“Annie”

50-40-30-20 & 10 rep rounds for time of:

Double unders
Sit-ups

My time: 11:57 Rx - PR by almost a minute!

Went into this thinking my PR was around 16 minutes, but I had just set a new PR if 12:49 back in October and forgot about it. How could I forget that?! Ha ha. Anyway, I was super stoked about this PR today. Double-unders, though far from perfect, are coming along nicely. I had several sets of 5+. One of these days I'll be getting sets of 10 consistently.

Strength today was 1 Snatch (Power or Squat) + 3 OHS every 2 minutes for 20 minutes
I did squat snatch on the first five, then power snatch on the last five.
My loads: 45-55-60-65-70-75-75-75-75-75

I'm giving myself the option of taking a rest day tomorrow. I have been feeling like I need to give my body a break. But, I also know I'll have four rest days, Friday through Monday for our trip to Houston. We have tentative plans to do a run down along the seawall in Galveston, but that is "hangover dependent". In other words, the likelyhood of it happening is not very strong. So, we'll see what the workout is tomorrow, and how I feel at 4:30 a.m. I know I should work out, and I probably will...but I'll see.

Diane

21-15-9 reps of:

Deadlift (Men 225 lbs, Women 155 lbs)
Handstand push ups

My time: 9:56, Rx weight, head to 2 abmats on HSPU

I haven't done this workout in over a year. Wow. This was the last workout I did over at HZ before moving to CFJ. That day I did 135 lbs on the deadlifts and the HSPU were like 1" depth at most, and my time was over 10 min. So...I have improved somewhat, though still not fully Rx yet.

The warmup today included tabata bottom-to-bottom OH squats (with PVC). My score was 5 (the lowest round). This killed my hips. Ouch!

Then we did 20 minutes of pull ups & dips, starting with 1 plu on minute 1, 1 dip minute 2, etc. all the way through 10 pull ups and 10 dips. My dead hang pull ups felt good this morning, though I still can't string together very many, I love that I can do them at all!

Need to work on my attitude...I was feeling pretty negative this morning, and I'm sure it affected my performance. I need a bit of a break, and I'll be taking 4 days off this weekend. That should help!

I'm behind...

I didn't keep up with my exercise blog over Christmas break. This doesn't mean I skipped Crossfit, though.

Let's see, Thursday, Dec 23 we did this:

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
10 Ring dips
20 Overhead walking lunge steps (Men 45 lb bumper plate, Women 35 lb bumper plate)
30 Lateral jumps over bumper plate

I scared the Hell out of 5 rounds: 4 rounds + 5 lateral jumps

Then on Christmas Eve, we did The Bear Complex. This is one of my favorite workouts, but I went light. Still some low back issues from last Friday's deadlifts, and what felt like a sinus infection...not excuses, just reasons. ;-)

My loads were: 55-55-65-70-70

After a good Christmas and a nice weekend where I mainly behaved myself and didn't overindulge much, I was ready to get back to the gym. (It helped that I "primalized" two yummy holiday recipes, which I'll share maybe later in the day when I get bored today.)

Today was FRAN

21-15-9
Thrusters (men 95 lbs, women 65 lbs)
Pull-ups

My time: 9:49 Rx

This is not a PR for me, but I was pleased with being under 10 minutes today. I have GOT to get that set of 21 thrusters unbroken next time. I am convinced this is the key to what is slowing me down. (Sounds good sitting here in my cushy office chair, anyway!)

Our strength component today was Split Jerks
Rep scheme: 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
My loads: 85-95-100-105-110-115-120

Pull ups, and stuff...

50-30 & 20 rep rounds for time of:

Double unders
Push-ups
Pull-ups

My time: 28:53 Rx

Holy crap! This workout took me nearly forever. When I read the workout on my iphone this morning I failed to read the "pull-ups" portion, and thought, "Oh, this won't be so bad". Ha ha. Yeah. Never should I allow myself to think that, ever, ever, ever. CrossFit is never "not so bad". But, it's so good for me, I don't mind at all.

Strength today was a set of 20 back squats
My load was 125. I have previoulsy done 135 on this one, but still a bit tight in the low back from deadlifts last Friday. So, I was being safe today.

“Mike T.”

For time:

40 Deadlifts (Men 95 lbs, Women 65 lbs)
40 Hang power cleans (Men 95 lbs, Women 65 lbs)
40 Front squats (Men 95 lbs, Women 65 lbs)
40 Push press (Men 95 lbs, Women 65 lbs)

Your choice on how you split the reps up. For example: 4 Rounds of 10 D.L., 10 HPC, 10 FS, 10 PP.

My time: 13:32, Rx
split into 4 rounds, 10 reps each lift

LOVED this workout! The push press was the hardest part for me, and the most broken up, but all in all, thoroughly enjoyed the whole workout.

Yesterday evening was my husband's company Christmas party and we didn't get home until 10, so I decided to sleep an extra hour and hit the 6 am class. I haven't drank any considerable amount of beer on a week night in ages, but last night I had 6 Newcastle's and I'm pretty sure I was sweating beer this morning. Gosh, I remember when drinking beer every night was normal...

Strength component today was hang power cleans
3 reps every 3 minutes for 15 minutes

My loads:
70-75-80-85-95

Kelly

Dear Kelly:

It's been a while. Guess what? You are still a bitch and I still hate your guts. Maybe even a little bit more than I did before.

Sincerely,
Angie


“Kelly”
5 Rounds for time of:

400 Meter run
30 Box jumps (Men 24” box, Women 20” box)
30 Wall ball shots (Men 20 lb ball, Women 14 lb ball)

My time: 40:10 Rx

Not the workout I was hoping for today. Not sure what I was hoping for, other than NOT Kelly. I thoroughly hate this workout with every fiber of my being. I surprised everyone (myself included) by just showing up today. I have said countless times how much I hate this WOD and that I wouldn't ever do it again.

But as my husband was sweet-talking me into staying in our nice warm bed this morning, something happened. I recalled a blog I wrote earlier this year about people picking and choosing workouts, and not showing up because they didn't like a certain WOD, and how I didn't do that, or wouldn't do that, or something to that effect. I laid there for about 30 seconds feeling like a huge hypocrite, so I got my butt out of bed and went to face down Kelly.

I didn't set a PR today. I didn't even get close. But I finished the WOD, and I believe this is the first time I've done it with a 14 lb ball. I'm not overly proud of my time today, but I am proud that I pushed myself to (a) get out of bed and make an attempt and (b) finish strong.

Still, I don't care if I ever see this workout again. Wouldn't miss it one little bit if it never showed up again!

“Dr. Feelgood”

Another birthday WOD. This time for Brian D. Good one - love the deadlifts!!

3 Rounds for time of:

12 Deadlifts (Men 275 lbs, Women 185 lbs)
18 Lateral jumps over barbell
37 Double unders

My time: 15:10, Rx

Loved the deadlifts, but the double unders slowed me down a bit. I did have several good sets ranging from 7 to 10, but I was so winded during this whole WOD, I did a lot of resting. Felt good to do some heavy deadlifts. Tried to keep my eyes on the ceiling after reading that tip on Melli's post the other day, however I did notice I have a habit of looking down and to the left (wtf?) when I bring the bar back down to the ground. No idea why, but now that I'm conscious of it, I can change it.

I have a busy weekend ahead. Tonight I'm going to see my son's band, if I can stay awake that long! (They don't go on until like 11:00 pm.) Should be a good time!

TGIF!!

strength component: shoulder press, push press, push jerk 3-3-3 each
sp: 3 ea @ 55-65-75
pp: 3 ea @ 85-90-95
pj: 3ea @ 95-95-95 (stayed light to work on form)

"The Ram"

Birthday WOD for Rayus and Samantha, my sweet Niece. Rayus turned 24 yesterday, and Samantha turns 25 tomorrow.

As many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:

8 Thrusters (Men 115 lbs, Women 75 lbs)
8 Chest to bar pull-ups
8 Kettlebell swings (Men 70 lbs, Women 45 lbs)

My score: 4 rounds, Rx weights, pull-ups were kipping but not chest to bar

This was a total lung burner. My first two rounds of of thrusters were unbroken, but it was downhill after that. Pull-ups were all broken up. Kettlebells were all unbroken, but man, was I winded afterwards. Then going right back into thrusters was the kicker. A good, short, tough workout!

***
"If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans."

~an excerpt from the Desiderata, by Max Ehrmann


I do quite a bit of "comparing myself with others", when really I know I shouldn't be doing this at all. I mean, it's good to have a point of reference for what a decent time is on a workout or what an appropriate weight is, but actually comparing myself and judging myself based on those comparisons is not a good thing for me, mentally.

It can be discouraging if I let it. For instance, several times in the past month, I have looked at Breck's list of workout times for everyone's workouts at the gym, and have found on some occasions, that I was indeed dead last overall. I actually considered the possibility of quitting CrossFit after seeing that one day.

But then I remembered that quote up there, and thought...how silly of me; how utterly vain and ridiculous to think that way. I get so much enjoyment, and so many benefits from doing CrossFit, how dare I think of quitting just because of the idea that I don't like being last or slower than someone else.

The fact is, many days I am slow, many days I am last, but I am always proud of my efforts and achievements. I always give 100%. It doesn't matter how I compare to others. It only matters that I give my all, every single workout!

Brrr!!

It is COLD! I was dreading the running part of the WOD today because of the cold, and the wind. The temp was just below 32°, and the wind chill was like 20°. Fortunately the runs were just 400's and so not too miserable, but I was slow as death....as usual.

WOD

3 Rounds for time of:

400 Meter run
10 Clean & jerk (Men 135 lbs, Women 95 lbs)

My time: 16:06 Rx

I was really aiming for under 15 minutes on this one. I figured 3 minutes per 400m run, and under 2 minutes on the C&J every round, because my Grace time is like 5 minutes or less, but not sure what went wrong here. Ha ha. The combination of running and C&J is way different than just Grace. Well for me anyway. Some of the guys had really fast times.

Strength today was Squat Clean & Jerk, 1 lift every 2 minutes for 20 minutes
(Or if you're going light, 1 lift every minute for 20 min)

I did: 65-70-75-80-85-95-105-115-125(F)-120

My PR on a jerk is 135. I failed on the 125 because I didn't get under the bar fast enough to lock out properly. C&J is one of my favorite lifts. Need to work on my form and speed!!

Five rounds...

for time of:

20 Pull-ups
30 Push-ups

My time: 26:26, Rx

Slow, but I finished! I had several good sets of pull-ups today. A few 10's, lots of 5's & 6's. Feeling stronger on them but wish I could be more consistent with sets of 10. Getting there. No rips or tears or blisters, amazingly!

We did muscle up progressions in the warm-up, with a little different method than before. I can see where it will help and makes more sense to me physically. We also did tabata double-unders. I got a total of like 45 or 46, which is just ridiculous. But, it got me warmed up. ;)

OHS!

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:

10 Overhead squats
20 Sit-ups

Multiply load by rounds for score. For example: 10 rounds + 10 squats and 5 sit-ups at 95 lbs would be 10.5 x 95 which would equal a score of 997.5.

My score: 8 rounds + 3 OHS x 75 lbs = 607.5

Really fun workout and feels great to be WELL!!! Thank God for good Antibiotics. Life is good!

Bummer!

I hate missing a workout, but I just couldn't drag myself to the gym today. This cold (or whatever it is) has moved into my chest. Attempting a workout would have been ridiculous.

Unfortunately for me, I can't call in sick to work, since December is one of my busiest months. Hopefully the antibiotics I started yesterday will kick in today or tomorrow and I'll be good as new in a few days.

“Cindy”

Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:

5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Squats

My total: 11 rds + 7 push ups

Pull-ups felt awesome today, almost effortless. Oh - and I did them all UNBROKEN. Yay! Push-ups kicked my butt. Since mid-summer I have been making a conscious effort to go "chest to the floor" on all my push ups and this really slows me down. But, I think I'm getting better benefit from doing that than just a half-ass push up where you go half way to the ground and push back up. That shouldn't even be considered a legitimate "rx" push-up. So, between having this cold/respiratory problem going on and being on a Nyquil hangover, I'd say I did pretty darn good on Cindy today. I was just off my PR by a round and a half. Yay me. ;)

The strength component today was Awesome Fun!!

One power clean or squat clean (your choice) on the minute, every minute:

Rounds 1 through 5 I did power cleans at 65 lbs each
Rounds 6 - 15 I did squat cleans as follows
85
85
90
95
100
105
110
115
120
125

I nailed the squat clean on the 125 lbs, but lost my balance and fell on my butt. For the record, if this happens to you, there is no need to panic. The bar will clear you completely - well unless you're 6 months pregnant or something. Ha ha. It just rolled right over me, no problem.

I loved this workout, and I want to do it again soon so I can go heavier. I know I could've gone way heavier on the squat cleans...they just felt great this morning.

Sneaky little germs...

Saturday morning I woke up with a sore throat, but it went away as the day wore on. Sunday, same thing, only I started feeling pretty worn out by evening. Monday, sore throat lasted most of the day and I'm feeling really run down. Tuesday morning, didn't sleep well last night, sore throat, annoying drainage, and I'm exhausted.

Went to CF anyway.

Put the sore throat out of my mind and pushed through the strength component and the WOD, but I can tell I am not functioning at full capacity. I cannot afford to get sick. I have meetings the next two days that are not optional. Germs are a complete waste of time!!

WOD:

3 Rounds for time of:

10 Dumbbell power clean & jerk (Men 45 lb dumbbells, Women 30 lb dumbbells)
10 Knees to elbows
10 Dumbbell front squats (Men 45 lb dumbbells, Women 30 lb dumbbells)

My time: 12:40 Rx

Strength Component: shoulder press, push press, push jerk
rep scheme: 3-3-3
my loads:
sp - 55-70-80
pp - 85-90-95
pj - 100-105 (didn't have time for 3rd set)

Mmmm....burpees.

With a 15 minute time limit:

Row 2000 meters
As many reps as possible of burpees
Start with the 2000 meter row and with the remaining time of the 15 minutes perform as many burpees as possible.

Post 2000 meter row time and number of burpees to responses.

My row time: 9:23.1 - PR!
My burpees: 33

I haven't hit a PR on anything lately so I'm happy about my row time today. Yay!

The warm-up today was 75 OHS, 65 lbs for women, 95 lbs for men. 15 minutes to complete all 75, with the goal of as few sets as possible. I opted for breaking them up into small sets.
15-10-10-10-10-10-10

TGIF!

In this workout you will have 4 five minute rounds with a 1 minute break between rounds. Each round consists of a 400 meter run at the start of each round. After you complete the 400 meter run you will have the remainder of the 5 minutes to complete 1 of the following 4 exercises for max reps in each round.

You choose the order of the exercises for each round.

Wall ball shots (Men 20 lb ball, Women 14 lb ball)
Rowing (Calories)
Burpees
Kettlebell swings (Men 55 lbs, Women 35 lbs)

My total reps: 113
Wallball 29
Buprpees 19
Rowing 24 (cal)
KBS 41

Run times: 2:03, 2:17, 2:20, 2:19

We did this in July with pullups in place of KBS, and I had 110 reps. Meh...not much improvement, but still a fun workout!

*****
I have a Primal recipe to share with you today.

Last weekend I was craving some Carne Guisada. What's that? Well, its sort of a Mexican beef stew. There are a million recipes for it, but the recipe I use is from The Spanish Dagger Ranch in Uvalde, Tx, where I used to go quail and pheasant hunting. Dottie, the resident cook, shared the recipe with me years ago and it's one of my favorite winter meals.

But this time I had a dilemma, as the recipe includes potatoes. So, in order to keep it a little more "Primal" I replaced them with rutabaga, and I actually ended up liking it better - they didn't get all mushy like potatoes do! If you're not trying to stay primal or paleo, feel free to add potatoes if you want.

3 lbs Chuck roast, cut into cubes for stew meat
2 tbsp oil (I use coconut oil)
4-8 cloves of garlic, minced (depending on your taste preference)
4 Tbsp ground cumin (again, depending on your taste...I usually add more!)
3 cans of Rotel (I use medium)
3 cans of water
3 beef bullion cubes
1 large rutabage, cut into bite size cubes

Heat oil in stew pan and brown stew meat, with minced garlic. When all meat is seared add spices, rotel, water, and bullion cubes. Reduce heat to low-medium and simmer for several hours. About 1.5 hours before you are ready to serve, add the rutabagas, return to a boil, then reduce to low-medium and simmer until rutabagas are tender. You may want to add more water, depending on how soupy you like your stew.

Enjoy!

“Lynne”

5 Rounds for max reps of:
Bench press (Men bodyweight, Women 2/3 bodyweight)
Pull-ups (Immediately following bench press)

Rest 5 minutes between rounds.

Post bench press load and total reps to responses

My total: 127, used 65 lbs

Bench pull ups
18 10
17 10
15 10
15 10
13 9

This was my first time to do this workout. I didn't do the prescribed weight - would have been just under 100 lbs. I'm not ready for that yet. I've done very little bench pressing and haven't got the form down just yet. Plus last week I could barely do 5 reps at 95 lbs. Fun workout, though, and I'm looking forward to getting stronger on bench presses.