Crossfit log for Friday, January 29th

That was rough.

Slept in a bit, and went to the 6:30 class, since I was home with the kids today, there was no need to rush.

It was bit weird working out with a different crew, but I know many of them so it wasn't bad.

The other down side was watching my crew suffer through the end of the WOD.  Many they didn't look like they were having fun.

The warm up was 3 rounds of 10 knees to chest, 10 kettle bell swings, 10 seconds hollow hold, 10 supermans. 

Then we did a 4 minute every 30 seconds for 8 rounds 2 power cleans. Followed by 2 minutes rest and max reps of front squats with the same bar.

I was thinking 165# or 175#.  Kamil had done 155#, so I started with that, which was pretty easy, so quickly added two more 10# plates for 175#.  I made it through 3 rounds of that before deciding it was a bad idea and dropping back down to 155#.

Managed only 11 front squats.  I thought I'd get more, I should've grabbed my belt.

The horrible WOD was
21-15-12-9-6-3
- push ups
- goblet squats
- burpees

FML.

66 reps.  So I broke the push ups in to sets of 5, with 5-10 seconds break from the get go and that saved me.  Goblet squats were not an issue (unbroken expect the first round, 11, 10) Did my usual burpee plan, quick up, quick down, 3 breaths repeat.  Slow but steady. 

Was strong to the end, despite being last, and 3 minutes slower than Kamil. Grrr.

Endurance and accessory log for Thursday, January 28th

Had little time to go to the Y, but I really wanted to put in my 2km time trial on the rower.

So I hurried to get there, and jumped right into it.

Managed a good performance, with some encouragement from Dave, especially in the last 1000m.

Managed 7:52.  Maybe a better rower, maybe my endurance is getting better, maybe I was better rested.  Don't know, but whatever the reason, it was way better than last weeks 8:12.

My best is from May 2015 where I went 7:51, so not bad at all!

I held sub 1:50/500m well into the 700m-800m range.  Then I just held on for dear lift, got back under 2:00/500m in the last 500m.

Collapsed on the floor afterwards.  Man that was tough.

Once I recovered, I did some RDLs and dumbbell rows.

RDLs I did on set of 8 at 185# and a working set at 225# for 5.  Used straps.

Dumbbell rows, did warm up set of 8 each side at 75# and a working set of 6 at 100#.

I forgot to do the aductor version of the RDLs, but I've already done that this week, I can wait until next week for that.

I need to switch it up so that the barbell rows aren't on the same day as the rowing time trial.  So I'll do those on tabata run day, and the RDLs.

Crossfit log for Thursday, January 28th

Today was opposite day.  The workout looked like it would be really hard, but Kamil and I destroyed it.

Coach Connor was 8 minutes late, so I truncated the warm up and some of the strength work.

The 2 minutes warm up of 10 band pull aparts and glute bridges turned in to 2 rounds.

After the 4 sets of bulgarian split squats with dumbells (I did 4 total, not 4 each leg) we did 1 heavey set of 5 back squats instead of 5 sets of 5.

So instead of my planned 225# I did 255#.  Felt good.  I like squats.

The was a short version of the 50s from Regionals in 2014, so it was only 30 reps, plus it was partnered, so share the reps, meaning 15 reps each, so the 30 made it look worse.

Chipper for time - one parnter works at a time, share the reps:

- 30 calorie row
- 30 box jump overs
- 30 dead lifts  155#/ 105#
- 30 wall balls 20#/14#
- 30 ring dips
- 30 wall balls 20#/14#
- 30 dead lifts  155#/ 105#
- 30 box jump overs
- 30 calorie row

I was happy to split the difference on the barbell, but Kamil loaded the bar at Rx, so I cursed him and just went with it.

We finished in 10:57.  I was impressed.

Strength and endurance log for Tuesday, January 26th

Once managed to commit to running my tabata workout on the treadmill.

I am happy to report that despite sucking, I didn't suffer nearly as much as last week.

None of that extra second or two before starting the later rounds.  Also didn't have any technical issues with the treadmill.

I warmed up 5 minutes at 6mph and ramped it up to 10% incline at 7.2mph where I stayed regardless of how good I felt at first.

After I had finally recovered I went to the platform were Dave was working on snatches and cleans.  He wasn't using the rack, so I was able to do my back squats at the same time.

Worked up to a single at 295#.  

After that I did my physio homework and hit the steam room.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, January 26th

Well that was a lot harder than yesterday.

The getting out of bed part wasn't so bad, I did get a good night's sleep.

The warm up was a 1 minute AMRAP of sit ups immediately followed by a 1 minute AMRAP of jumping lunges. Made 36 each.

Skill work was alternating EMOM of 0:30 thrusters+ 0:30 rest and 0:30 burpees over bar+ 0:30 rest.

Sucked so bad. Shoulders were toast.

The WOD looked manageable I the board:
"Elisabeth"
21-15-9
Cleans  135#/95#
Ring dips

I figured women's Rx,  sets of 5, with a leading at of 6 and a last set of 4, or the last round go 3, 3, 3.

Plan held for the first round and most of the second, but fell apart quite aggressively before round 2 ended.

Rounds three wad a shit show.

Finally finished in 14:32.

Done.

Olympic lifting, physio and accessory log for Monday, January 25th

Went to the Y with the aim of not working too hard.

Started with accessory work.  Did some Romanian deadlifts, a warm up set at 185# for 8 reps and a working set at 225# for 5.  Was losing my grip at the end.

Then I worked on my split jerk from the rack.  Need to work my way to 225# to match my clean.

Made it up to 205# pretty solidly, but I was getting fatigued, so moved on

I did my physio homework, laterally separating my ankles while holding a yoga block between my knees. It's torture but I'm already able to hold for 15 seconds where before I couldn't make it to 10.

Doing that reminded me of my tight aductors, so I tried the equivalent of RDL in the lateral plane, so holding a 45# plate in one hand, I'd lean to one side, trying to keep my torso and pelvic fixed, taxing one aductor, stretching under tension, like RDLs do for the hamstrings.

Sure felt like it was working, I'll try doing those either on RDL day (might as well fry my legs completely) or if that gets to be too much, on row day.

We'll see.

Crossfit log for Monday, January 25th

Didn't go to the Y Friday, so nearly 3 full days of rest and recovery.

Did a world of good. I feel refreshed and ready to do some work.

Getting up was a bit harder. Went to bed at 9, but had to get up at 11 to get Clarisse at work. It was a 20 minute or so interruption so no biggie, but when my alarm went off at quarter of 5, I must have been in a feel sleep. I felt slothlike and groggy. Took a good 10 minutes to wake myself up and self talk my way out of bed.

Glad I did.

Warm up was 5 minutes of 10 ring rows, 10 air squats, 10 second hollow body hold and 1 shuttle run.

Then f for skill work we did an 8 minute EMOM of a snatch complex: power snatch+ hang snatch.

Started at 75#, and increased by 10#  til 95#, where I swapped the 10 and15 plates for a 25, and did that weight a second time,  Then up to 105# then 115# for the last three rounds.

Not fabulous, but good enough.

The WOD was Fight Gone Bad.
3 rounds for time, 1 minute rest between rounds, 1 minute at each station:
- wall balls 20#/14#
-sumo deadlift high pull, 75#/55#
- box jumps 20" box
- push press 75#/55#
- row for calories
- 1 minute rest

Did women's Rx, except I used the 10' target for the wall balls.
Reps per round were: 99, 92, 93 for 284.

I'll have to check my previous performances to see where I stand.

It was a good workout.

Crossfit log for Friday, January 22nd

After missing two days of Crossfit, I went this morning ready to work hard.

The warm up had us sweating off the bat.

12 minute EMOM alternating 30 seconds double under, 30 seconds recover-transition + 30 row for calories, 30 seconds recover/transition

After that we did back squats for 3 triples.  I was aiming for 245#, but working with Kamil, he was doing 185#, adding 25# plates brought me to 235#, so I decided to go with that but not use my belt and tax the core stability.

This was quite challenging. I'm glad I did it.  Reminded me that sometimes, doing work without the belt is a good thing.

I had a good strategy going into the WOD. It was a similar format to Open WOD 12.5

9 minute AMRAP of:
- clean and jerk 135#/95#
- toes to bar

increasing reps each round 3-6-9-12-15-18-....

My strategy was to do women's Rx on the bar, to keep moving and do the t2b in sets of 3. No matter what.

It still fell apart after the round of 12, but I was steady throughout until my grip went on the 15 clean and jerks.

Made 4 rounds + 14 reps.  That's 44 clean and jerks and 30 toes to bar.  Happy with that.   





After that I did my physio homework and left walking funny. ;)

Endurance and mobility log for Thursday, January 21st

Not wanting to over do it is my official excuse. Being sore and tired and Dexter waking up at 3 am is what really did it. 

In any case, I missed deadlift day and max pull ups day at Crossfit.

Followed my plan for the Y though, 2 km time trial on the rower.

Yeah, needs work. 8:12.  I was well under minute last time. It fell apart at around 800m

Then I did my new physio drills for breathing into my back while squatting get together, back rounded, using a pole for support. And my hip, the lawn mower drill and ankle pull apart with band and yoga block between the knees.

Torture.

To test the effectiveness I did some over head squats. Not bad. Felt me upright. 

Got up to 145# before it got ugly. Then I stopped.

The next little while is going to be a lot of suck as I build endurance and work on the hip mobility.  Necessary evil.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, January 20th

I think that Advil I had before going to bed made all the difference. 

When I went to bed, I totally didn't think I would go, but when my alarm went off, I didn't feel too bad and I wanted to take lunch time off, so I forced myself out of bed and didn't regret it one bit.

The warm up was 5 minutes of 6 pull ups, 9 empty bar thrusters and 12 glute bridges.  Made it through 3 rounds.

Skills work was a clean and jerk complex. 
- power clean+push jerk+clean+split jerk  every 90 seconds for 8 rounds

Kept changing my mind about whether and how to increase the weight, even during the workout. 

Ended up doing 145#, 145#, 145#, 155#, 155#, 155#, 155#,165#

Was getting pretty tired at the end.

The WOD was no fun.

5 rounds of
- 12 wall balls
- 12 burpees.

Instructions were to go fast.  Well I only have one speed for burpees and it isn't fast.

Coach also said, scale the wall balls so they were at most 2 sets even at the end.

So I figured the burpees would suck anyway, I'd focus on the wallballs and go unbroken at Rx, 20lbs med ball .

That's exactly how it went down.  I go slow and steady on the burpees, taking 2 or three good breaths at the bottom before hurrying up to the top and back down for more rest, then zoom through the wall balls.

I was still last, but by only 55 seconds with a 10:57.  Happy with that.  Well paced.  And it's done.

Strength and Endurance log for Tuesday, January 19th

Finally followed through on my unspoken commitment to run tabata once a week.  Man it sucked.

Arrived at the Y and didn't even look at the squat rack.

Hopped on the thread mill and ran for 5 or 6 minutes at a 6:00/km (ish, 6 mph, stupid treadmills).

Then I ramped up the incline to 10%, and the speed to 7.2 mph (5:11/km) and did the first or 8 rounds of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest.  Felt pretty easy.

Bumped the speed to 7.3 mph (5:06/km).  This was a mistake, by round 4 I was back down to 7.2 and really wanting to drop it more, but I refused.

Definitely took an extra second or two before starting to run on the last 3 rounds, but to make up for it I ran 25 seconds on the last one.

Almost coughed up a lung.

So the plan is to endure 10 minutes of torture, once a week, on Tuesdays, and Thursday, or Friday do a 2km time trial on the rower, and see how close to 7:00 I can get.

I will continues this at least until the Open starts. (Which reminds me I need to register).

After I recovered enough to change my shoes,  I got on the platform for  some front squats.  They did 3 sets of 5 today at Crossfit, while I slept, so I did that.

It seemed so heavy.  So I worked up to a heavy single, and really struggled to stand up 275#.

Then I peeled back to 225# and really struggled to get that 5th rep each time.  In fact, the 3 sets was only 4 reps.  It was poo.  But I worked hard, and will be better for it.

Done.

Strength and accessory log for Monday, January 18th

First day back at the Y since the Disney trip.

Wasn't sure what to do, so when in doubt, squat.

So I started with back squats.  The bar on my traps wasn't fun, but I managed a heavy single of 295#.

Then I moved on to push press.  I hadn't done any overhead work since my jerk PR, so I worked up to a heavy single at 185# and that felt pretty good.

Then I did some rows.  I decided to restart the cycle and went back to 5 sets of 5, but I decided to start at 145# instead of 135#.  Maybe a mistake, but I managed to get the work in.  The last couple of reps didn't have full range of motion, so maybe 135# would have been better.

Then I hit the steam room and called it a day.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Crossfit log for Monday, January 18th

Despite some nasty DOMS in my traps I dutifully got out of bed and resumed my morning ritual to get to the box.

Snatch day.

The warm up was a couple of rounds of 10 overhead squats, 5 burpee pull ups and 2 shuttle runs, which I catered along in my lifting shoes.

Then we worked on snatch, after earning up we did 3 singles at 90%, then a double at 85% and a double at 80%.

I did 125#, 115# & 105#. Good lifts for the most part, a couple of wobbly ones I caught to far forward, but not bad for first time since vacation and sore traps.

The WOD was Amanda
9-7-5 of muscle ups and snatched at 135#/95#.

Came close to getting a bar muscle up in warm up.

Used women's Rx weight and did pull ups double the reps instead of muscle ups. Expected it to go a lot smoother.

Still finished under 10 minutes:  9:24. Happy with that.

It's gonna be a sore week.

Crossfit log for Saturday, January 16th

Finally back at Crossfit.  And a Saturday.  If I'm working out on the weekend you know there's a good reason.

Aside from that little half Marathon last Saturday, I haven't worked out onces in 11 days.  Going slightly crazy.  At least Disney World distracted me enough to keep my sanity.

I used my Nano shoes to walk around Disney World, so I needed a new pair, but didn't have time to buy any.  When I looked up the workout, it was team DT, perfect, lifters would do perfectly.

And if scaled properly, would be a perfect workout to return with.

I wasn't wrong.  I did women's Rx, 105# and work with a guy named John I had never met.  Young guy.

It was nice to be the stronger athlete.  He didn't struggle much, but definitely more than I did.  I suspect he hasn't been at it very long.  He's pretty fit but his technique isn't quite there.

The WOD was 10 rounds of DT, alternating exercises. so one partner did the deads, then the other did the cleans, then back to the first partner for the jerks, then vice versa.

Team DT 10 rounds for time:
- 12 dead lifts
- 9 hang power cleans
- 6 power jerks

partners alternate stations  155#/105#

We finished in 13:24.  very respectable.  Everything unbroken, kept the bar moving.

I did take my time a couple of places, I was a bit worried about John, because I he was slower, I was getting a bit more rest and was not struggling as much. So I'd chalk my hands after his set was done instead of during, or I'd exaggerate the deadlifts motions to take a bit more time.

It worked out.  It was a good first time back workout.

Olympic lifting and accessory log for Tuesday, January 5th

Went to the Y because I skipped Crossfit this am.  Tired and sore.  Decided to go for broke on the jerks and then do my rows from tomorrow since I likely won't have time go to the gym.

Jerks went well.

Worked only jerks this time, no presses.  45# for 5 or 6 reps, 95#-135#-155# for triples. Did singles at 185#, twice because I didn't like the first one.  Then I caught fire.  Single at 195# pure gold. 205# again, nailed it. 215# (PR) bam! Best jerk of my life. Better than the 3 previous ones.  So I had to try 220#.  I didn't want to push my luck at 225#, so 100kg was a good enough benchmark.

Got right under it. The tiniest press out, as my left wasn't quite locked out, but I held it, and stood it up.

Pretty stoked.  But I'll have to revise my 2016 goals!

Next chance I get to clean and jerk, I'm totally going for 225#!

After that I did a triple of supinated bent over barbell rows at 185#  (after a warm up set of 8 at 135#).

Didn't like the first attempt, so rested a bit and did it again, better.

Then I hit the steam room and went for a beer with my son.  Great day.

New Jerk PR.  

 

Strength:
Bench: 230# November 19, 2014 (up from 225#)
Dead Lift: 365# September 17, 2014 (up from 355#)
Press: 145# September 9, 2014 (up from 140#)
Back Squat: 315# March 2, 2015 (up from 305#)
Front Squat: 280# September 29, 2015 (up from 275#)
Overhead squat: 155# September 22, 2015 (up from 145#) 

 

Power:
Power Clean: 205# July 4, 2015 (up from 195#)
Power snatch:  140# Dec 5, 2014 (up from 125#)
Push Press: 185# Sept 15, 2014 (up from 175#)
Clean: 225# Dec 31, 2015 (up from 215#)
Jerk: 220#  Jan 5th, 2016 (up from 205#)
Snatch: 145# Apr 23, 2015 (up from 135#)
Clean and Jerk: 205# Dec 13, 2014 (up from 175#)

Strength and accessory log for Monday, January 4th

Went to the Y at lunch, need to get as  much work done before the Disney trip where I'm likely to get no workouts aside from running in for 8 days.

Crowed gym, with all the resolution people. Should be closer to normal when I get back from Disney.

Today, I did front squats,  made 275# for single, tried 295# but had to bail.  Nothing like dropping big weight with all the newbies around.  ;)

After that I did RDL's warm up at 185# for 8, the 5 reps at 225#.  That's starting to get hard.  Last time at 215# was definitely too easy.

To finish off, I did some wrist curls with dumbbells and with the barbell.

Good workout. 

Crossfit log for Monday, January 4th

Perfect workout for the first day back and first workout of the year.

Coach was a bit late thanks to the crummy weather that finally reared its ugly head, so we didn't have time for the full strength work.

The warm up was a 6 minute cycle of 15 air squats, 10 empty bar thrusters and 5 strict pull ups.

Strength work was overhead squats for 2 heavy reps.  We were rushed, so I did a double at 115# and used the rest of the time to change shoes and hit the bathroom.

The WOD was a partner WOD, but we were 5, so the girl went together and I shadowed the boys team.  Mike and Dave are a bit weaker than I am at most stuff, so Coach Alex said I could work as long as Mike was working, meaning if I finished a station before him I could move to the next even if he wasn't there yet.

Eek.  Wasn't sure about that.

As it turned out there wasn't time.  The WOD was a for time, share the reps:

- 2 rope climbs
- 30 snatches  115#/75#
- 4 rope climbs
- 30 clean and jerks
- 4 rope climbs
- 30 thrusters
- 2 rope climbs.

We did women's Rx.   I might have gotten ahead of them but their rope was marked a couple of feet lower than the other two and for some reason they only did 1 climb each for the two middle sets, whereas I did 2.

But it was good.  It would have been a killer if Kamil had been there, I would have died keeping up with him.

I had enough rest, the bar was light enough that I was strong to the end.