Love lifting heavy

I am going to give this another try...

Today-
Deadlift
213x5x2

These weren't as tough as I thought they would be. I must stay focused long enough to complete my second rep with the same form as the first. Good idea, right? It is easier on the back when I do that too.

WOD
800 m run
then 4 rounds:
8 hang snatches
8 burpees
finish with:
400 m run

Time-15:38

So the good things in a wod like this-
The 400 m turn around gives you some downhill running.
The final run was 400 not 800.
I kept the snatches light, super light and my shoulder doesn't bother me at all.
I finished.

I probably don't even need to mention the bad things in a wod like this.

Yesterday I did some squats.
Back Squat
213#x7x3

Then 5 rounds-
Butcher sprints 50#
rest 1 min

I love back squats.

Squats make me happy

First, something very important for all you Paleo-eaters who are already stressing about Valentine's Day, check out this free Valentine sticker download for your fruit! I love it.

And then on to the boring stuff-
Sunday, I was back to squats. Squats make me happy.

I also did 6 rounds of row sprints
(1 min on/1 min off)
1. 273
2. 267
3. 262
4. 258
5. 255
6. 259

My goal was 260, and I guess I was just cutting things too close in my effort to not overdo it. But this was a tough, tough wod, just like it always is.

Monday was Olympic lifting, and I was in the O-lifting groove! I had so much fun, as is often the case when something we have worked a lot on actually goes well.

I ended the session with Butcher sprints, 1 high/1 low x4. All of the low bar sprints were awful, and my quads were on fire.

A Ridiculous Amount of Catching Up

November 27, 2010
SNPP 73x3x5

WOD
5 Rounds
6 snatch balance 43#
16 lateral hurdles 12"
10 KBS 35#
Time: 8:02

Loved the snatch balances in this one, and I didn't love the hurdles, but I was able to do them even though I was sure I wouldn't be able to.

November 28, 2010
Muscle Snatch 48x3x3

Front Squat
83x3
113x1
143x1
163x1
183x1
195x1 (PR!!) Yeah, super happy to get this one!

Butcher Sprints
2 rounds with 35# plates

Side Bends
1x10 35#
2x10 45#

November 29, 2010
Power Snatch
53x2
63x2
68.5x1x5

WOD
40 Squats
15 push ups
8 hang power cleans 73#
Time: 6:27

Hmmm, I failed to write down the number of rounds. I must have been still a little fuzzy brained.

GHD sit-ups
3x15

November 30, 2010
Front Squat
153x2x4

WOD
5 rounds
1 min max burpees
1 min rest

14/14/14/13/14=69

Certainly a wod that plays to my strengths. Burpees are fabulous, and this was just one great fabulous fest.
My two goals for this wod:
1. make every burpee an honest burpee with jumps down into the push up/flop on the floor and jumps back up from the floor. I wanted to have no burpees that included using my knees to ease my way down and up. Goal met. I was incredibly tempted to muddle some of those burpees, but I really wanted to cement the new pattern in my brain.
2. I wanted to never drop below 14 in a minute. Goal not met. And I tried really, really hard to get 15 on the last round and just.could.not.do.it!

December 2, 2010
Front Squat
worked up to-
163x1
173x1

The 173 was of questionable depth. Time for some super honest blog confession. Green tea right before the class+a lifting belt+front squats=a recipe for possible bladder control problems. It is true. This is my super honest confession of the year. I didn't really feel like dealing with it, so I just didn't go quite below parallel.

Thrusters, yeah!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Clean Deadlift
153x3x3

WOD
3 rounds
in 2:30 minutes
Row 200 m
10 Thrusters 83#
Max Rep Pull Ups-ring
12/7/9
1 min rest between rounds

The thrusters were really hard. They were the kind of hard that really make you regret loading the bar with that weight with single plates since i spent the first round wishing I could just strip off 10#. They were the kind of hard that make you think about shorting reps, and that's what I spent the second round thinking about. But they were the kind of hard that you know you can tackle, when you reach that last round and realize that the end is in sight and actually very possible.

And then after all of that, Kevin convinced me to run butcher sprints. I am weak and would have given up after 1 sprint, but I made it through 4, thanks to some encouragement.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

The Mental Game

11/15/2010

Press 3x5
78#

Who can mess up what is probably the simplest lift ever?!? I can! Every single time, too! But I did get it done.

WOD
60 KBS 45#
40 Burpees
20 K2E
Time: 9:12

I certainly don't look forward to these high rep, single round wods, but I know they offer a unique training element so I like them anyway.

If this wod was broken up into 5 rounds of 12/8/4, it would be so different! It is this long string of hard things that so changes the mental side of the workout! I still break the work up into smaller sets in my mind, meeting those mental goals sometimes, and giving up on them at other times, but even when I tell myself to just get 10 done, I know that right after that, I'll still have another 10, and then another 10...

Since the gym has the new butcher, Kyle just had to throw in sprints with that thing as our finisher. This time we only had 50# on there, but on my last sprint, Golden was thoughtful enough to push back on the sled, all in the interest of improving my personal fitness.

The Butcher

Back Squats
220x3x3
with 3 box jumps between each set

WOD
Butcher Sprints 90#
30 yd high bar+ 30 yd low bar x4

That butcher is a nasty piece of equipment, no doubt about it. The distance with the higher bars was tolerable, but the low bar was brutal. It was brutal on the quads, brutal on the lungs, and a test of my ability to just keep moving even when my body was telling me to please stop.