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.