A Random Collection...

Skill
Front Squat
153x3
163x1x3

Jerk
93x1
98x1
103x1
113x1
then repeat

The 93 and 98 flew up. The 113 not so much. For the first one, Lutsky just laughed and did a very fitting impersonation of my totally lopsided press. Then after the other one Emmet reminded me that it was pretty important to make sure I wasn't showing up drunk for CF.

500 m row for time
Me: 1:52.5
PR! (Previous time: 1:55.5)

Tabata Deadlifts
153#
Score: 37
Not a PR, previous score was 45. Ugh, I pretty much don't enjoy deadlifts right now...

I could have just moved faster each round, and I would have gotten a higher score.

Cindy

5-10-5 shuttle runs
Oh, it was super fun trying to keep up with everyone, particularly Kevin and Matt! I had some significant coordination issues that made it rather tough to make each turn. I think that must have come from actually trying to run fast. I can run OR do a 180 degree turn, but apparently combining them is still a challenge.

WOD
"Cindy"
AMRAP in 20 minutes
5 pull ups (blue band)
10 push ups
15 squats
Rounds: 14 +8 squats

Big time bummer that I spent just a few too many seconds laying on the floor, mentally struggling with the push ups.

Big time yeah that I actually completed that many push ups and pull ups. I think it is safe to say that 75 pull ups (all totally non-jumping, not even with any little pushes off the box) and 150 push ups is a big time PR for me. It was only a couple months ago that even getting 10 BB pull ups was a major accomplishment for me. Those pull ups felt easy tonight! The push ups weren't easy, at all.

Oh, and on the pull up front, last night I also got 3, yes people, 3 with the violet band. They were not all connected, but this was the first time I was actually able to repeat a violet band pull up.

So Complex!

Skill
SNPP-OHS
lots of warm up first, then
73x2-1
83x2-1
93x2-1 (PR)

Yes! Slowly but surely making progress on a lift that used to frustrate the snot out of me. Oh, the days of holding an empty bar over my head and trying, trying, trying to even squat are gone...

WOD
4 rounds
7 cycles of:
1 power clean 78#
1 front squat
1 push press
1 back squat
1 rack jerk
2 min rest

Time: 18:00 (including rest)

The last round was quite hard. Actually everything after the first round was quite hard. I was so very, very happy to finish this one.

I like this type of workout, but tonight almost every part of it felt off-my grip wasn't doing well and it felt awkward to transition between almost every lift, so maybe I was just weak and lazy? Or maybe this time I actually used a weight that felt heavy. Blah, thanks, Kyle. Last time I did this type of wod, most of it was: muscle the bar up, thruster, back squat thruster.

The Best Burgers

My dinner last night:

I loved it, every single part of it. The burger is a Jamaican Jerk Burger. I figured I needed all the help I could get with my Olympic lifting.

But really, the marinade for this burger is so full of flavor. It is so wonderful that I would enter it into the greatest burger contest ever, if only I could. Every time I make these, I wish that one of our many very helpful government reps would do something to change the law that keep me, a Californian, from entering a contest run by a Californian company. There is no other burger contest I want to enter. I only want to enter the biggest and the best. Not that I resent that liquor law or anything...

And yes, those are sweet potatoes. I don't eat them very often, but they make me very happy when I do, especially when I top them with lime juice, cumin, cayenne, and green onion.

Oh, and I do take some of the credit for Anna's PR on the jerk today. The food you eat really does make a difference.

Rowing Faster

Skill
Snatch on the min:
55x1x5
60x1x5
65x1x5

Then 3 attempts not on the minute:
68x1
73 f
73x1

Still not consistently putting all the parts together in this lift, but definitely feeling like I am making progress. It is the rare and wonderful lift when I actually remember to pull slowly off the floor, keep my chest up, stay on my heels, pull my elbows at the right time...

WOD
Interval rows, 5 rounds
279
270
265
264
268
Total: 1346
(compare to 4/11/10 with 1324)

My goal was to hit 265 each round, and it bums me out that I didn't get it on the fourth round...But thanks to the rowing tips from Sam, I expect to have no trouble with it next time. It just shows what a great coach he is, giving me tips to improve my row time when he knows that this will just help me secure that number one spot. He's a nice guy like that.

A Belt

Skill
Back Squat
5x5x208#

The first set was horrendous. -shudder!- It felt horrible, and I know it looked horrible too. I had help getting one rep up, and I finished that set thinking that it was going to be torture to even attempt this 5x5.

So my coach had a couple ideas-more hip mobility work and a belt. Let's just talk about the belt right now. Can I even explain how much I did not want to put the belt on? I don't think I can. Me with a belt- not something I was planning on, not something I even wanted anyone else to have to see. But it was either try the belt or totally bomb on the squats. That's how bad that first set was. Since I apparently care more about the squats than the ridiculousness of wearing the belt, I wore the belt. And every set with it was so much easier.
(Even though I also missed the very last lift. I shouldn't have missed it.)

WOD
4 rounds
1 min box jump
30 sec. cross chops (alt. sides each round) 35#
30 sec. push ups
45 sec. rest

Score:
21/16/15
20/16/10
21/18/11
22/15/12

I really liked this wod, and yep, I did the box jumps. See I don't push my luck too far, so 1 week of no box jumps, but today I just sucked it up and did them. And my leg didn't explode.

And I was a big girl and moved up the the 35# KB all of my own accord today. :)

Skill
Jerk
93x1x3
98x1x2
103x2
112x1
118x1

Do you know that great feeling when you reach a PR? I love that. But then there is also the great feeling that comes when you realize you are on the way to actually working at that number. I love that feeling too.

WOD
4 rounds
200 m row
15 pull ups (blue band)
Time: 8:45

Probably could have suffered through the green band on this one. I wasn't sure about actually getting 60 done with the green, but since I was still able to get 10 at one time on round 4 with the blue, I should have moved up. Now I know.

Yeah, Wall Balls

Skill
Deadlift
3x3 at 245#
with 75m row sprints (1, 2, 3)between each set

but I gave up on the 245 about half way through and went down to 215 because it was too hard to DL and not pull the bar on my shins...


WOD
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Power Cleans 83#
Wall Ball 14#
Plate Situps 25#
Time: 17:58

And yes, I got all my wall balls HIGHER than my target for the day. I might be able to get them up to the 10' line one of these days.

I am a bit waffly on whether working out and getting blood pumping through my leg is better for it or worse for it...For now, I'm still going with the better for it theory.

Rest Day Poetry

My little sister had to write some acrostic poems for school and she decided to use my name for one of them. I was highly amused by her work, and she really wanted me to post it here. :)

Leaves for CrossFit frequently
Enjoys heavy lifting
Awesome at squatting
High on the record board

In other news, I am really worn out, my leg still hurts, and I was hoping to be all better by now...

Open Gym

Power Cleans
83x1x2
93x1x2
98x1x2
repeat 2 more times

WOD
5 rounds
200 m row
10 DB thrusters 25#
10 ball slams 25#
Time: 12:37

She knew how much I struggled with the DB thrusters just last month, and she lulled me into thinking that she sympathized with my awful plight. And then she went and gave me DB thrusters today. Joc betrayed me. It hurts, people. It hurts.

This was one of those great workouts where even round 1 is bad. If the WOD is 3 rounds, I can pretty much handle a bad first round. I just tell myself that I am a third done and oh, so close to being half done. This doesn't work so well on a 5 round wod. After the first round, you are just left thinking about the vast number of rounds still to come.

But I will admit to having one or two moments of not being able to "turn off my mind" as was being yelled at me because my mind was telling me to just quit. I had to finish that thought. I could just throw the dumbbells down, lay on the floor, and say that I quit. But quitting would probably demonstrate a major character flaw. That can't be good.

My other option was to say that I just couldn't do it. But then why couldn't I do it? It didn't hurt too much. It wasn't bothering my leg. I hadn't been able to will myself to throw up yet. I couldn't come up with a reason to quit except that it was hard.

And I keep telling myself that I can do hard things, that I can like doing hard things. But sometimes my mind argues this little point. But I am learning to ignore it just a little more each time I do a workout like this one...

Filler Back Squats

Skill
Supposed to be snatch, but my leg hurt and I kept bumping it with the bar...I gave up and just did what I do well.
Back Squat
173#x3x6

WOD
2 min:
200 m row
30 ball slams 25#
2 min.
5-10-5 shuttle runs
Repeat the full cycle
My ball slams: 27-27

At least I was consistent. Oh so close to that 30, but just couldn't quite get it.

Then 20 burpees for time.
Me: 2:06
Have I ever mentioned that I am no good at burpees? Here is the living proof.

Then after all that I was happy but my leg hurt, so I went home and took a nap.

Box Jumps

How quickly someone can get the wrong idea...
I had to go into the doc today for some crazy inflammation on my leg and this is how it went:

Doc: What happened to your leg?

Me: I have no idea. I didn't cut it, hit it, or anything. When it first started hurting, I figured it was just soreness from a workout with a bunch of box jumps.

Doc: But what's this mark in the middle of your leg? Did you get a bite?

Me: No, that is definitely not a bite. That is just an old scar from when I hit my leg on a box jump a couple months ago.

Doc: And what about this big bruise on your other leg?

Me: Umm, that is from last week when I fell off of a box...

Doc: Why in the world do you do so many box jumps?

Me: I don't really. I hate them.

Doc: Well, no box jumps until we know what is going on here...

Skill
Snatch on the min:
58x1x5
63x1x5
68x1x5 (1 miss)
Then 3 attempts not on the minute:
73x1
78 f
78 f

WOD
Squats 20-20-20-20-20
Box jumps 16" 20-16-12-8-4
Time: 6:05

Yes, my legs felt GREAT after that one! My goal for the wod-actually complete the box jumps. I did it. No step up or step down, every single one was a jump up and down. Now if I can just cycle them faster, I'll be able to shave a few seconds off my Christine time...

And I read this somewhere today-
If you can Front Squat it for 3 reps, you can squat clean it for 1. (Dan John)

That seems impossible to me right now. I can't even imagine cleaning 170#, but maybe someday.

I did workout on Tuesday night...

Skill
SNDL
73x3
83x3
88x3
93x3

WOD
150 Double Unders=300 Single Unders for me
30 Thrusters 63#
30 Pull Ups, blue band
Time : 10:46

This was one of the WODs that mentally throws me for a loop. It still knocks me off kilter when I look at a wod and know I can't actually do any of it. I saw this and thought-well, can't do the double unders, can't do the thrusters rx'd, and can't do CTB pull ups, fun! But it was of course more fun than I thought it would be. I was super happy to complete all of the pull ups with the band and no push from the toe to get me up. That was my little victory for the night.

What, no CF today!?!

My whole day is off. Today is a rest day, but this is the first Monday in over 5 months that I haven't gone to CF...Now I'll just have to grade papers all day long.

What?!? Look at those rowing scores!

Skill
Clean and Jerk
Lots of warm ups with 53# and lots of coaching
Then I worked up in small increments: 63#-108#
My heavy single with solid form was 103#

Then interval rows, 5 rounds
Me: 267-262-267-258-270=1324
Joc: 1316

Now we are all just going to totally disregard the fact that Jocelyn had already done a metcon right before I got to the gym. It's a metcon I did last week, and we will just disregard the fact that she of course had a faster time than I did. What we are going to focus on today is our rowing score. We are going to remember this day forever because I beat Joc. :)

Now I am off to make a delicious paleo stew for this rainy day, lots of beef, wine, and mushrooms!

Move faster!

Skill
SNPP/Overhead Squat
Warm up, 33, 43, 53
75%x2-1 63#
80%x2-1 73#
85%x2-1 78#

I rounded the weight down for the first set, but since it didn't seem too tough, I rounded up for the remaining sets. My focus on this was keeping a tight core for the PP, settling deep into the OHS and then coming out of it with some semblance of explosiveness.

WOD
4 rounds
Intervals of 2:30 min work/90 sec rest
200 m row
7 ring push ups
max ball slams 20#
Score: 33-31-28-31

Oh, yeah. Who loves Saturday morning conditioning workouts?!? As much as I don't look forward to being hardly able to breath, this was a good one. The rounds seemed just right to be able to really push hard on each part.

And in response to last nights' post:
Kyle, I just can't stand to have you mad at me, so I take it all back. We are friends again.
Golden, the comparison to MW2 makes everything better. I love that game.
Emily, Sam was totally fine with me being mad at him. He seemed really, really confident that it wouldn't last.
Joc, as I wrote about the squat cleans, I hesitated...but then I figured that no one would call me on it. Oops! See every single time I say that my max clean in 128#, I know that it probably isn't. There is no way it was by that CA definition...

Today is Hard to Put into Words

Skill
Cleans
1 power clean, then 1 squat clean
63
83
93
103
113-both were PCs
so then 113 squat clean (PR)
118 (f)

That was definitely a PR for the squat clean since my last squat clean recorded was 83#. Everything higher than that has been a power clean.

WOD (or what I thought was the WOD...)
5 rounds
2 x 10 Russian KBS (53#)
on the minute
immediately after the 2nd round of KBS, run 100m

I don't like the 53# KB. It is heavy. In the middle of the 4th round, I switched to the 44# because my lower back is still tight from those amazing back squats I just did. None of the powers that be at the box seem to realize how taxing those blasted squats were. But the kettlebells were heavy and the running was, well running.

Then after we finish this, Sam tells us that it is time to start the WOD. Start the WOD. What did we just do?!? Of course if I had know that we still had a WOD, I would have put my foot down and used the 35# KB, and I would have whined and whined and whined and only run 50m. Sam can be evil sometimes, just so you all know. I always knew he had this potential, but I didn't know that he would enjoy being evil quite as much as he did today.

WOD, part 2
500 m row
then 3 times:
7 pull ups
7 push ups
250 m row
then 2 times:
7 pull ups
7 push ups
100 m row
then 1 time:
7 pull ups
7 push ups
Time: 8:26

It was horrible. I started this WOD so frustrated, not scared, not nervous, just plain old mad. I did not want to do it. I had made a deal with myself before class that I would go, but that I would just not work all that intensely. I would just go and try to fly under the radar a bit. This didn't work at all. Not at all.

All I could do was get on the rower, close my eyes, and pull. Then I huffed and puffed during every transition. By the last row, I felt sick to my stomach.

But you know what? Every single time I got to the push ups, I said to myself, "I could just do knee push ups and they would be so easy." But every single time I had to do the real ones because I know I can, and I know that I would regret it later if I didn't.

And now that it is all over, Sam is my friend again, but he will never know this since he is afraid to read this post. Golden isn't my friend since he just laughed at me the whole afternoon, but whatever. And Kyle may not be my friend because he won't agree with me that I should just repeat 203 for my back squats next week...

Ready for Rest...

Skill
Back Squat 5x5
203x5
203x5
203x5
203x5
203x5

I broke 200#! And even though I have said it before, THIS one was hard. It really, really was.

WOD
400 m run
then 3 rounds:
5 deadlifts 153# (rx'd)
5 box jumps 16" (scaled from 24")
5 pull ups
1 burpee shuttle run with 6 burpees (subbed 2 kick-backs for each burpee)
end with 200 m run
Time: 10:08

Minimalist

Skill
Snatch
Burgener Warm Up
then on the minute:
53x1x5
58x1x5
63x1x5 (2 misses)
then 2 snatches, increasing the weight
68x1
73x1

Overall, even with a couple misses, I am pretty pleased with my work today. :)

WOD
AMRAP in 10 minutes
5 ring dips, assisted
7 burpees
7 T2B (K2E...)
Rounds: 7 + 5 ring dips, 7 push ups

I had a great tumble during the warm up drills and banged my knee, so I only made it through 2 rounds of my awful, must-use-knees-to-get-off-the-ground burpees, and the rest were all push ups.

In other news I sorted through clothes again, and I am well on my way to having the most minimalist closet imaginable. I am now having to get rid of stuff that I really, really like. It is a bit painful, but not so painful that I want to fit into them again. Just painful like I will have to live in some rather boring clothes for awhile. I just keep telling myself that the bright side of these few months of a clothing dry spell will be the unique opportunity to totally rebuild my wardrobe from ground zero.

Dear Shoulders, you have to learn to work hard. Adjust.

Skill
Press 5x5
85x4
83x5
83x5
83x4
83x5

I was the good old idiot trainee again tonight. I can't even tell you what is wrong with me, but man alive! Kyle told me to use 83# for my sets. I already had men's bar out, so I decided to just do 85#. I could only get it up 4 times and it was hard. So I had to move down to the women's bar. So I grabbed a bar with a thin collar, loaded it up with 50# and got it up once and could.not.move.it.up.again. I was immensely frustrated. After walking about for a few minutes, I started to wonder if I actually had a men's bar. Sure enough, I did. Doh! So then I got a real women's bar and was finally able to finish my sets.

WOD
21-15-9
Deadlifts 153# (Rx'd, I think)
Pull Ups (Blue Band, with a little help from my toe on some of them...)
30-20-10
OH Walking Lunges 15# for the first round, 25# for the rest
Time: 10:58

The first 3-4 DL were awful. Suddenly my back realized that I was making it DL 153# in a WOD yet again, just 3 days after the last one. It argued briefly, but I won.

I was finishing my first set of lunges when I could see someone walking behind me, with a plate. I was disappointed but not surprised to find out it was Kyle, taking away my dear beloved 15# plate and replacing it with the 25 pounder. But hey, this is good. I think my shoulders are just reaching a point of non-protest, since there seems to be no hope for rest. This is a similar adjustment that my legs had to go through. They are only sore occasionally now.

Things that are harder to do when you have constantly sore shoulders:
-turning the jump rope for students the whole recess (that's what I get for working so hard to have them like to jump rope)

-writing large amounts on the whiteboard (older students will just have to learn to listen to my words)

-shaving multiple heads of fennel or cabbage on the mandoline

-whisking up a super large batch of homemade salad dressing

Conditioning!

Skill
Front Squat + Split Jerk
75% 3+1 98#
80% 3+1 103#
85% 2+1 108#

Such good practice for me...the jerk and I are not getting along too well these days. I know that part of it is because I am doing a pretty poor job of stabilizing.

WOD
10 rounds
100 m rum
7 pull ups
7 cross chops (25#kb)
Time: 17:35

I'll consider this to be a red letter day for me because I didn't mentally fight the idea of 10 rounds of running. I knew it would be tough, but I wasn't stressed about it. When I started it, I was totally ok with it taking me a long time, being hard, and being the one doing 2 rounds by myself after everyone else was done if need be. I was just going to get it done. And I did! And I wasn't even as slow as I thought I was going to be!

Personal Training

Skill
Snatch
53x5
63x3
73x1
83 fail
78x1
83x1
88 fail

I was the only one in class, so we had lots of time to slowly work through the lift today. I got a lot of great instruction and feedback, so several of the lifts felt really, really good. By the end, my mind was spinning with everything I was trying to remember, and I was not successful in just completing the lift.

I also stayed to the skill portion of the 5pm class, working with the group on the various pulls. Good practice!

WOD
5 rounds
10 Deadlifts 153#
10 PP/PJ 83#
Time: 12:26 Rx'd

Deadlifts are not really hard and I was trying to get more of them cycled together, but even if something isn't too heavy I still get gassed way too quickly. The presses were presses with a few jerks thrown in there, especially at the end.

I have been kind of frustrated the last couple of weeks with almost constantly sore and tired shoulders. At first I just felt like they were just being difficult without warrant. I had been so comfortable lately-working hard at what I had been doing, going to class very regularly, just scooting along. Then bam! Aching shoulders, tired arms, trying to avoid writing much on the white board at school...Why was this happening to me!?! Um, maybe because I had added some weight to my overhead lifts? Who would have imagined that?

49 wall balls are always a blast

Skill
Power Clean
70%x1x2 (88#)
75%x1x2 (98#)
80%x1x2 (103#)
then repeat

There were a couple of incredibly interesting lifts in the mix, but there were also a few that felt pretty good. I enjoyed working up and then dropping back down as the second round through felt much better overall than the first.

WOD
7 rounds
7 SDHP 63#
7 Wall Balls 12#
Time: 6:25

I kept all the SDHPs unbroken, so this workout definitely kept me moving quickly. If I had been quicker with the transitions, my time would have been smoking. :) And Joc, I think that my little line on the wall to mark my wall balls just moved up a little bit!