JT

21-15 & 9 rep rounds for time of:
Handstand push-ups
Ring dips
Push-ups

My time: 13:43, modified

2 abmats for HSPU and bar dips - poor range of motion. I've got to get back into the groove with dips and HSPU now that my shoulders are both feeling decent at the same time.


Strength today was deadlifts

warm up sets
5 @ 105
3 @ 155
2 @ 185

work sets
5 x 5 @ 185

TGIF!!

Thursday

As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of:

20 Double unders - I subbed 15 KBS
10 Knees to elbows


My rounds: 4 + 15 KBS

Still laying off the jumping & running trying to get my calf muscle healed up. Doing lots of stretching and it's feeling pretty good. Plan on picking up a foam roller this weekend to help with that.

Skipped front squats today.

Fun morning!

3 Rounds for time of:

500 Meter row
15 Dumbbell squat cleans (Men 45 lb dumbbells, Women 30 lb dumbbells)

My time: 15:27, Rx

This was a fun workout! I always enjoy the dumbbell workouts for some reason. Decided to gut up and do the prescribed weight, though I was tempted to scale. My form felt pretty good on most of them. Had one where I didn't think I could come out of the squat - in the last round somewhere - but I made it, so no missed reps. I had really hoped to finish under 15 minutes, but just wasn't in the cards today.

The warm up included some rowing at different resistance levels, just to feel the difference and concentrate on form. Think it helped me slightly.

We also did weighted pull ups. I always think these are so awkward because I have to kip. Well I could probably do dead-hang with a 5 or 10 lb weight but I can't do that many dead-hangs, so...I kip.

Anyway...here are my loads:

3 each @ 5, 8, 10, 15 & 25 lbs

The last one was with a vest rather than a dumbbell.

Fun morning!

So...

it's apparent that I need to do lots more stretching on a regular basis. This calf muscle issue is aggravating and I know I'm not helping myself by wearing 4" to 5" heels every day, training that muscle to be shorter. I know. But I refuse to give up my heels. So, I'm going to add a stretching regimen to my day. Morning and night.

I laid off the box jumps today because it's still pretty tender from yesterday. It seems to heal back up pretty quickly, and by Saturday should be fine again. I'll just have to continue stretching and try running again and see what happens.

Anyway, today's WOD was:

21-15 & 9 rep rounds for time of:

Bench press (Men bodyweight, Women 2/3 bodyweight)
Box jump (Men 30” box, Women 24” box), (games standard)

I actually did:

21-15-9

Bench press 75#
sit ups - anchored, abmat

My time: 8:11

I lifted with Garth today. Well I counted his reps and he counted mine. (Hi Garth!) He did the prescribed weight and made it look pretty easy. What really looked easy were his box jumps. I didn't do the 2/3 body weight - that would've been 100 lbs and I would still be there trying to finish!!!

Back Squats and Running

5 Rounds for time of:

400 Meter run
15 Kettlebell swings (Men 55 lbs, Women 35 lbs)
15 Pull-ups

My time: 20:10 - subbed 5 pull ups in place of 15

Okay, well I'll be damned. I don't know what I'm going to do about this calf muscle issue I have going on. I ran twice last week and it felt fine. But today, half way into the 3rd round, I felt it again..."pop" and then it just locked up on me. A big knot, and I'm limping around trying to run it out, work it out. I got through the workout, but man it is sore! I just don't think I stretch enough. I just need to work on that, I think. Hopefully it'll be okay for an afternoon run. We shall see.

Back squats today - went for a 1 rep max. We were supposed to do 5 lifts but B and I decided to do only 3

warm up sets:
5 @ 85
3 @ 115
2 @ 155

worksets
1 @ 175
1 @ 185
1 @ 200 - didn't exactly "fail" but wasn't low enough in the squat...so,
1 @ 200 and I got really deep this time.

This ties my previous PR and I should've gone for more because 200 felt pretty easy.

CrossFit Games Open 12.5

Complete as many reps as possible in 7 minutes of the following rep scheme:

100/65 pound Thruster, 3 reps
3 Chest to bar Pull-ups
100/65 pound Thruster, 6 reps
6 Chest to bar Pull-ups
100/65 pound Thruster, 9 reps
9 Chest to bar Pull-ups
100/65 pound Thruster, 12 reps
12 Chest to bar Pull-ups
100/65 pound Thruster, 15 reps
15 Chest to bar Pull-ups
100/65 pound Thruster, 18 reps
18 Chest to bar Pull-ups
100/65 pound Thruster, 21 reps
21 Chest to bar Pull-ups…

This is a timed workout. If you complete the round of 21, go on to 24. If you complete 24, go on to 27, etc.

My total reps: 54


This is ONE rep more than I got last year. And amazingly, I suppose adrenaline and competitive spirit kicked in I stepped up to the bar today because I did not miss one single rep on the chest-to-bar! I was overjoyed every time I touched the bar.

Again, like last year, I'm glad I did the Open and even though I'm not anywhere near the level of the people in my age group who will go to the games, I did finish in the top 1/3 of my age group. So, it was a success!

“The CrossFit Jenks Warm-up”

3 Rounds for time of:

15 Overhead squats (Men 45 lb barbell, Women 35 lb barbell)
15 Push-ups
15 Ab mat military sit-ups
15 Ring or bar dips
15 Pull-ups

My time: 16:30

I did really crappy bar dips with very little ROM. I really need to work on dips now that my shoulders seem to both be in agreement that they are feeling decent at the same time!

Since the Open WOD 12.5 will include chest to bar pullups, and I haven't done them since last year, I subbed 5 C2B Plu (attempts) for Plu in the wod. Well, much to my dismay, I hit only about 50% of them. I tried a few more after class and same results...chest 'aint hittin' the bar, kids! Tomorrow will be iffy.


Deadlifts:
10 @ 85
1 @ 105
10 @ 125
1 @ 155
10 @ 175
1 @ 185
10 @ 200

Thursday

Took a rest day today so I could go take my sister for a medical procedure.

Happy Wednesday!

3 Rounds for time of:

10 Hang power cleans (Men 135 lbs, Women 95 lbs)
30 Sit-ups (Anchored)

My time: 7:39, Rx

I started to scale this one, like I've been scaling everything else lately, but I love hang power cleans and I knew could do the weight so I did it, no problem. Except my calf muscle. And it's getting better. It's just hard to get that full extension when there's a slight pain in the calf muscle. Anyway, I felt like I did pretty well on this one. I had decent form on 90% of the lifts. Had just a few where I didn't get my elbows around fast enough, but no missed reps. Fun one!!

The warm up included a 10 minute Cindy. (amrap, 5-plu, 10p/u, 15 sq) I got 5 rounds

Strength today:
shoulder press 3-3-3 @ 35-40-45
push press 3-3-3 @ 50-55-60
push jerk 3-3-3 @ 65-70-75

***********

12.5 is announced tonight. I'm hoping for something I can actually do well at. Deadlifts. Kettlebells. Cleans. Overhead Squats.

Dumbbells

12-8 & 4 rep rounds for time of:

Right arm dumbbell shoulder press (Men 45 lb dumbbell, Women 30 lb dumbbell)
Right arm dumbbell overhead squat
Right arm dumbbell power snatch
Left arm dumbbell shoulder press
Left arm dumbbell overhead squat
Left arm dumbbell power snatch

My time: 8:15 ish (i cant remember) scaled to 20 lbs

This was a fun workout, actually. And I should've/could've gone 30 lbs, but I didn't. I really didn't feel like I had full control in the overhead squats with the heavier weight so I did the right thing to scale.

“Grace”

30 Reps for time of:

Clean & jerk (Men 135 lbs, Women 95 lbs)

My time: 6:29, 85 lbs

Decided to do 85 lbs, in the interest of time and good form. My form really starts to break down at 95 lbs, and takes me forever to do 30 reps. Kept the intensity up and form good throughout with 85 lbs.

Do have a slight calf muscle issue. Hurt it last week running and it's pretty tender still. On about the 3rd rep of Grace I felt something pop in there and it's pretty painful.

Ice, ice, ice.

Went light on back squats today 10 x 2 @ 120 lbs

TGIF!

3 Rounds for time of:
15 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls (Men 95 lbs, Women 65 lbs)
30 Push-ups (Hands released at the bottom)

My time: 9:54

We have done this one previously (last May) and today I was about 18 seconds faster. The susmo's felt way better than they have the past few times I've done them. I actually had one set of 15 unbroken.


Strength today was Snatch balance

5 ea @ 50-55-60-65-70

And now...off to Eureka Springs to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!

CrossFit Games Open 12.4

Workout 12 . 4

WOMEN - includes Masters Women up to 54 years old

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 12 minutes of:
150 Wall balls (14lbs to 9' target)
90 Double-unders
30 Muscle-ups

"Ay, yi, yi! I'm screwed!" Those were my words last night when this WOD was published on the games site.

Then, of course, I calmed down a tiny bit and realized I had a slight chance of maybe, perhaps getting close to the 150 wall balls because my best ever Karen time was 11:30. However that was 3 years ago and my more recent times were a lot slower. I tried not to worry about it. I set a goal of just getting to 150.

But I dreamed about wall ball all freaking night!!

Anyway, I went in this morning and did the WOD. I will admit, it was super hard to get through that 150 wall ball shots. If Breck hadn't been coaching me and screaming at me through this, I never would've made it. I still don't know how I did it, because at the half way point (time) I was not at the half way point of 150 reps. I wanted to quit about 130 reps in. But I kept pushing and managed 150 wall balls with 10 seconds left for double unders. Ha ha! 10 seconds!! I managed to get 3 doubles and collapsed on the floor, thankful it was over with!

I'm calling this one a victory because I exceeded my goal.

Here's hoping for some dead lifts in the next round. I don't know why HQ isn't hearing me on this. I've been saying this for weeks now!! ;)

Good for the soreness.

Each for time of:

2000 Meter row
1600 Meter run
(no rest between)


My run time: 9:50
My row time: 9:48.4
Total time with transition to rower: 19:53

I love this workout. Love it! I think it's just the simplicity of it. Run. Row. There's not a lot of thinking involved. Just breathe and keep moving. It was a perfect morning for running. Temp was around 60° and a little humid, not much of a breeze. Hopefully this workout helped with some of the horrible soreness I've got going on!

Our strength today was a Clean Complex:

Power Clean, Squat Clean, Hang Power Clean and Hang Squat Clean (without setting the bar down)

warm up: 2 sets at 55
work sets: 65-75-85-95-105

Kettlebells - always a favorite.

For time:

800 Meter run
50 Kettlebell swings (Men 55 lbs, Women 35 lbs)
400 Meter run
50 Kettlebell swings
800 Meter run

My time: 20:53, Rx

Just couldn't crank up the speed on my running today. Well, until the last 400 meters anyway. My breathing finally felt decent at that point and I was able to pick up some speed. Would have loved to get this time under 20 min but I'm ok with my time, really. Love the kettlebell swings, as usual. I hope they put them in the next Open WOD!

In the warm up today we got to choose skills to work on. I've been deathly afraid of wall climbs so I made myself try them and much to my utter amazement, I did three legit wall climbs! Woo hoo! Still, the coming down part is scary, but I won't let those hold me back anymore!

Also did some L-sits. Which I love. Two of them at 15 seconds each. Fun!!

Hill Run

Went out with my husband after work for a hill run in the neighborhood. It's like 1.35 miles and about 15 minutes. I didn't take my runmeter out tonight, so no stats or route map. My husband is just now starting to run, so it's walk/run/walk/run, but he will get there! We are signed up for a 5K on April 4. It will be his first ever!! I'm so excited for him to do this!

“Dumbbell Fran”

21-15-9 rep rounds for time of:

Dumbbell thrusters (Men 45 lb dumbbells, Women 30 lb dumbbells)
Pull-ups

My time: 8:38, 2/20lb dumbbells

I scaled this one to the same weight I used last time, so I could compare. Well, that and I'm sore as heck from Saturday's WOD. Anyway, I was 12 seconds faster this time. Not a huge difference but still a gain. I actually managed to do 21 thrusters unbroken. I don't think I've ever done that. Granted the weight wasn't very heavy, but still. I used that 21 to kind of gauge my breathing and concentrated on where I was inhaling and exhaling. Seemed to help me to inhale at the bottom and exhale on the thrust part. I'll try that next time we have barbell thrusters and see...

We ran a 400 today for time, supposed to be an all out sprint but I was slow - still not breathing 100% from this bronchitis. So my time was 1:51. Meh...slow.

Back Squats today I did 6 at 160#. Should probably have gone heavier.

CrossFit Games Open 12.3

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 18 minutes of:

15 Box jumps, 24″ box
115 pound Push press, 12 reps
9 Toes-to-bar

My total rounds/reps: 5 rounds + 15 box jumps + 4 push press = 199 reps


Ok, so my goal here was 5 full rounds, and I was super excited to exceed that. What a great morning. The gym was full of excitement - everyone cheering everyone else on. I was in the middle of my 4th round when I heard a familiar voice that was WAY out of context! It was my husband, who had showed up to cheer me on. I was excited that he came down to see all the action. We hung around and watched the next heat after mine. It was fun to have him there at the gym and see what goes on.

TGIF!

For time:
250 Meter row
25 Pull-ups
500 Meter row
50 Kettlebell swings (Men 55 lbs, Women 35 lbs)
500 Meter row
25 Pull-ups
250 Meter row

My time: 13:14

Modified - did 15 pull ups each set and 25 kettlebells. Trying to not beat myself up before tomorrow's Open WOD.

Did some practice reps on box jumps, toes to bar and push press for tomorrow. Looking forward to this one - looks like a decent workout.

Feeling better, but not any smarter!

1000 Meter row
100 Push-ups
10 Deadlifts (Men 315 lbs, Women 215 lbs)

My time: 17:29, scaled DL to 175

So, I have been sick for several days, and therefore decided before the WOD that I would scale the deadlifts to 175 lbs.

Well, somewhere around push up number 89, I decided, "Hey! I'm doing everything else as prescribed...why should I scale the deadlifts? I'm doing it!"

So I finished the push ups and headed off to get enough weights to bring me up to 215#. I'm sure this wasted a minimum of a minute, maybe more.

Then I tried picking up the bar and I couldn't lift if more than a few inches. WTF?! Tried a second time. No go. So I stripped weight back down to 175, all the while thinking, "How did I get so weak in only 3 days?"

Well, it helps if you're smart enough to do second grade math! For some reason (I claim oxygen deprivation!) I had added 65 lbs to the bar rather than the 40 I needed, putting the total at 240 lbs, which is 5 lbs over my one rep max.


Yeah...I'm not any smarter than I was last week.

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

Strength today was Front Squats:

5 @ 85
3 @ 105
2 @ 115

6 x 2 @ 130

Bronchitis and weak coffee.

I knew last week I was getting sick, but I finally caved and went to the doctor this morning. I was afraid I had pneumonia (that's what my husband had...and I think it's contagious, right?). Anyway, I felt like total crap this morning, so much so that I was willing to skip CrossFit AND call in sick to work. Which I rarely do.

So the verdict is bronchitis. The doc hooked me up with antibiotics and I should be good as new in a few days. I hope. I hate missing CrossFit. I hate missing work. I refuse to miss the 12.3 WOD this coming weekend, and I really hate just sitting around when it's so beautiful outside. The weather is perfect for running. But for now I'm lounging with my dog, reading a book and getting some extra rest.

I've lost my appetite. And the only thing that really sounded good this morning was some berries. And a cup of Starbucks Sumatra. But I don't have any Sumatra at home. So I picked the darkest roast K-cup I had on hand, and brewed it up. It's a Kilimanjaro dark roast something-or-other. It's not Sumatra - not even close. I honestly don't know how they even call it a Dark Roast. Blech.

Think I'll just go take a nap. ;)

Open WOD 12.2, and my CrossFitiversary

CrossFit Games Open 12.2

Proceed through the sequence below completing as many reps as possible in 10 minutes of:
75/45 pound Snatch, 30 reps
135/75 pound Snatch, 30 reps
165/100 pound Snatch, 30 reps
210/120 pound Snatch, as many reps as possible

My total reps: 60

I completely loved this workout. Even though I knew I was coming down with some kind of respiratory crap, I was really excited to do it. I got all the jitters out of the way in the first few reps. Prior to the WOD I made some genuine attempts at 100lbs and knew I wasn't going to PR today. With that in mind I didn't really rush through the 75# weight and finished with just under a minute left. I'm totally proud of my effort!!


And....

Just a teeny tiny celebration today. It's my four year CrossFit anniversary. That's right four whole years of hard work, fun and growth. I honestly couldn't even do a push up that first day, and what a way to celebrate today - being part of The Open. Couldn't ask for more!

Rest Day!

I dreamed, for the second night in a row, about doing snatches. I kept waking up on the "jump" part because I was actually physically jumping. Ha ha. Silly CrossFit obsessions. This stuff really gets in your head!

So, anyway, I decided to sleep in this morning and rest up for the Open WOD tomorrow. I'm feeling a little tiny bit of drainage/congestion and it is starting to tick me off. I really do not need to get sick. I was sick in November (upper respiratory infection). I was sick in December (Sinus infection). Haven't I done my time?? Anyway I'm taking claritin because I think it's just allergies - the pear trees are in full bloom and I have been outside, running, sucking it all into my lungs. I don't FEEL sick, so I'm going with Allergies right now and calling it good.

Tomorrow I'm gonna go give 12.2 my best shot. I'm really looking forward to it. Snatches are one of my favorite lifts, and I'm good with the first two sets as far as weight goes. Hopefully I'll make it to 100# and give that a shot.

We.

Shall.

See.


TGIF!!

Great day for a run!

When I got home the weather was still perfect, so I set out for my short "hill" run like I promised myself I would do. Felt good. Except for this little bit of nagging congestion I can feel building in my chest. I am not getting sick. I am not getting sick. I am not getting sick. (My husband has pneumonia...and I've been super careful washing my hands, etc.. I cannot get sick!!!)

Finished Run: Mar 1, 2012 5:15:52 PM
Route: Sunrise Ridge
Run Time: 15:49
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 1.34 miles
Average: 11:46 /mile
Fastest Pace: 4:53 /mile
Ahead of Best Run: 0:29
Ascent: 171 feet
Descent: 147 feet
Calories: 220

An old favorite

4 Rounds for time of:
400 Meter run
50 Squats

My time: 16:32 (i think) Rx

I love this workout. I did it several times when I had a shoulder injury back in 2009. Looking back at some of my old times... ha ha - I was sloooowwwww. Somewhere around the 22-23 minute mark was average for me three years ago. Wow!

Running felt pretty decent this morning. I am GOING TO get out and run this afternoon again. I neglected it yesterday because I was just wiped out from work, but today I'm committing to a run through the neighborhood. Yes. I. Will. (even if it's windy and I don't want to).

So, I'm SUPER EXCITED about the Open WOD 12.2. Snatches! I love that lift. I can do the 45 lb and the 75 lb and probably the 100 if I get to it. My max is officially 90 but I think I might be able to do 100. We shall see. Anyway, I"m looking forward to it. Fun!!

I sort of skipped the strength today (front squats). We did a few trial lifts of the weights for the snatches in 12.2.