A Good Morning!

10 Rounds for time of:

200 Meter run
10 Deadlifts (Men bodyweight, Women 3/4 bodyweight)

My time: 20:57 - unbroken
scaled up weight to 115

I really enjoyed this workout and loved being able to do it unbroken. I got right on the deadlifts each time I came back in from running, but my running was really slow. I was tentative about running since it's been a while and I wasn't sure if I'd get that leg cramp again, but I had no issues with it at all. And my back is feeling great! So, I'll really look forward to doing this one again and improving my time.

We worked on snatches today in the warm up.
3 @ 55
3 @ 65
3 @ 65

Should probably have gone heavier, more towards 75 in order to get to 80% of max. Next time.

More fun!

As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of:

6 Dumbbell squat cleans (Men 45 lb dumbbells, Women 25 lb dumbbells)
12 Pull-ups
24 Double unders

My round: 2 + 6 plu, Rx

Actually had some fairly decent double unders today, but they still took me forever. The best part is, I didn't get that muscle cramp in my calf, so I think that issue is over with. Yay!

Strength Component today was Sotts Press. Until today I have only done them with a pvc in our warm-up. I started with the 28# bar and that seemed too heavy. So I went to the 18#. Actually the weight wasn't the issue - it was my hand placement on the bar. After I figured that out, I ended up increasing in weight and did better than I expected.

5 each @ 18, 22, 28, 35, 40, 45
1 each @ 50 & 55

It's a tough move if your shoulders are not flexible!

Fun start to the week! I'm feeling great. :)

“Elizabeth”

21-15 & 9 rep rounds for time of:
Squat clean (Men 135 lbs, Women 85 lbs)
Ring dips

My time: 13:59, Rx weight, BAR Dips

Compare to 2/17/10 - 15:08 using a 1" band for dips. So, I've made some improvement! I think. Ha ha. I need to get a bit more depth on my dips, and then move on to ring dips so I can have one more "Rx" WOD under my belt.

This was a good workout to end the week with. My back felt tight early during the warm up and a couple of times during the early part of the WOD, but when I concentrated on form and posture when releasing the bar, I didn't have much pain at all, if any. And by the end of the WOD my back was feeling fine.

Didn't really have a strength component today. We did Squat Cleans during the warm up and worked up in weight to the weight we were using for the WOD.

It was great to see Sarah A. this morning! (Hi Sarah!)

TGIF!!!

“Berlyn”

9 Rounds for time of:

8 Shoulder Press (Men 115 lbs, Women 75 lbs)
26 Squats

My time: 25:01 w/65#

Started out with 75#, got in 4 reps and decided to scale down. What a tough workout, but it was actually kind of fun. I've never done that many shoulder presses in one day that I recall.

It was interesting to see where my failure point was each time on the presses. For the first few rounds, I could get in 4 or 5 reps without failing, as the time to do the squats was long enough to recover to that point. There was no getting the bar up when I reached full fatigue, no matter how hard I tried. All I could do was put it down and rest. So I had a lot of triples, doubles and singles in the later rounds.

Anyway, this was a good workout.

Strength this morning was Dead Lifts.
5 sets of 5
125
155
185

I stopped at 185 because I'm getting that low back pain again.

Fran

Eh...I've done better and I've done worse.

Fran
21-15-9
Thrusters (65lbs)
Pull ups

My time: 9:44 Rx

I gave my best effort, and today, it was not a PR. But I feel good about it anyway. First round went fine, second round I dropped the bar on the 9th rep, after thinking to myself "I can do the whole 15 unbroken!!" Uh yeah. Perhaps next time. Anyway, a good morning and a good workout. Can't ask for much more than that. Maybe a new PR next time. ;-)

Still not 100%

I took an extra rest day yesterday. I needed to give my back and my leg a little extra time to heal up. So, imagine my frustration this morning when we started out on the first 800 m run, and about 3/4 of the way through, I got that damn leg cramp again. I tried running it out, and it just got worse and worse. So, I finished the WOD on a rower. I'm calling to schedule a massage today! Hopefully I can get in somewhere soon.

WOD:
4 Rounds, each for time of:
800 Meter run2 Minute rest
Post each 800 time to responses

My times:
1 – 5:20 (run 800m…major leg cramp)
2 – 4:45 (row 1k)
3 – 4:47 (row 1k)
4 – 4:53 (row 1k)
Total time with rest: 25:46

Tomorrow we are doing Fran. Yeah...I hate knowing this ahead of time. Usually I'll lose sleep over it. I'm going to try and dismiss it from my mind today and not get all worked up about it. We shall see.

Strength Component today was Snatch Balance:
5 @ 45
5 @ 55
5 @ 65
5 @ 70 - failed on last rep

TGIF!

As many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:

2 Clean & jerk (Men 185 lbs, Women 115 lbs)
4 Burpees
8 Chest to bar pull-ups

My rounds: 6
85 lbs C&J, regular kipping plu

Scaled down on the weight for the clean & jerks, trying to go a bit easy on my back. The strength component was also 7 single C&J for a 1 rep max. I went light on that, and stayed with 85.

Looking forward to two rest days, and possibly three, perhaps taking Monday off. More than likely I'll go to CF and just go light, or maybe go run. (Thanks for the idea Erin!) But I"ll see how I feel about it come Monday.

Nate-ish

“Nate”

Complete as many rounds in twenty minutes as you can of:
2 Muscle-ups
4 Handstand Push-ups
8 Kettlebell swings (Men 70 lbs, Women 45 lbs)

Modified beyond recognition: 7 rounds + 6 plu

So what does that mean exactly? Well, here is the WOD I did:

Sub for MU: 6 pull ups + 6 ring dips of about 2" depth at best
Sub for HSPU: Head to 2 abmats with about a 50% success rate of actually touching my head to the mat
Sub on KBS: dropped to 35 lbs after one round at 45 lbs, and excruciating back pain (which by the way is becoming very annoying)


This morning I took a few minutes to mentally regroup, as I could feel myself sliding down the slippery slope into that trap I was in a few months ago, with the negative self-talk ("I'm old", "I'm wasting my time"). You know what? I'm not old! And I'm certainly not wasting my time!!

I spent some time reading down the right side of my blog this morning and look at my PR's to remind myself of how much I have accomplished in the last two and a half years. I've gone from not ever having picked up a barbell to 232 lb deadlifts and 130 lb split jerks, and running a 10k without ever "training" for it, and so many other things I never could have imagined that it still just blows my mind!

Even though I've got some physical issues going on right now, I'm not going to let a few aches and pains get me down! I am strong, and healthy and committed to staying that way. I'm not a 'firebreather' or a 'badass', but I'm damn sure not a quitter! I'm just having a little set-back, and I don't care what WOD is posted tomorrow, I will show up at 5 am and do what I can. My injuries will heal and I will continue learning new skills, setting new PR's and giving it all I've got, even if some days it's not exactly what's prescribed.

(I think, in hindsight, this post needs some dramatic background music for effect. Or maybe a picture of me at the top of Mt. Everest, photoshopped, of course. It is a bit dramatic, but it really was intended as more of a personal pep-talk. Ok...move along...nothing to see here.)

Tough Morning!

This was a tough one! Wow!!

Every minute on the minute for 20 minutes:

5 Dumbbell deadlifts
5 Dumbbell hang power cleans
5 Dumbbell thrusters

Post dumbbell weight used, total minutes completed and total rounds completed thereafter.
The rx’d dumbbell weight is 45% bodyweight for men and 30% bodyweight for women (that is both dumbbells combined).

Total Minutes Completed: 20 rounds, Rx


My body weight is 146
30% of that is 43.80, which does not divide evenly into two dumbbells...it comes out to 21.9 lbs, which rounds down to 20 lbs. So, what did I do? I scaled UP. Yes, UP - to 25 lbs each hand.

Well, what was I thinking??

I made it through 5 rounds at that weight and then dropped to 20's. I believe legally it would still be considered as Rx'd, to use the 20's so I'm going with "as Rx'd" on my score. My 3rd grade math teacher would give me an A for my rounding skills. *ha ha ha*

**************

Strength Component today was Shoudler Press
I'm just not making a whole lot of progress on this one, and don't really know what to do about it.

5 @ 35
3 @ 45
2 @ 55
5 @ 65
5 @ 70
5 @ 75

Those 3 sets of 5 should have all been at 75, but I think if I can start just getting ONE set of a higher number, then eventually I can get two sets, and then 3. So, next time I'm going to try going 70, 75, 80 on the sets of 5 and see if this helps me progress to a higher weight.

Flawed thinking/strategy? Anyone want to offer an opinion?

Modifying or Scaling - it's all good!

So, apparently I'm falling apart this week. My right calf muscle is killing me from the "cramp" I had yesterday during the running part of the WOD. Perhaps I pulled a muscle? I don't know. What I do know is that by the time I got home yesterday evening it was pretty painful. I iced it for a while. I'm icing it now. It'll heal up in time. It's all good.

The issue with my back, well, I'm hoping a new mattress is in my future, perhaps as early as this weekend. We shall see.

In any case, today I was thankful for the ability to modify or scale the workout to suit my needs. The lift in the workout was not a pre-set weight, so I went with a comfortable 85 lbs after experimenting with heavier weights during the strength workout. I subbed rowing 1k's for the 800m runs. One more reason I love CrossFit - I can still train through an injury and get a decent workout.

WOD:
For time -
21 Power cleans
800 Meter run
15 Power cleans
800 Meter run
9 Power cleans

My time: 16:09 - W/ 85 lbs, and rowing 1k's instead of running

Strength component: Power Cleans
5 @ 65
3 @ 85
2 @105
1 @ 115 - two failed attempts, and back pain started up so I stopped here
1
1

Aches & Pains

For time:

400 Meter run
50 Double unders
400 Meter run
50 Push-ups
400 Meter run
50 Pull-ups
400 Meter run

My time: 23:40
subbed abmat situps for double unders

Got up this morning feeling fine. Our warm up was 3 minutes of single unders and 2 minutes of double unders. Started out ok, and about 200 singles into the warm up my lower back started hurting a bit, but nothing I couldn't handle by tightening my core a bit more.

The strenght component today was back squats. 5-3-2-5-5-5. I love back squats. Recently I've had some issues with back pain, and the little bit of pain during double unders had me concerned. So, I started out light at 105. I did 7 or 8 reps, really as a warm up and felt pretty good. But, just like last week when I racked the weight, there was that pain again - lower back, down to the glutes and into my leg. So, I stretched a bit while Samantha did a few reps. Then I added 30 lbs and went for three reps. The weight felt fine when I was under it. I could do a full range of motion squat, no problem. But this time when I racked the weight, the pain brought tears to my eyes. So, in the interest of not totally screwing something up, I gave up doing any more back squats today.

I also decided not to do double-unders in the WOD and subbed ab mat sit ups. The ab mat actually makes my back feel better.

During the first 400m run, I suppose I was favoring my left side, being a little timid about my back. So, I managed to get a huge muscle cramp in my right calf, which continued to act up through the entire WOD, slowing my already abysmally slow running to a crawl. Seriously another pain? That's all I needed. Ah, Monday. :)

I've decided these two things would probably be of great benefit to my back:

1. I need to stretch more, both before and after WOD's.
2. I need a new mattress. The one I have now has been causing back and hip problems for both Allan and me, so it's time to do something about it. (Can't have it messin' with my back squats and deadlifts!!!)

“The Fireman”

(Workout for Brody's birthday...he's a fireman, if that's not obvious by the title.)

For time:
Firemans carry your barbell and plates around the building
30 Muscle ups or Squat Clean & Jerk (Men 135 lbs, Women 85 lbs) or a combination of both
Firemans carry your barbell and plates around the building


Rules: You will have a barbell and two plates. It is your choice on how you get them around the building. You can take one at a time or you could load your barbell and take the whole thing at once. Once you get back to your starting point with your barbell and plates you have to complete 30 muscle ups or clean & jerks or it can be a combination of both. After completing the 30 reps you must complete another trip or trips around the building with your barbell and plates.

My time: 16:12, Rx w/30 sq c&j

This was a super fun workout. When I first looked at it this morning I was thinking, "wtf?" and trying to figure out how long it would take me. I estimated 15 minutes, so I wasn't far off the mark. Originally it was posted as "clean & jerks" and then Breck decided to make it SQUAT clean & jerks to more closely match the amount of work required in a muscle up. I think if it had just been clean & jerk, my time would have been way faster. Still, I didn't mind at all doing the squat cleans - I've finally got the "release the hook grip" and "receiving the bar on your shoudlers" down and it makes a world of difference!

Clean & jerk is one of my favorite lifts. My form felt really great today and I enjoyed the entire workout.

Strength component today was squat clean & jerk. I got to 105 and stopped. I was conserving energy for the WOD. I was feeling strong this morning though, and probably should have pushed a little harder and gone for a PR.

Anyway, a great workout, and a very nice way to kick off the weekend!!

TGIF!

"Jeremy"

21-15-9

Overhead squats (65 lb)
Burpees

My time: 11:18 Rx - PR by 1 min
(Compare to 3/5/09 12:18)

Today after the WOD I was so discouraged and frustrated. I am just abysmally slow on burpees. Seems like no matter what I do, how hard I push, I cannot get faster. I knew I had done this WOD before, but had no idea of my time. Much to my surprise, I was a full minute faster today than I was over a year ago. Even though I still need to be WAY faster, it made me smile to know that I had improved every so slightly.

I suspect, however, that the minute time difference was due to the OHS and not the burpees.

I sort of laughed at my notes from 3/5/09. It was the very first WOD I did using 65 lb OHS. My notes from that day say "Wow. Heavy." Ha ha!

*****
Strength component today was squat snatch:

1 @ 55
1 @ 65
1 @ 75
1 @ 85
1 @ 90 (fail)

I know I can do 90. Just felt weak today on the lifts. I didn't have hardly any carbs yesterday. Gotta watch that!

Shoulders...

Just about everything we did today involved shoulders. Thankfully my shoulders have been feeling great lately, and althought I am slow (that never seems to change), I enjoyed the workout and the warmup, and felt good about my form on the push jerks, and the overhead squats.

WOD:

As many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:

4 Handstand push ups
5 Burpees
6 Push jerk (Men 135 lbs, Women 85 lbs) (no racks; the push jerks start from the floor)

My score: 4 rounds + 2 burpees (66 reps total)
Rx weight on push jerk, MOD HSPU


Warm up:

First minute 1 pull up, 1 OHS (35 lb bar)
Second minute 2 pull ups, 2 OHS
etc., through 10 minutes.

I made it through 7 minutes doing both skills, and then went to just doing OHS on 8, 9 & 10.
Then Breck threw in a "bonus round" of 11 reps each. I did the OHS on that one too, so got in plenty of OHS today

Total OHS reps: 66
Total PLU reps: 28

******
Made my second batch of coconut flour blueberry muffins last night. OMG they are SO good. They only take about 20 minutes total from start to finish and they are delicious. I added a tiny bit extra coconut flour this time and the texture is perfect. I honestly cannot tell they don't have any traditional white flour in them. Next time I'll make lemon-poppyseed muffins. Yum!

3 Rounds for time of:

400 Meter run
15 Deadlifts (Men 205 lbs, Women 135 lbs)
20 Box jumps (Men 24″box, Women 20″ box)

My time: 17:53 Rx

Not sure what possessed me, but I broke up the deadlifts on the first round. WTF? I can do 15 unbroken. So, round 2 & 3 I did them unbroken. Running felt really slow this morning, but then again, when have I ever been fast? Ha! Anyway, this was a good workout, kind of fun, and wouldn't mind doing it again. I know I could get faster at it.

Strength Component today was shoulder press. Not my fave. Not my best. We haven't done them in quite a while, and I had to drop weight. Need to get back to and past 75 lbs on this lift!

5 @ 55
3 @ 65
2 @ 70
5 @ 75...failed
3 x 5 @ 70

Mmmmonday!

As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of:

5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Squats

Immediately following the 10 minute AMRAP:
400 Meter sprint

Scoring method :
400 meter sprint time in total seconds
Minus total completed rounds in the 10 min AMRAP = Score


My score: 117 (123 seconds run time, minus 6 rounds)

****

It sure felt good to be back at the 5:00 am class. Not that it felt all that good to get out of bed at 4:30, but I missed my 5am peeps last week! :)

Strength component today was Back Squats
5-3-2 warm up and 5-5-5 work sets

I did:
5 @ 125
3 @ 145
2 @ 155

Had an issue with lower back pain when racking the weights after the squats. Not sure what's going on here, but the squats actually felt good - no pain at all until I racked the weights, and then a catch in the low back with pain down my glutes and into my leg. So, I opted not to do the work sets. Last time we did this I hit 165 on the 5 rep work sets. I was going to go for 170 today, but I'll wait until next week.

Now...back to work!

Back on the Wagon

I have been on vacation for the past 9 days. As I planned, I had several meals or dishes that were nowhere near Primal. My list of culinary indiscretions includes but was not limited to:

Cheeseburger & fries
Flour tortillas
Sandwich bread
Tater tots
Homemade Biscuits & Gravy (worth every bite!)
Chicago Dog, including a BUN
An "ice cream" treat that I'm certain I couldn't pronounce half the ingredients
Boneless Buffalo Wings with bbq sauce (breaded & fried)
Quiche with a real crust
Beer
Beer
and
More Beer

Actually, I include beer in my regular "Primal" diet, so don't really consider it off-plan, except for the extreme volume I managed to consume in 9 days time.

So, to get back on track, today I stocked up on veggies and meats. I made a batch of fresh salsa, and I'm marinating 6 lbs of fajita meat for dinner tonight and lunches this week. I finally experimented with coconut flour and made some Primal-legal blueberry muffins, sweetened with honey. Yum!!! The texture is just a tiny bit different, but definitely worth repeating.

And, since I managed to squeeze in five workouts on my vacation, I'm hoping I didn't do a whole lot of damage.

"Virginia"

Today marks my first ever Saturday CrossFit workout. Breck arranged for a workout and going away party for Ginny, who is moving to Michigan soon, and I really didn't want to miss it. Ginny is an awesome person and one of my CrossFit Idols.

It was a tough workout, but a lot of fun. I skipped two elements of the WOD because I could. *snicker* Still, it was a great time, and it was nice to finally meet some of the people whose names and faces appear on the CFJ website on a regular basis. What a great group of people!!

“Virginia”

For time:
1 Mile trail run
33 Kettlebell swings (Men 55 lbs, Women 35 lbs)
100 Meter trail run
200 Meter overhead plate run (Men 45 lb plate, Women 25 lb plate)
100 Meter trail run
33 Wall ball shots (Men 20 lb ball, Women 14 lb ball)
400 Meter trail run
33 Lateral jumps over a telephone pole (17″)
800 Meter trail run

My Time: 28:33 - modified
(I skipped kettle bells and wall balls, and I also did laterals over the shorter telephone pole).

Karen

Ay, yi, yi! Had a text from Natalie saying she didn't go this morning because she doesn't like Wall Ball. I knew it would be Karen, but went anyway. I needed the workout.

Karen:
150 Wallballs for time (14 lbs)

My time: 13:27 Rx
Slow. As. Death.

Strength Component today was deadlifts. Kinda felt like I've lost my mojo on dealifts in the last few months, however, today I felt strong and I actually had some good lifts. I believe the little head game I was playing with myself on deadlifts is no longer a factor. :)

3 each @ 125, 145, 165, 185, 195, 205, 220

Run...again.

Got up and ran again this morning - 2.5 miles. Fortunately the sky was cloudy and the temps were not as high as Tuesday. Got a few errands run, waiting on the sun to shine, then hit the pool and the beer again. It's my duty to stimulate the economy by drinking beer.

Grace

Went to the 9:30 am class this morning, since I'm still on vacation.

Nowhere near a PR on Grace today, but oh well.

Grace:
For time - 30 Clean & Jerk (85lbs)

My time: 5:03 Rx

Resumed floating around the pool, beer in hand for the remainder of the day.

Run

Vacation: ran today 2.56 miles at 7:45 am - hotter than the gate hinges of Hell!! Spent the remainder of the day in the pool, beer in hand.