Catch Up

Busy week at work, didnt get a chance to post.

100406
For Time:
800m Run
50 KB Swings (1.5/1)
800m Run
50 Box Jumps
800m Run
50 Press (65/35)
800m Run

This sucked. 26:50, as rx’d. The first run was fine and I did all 50 kb swings unbroken, but completely fell off the cliff after that. Man, I suck at running when I am tired. And running makes me so tired for everything else. Not at all happy with this WOD.

100407
Bench
5-5-5

21-15-9
Overhead Lunge, 95/65
Strict pull-ups

Got 105 for 5 on the bench (failed on the third rep at 110). Metcon was 12:03 as rx’d. All lunges were unbroken. Limfac was absolutely the pull ups. Was down to 1 at a time. Lame.

100410
4 Rounds for Time:
5 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups
10 Overhead Squats (135/95)
15 Box Jumps (24/20)

As rx’d: 11:09. Only managed the first set of OHS unbroken. Could have gone faster if I wasnt too tired to cycle the box jumps better, but wasnt unhappy with this.

Back on the Horse

Nothing too exciting to report, but I’m sticking with my resolution to resume posting regularly so here goes. Did a little over the weekend — just some body weight movements: squats, pushups, etc — to get myself ready to jump back into training.

20100405
PCF WOD:
Find new 1RM on Low Bar BS
5-5-5 at 80% of that 1RM
then
Tabata sit ups and push ups

* My high bar BS needs more work than my low bar, so I did that instead. Haven’t done these in ages — previous 1RM was 205 and I tied that today. Not too happy with it, but what do I expect for not having worked on it in months. High bar always frustrates me because I know I can put up so much more doing low bar (I think my 3RM on that is 205 and my 1RM is 235-240) but in the interest of working on things I need to improve, I sucked it up. Did the sets of 5 at 165 (80% of 205). Those felt pretty easy.

Skipped the tabata and instead had B help me on my kipping ring dips. I can get through a WOD with 50 or more ring dips, but they are S-L-O-W. Figure I need to learn to kip efficiently before Regionals, so I’ll take some time to work on that. Managed to string some kips together doing the frog thing, so I think I’ll stick with that in my warmups going forward.

Victory!

So, that new leaf I turned over in Feb apparently didn’t stick, because I haven’t made a single post since then. Eventually, I’ll probably go back and document my WODs over the past two months just for my own knowledge, but for now, I’m starting fresh. I’ll be back in full force this week, as we train for Regionals/the Affiliate Cup competition in May.

On that note, I’m pleased to report that I, along with Jen N and Chris K, qualified at the DC/VA/WVA sectionals this past weekend. WODs were as follows:

Event 1 (Saturday)
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Squats
Men wear a 20# vest. Women wear a 14# vest. Each rep is worth 1 point.

* I got 9 rounds, +5 pull ups, +13 push ups. I was not near the top of the pack on this one, but I have never been very good at Cindy. Push ups are always the limfac, and this was no exception. Pull ups were fine, I think I made it through 7 or so sets before I had to break. Pull ups were broken from the start, and got to one at a time in the 4th or so set.

Event 2 (Saturday)
As many rounds as possible in 3 minutes of:
Clean & Jerk (185/115lbs)
Each rep is worth 20 points

* I got 15 reps (plus 3 that didn’t count because I pressed out a little). I knew this was going to be my best event going in, and I needed to make a lot of ground here. Thankfully, I did.

Event 3 (Sunday)
As many reps as possible in 12 minutes of:
20 Overhead Squats (115/75lbs)
2 laps around the court
Each OHS rep is worth 4 points

* I got 4 squats short of 5 rounds. Pretty happy with this, since running is a goat. First two rounds were unbroken on the squats. Limfac was tired shoulders from the Sat WODs.

Event 4 (Sunday)
As many reps as possible in 7 minutes of:
12 Box Jumps (24/20 inches)
8 Sumo Deadlift High-pulls (95/65lbs)
Each rep is worth 3 points

* I got 7 rounds + 7 box jumps. Really happy with this since it was the most “metcon” of all the WODs and I am traditionally very bad at those. Knew going in that I was in the top 20 but needed to hold on in this WOD in order to stay there. I told myself that I wasn’t allowed to stop and rest until I failed (missed a rep on the jumps or SDHP) and I actually managed to really limit my rest. This was definitely a step up in the “mental toughness” category for me.

I’m incredibly proud of all the PCF’ers that competed this weekend. Everyone showed such dedication and heart – it was so inspiring to watch. There were some awesome displays of mental and physical toughness this weekend and I’m humbled by the opportunity to have competed with everyone. A huge shout out to our support staff who made sure we had food, water, barbells to warm up, friendly faces in the crowd, and no shortage of folks cheering during the WODs. I’m so thrilled to be a part of such an amazing group of people.

I’m pretty banged up, so I’m gonna rest for a couple days. Then we focus on getting ready for Ohio! For the one or two of you that actually read this — I’ll promise to do a better job of logging our progress as we work toward the Regionals.

Turning Over a New Leaf

I’ve been horrible about keeping up with my training log lately, and that sucks. I think I’ve been overtraining a bit, or at least not training smart….doing too many days on, which exhausts me (and my back that I’m still trying to rehab) and causes unintentional rest days. I resolve to be better about this, and to take better notes on my training in the next months leading up to sectionals.

20100114
PCF WOD:
Snatch
1-1-1-1-1-1-1
then
21-15-9 for time:
Hang Squat Cleans, 135/95 lbs
Explosive push-ups
Explosive push-ups should be a full range of motion push-up that propel your hands off the ground at the top.

115# on the snatch. I was all kinds of off, my first pull felt terrible and I just couldn’t find my groove. Lame.
Metcon: 9:25 as rx’d. Hang squat cleans felt fine. Explosive push ups were the death of me.

20100115
Rest

20100116
Worked on my DL instead of Cindy. Can’t remember loads, but I’m pretty sure I did singles up to about 250, which is a bit less than my 3RM, but wanted to ease my back into heavy DL again since I haven’t really been doing them because of all the back pain.

20100117
Don’t remember. May have taken another rest day

20100118
PCF WOD
Back Squat
Establish a new 1 Rep Max
Weighted Pull-ups
3-3-3-3-3

1 hour rowing clinic with Alison followed by the 0930 WOD. We must have rowed close to 3k while working on my form.

Did high bar back squat since my back was still a little tweaky (though getting better) and pretty tired. Forgot how much of a difference that makes. Got 205, failed at 215. Low bar back squat PR is 235/240, so this was by no means close, but good to work high bar again since all I ever do is low bar.

Weighted pull ups: 5#-10#-15#-15#-20#(2)-20#(2). Almost had 20 for 3, but it just wasnt in me today.

Then, we made up the DU and kb swings from yesterday (no row, see earlier rowing clinic). Cut ourselves off at 10 min…I had in the neighborhood of 200 DU. They’re getting better, my my arms were so. freakin. tired. KB swings (grip went): no idea. Sub 4? I wasnt paying attention.

20100119
PCF WOD
Rowing “Helen”
3 Rounds
Row 400m
21 KB Swings (1.5/1)
12 Pull-ups

As rx’d: 11:54. Man, Helen with rowing is a killer (even more so than normal Helen) on the grip. I just couldn’t hold on to the damn bar on the last round of pull ups. My goal going in was sub 12, so this worked out well.

20100120
PCF WOD
Press
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

3 Rounds
15 Push-Press, 95/65 lbs
15 Overhead Lunges, 95/65 lbs
15 Box Jumps, 24/20 lbs

Press: 100. PR is 105, but that just wasnt going up today.
Metcon: 7:29, as rx’d.

20100121
Clean
1-1-1-1-1-1-1

10 Rounds
30 seconds Walballs, 20/16 lbs
30 seconds KB Swing, 1.5/1 pood

Clean 160. Could not for the life of me nail that 165 tonight. I can do 155 for three, so it seems that I should be able to get more than 160 for one. 4th day on though, so I was pretty tired.

187 on the metcon, as rx’d. Legs were screaming on the wall balls. Definitely my limiting factor. Well, that and the fact that I suck at metcons.

20100122
Rest

20100123
2nd rest day. Feeling really beat up the past several days.

20100124
Worked on snatches. Did some snatch grip DL from an elevated position, did some hang power snatches to work on being explosive, and worked up to 115. I’ve got to get through that barrier and start nailing 120/125/130.

20100125
PCF WOD
Back Squat
5-5-5 (80% of 1RM Established 100118)

50 Double-Unders
3 rounds of:
10 Ring Dips
15 KB Swings, 2/1.5 pood
50 Double Unders

BS: 5×185-195-205

Metcon: as rx’d, 10:13. First set of DU were not too bad. Last set were AWFUL with tired arms from the ring dips. All kb swings were unbroken.

20100126
PCF WOD
“Tabata Something Else”
Complete 32 intervals of 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest where the first 8 intervals are Pull-ups, the second 8 are Push-ups, the third 8 intervals are Sit-ups, and finally, the last 8 intervals are Squats. There is no rest between exercises.

As rx’d: 340. I am happy to report that this is probably my most legit TSE score, ever. Normally, my push ups are less than spectacular; however, I’ve been working on them and damn it, no sloppy reps this time. EACH. AND. EVERY rep was thighs, chest and chin to the deck. I’m talking L-E-G-I-T. Proud of that.

20100127
Rest

20100128
Deadlift
3-3-3-3-3

15-12-9
Thruster, 135/95 lbs
Ring Dips
Sit-ups
Post loads and times to comments.

DL: 215-245-260(tied previous 3RM)-235-235
80% of my 1RM is probably between 225 and 235.

Metcon: as rx’d:14:28. Man, that was hard.

20100129
Rest

20100130
1RM clean and jerk and 1RM snatch
Was feeling off today – just wasnt on my game. 115 for the snatch, and 145 for the clean and jerk. Can definitely do better on the clean, but my back has been bothering me again and I was a little scared to really push it.

20100131
Unintentional rest day. Moved lots of furniture for time.

20100201
PCF WOD
Front Squat
3-3-3-3-3, 80-90% of 1RM Established on 100104

5 Rounds
15 Push-ups
25 Box Jumps

155 on the front squats. 1RM is about 185, so 155 is somewhere between 80% and 90%.

On the metcon, 9:06, as rx’d. Legit push ups, made sure chest was to the deck.

20100202
10 Burpees
20 KB Swings (1.5/1 pood)
8 Burpees
18 KB Swings
6 Burpees
16 KB Swings
4 Burpees
14 KB Swings
2 Burpees
12 KB Swings
Rest 15 Seconds
Max Strict Pull-ups

As rx’d: 4:36. Pretty pleased with this…normally my burpees are painfully slow, but I really worked on not pacing them this time. Didn’t catch up with me til the round of 4, so I guess the moral of the story is that I can go harder than I think on burpees. All kb swings unbroken. Then, got to the pull up bar and only did one before my grip just completely gave out and I slipped off the bar. Lame.

20100203
Jerk
2-2-2-2-2-2-2 (90% 1RM)

4 Rounds
500m Row
2 Minutes Rest

Did all jerk sets at 135. Can go higher than that, but wanted 7 good, consistent sets. First three rows were at 2:00 (goal 2k pace is just below 8:00) and last row was 1:56.

So Far, So Good

So good news: my back appears to be getting better. Even with rowing and lots of kb swings this week, I’m feeling ok. It seems that really focusing on warming up and especially stretching out my hammies (and foam rolling) before the WODs makes quite a difference (who would have guessed?!). That, and working on my rowing technique seem to be doing me good (more on that later).

20100112
PCF WOD
5 Rounds for time:
1 min KB Swing, 1.5/1 pood
1 min Weighted Burpees, 25/15 lbs
Rest 2 minutes

As rx’d: 214. Not as good as I would have liked, but burpees (weighted burpees suck even more than regular burpees) remain a weakness. The good news is that I managed to go the whole minute without stopping, the bad news is that I moved very slow. All kb swings unbroken til the last round. Mainly it was my grip that was hard there.

20100113
PCF WOD
Bench Press
3-3-3-3-3

3 Rounds
Row 500m
Rest 2 Minutes

Bench: 95-105-115(2)-110-110. Should have gotten the last rep at 115, I just lost focus and got stuck at the bottom. The two sets at 110 felt pretty good, so I definitely think I can get the 115 next time.

Row: 1:54/1:55/1:59. Fell off the cliff a little on that last one. The first two felt much better, and I didn’t experience any back pain. Felt more powerful, too, now that I’ve adjusted my stroke. 2 cues really helped me: during the last row (the 1k the other day) Kate held her hand up to show me how far to bring my knees. Shooting for that spot, and remembering Doug’s tip about trying to bring my shins perpendicular to the ground really helped. Need to get more comfortable with this when tired (thus the reason that third row went to hell), but all in all, I feel much better about my form. Yay for that.

And, in other important news: Project Double Under is starting to pay off. Most days I can now do 20-30 DU unbroken (versus single/double like before). Once, I even got up to 39. I’m going to keep after it, but am pretty pleased with this progress.

One of These Days…

I’m going to learn how to update my blog in a timely manner. However, since that didn’t happen last week…..here’s the data.

20091231
Did OPT programming with Jon, Mark and Aaron.
A. Build quickly to a tough but not 1RM in the Power Clean – take no more than 7 minutes; rest 60 sec ONLY after last set before B
B. 1-10 CTB chin up ladder for time; rest 60 sec before C
C. AMRAP DB Burpees in 2 minutes – 25/15#

A. Worked up to 155#. Heavy, but not a 1RM
B. Since these were supposed to be in a row, without coming off the bar, I only made it through round 5. Did 5 consecutive also for rounds 6-10 since I couldn’t go any higher.
C. 23

20100101
New Years Day – Rest

20100102-04
Battle with a wicked case of food poisoning kept me out and on my ass for a couple days. Terrible. I think I didn’t eat for like 2.5 days, was wicked dehydrated, and sick as a dog.

20100105
4 Rounds for time:
5 Power Cleans
5 Thrusters
5 Back Squats
5 Push Press
Post time and load to comments.
Use the same bar and do not drop it for the whole series. You may re-grip between rounds.

Back, but it wasnt pretty. Still was feeling pretty weak, but got ambitious and thought I was going to do this with 95. Dropped to 85 after the first round, and it still took me almost 9 minutes. Fail. I’m chalking it up to getting back on my feet after being sick, but this was ugly.

20100106
PCF WOD
Press
5-5-5 (80% 1RM)
Then
Row 2000m
Post loads and times to comments

Tried to do the presses at 85, but I only got 3 up on the first set so I dropped to 80. Then, I damn near killed myself on the row….working on tweaking my form, and in an attempt to fix the issue of my butt sliding too far under me, I created a new problem that wrecked my back (a short stroke, as pointed out by Kate L and Doug). As a result, my 2k was 8:2x, which is significantly slower than my PR. Not happy about this, or the fact that I couldnt walk after.

20100107
Rest. The back needed it.

20100108
PCF WOD
5 rounds for time:
2 Back Squats, (70% 1RM)
4 Weighted Pull-ups, 35/strict
8 Dips
Row 1000m
Only do one 1000m row at the end of 5 rounds.
Post time to comments.

Armed with my new rowing tips (thanks Kate and Doug), I decided to brave this one and give the row a chance. As rx’d (160 for the squats, strict pull ups, strict ring dips): right at 15 minutes. Not bad, considering I am super slow at ring dips. And, I am thrilled to report that my back didn’t hurt at all on the row and even after all that other crap, I still pulled like a 4:09 for the 1k. Pretty pleased overall, and seriously grateful for all the rowing help. I might actually become moderately competent after all.

20100109
PCF WOD
For time:
30 Squat Clean and Jerks, 155/100 lbs
Post time to comments.
This workout has a 15 minute time limit.

This is my kind of WOD. As rx’d: 6:51. I really wanted to be closer to 6, and I think on a better day (ie, on a week my back hadnt previously been killing me) I could be. Still, this is about a 15 second improvement over last time, and considering the time out for the 2008 Games was 15 min for this WOD, I’ll take it.

20100110
PCF WOD
2 Rounds
50 Jumping pull-ups
40 KB Swings (1.5/1)
30 DB Push-press (55/30)
20 Burpees
10 Clean and Jerk (135/95)
Post time to comments.

This was a suckfest. As rx’d: 23:51. Limfacs were burpees (always slow for me) and push press (my arms were tired from the jerks yesterday).

20101011
Rest!

Epic Blog Fail

So, I haven’t posted since the 16th. Epic fail. The holidays, the great 2009 DC blizzard, and other events conspired against me. I still worked out, just didn’t get around to posting. Here’s a recap:

20091217
PCF WOD
Power Snatch
3-3-3-3-3
Bench Press
5-5-5
snatch: 85-95-105-110-115(2). I have GOT to get over the hump at 115/120 and start nailing something higher. Need some more dedicated work at this. Fixing my lingering lower back soreness should help…..just need to figure out how to do that as well.
bench: 105-110-115

20091218
PCF WOD
5 rounds for time:
1 Clean, 90% of 1RM
3 Handstand Push-up
5 Box Jump, 36/28in
7 Strict Pull-up
As rx’d: 12:10 (used 145# on the cleans). This was hard, but felt good. Limfac was definitely the pull ups — was down to 1’s at the end.

20091219
Rest day – had 5 days on in anticipation of leaving for Seattle today. Snowed in, and needed the rest.

20091220
Same

20091221
In addition to (real) snow shoveling to get our car out, went in to PCF for the WOD.
Front Squat
3-3-3-3-3
Press
1-1-1-1-1
Front squat: 125-145-165-175(2)
Press: 85-95-105-110(f)
Have been chasing 105 on the press for a while, so was pretty pleased with that. Should have been able to nail the third FS at 175, but just went soft in the bottom and lost it half way up. Next time.

20091222
PCF WOD
4 Rounds
AMRAP in 4 minutes of:
5 Pull-ups
10 Kettlebell Swings
20 Double Unders
Rest 2 minutes between rounds
This sucked…a lot. For some reason, just couldnt get on my game today and everything felt harder than it should. All kb swings were unbroken, but couldn’t string together the DU if my life depended on it. Terrible, terrible day for me. As rx’d: 10 rounds.

20091223
Rest

20091224
Clean
3-3-3-3-3
Rest 5:00min
For Time:
12-9-6
Overhead Squat, 135/95 lbs
Chest to Bar Pull-ups
115-135-145-150-155
Metcon: As rx’d: 6:24
Really happy with today — 155 for 3 wasn’t too bad on the cleans and I feel like I still had more left in me, so I think next time I can definitely go up. This is awesome, since the last time we did heavy squat cleans (maybe a two weeks ago?) I failed at 160, and today I nailed 155 for three. Yay. Should have made higher jumps at the beginning and I wouldn’t have run out of time. Metcon felt really good, all OHS at 95 were unbroken and CTB were mostly in sets of 3. 95# OHS are starting to get really comfortable for me, which is awesome.

20091225
Rest

20091226
Went to Crossfit Lacy outside of Seattle. Today was an oly day, so I worked on my snatches. Did a lot of work at 105# on squat snatches, which is pretty comfortable to me, and then focused on power snatches for 110 and 115 since my back was pretty tired and I didnt want to overdo it.

20091227
Rest

20091228
WOD at CF Lacy
Row 1000m/rest 1:30
Row 750/rest 1
Row 500/rest :45
Row 375/rest :30
Row 250/rest :20
Row 125
Total time, 12:48
Had to keep the damper at 7 for this (box rules) so my back was KILLING me when I was done. Felt good to move after all the Xmas goodies and overeating.

20091229
WOD at CF Lacy
4 rounds:
10 power snatch (75#)
10 overhead lunges (75#)
10 pull ups
me: 11:31
Really happy with this performance. All snatches were one right after another and all lunges were unbroken except for the last set. Lunges were definitely the biggest struggle. Really liked this WOD.

20091230
Sit on a plane for 6 hours heading back to DC. Feeling those lunges from yesterday.

Tuesday and Wednesday

20091215
PCF WOD:
“Nancy”
5 Rounds: 400m run and 15 OHS (95/65)
as rx’d: 15:24
Pretty happy with this. Not sure what my last time was since it is in an old training log from before I started the blog and I’m too lazy to find it, but I’m pretty sure it was a bit slower. Felt like I was moving faster than normal on the first three runs…last two slowed down a little more than I would have liked. All OHS were unbroken and felt fine.

20091215
PCF WOD:
3-3-3-3-3
Push Jerk
rest
3 min Row (max calories)
rest 60 seconds
3 min AMRAP of 3 CTB pull ups and 3 burpees
rest 60 seconds
3 min AMRAP of power snatch, snatch balance, OHS, hang squat snatch (65#)

Went up to 135(3) on the push jerk. I can go heavier, but I just wasn’t feeling it and didn’t want to hurt myself so I backed off after that. Probably in my best interest.

On the metcon, started with the snatch complex and got 10 rounds. It felt fine, though my legs were a little tired from Nancy the day before. Next, did the CTB/burpee thing, got 6.5 rounds. Finished with the row, 44 calories. Was fairly happy with this and it didn’t feel too bad considering we had done this before (when Aaron, Mark, Jon, Brian and I did the OPT challenge) so I knew what to expect. Row felt like crap at the end, but then again, my rows always do. Alison and I have a date for a rowing lesson, and I am DEFINITELY taking her up on that after we get back from holiday travel. Both Jon and B mentioned how poor my rowing technique remains.

I’ve Got Nothing

So my back has still been feeling a little rough, and I actually didn’t feel too hot over the weekend, so I’ve had a sporadic (read: crappy) past couple days of training (or not, as the case may be). Here’s a recap.

20091211
PCF WOD
Complete 5 rounds for max reps of:
Bench Press, 70% of 1 rep max
Pushups
Post max loads and number of reps for each round to comments.

Coach’s Notes: Bench press should be completed until failure. The athlete should then move immediately to pushups until failure. Rest between sets as needed.

Did this at 90#. The pushups were way harder than I expected after the bench. My rounds were something like: 19, 20, 18, 16, 13.

20091212-13
Rest. Wasn’t feeling great, back was sore, and just knew that I’d be at about 50% effort on WODs so I took a couple rest days.

20091214
PCF WOD
Find 1RM back squat
then
3 rounds for time:
1 Min Double Unders
Rest 30 seconds
1 Min Row
Rest 30 seconds
1 Min Box Jump
Post load and total reps to comments

*Did overhead squat instead of back squat. Worked my way up to 145#. Felt okay, so I think I could have gotten a little more if there were more time. Still, I’ll take it.

Got 236 on the metcon, which included 2 strings (only 10 and 7, but that is better than nothing) of actual consecutive DU (vice doing single-double). Yay for that.