and jerk 135#

The farmer carry bars are 25# each. To keep the things balanced you have to put 4 plates of equal weight on.  front and back left, front and back right. On my first round had 35# plates, so 95# each side. Marageable.

Round 2 they added four 25# places. Yeah that's an extra 100#, that's 90#, not happening.  So for round 2, I peeled of the 25# and added 10# plates. 230#, much more manageable. 

On the last one I added four 5# plates to make it 250# total, 125# each side.

First set of dips was with a 12kg kettle bell chained to my waist.  Not too bad.
Jumped to 20kg and did all 5, last one was rough, but I got it. Tried for 24kg on the last set, but could barely get one rep.  Called it quits,  time was running out.

It went downhill from there.

Lunches with the axle at 80# in the front rack position were horrible and with a 12kg kettle bell I could only muster 2 pull ups, so I didn't try further, we had to get ready for the WOD.

Which sucked.  Hand stand push ups were okay, the first rounds were very low rep, but I had trouble cleaning the 135# bar.  Jerking it was worse, couldn't brace my upper back. It was just horrible, I think I finished 4 rounds, or maybe during the 4 clean and jerks, I bailed with about a minute to go.

I just felt weak.   Maybe I really need this massage I'm getting today.  Or maybe I'm coming down with something.  Or maybe I just need a good night's sleep!

Crossfit log for Thursday, November 7th

I'm really looking forward to my massage tomorrow.

Today was back squats 5 sets of 6 at no less than 65% of max, did 195# (79%)

Rep 5 and 6 were rough each time.

After that we did 8 Romanian dead lifts super set with 6 toes-through-rings, strict (aka no kipping) for 4 sets.

I did my first set at 135# and it was tough.  Second at 185# and that really sucked, so I went back down to 135# and had more control and was able to brace my back more effectively.

I'm just so sore.  Massage will hopefully help, followed by 2 days off.

The WOD was a short devistating affair of

21-15-9  kettle bell swings 24kg  and burpees.  Suck-fest.

DFL.  7:36

After 21 burpees my nose was dripping as the mild congestion I've been having over the last few days was being jarred out my nose with each rep.  So I took a kleenex break after round 1, after that it wasn't so bad, just tried to keep a steady rhythm.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, November 5th

Morning Crossfit after evening Olympic lifting isn't so enjoyable.

I guess it wasn't that bad, but right now I'm feeling it.

Thankfully strength was arms.  Worked to find 10 rep max push press. Had to be touch and go, no pausing on the shoulders, although you could pause overhead.

Oddly enough Luke was my partner again this morning.

Did empty bar, 65#, 75#, 95# and finally 115#.  Tried 135# but only made 3 reps before calling it quits.

Then we did something I had been wanting to try for a long time: max reps of pull ups.  I was really nervous.  I'm pretty good a kipping pull ups, so I was expecting to do well.  Others started going, some are just new at it, some tried the butterfly pull ups which is faster and more efficient but difficult to master.

Marc-Andre, one of the young studs did 30, butterfly.  Most of the others were in the 8 to 12 range.  I was one of the last to go.  I managed 33.  I nailed my chin on the before last one, if not for that I'm sure I could've done 3 or 4 more.

It's a good number.  I have a target to beat now.

The WOD was a 10 minute AMRAP of:
- 5 dead lifts 185#
- 8 push ups
- 11 box jumps  24" box.

I managed 5 full rounds + 15 reps.  Dead lifts slowed me down the most.  Feeling the box jumps in my legs after last night's workout.

Crossfit log for Monday, November 4th

Olympic lifting class again this week.

That was a lot of work.  Worked with Luke, strong guy, stronger than me, but rather new, so his max snatch is only 5# more than mine.

Started with "tall snatch", essentially a snatch from the high hang position, very little dip and drive, very fast. 5 sets of 4, starting the empty bar for two sets then one set at 40%, one at 50% and one at 60% of max snatch. (did 65#, 75# and 85#).  This part went well.

Then we moved to snatching from the floor: 1 power, 2 full.  One set at 70% of max (95#) and 1 at 80% (105#) followed by 3 sets of one full snatch at 90%  (went with 125#). 

The last ones were a bit wobbly, but landed them. All that was within the first 25 minutes.

Then we worked on power,  with straps. 

The bar was set at 80% (we decided to go with 115# instead of 105#).
Start with a slow pull to the high hang, then 2 explosive extensions, then slowly back down to start position, without touching the floor and slowly back up, again 2 extensions and slowly back down pausing an inch from the floor and then release. 

That whole set three times.


After that was the exhausting bouncing exercise.  Bar set at 60% (I think we did 85# or maybe 75#), snatch grip with straps, 10 bouncing extensions, so no pause between extensions, full shrug, full jump, land and bounce again.  3 sets.

And finally  4 sets of 2 heavy back squats.  Warmed up with 135#, 185# then did 3 sets at 225# and 1 @ 235#.  Luke go up to 265# without problem.

Wiped.  Tomorrow morning should be fun.

Crossfit log for Friday, November 1st

You know those days where you go to the gym and have a good tough workout and feel energized and ready to face the day.

Yeah well that didn't happen today.

After a night of very little sleep yesterday and a rough day at work I was torn this morning whether to ignore my alarm or go to the gym.  I know that I never regret going to the gym and once it's done I'll feel more awake and ready to face the day.

So I went.

Ugh. What a workout 

Linda: 10 rounds (reps were: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1)  30 minute cap
- dead lifts 1.5 times bodyweight
- bench press, bodyweight
- clean, 0.75 bodyweight.

Scaled version adjust weight as needed.   I needed

I ended up doing bodyweight dead lifts, and 3 quarters bodyweight for both bench and cleans.

I could have gone lighter on the  cleans.  I started on cleans and was about to start bench on round six (5 reps).

It was horrible. I just want to go back to bed at the end.  So much for feeling energized.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, October 30th

This has been a week of breaking Personal Records.

Yesterday not only did I hang clean 180lbs, I also got 62 unbroken double unders.  And today I broke not one, not two but three records.

I wanted to test my strict press, it had been a while since my 120lbs effort (May), so I was due.

Worked my way up with empty bar 5 reps, 65# 3 reps, 95#  2 reps.  Did 115# for 1 rep and then tried 125#, struggled, really had to brace my back, but inched its way up until lockout!  PR #1.

Now I'm thinking I could have easily push pressed that, so I put 135# on the bar and push press it a couple of time.  Added 10# and push pressed 145# for 1 rep. Add 10# more and did 155# for 1 rep and it felt good.  So had to try 165#, and I nailed it.  PR #2.

So then I decided to go for it, I peeled back to 155# and jerked it without problem. Went to 165# and didn't quite get low enough, but was able to press it to lock out. Tried 175# and failed my first attempt. 

Gave myself a little pep talk, told myself to commit to it, to get lower and lock it out right away.  Well that worked, nailed it at 175#.

So had to try 185#, I felt good about it after that last one at 175#, I got low, I committed to it and I caught it, but not locked out.  I pressed hard and was able to lock it out quickly.  Not good enough for Olympic lifting, but totally good enough for Crossfit.  PR #3!

Now I really have no excuse not to clean and jerk 185#.



Progress update of revised weightlifting goals. Derived from intermediate level for my body weight at www.exrx.net

New Power Clean PR. That my 4th lift out of 6 that's within 10lbs of my goal.

Lift / target weight / current PR
Bench / 190lbs / 185lbs Apr 30, 2013 (up from 165lbs) 5lbs away
Deadlift / 300lbs / 285lbs Apr 25, 2013 (up from 265lbs)
Press / 130lbs / 125lbs Oct 30, 2013 (up from 120lbs) 5lbs away
Power Clean / 185lbs / 175lbs Sept 23, 2013 (up from 157lbs) 10lbs away!
Power snatch / 140lbs / 115lbs Aug, 15, 2013 (up from 105lbs)
Back Squat / 255lbs / 245lbs Sept 17, 2013 (up from 235lbs) 10lbs away

Other lift PRs:
Front Squat 215# Sept 11, 2013
Push Press: 165# (up from 155#) Oct 30, 2013
Clean: 180# (up from 175#) Oct 29, 2013
Jerk: 185# (up from 180#) Oct 30, 2013
Snatch: 130# July 22, 2013
Clean and Jerk: 175# July 24, 2013

Crossfit log for Tuesday, October 29th

I've felt like a sloth lately.  Missed quite a few workouts, travel over the weekend. Nutrition hasn't been the best and Kiza out of town again (for the last time thank goodness), I was really glad to get to the Y today at lunch.

I've been watching the scoreboards and videos from Physics so try an glean what they've been up to, to help me decide what to do and thanks to Adam (from Crossfit, not Adam from the Y), and  tiny note on one of the scoreboards from last week I had a plan.

I would start with cleans from the hang.  Adam recently PR'd at a whopping 245lbs after 2 failed attempts. So that would be my first task.  Then I noticed the competitive group did a squat workout 4 sets of 2 front squats + 4 back squats. That would be part 2.

I slowly worked up to 165# at 175#, which my last 3 attempts at this weight failed, I got it, but barely.  Didn't catch it solidly, but was able to recover in the front squat and get it up.

Debated trying again to get a good one at 175# but threw caution to the wind and tried for 180#, more than I've ever cleaned, from the hang or from the ground; to power or squat. But I knew I could do it.

I pulled hard, I got under it, but again, not solid, and too far forward.  Couldn't recover it like the 175# so I bailed. But I had it, I just had to commit to getting under it.

I walk away, got a drink of water and came back ready to nail it.  Boom. It was a thing of beauty.  I got under really fast, way faster than I ever have before. It was solid.  I couldn't believe it.

New hang clean PR by 15lbs and 5lbs more than my best clean.

Then I banged out the squats, did 1 set at 175#, 185#, 205# and called it quits, my back was a bit achy and I'd done enough for one day.

Yay me.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, October 23rd

Short and sweet to day.

The actual workout was a 14 minute AMRAP, teams of two, share the work.

- 2 rope climbs  (Rx was 4)
- 10 push ups (Rx was deficit handstand push ups, a show stopper for me)
- 16 goblet squats with a 24kg kettle bell (Rx was 32kg).

Sadly we were three guys and four girls and both guys were doing Rx.  So I just did my own little AMRAP for 14 minutes doing half the reps.

I took my time between stations, to kinda emulate waiting for a partner to finish, but not too much. I was fairly consistent throughout.

Hands are raw from the rope.

Had a nice complement on my Squat form from Kamil.  Nice when  peer notices. I've been working hard on my form, it hasn't been for nought.

He said I look like a diagram of squat form.  :)  Sweet.

Crossfit log for Monday, October 21st

Well more like Olypmic lifting log.  Went to Olympic lifting class this evening, Kiza took my spot at this morning's class. She likes the Crossfit more than the lifting and I'm good either way, so it worked out.

Tough workout.

Started with a Front Squat / Strict Press combo  1 warm up (empty bar) 2 light working sets 95#

Then the real work started
4 sets of
1 front squat + 1 push press + 1 split jerk   times 3
increasing weight each set. Did 115#, 125#, 135#, 135#

Then the goal of the workout
3 sets of 1 front squat 2 split jerks at 80% of max.   Did 155#, 165#, 165#

Third set was ugly.

Then we did some power work with straps doing 4 sets of 6 power snatch from the hang (60-65% of max snatch).  Very tiring, explosive work.  I did 75#.  It was enough.


And finally we did 4 sets of 10 back squats, starting at the power snatch weight working up to more than max snatch weight.

Since my snatch is disproportionately weaker than my clean and jerk we used my partner Marks weight.  Started at 105#, then 135#, 145# and because we couldn't find 10lbs plates, we used the 15s and did 165# for our final set.  No biggie, we both had no problem at that weight.

But now I'm beat.  Goodnight.

Crossfit log for Friday, October 18th

Didn't get to the gym this morning because of work, so I went to the Y at lunch with the intent of doing just the strength work.

Got the workout from some of my morning crew.

When I got the to Y, Adam was just arriving and looking for something tough.

Well it just so happens I had something for him.  Ended up doing the whole WOD.

Strength was bench press and barbell rows,  4 sets of 8

Did 135# on the bench and 115# on the rows.

The WOD was a 10 minute AMRAP:

#reps = round count.  (Round 1=1 rep, round 2= 2 reps, etc...)
- bear complex  (clean, +front squat+push press+back squat+push press)
- bar dips.

 Rough.  Made only 5 rounds at 95#, plus 5 of 6 bear complex on the last round.

Adam did 8, but I wasn't watching him to see if he was doing it properly.  No matter, we were both ready to toss our cookies after.

Left a nice little sweat angel on the gym floor.

Crossfit log for Thursday, October 17th

So yesterday I took the day off after giving blood at lunch on Tuesday.  Kiza went in the evening and they did a rough "Hero" WOD called DT (12 dead lifts, 9 power cleans from the hang and 6 jerks, for 5 rounds).

I kinda laughed at her for going through that, when I took the easy way out.

When I saw this morning's workout, I really wished I had gone yesterday instead.

Sadly for Kiza, she's scheduled to go tonight too.  Poor her.

Started with back squats, work up to 5 rep max.   Warmed up with empty bar, 95#, 135# and 185#.  Got serious at 205# and maxed out at 225#. 

No issues.  Depth was good. No discomfort in my glutes or back.  Good solid work.

The WOD, was ridiculous.

- 500m row
followed by
- 3 rounds of 21-15-9: wall balls 14# and pull ups.
followed by
- 3 rounds of 15-9-6: burpee box jumps 24" and 1 arm kettle bell front squats 24kg
followed by
- 3 rounds of 9-6-3: clean and jerk 95# and  27-18-9 air squats
(if you could do pistols it was 9-6-3 as well but I can't so triple the air squats).

Brutal. 

Row went well (1:55).
Wall balls weren't too bad with the 14# med ball, but with the blood donation, I was winded on the pull ups, couldn't do them unbroken except the last round of 9.
Burpee box jumps are just stupid. Took forever.
The front squats with the kettle bell were interesting, required a lot of lateral core stability which we aren't used to. The worst part was cleaning the kettle bell into position.
By the time got to the clean and jerks, there was little left.  The air squats seemed like a break at that point.

Finished in 27:22. 

Crossfit log for Tuesday, October 15th

Today we did Fran.


But first, we did front squat + push press (essentially thrusters) 5 sets of 5-5-3-3-3, did 95#, 95#, 135#, 135# and stopped there. I knew what was coming.

Then we did split jerk from the rack, wasn't happening, struggled at 155#, got 1 at 165# but wobbly, nowhere near my PR of 180#.  Didn't sweat it, I knew what was coming.

Fran is the quintessential Crossfit workout. 3 rounds.  21, 15, 9 reps of thrusters and pull ups.

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#
July 18, 2012: 7:24 @ 75#
Nov 5, 2012: 7:17 @85#
Feb 19, 2013: 9:43 @ 85#
May 21, 2013: 8:08 @ 85#

So here's the deal, in July 2012, looking back at my horrible performance on Nov 19th 2011 I wrote this:

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.

Obviously I didn't follow that completely.  The next time was November 5th 2012 and I went straight to 85#. It was a jump but I felt ready for it.  Since then I've promised myself that I won't go Rx (95#) until I can go under 7:00 at 85lbs and first round unbroken.

Wasn't looking like a good plan for a while there, my last 2 efforts were plagued by illness and a Marathon in January.

That being said, my take away from the May 21 effort was to focus on breathing, especially the first round,

I need to breath better on the thrusters. The first 21 left me in serious oxygen debt. If I hope to get through the 15s unbroken some day I'll need to improve that.

so that's what I did.

I went unbroken for the first round, 21 thrusters, 21 pull ups, carefully exhaling on the up and inhaling on the down.  It still cost me for round 2, but it wasn't bad I managed 3 sets of 5 thrusters and 2 sets of 7 and 8 pull ups.  Round three was 5 and 4 for the thruster, and I somehow managed to do the 9 pull ups unbroken.

Time was 6:36.  That's nearly a minute off my previous best.

Looks like next time is Rx.

Crossfit log for Monday, October 14th

Thanksgiving Monday.

The gym is closed, but thankfully I have this fancy home gym set up.

Monday's are usually cleans so I revisited a clean workout from a little while ago.

12 minute to max weight of 1 power clean, 1 hang clean.

So power clean from the floor catching above parallel and a full squat clean but starting from the hang position.

I have more trouble with the hang clean than the power.  I need to commit to getting under the bar.  I struggled with the hang clean at 155#,  tried a second time and got it.

At 165# I nailed the power clean and committed to getting under the bar for the hang and nailed it first try.

Much like last time, I power cleaned the 175# (confirmed my PR) and didn't come close to hang cleaning it. (this is also my current best full clean).

Then I switched to back squats for 2 reps, warmed up with 135#, 185# and 205#, then got serious at 215#, 225# and finally put everything I have on the bar: 240#

Stuck a bit coming up, but I got it.  Happy with that, since my 1 rep max is 245#.

Crossfit log for Friday, October 11th

OMG, I hate push ups.

We did bench press for strength, 4 sets of 8 reps.  I settled on 135# and it was a good choice.  Could only manage 6 reps on the last set.

The WOD was a benchmark workout called Cindy.

20 minutes AMRAP
5 pull ups
10 push ups
15 squats.

In a recent workout I discovered that in order to be efficient and not miserable, 3 burpees was my limit.  We did a workout that had 3 burpees, 6 box jumps and 9 wall balls, and I found the burpees were easy in such a small number.  A week later we did a similar workout with 4 burpees and 6 box jumps and 8 wall balls, but added 10 kettle bell swings.  The burpees sucked.  So 3 is my limit.

Today I think I found my magic number for push ups: 7.

The first 6 or 7 rounds, I'd start to notice that I wasn't enjoying myself at the 7th rep.

In later rounds  I found I could struggle to get to 7 unbroken, but 8 was a stopper.

Pull ups were a snap, so much so I had to practice my butterfly kip to slow them down otherwise I'd get frustrated that I was back on push ups so soon.

Squats are pretty quick to, but as the rounds ticked by I found myself slowing... until I spotted Adam out of the corner of my eye just ripping through them, so I stepped it up to match, and a bit more.

Of course he noticed and stepped it up too, then I had to match him, and 15 reps were done.  I tried to keep that level of intensity for the rest of the workout.

Made 14 rounds plus 13 reps (5 pull ups, 8 push ups).   I'm pretty sure that's a personal best.

Crossfit log for Thursday, October 10th

With Kiza away I wasn't able to get to Physics Crossfit at all this week. Well until this morning.

I've done a lot of mobility work and strength work at the Y.  I was even able to get a WOD in on Tuesday (wall balls and double unders), but it's not the same.

The comfort level and the intensity at my box is always greater than anywhere else.

So this morning, I was finally able to go.  It was nice to be back.

Strength was 3 sets of 3 heavy squat cleans.  Aaron and I worked up to 155# for 3 sets.

Then 3 sets of heavy dead lifts with a grip width between clean and snatch, did 205#, 225#, 255#

We did hook grip, where you wrap your two first fingers over your thumb to form a vice, but man it was really hard on the thumbs!

The WOD was a long affair with a 15 minute cap:

50 double unders
40 knees to elbows
30 push ups
20 dumbbell snatches  35#
40 alternating lunges with the axle bar in the front rack position, at 90#.

Finished just under the wire at 14:45.

You know the lunges are bad when in you mind you are wishing they were burpees.

Crossfit log for Monday, October 7th

Didn't really do the workout, only the strength work.

Work up to 90% of max snatch for 1 rep.

Work up to 90% of max clean and jerk for 1 rep.

Snatch didn't go so well, I've done 130# but was struggling with 95# so I tried one at 115# and it ended up being a power snatch, so I just stopped there and switch to clean and jerk.

That went way better, made it all the way to my max of 175#. Happy with that.

Then it was front squats,  4 sets of 2 heavier than max clean and jerk.

Warmed up with 95# and 135#, then did 2 sets at 185# and 2 sets at 205#.

Felt good.

Then I did a bit of mobility since I was running out of time.

The WOD was a 10 min AMRAP of 100 wall balls, but each time you stopped you had to do 30 double unders. If you finished that before the 10 minutes was up, do 95# thrusters until the time runs out.

Maybe I'll do that tomorrow.

I'm a good mother.

3 days in to Kiza's second  10 day business trip this month, I've found myself wondering if this is the life of every single parent, just single fathers, or more likely if it's just me.

Then I read this blog post I spotted on Facebook: The Good Mother and I realized that it's all of us.

My voice isn't so much "a good mother would", but "mommy would"  or wouldn't as the case may be.

-mommy wouldn't have skipped bath night.
-mommy wouldn't have put Dex down without brushing his teeth.
-mommy wouldn't have sifted through the dirty laundry basket to find the least dirty uniform shirt for Delilah to wear to school on Friday (why couldn't it have been cold out, I have dozens of long sleeve shirts).

The author, Lynn Shattuck, is right, fathers don't set the bar nearly as high and society doesn't set if any higher for them.

That doesn't mean we don't feel the pressure, guilt or inadequacy when we make the call or go it alone (even temporarily).  But being a good father isn't tied to our self worth, not at the surface anyway.

I felt sad reading the blog, most of the examples she cited I could relate to, and before finishing the sentence I brushed them off. (Edit: I felt sad for the mothers who can't brush it off, for whatever reason, the way fathers can).

-forgot the monitor? Baby will cry loud enough sooner or later, no biggie.
-forgot diaper bag while out of the house? Outing gets cut short with a stinky ride home, no biggie.
-surfing the net while feeding baby? Hell ya. Try playing Wii (but be careful not to bonk your 5 day old in the forhead with the controller when you have to jump/dive to break trough the ice in the Ice Age game, really glad she had that knitted cap on)
-can't soothe a crying baby? Lets just say I'm glad we lost the fridge in the fire, I was tired of seeing the dent in the stainless steel door where I put my fist because a certain little girl wouldn't stop crying in my arms despite every trick in the book)
-didn't notice the shirt was dirty?  I chose the dirty shirt myself and put it on her. No biggie.

There was another post I read recently, I think it was a comencement speech, and it said something about, how horrible experience will one day make great stories, so when you're in the middle of one, try to imagine telling this story one day and laughing your butt off.

My kids are happy more often than not, they are a marvel to watch, learning and interacting with each other, with their peers and with me. We're doing alright.

But please mommy, come home soon!!!!  ;)

Ms. Shattuck's final remark is important I think (as it describes most of my days of late).

I’m a good mother. Say it with me, even if your kid is wearing a yogurt shirt today like mine is. Say it if you have no idea what’s for dinner. Say it after you raise your voice because your kid won’t get in her freaking car seat. Say it out loud to yourself.

I'm a good mother.

Crossfit log for Thursday, October 3rd

More heavy squats today. Took me a long time to shake the cobwebs out.

Started with clean and jerk.  3 sets of the following complex:
1 power clean, 1 squat clean, 1 push jerk, 1 split jerk.

Worked up to 145#.  Seems like everyone else was doing like 185# or more!  I can I failed the split jerk on my first set, second set was better, but I decided to count my last warm up set at 115# as a working set and moved on to the squats.

This went much better,  worked up to 195#, as much or more than the other guys so I saved face a bit, not that it matters, I actually felt I could have done 205#, but my right glute is still bugging me and I knew we had wall balls in the WOD.  (finally booked an appointment with my physio for tomorrow).

Time was getting tight, so once again, I decided to use the last warm up set at 175# as a working set.

WOD was 4min AMRAP + 2min rest + 6 min AMRAP (start at beginning after 2min rest).

- 4 burpees
- 6 box jumps  24" box
- 8 wall balls 20# medicine ball
- 10 kettle bell swings 20kg kettle bell.

First part I did 2 full rounds + burpees and 2 box jumps = 62 reps
Second part I did 3 full rounds + 1 burpees = 75 reps
for a total of 137 reps.

Not great, but not to shabby.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, October 1st

Yeah, I'm thinking an early morning workout following a late evening workout isn't such a good idea.

I just had nothing in the tank this morning.

Strength work was max effort for 1 clean + 3 push press.  You had to squat for the clean, no power cleans allowed and you had to hold the press at the top for a a second.  No touch and go, between presses, you were to reset and reposition before each rep.

Maxed out at 135#, likely capable of 145#, but I just didn't have the juice to even try.

I didn't hold out much hope for the WOD.

It was 3 rounds, 15-12-9 of Pull ups and dead lifts 165#

Each round you "cashed in" with 5 hand stand push ups, did your pull ups and dead lifts and then "cashed out" with 7 knees to elbows.

My right glute has been sore lately, so I wasn't holding out much hope for the dead lifts, even at 165lbs, but it didn't go too bad at all.

Finished in 9:58. 

Crossfit log for Monday, September 30th

Not exactly Crossfit today, went to Olympic lifting class tonight.

Most work in this class is based on percentage of max clean and jerk. So I worked with Mark. His max is a good 25# more than mine, but at least it's not 100#. The math was easy enough.

Started with clean and jerk work:
Warm up with the bar, then do 1 power clean, 1 full clean, 2 jerks at 50%, 60% and 70%. 

We did 95lbs, 125lbs, 140lbs.

Then the working set was a choice.  If your "weakest link" was the clean you'd do 2 cleans + 1 jerk for 5 sets and if it was the jerk, you'd do 1 clean + 2 jerks

Mark did 2 cleans and I did 2 jerks.

We did 165lbs and 160lbs respectively.  That was hard.  Bringing the bar back to my shoulders for a second jerk was not fun.  

It seemed I always failed to completely lock out the first attempt and succeeded in the second.  Thankfully on my last set when the coach was watching I nailed both of them.

Next we did some snatch work. 

Snatch balance + over head squat.  work up to 70% of max snatch.  

I can't squat snatch or overhead squat, so I was doing split snatch and an overhead lunge.

Mark was aiming for 105lbs, I was aiming for 85lbs. I ended up doing 95lbs, and we just added two 10lbs plates for his turns.

The last part of the workout was squat sequence.  Warm up doing 2 front squats + 3 back squats. Work up to max clean and jerk (or higher if manageable) then do 2 front squats + 5 back squats for 3 sets.

We warmed up with the 95lbs from my last snatch set, then jumped to 155lbs and 185lbs at which point we did 2 front and 5 back squats. Then we bumped it up to 205lbs which was rough.

I was planning on counting the 185lbs set as on of the working sets, but once we finished we still had time, and Mark was going for another set, so I really couldn't bail at that point, so I did a third set at 205lbs.

Crossfit log for Thursday, September 26th

Oy legs!

I don't know where they come up with this stuff, but man, you can't help but get stronger as a result!

Strength work today consisted of back squats and dead lifts. But not your ordinary fare.

Started with 4 sets of 5 backsquats at around 80% of max, so 195# for me.  I worked with Kamil (who needs to update his blog) and for him that weight was around 75% (the difference will be important in a minute).

After the 4 sets we dropped the weight to by about 20% to 155# and had to do 1 set of as many reps as possible.

I made it to 15, before my wobbly legs almost didn't allow me to get up (the 80% effort in the opening sets really tired my legs). Kamil had only done 75% for opening sets, at his 20th rep of the final set I'm guessing he wished he'd gone heavier in the lead up sets.  He made it 22 or 23 reps, and I think he had 1 or 2 more in him, but his last one was a bit wobbly, so I didn't call him on it.

After that, 3 sets of 5 deficit dead lifts, so standing on a 25# plate which is about 2.5 inches thick, so you have to reach a bit lower than usual to grab the bar.  Coach first confirmed we had the mobility and our backs were straight in this lower than normal position, and we were good to go. Both the coach and I were pleasantly surprised that I was able to get that low.

I did  185# which is about 65% of my max.

The WOD was 10 rounds with a 10 minute cap
First round 1 rep each, second round 2 reps, third round 3 reps and so on...

-90# thrusers with the Axle (a barbell that is 2inches thick and hard to grip).
-Burpees
-Knees to elbows

I made only 7 rounds, ran out of gas in the middle of round 6.

Thrusters were really hard after all those squats, and my wrist is still a bit sore, even though I had my brand new wrist wraps.  I think I may take tomorrow off.  My right glute is sore, which is odd, usually they are either both sore or both ok.

I may have to book an physio appointment.

Mommy's home! Mommy's home!

There were two extremely happy little kids in my house this morning when I got back from Crossfit.

Delilah had already seen mommy, when she stumbled into our room in the middle of the night looking for me (which she never does, that was weird), and found to her absolute delight that mommy was in bed.

Thankfully Kiza was able to get her back to sleep.

Daddy is very happy too.

It was really hard to leave for work, I really wanted to just hang out with my best friend.

We did spend a bit time quality time together, jockeying for counter space in the kitchen.  It was nice.

Single Parenthood.

Sucks.

Now don't panic, Kiza is just on a business trip for 11 days (she gets back tonight) and in a Facebook status update after a particularly difficult meal I posted:

Caring for a nearly 5 year old and a 2 and a half year old is a lot of work; for two people.  It's exhausting and relentless for a single parent. 

I quite honestly don't know how people do it.

I guess you find help. I was able to solicit the help of my oldest son Caleb so I could go to the gym in the early morning hours (which really didn't help that whole exhausted thing, but I digress).

You need your friends and family, that's for sure.  But I have no family in town and being an intravert, soliciting help from friend requires more mental energy than taking care of two small children!

Thankfully we have a fairly well established schedule, so I survived the first 11 day stint fairly well.  I only resorted to the Shiraz on two occasions and didn't even touch the Bailey's. 

Kiza arrives tonight.  I miss her so much. And not just to share the parenting duties.  This is the longest we've been apart since we've known each other. I miss just looking over and seeing her there.   I miss jockeying for counter space in the kitchen in the mornings. 

She's back for a week, then gone another 10 days.  I'm going to just try and enjoy this week with her.  I'll deal with my next dose of single parenthood again when the time comes.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, September 24th

Didn't have as great a day as yesterday.

Did 1 clean + 4 push press at 65% of C&J, too heavy. Should've been 115# or 120# but did 125#, bad math and faulty memory from last weeks 60% effort on this same drill.  Plus Tom, the guy I was working with has a slightly higer 1 rep max clean and jerk, so it was more his weight than mine.

Then we did 4 sets 5 weighted strict pull ups super set with 50 (scaled was 20) unbroken double unders. Did body weight for the pull ups and had no problem, which means next time I'll have to add some weight I guess.

For the double unders I got 46 the first round and coach said if you are capable of doing the 50 and you get close, you don't have to start over, just do the balance. My PR is 50, and since I was over 20 rep scaled target I took the 46 and added 4 more. Next set I did 50 unbroken! Woot. Coach was like "why did you stop" you could've had a new PR. Hmm... hadn't thought of that. Oh well. The next set was a disaster, got 14, so I started over and got 17. Now I'm like "come on, gotta get at least 20", third try I got to 20 and stopped there (51 total). Last set I muffed at 39 and called it quits.

WOD was a short 8min AMRAP:
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, ... reps of
Thrusters 95#
Pull ups
Handstand push ups.

Everything was hard. Thrusters were rough, pull ups were rough, handstand push ups were really rough. My wrist is a bit sore right in the little indent on the back of your hand at the base of the index and middle finger, right in the gap between the scaphoid bone and trapezoid bone. Just made everything harder than it should've been.

Crossfit log for Monday, September 23rd

Wow, that was one of the best YMCA workouts I've ever had.

Adam from my gym sent me the workout:
12 minutes to max out clean complex: 1 power clean from the floor, 1 hang squat clean without putting down the bar.

Did, 65#, 95#, 115#, 135#, 155#, 165# at 175# I was able to power clean it, but couldn't seem to get under it from the hang. Time was up but I tried one more time, again power cleaned it no problem, hang clean into a squat, no go.

I'll take the 165# especially since my power clean PR was 157#, beat it by 18lbs!

Then I did back squats for 3 rep max, Did 95#, 135#, 185#, 205#, 215# and finally 225# no problem, probably could have gone higher but was happy with 225#.

The WOD was neat: 2 AMRAP sets with 2:00 rest between of the same thing. So 4 min AMRAP, 2min rest, 6min AMRAP of:
3 burpees
6 box jumps 24"
9 wall ball (8kg ~ 17.5lbs)

4 min round I did 3 full rounds + up to 4 wall balls, 6 min round I did 4 full rounds and up to 6 wall balls.
For a total of 154 reps.

Very happy with that.


Progress update of revised weightlifting goals. Derived from intermediate level for my body weight at www.exrx.net

New Power Clean PR. That my 4th lift out of 6 that's within 10lbs of my goal.

Lift / target weight / current PR
Bench / 190lbs / 185lbs Apr 30, 2013 (up from 165lbs) 5lbs away
Deadlift / 300lbs / 285lbs Apr 25, 2013 (up from 265lbs)
Press / 130lbs / 120lbs May 14, 2013 (up from 110lbs) 10lbs away
Power Clean / 185lbs / 175lbs Sept 23, 2013 (up from 157lbs) 10lbs away!
Power snatch / 140lbs / 115lbs Aug, 15, 2013 (up from 105lbs)
Back Squat / 255lbs / 245lbs Sept 17, 2013 (up from 235lbs) 10lbs away

Other lift PRs:
Front Squat 215# Sept 11, 2013
Push Press: 155# Mar 25, 2013
Clean: 175# May 23, 2013
Jerk: 180# Jun 18, 2013
Snatch: 130# July 22, 2013
Clean and Jerk: 175# July 24, 2013

Crossfit log for Saturday, September 21st

Partner WOD Saturday.

25 minutes flat. Felt nauseated afterwards. Maybe because I don't usually eat before training. Maybe because it was really hard.

3 rounds for time (split work as desired except burpees, only one athlete works at a time)
100 double unders
20 alternating burpees
20 dead lifts, 185#
20 alternating burpees
30 dumbbell snatches from the hang 30# dumbbells
20 alternating burpees
10 toes to bar.

My partner was doing green scaled, I was doing blue scaled. He had half the burpees, so I did two for each one of his. About halfway through round two he decided to do the same number of burpees as I was. It was a good call.
He only had 95# on the bar for his dead lifts, so he did his 10, so I was stuck doing 10 in a row at 185#, sucked. by the last round he was down to 5

Same deal for the dumbbell cleans, he'd do 10 right away, on the last round I had to stop at 5 and tack on the remaining 5 at the end.

It was a relentless workout. Glad it's over.

Crossfit log for Friday, September 20th

Loosely followed today's workout on my own at the Y

Did close grip bench, 3 sets of 6-8, warmed up with empty bar, 95#, 115#, working sets were 135# 145# and 155#. Happy with that.

They did strict hand stand push ups, but I did strict press instead, except my triceps were toast from the bench press, so I bailed.

I did 4 sets of 8 toes-to-bar, then I did some mobility work to kill the rest of the time.

Crossfit log for Thursday, September 19th

Leg day!

Started with squat cleans from the hang position, 3 sets of 3 at 65-75% of clean and jerk max. Did 125#, 130#, 130#

Then we did back squats, 3 sets of 5 at 75% of max. Did 160#, 165#, 170#

So now that the legs are good and warmed up the WOD was:
2 rounds w/16 min cap of
-30 wall balls
-15 pull ups
-40 air squats
-20 alternating dumbbell snatches 35#

Did really well. First to finish. Pull ups and air squats unbroken really helped.

11:05

Strength log for Tuesday, September 17th

Since we did only upper body today (well except a few Thrusters) and I won't likely be going tomorrow, I figured I'd go to the Y and work on my back squat.

Ramped up a bit quickly from empty bar for 10 reps, to 135# and 185# for 4 reps and 205# for 3 reps. Then I put 2 plates: 225# (10lbs shy of my current PR) and did 2 reps in quick succession, and it didn't stick at all, up down no problem.

So I skipped 235# and put 245# on the bar and went for it. It was sticky coming up, but form held and I got it. NEW PR! Woot!

Of course I had to try 255#, my goal weight. In a display of my improved self-confidence I tried a weight at the Y that I really wasn't sure I could lift. (usually I stick to manageable weight, or new weight I'm extremely confident I'll get, not this time). I got about a third of the way up and just couldn't move it further so I bailed in the rack with a very loud clamour. Not very long ago I would've been intolerably embarrassed. Today I just brushed it off. Hey I got my PR, had to give it a try. No biggie.

Progress update of revised weightlifting goals. Derived from intermediate level for my body weight at www.exrx.net

New Back squat PR. That makes 3 lifts that are within 10lbs of my goal.

Lift / target weight / current PR
Bench / 190lbs / 185lbs Apr 30, 2013 (up from 165lbs) 5lbs away
Deadlift / 300lbs / 285lbs Apr 25, 2013 (up from 265lbs)
Press / 130lbs / 120lbs May 14, 2013 (up from 110lbs) 10lbs away
Power Clean / 185lbs / 157lbs May 6, 2013 (up from 155lbs)
Power snatch / 140lbs / 115lbs Aug, 15, 2013 (up from 105lbs)
Back Squat / 255lbs / 245lbs Sept 17, 2013 (up from 235lbs) 10lbs away

Other lift PRs:
Front Squat 215# Sep 11, 2013
Push Press: 155# March 25, 2013
Clean: 175# May 23, 2013
Jerk: 180# Jun 18, 2013
Snatch: 130# July 22, 2013
Clean and Jerk: 175# July 24, 2013

Crossfit log for Tuesday, September 17th part 1

Shoulder day!

Strength was 4 sets of 1 squat clean + 4 push press at 60% of max clean and jerk. 105#.

Then a 10 min EMOM of 5-8 weighted strict pull ups + 8-12 deficit strict push ups (using the paralettes), needless to say I did body weight and regular push ups. I did 8,10 - 7,10 - 6,10 and 5,10. I just can't get those last few inches to get my chin over the bar when doing strict pull ups once I'm fatigured, my rep count dropped with each set. Push ups went surprisingly well, but the last couple in the last set were rough.

WOD was an 8min AMRAP
3 - 6 - 9 - 12 - 15 - 18...
Hand stand push ups
Knees to elbows
Thrusters 95#

Barely made it to the end of round 3, started my last 4 thrusters with 10 seconds to go, my last thruster started before the bell, but finished after the bell.
Had a rough time with the the handstand push ups. Triceps were fried from the earlier push ups. Switch to feet on a box in a pike position for the last round.

My shoulders will be sore tomorrow.

Crossfit log for Monday, September 16th

So the first 36 hours of Kiza's business trip have been not too shabby. We all miss her terribly, but the kids were bathed, went to bed on time (to bed mind you, not to sleep), we had an uneventful morning and everyone arrived at their destinations this morning pretty much the same time as usual, fed, with hair done and lunches made.

The only real piece missing from the usual puzzle is no Crossfit for me this morning. I asked fellow athletes what the workout was, and if it was doable, I go to the Y at lunch and do it on my own.

Turns out it was doable.

Strength was 4 sets of 5 power snatch @ 55% of max (did 65#) and 4 sets of 5 power cleans at 55% of max (did 95#)

WOD was Grace + 10 pull ups every 10 clean and jerks.
So really 3 rounds for time:
10 clean and jerk (105#, Rx was 135#)
10 pull ups

It's been hard for me to get a consistent Grace time since I've used varying weights and had various caps put in place so I would be within 2 or 3 reps of finishing when time ran out.
Most recently I've done Grace at 115# with an 8:00 cap and made it to 28 reps
I did just over 7:00 at 95# back in April
I've done 27 reps in 10:00 @ 105# a year ago, in Sept. 2012.

So I was pretty happy with a 9:20, for Grace at 105# + 30 pull ups. First round was done in 2:25, second ended at just over 6:00 and 9:20 finish means the last two rounds were similar time and about 1 min slower than round 1.

The last round I hurried because someone wanted to use the squat rack was using so I definitely turned it on more than I would have otherwise. Even if Adam had been there today, I wouldn't have made him do clean and jerks, so it turned out well.

Crossfit log for Saturday, September 14th

Partner Filthy Fifty. Split the reps, but 2 rounds instead of 1!

Ouch.
50 box jumps 24"
50 jumping pull ups
50 kettle bell swings 16kg
50 steps walking lunges
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

Things were going really well until the knees to elbows. They just took the wind out of our sails. My partner Dave had a really hard time with them. Going to wall ball right after back extensions was rough, then to have to do burpees was just a slap in the face.

Round 2 was way worse. Took a whopping 44:55 to complete. Brutal.

Crossfit log for Friday, September 13th

Had a glorious sleep last night. Nearly 12 hours I think!

Worked out at the Y since Kiza went to this morning's class.

Tried the handstand push up for max reps that they did, but wasn't very successful. Normally I can string 6 together, but today my limit was 3. Odd.

Close grip bench, warmed up with empty bar, 65# and 95#, first working set was 115#, some other guys joined me, so I bumped it up to 135# for ease of switching weight. So I did my 3 sets of 10 at 115#, 135#, 135#. It was a good weight.

I bailed on the WOD.

Was running out of time, so did some dead lifts with Adam, sets of 5, did 95#, 135# to warm up, the 185#, 205# and 235#, hadn't done dead lifts in ages so decided to stop there, but my form was really good, so I think I may be looking to break 300# soon.

Crossfit log for Thursday, September 12th

That was one of the hardest workouts I've done in a long time.

But first, strength work:
4 sets of 3 power cleans + 1 clean @ 65-70% of clean and jerk max. Did 135# (which is more like 77% but I was working with someone else so we settled on that weight)

then

4 sets of strict pull ups, 8-10 reps. Weighted if necessary. It wasn't. I managed 2 sets of 8 without a band, but on the third round I could only muster 4 reps, so added the band for the last 4, then used the band for the whole last round.


The WOD looked fairly easy on the board.
5 rounds for time
10 push press 95#
10 burpees
10 kettle bell swings 24kg

Only 10 reps, how hard can that be. Well the first round was easy, but that was it, by round 2 it sucked, and there was another 3 rounds to go!

Took me 15:39, and shockingly I wasn't last. Granted Rx was 115# on the push press and 32kg kettle bell, so I can understand taking longer than me!

Strength log for Wednesday, September 11th

Slept in today. I knew I would, even as I set the alarm last night. I just needed it.

Last night I worked on my squat position in the garage (since I have this wonderful lifting platform and weights). And just looked at my position in the little mirror I have set up (Yeah, I know, I know, but as I am the coach in my garage gym I can't really give myself cues), I had a really hard time keeping my back braced, in a deep position. It was really taxing on my upper back. I decided to set up the bar with a bit of weight and try again. My position was much much better, letting gravity pull my hips down instead of my hip flexors made the difference, although I should be able to do both air squat and weighted squat at least I felt good that my position was good under load. Worked up to 135# and was sore afterwards. Hence the sleep in.

So I went to the Y at lunch, aiming to do similar work as last night, maybe get Ben, the Y trainer who has Olympic lifting experience to watch me. He wasn't around, so I just threw some weight on the bar and tried to forcus on keeping my back tight and braced in a neutral position. I made an effort only look in the mirror directly in front of me to maintain good position. And just kept adding weight. I was doing 3-4 reps upto 165# and things were going really well, so I figured I'd see how far I could ride this train and dropped to single reps at 175#, 185# and 195#. All went up without problem.

My front squat PR is 200#. I put 205# on the bar. One of the body builder I chat with said: "Starting to get some pretty heavy weight going there". "This will be a new PR if I make it".

Down and up. I was stunned. So I added 2 fivers, 215#, I really focused on keeping my back tight. All the way down is stayed nice and straight, about two thirds of the way up my shoulders started to roll forward, but the lift was as good as done, I push through the last little bit and boom! 15# PR.

Needed that.

Progress update of revised weightlifting goals. Derived from intermediate level for my body weight at www.exrx.net

Lift / target weight / current PR
Bench / 190lbs / 185lbs Apr 30, 2013 (up from 165lbs)
Deadlift / 300lbs / 285lbs Apr 25, 2013 (up from 265lbs)
Press / 130lbs / 120lbs May 14, 2013 (up from 110lbs)
Power Clean / 185lbs / 157lbs May 6, 2013 (up from 155lbs)
Power snatch / 140lbs / 115lbs Aug, 15, 2013 (up from 105lbs)
Back Squat / 255lbs / 235lbs May 23, 2013 (up from 215lbs)

New front squat PR

Other lift PRs:
Front Squat 215# Sep 11, 2013 (up from 200#)
Push Press: 155# March 25, 2013
Clean: 175# May 23, 2013
Jerk: 180# Jun 18, 2013
Snatch: 130# July 22, 2013
Clean and Jerk: 175# July 24, 2013