Olympic Total

Snatch
93#


I still struggled with dropping under the bar, even though I pull it plenty high enough. I was doing super well on my warm ups-full snatches with no trouble, fluid motion, feeling good...there is improvement though since I didn't start to freeze up until 88# today, and it has been very hard for me to match this previous PR of 93#.


I.must.get.past.this! I am pulling the 93# bar all the way to my eyeballs, but then I just stop. Why do I stop? If you look at the series below, I breeze through image 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and then stop at 6. And look at that-once the bar is that high, it hardly moves for the rest of the lift...humph.



Clean and Jerk
128# PR


Not the most beautiful clean by any means, but I fought for it. That is progress too as I am learning to really keep my elbows up, chest up, and core tight in order to not let go of the bar. The jerk was much better than the clean. I just tried to focus on tightening up before the lift and then dipping slower than I often do. This is very, very important for me, and the cue seems to make a big difference in my success.


All in all, it was a good day, and I really appreciate the encouragement from Sam and Jason N., even when I was getting pretty frustrated. I really needed that.

A Lot of Work

Monday

Deadlift, halting
5x2 0r 3
123, 173, 203, 223x2


I was having a hard time with the halting.



WOD
done with a partner, Anna
2000 m row (split into 500 m rows)
150 KBS 35# (sets of 20)
100 burpees (sets of 10)
So...we finished the last exercise after the 20 minute cut off-
150 med ball toss sit ups 8#
Final time-28:40


We kept all the work evenly divided until the end of the burpees when I made Anna do 5 extra so that we could get the burpees all done RIGHT at the 20 minute cut off. It is a good thing that I was on top of things like that so I could correctly dole out the work load to make sure we got done in time.


This was a great every once in a while wod. ;-) It was exhausting, but it felt great to get all that work done. There was not one team in my class who finished before the cutoff, but we are all so hardcore, we finished any way. That is the wonderfulness of the 5pm class.


Tuesday

Snatch
5x3
58.5#


WOD
15-12-9
DB farmer's carry lunges 25#
DB thrusters
pull ups (GB)
Time-? don't remember


But those lunges seemed to last forever.


And since I have renewed my commitment to a real dead hang pull up, these band dead hangs are killing me. They don't throw my shoulders into all kinds of nastiness and pain, but it is super frustrating to not kip. It is sooooo sloooooow. But I need to work up to a dead hang, so I will just deal with it.


I can hardly believe that I contemplated trying this with the 30# DBs. The 25s were horrible enough, but I still feel like I should have been able to do it with the 30s.


But I really think I was too tired. I am just tired. That is what happens when you have to end Christmas vacation and go back to a regular work schedule. I am also starving right now. I'm in that fabulous place where I am hungry no matter what I eat.


So I am going to go to bed. The sleep will obviously be good for me, and if I am sleeping, I can't be eating...

Two New PR's

Front Squat-
new 1 rep max
208
213-missed

Yeah! Happy to feel like I have really made progress on this lift and super happy to break 200.

Snatch, max
93#

Clean and Jerk, max
went from 103 to 123
failed at 123 about 5 times
dropped down to 113, got it
then 118, got it
tried 123 again, failing 3 times. Each miss had the bar at my neck, but I wasn't getting under it fast enough, and then...
Finally! 123# for a new PR

Then I tried 128 about 500 times and missed it, still pulling it pretty high, and getting close to being under it, but just missing it, again and again and again. :)

The Bear

Hang Snatch + Snatch
53, 63, 68, 73, 78

WOD
Bear Complex
7 rounds
1 power clean
1 front squat
1 push press
1 back squat
1 behind the neck press

7 rounds with 63# not a problem

7 rounds with 73# a little bit of a problem, as in I really had to work at keeping myself moving, not stopping, and just really trying to NOT rest at any point

7 rounds with 83# well...
I probably wouldn't have attempted this if Kevin hadn't loaded my bar
It was during this round that I missed during the 4th round. I rested waaaaay too long on that front squat rack, so then I just dropped the bar after the push press. I knew that I was honestly out at that point.
Kevin also goaded me into finishing the 7 rounds, even though it was a miss. So I finished the the last 4 rounds just so I wouldn't feel bad about myself after I left.

A wod like this is always a good one since it really tests my mental determination. I need all the help I can get when it comes to being mentally committed to a wod...:)

Loving the Lifting

Olympic Lifting
Snatch
43
53
58
63
68
73
78

And they all felt great-slower off the floor, chest up, a little more explosive than before and then the bar just fell right into place. Kyle wondered why I finally stopped dropping my chest. I guess I figured I had annoyed the coaches long enough, and frankly I was getting tired of hearing "chest up" so often that it was beginning to haunt me. I figured it was time to finally get that right...

Clean and Jerk
53
63
73
83
88
93
98
103
108
118 fail

The Weekend Combined

Saturday
2 SNPP+ 2 OHS
53, 73, 78, 83, 88

WOD
3 rounds
7 jerks 73#
10 cross chops r. 25#
10 cross chops l.
15 burpees

Time-7:30

Obviously went too light on the jerks. Lesson learned. I am having a hard time remembering my current working weights on too many things right now. I need to rectify this.

But I moved fast the whole wod. :)

Sunday

Muscle Snatch
Jr bar x3x3
Women's bar x3x3
Heavy weights!!!

Snatch balance
53, 63, 73, 83, 88, 93, 98 (PR) 103 failx2

I failed the first time because I took a huge dip down and didn't keep the bar path straight. I almost made it on the second attempt, but lost control of the bar right at the end, on the way up.

Snatch
68x1x5

These felt just about fabulous. It is so, so satisfying to olympic lift and have the lift feel like it is getting so much closer to a fluid, cohesive, well-executed lift. That's why I work on this over and over and over again-so it can feel right.

Will my legs hold up?

Snatch
Heavy Single
53x3
63x2
73x2
83x3

As average for me as this progression looks, it was a good night. Being rational, and not allowing myself to get frustrated with the 83# plateau, I know that my form is actually getting better and better in small ways, even when the total weight is not soaring up.

Snatch Balance
bar x6
53x3
63x3
68x1
73x1
78x1
83 fail


WOD
16 barbell lunges 83#
16 ring pull ups
200 m run
14 lunges
14 pull ups
200 m run
12 lunges
12 pull ups
200 m run
Time: 11:09

The rx'd weight for this was 40% of my back squat 1RM...So I did put 103 lbs on the bar and I tried it once. With one lunge, I was sure that I would fall over with the bar on my back if I actually tried the WOD with that weight, so I went with 83#. Even at that it took considerable effort to make it all the way down to one knee and then get up again.

And these lunges did me in. After going up and down the stairs all morning after this wod, my legs feel ready to give out by the time I get to the last step.

A little whiney

Snatch
Heavy Single
53
63
73
78
83
93, fail, fail, fail

So who is super frustrated by the snatch?? I am. All I can say right now is-ack. I was SO frustrated with this tonight because I wanted so badly to get the 93#. I've been stuck at 88# for a good long time. I really want to move past this, but I have evidently hit that place where my lack of technique has caught up to me and will now mock me for an undetermined amount of time.

So even though part of me just wanted to give up and call it a night at that point, the other part knew I had to buck up and do the wod.

WOD
3 rounds
1 min max burpees
1 min rest
1 min max cal row
1 min rest
1 min double unders
1 min rest

Score-
12/16/5
14/16/4
13/18/ummmm, just gave up and did single unders only

So to recognize the small victories tonight:
-I did actual burpees for the whole wod. No stepping down or up, just burpeeing the whole time.
-I was able to get a few double unders. They went more or less like this s-s-s-s-s-d-s-s-s-s-s-d...until I called it quits and just did single unders.
-Thanks to Shane's encouragement, I tried to get that last row as high as I could. I'm pretty sure the display was almost ready to flip to 19 on that last one. Just so you know.
-the evil hip mobility after the wod is definitely getting easier, but that just means that I don't quite feel like I am about to cry during that stretch.

My poor hands

Hang Power Snatch+Snatch
53x2
63x2
73x2
78x2 (well, fail, then snatch, so I tried it again)
78x2 (definitely a hang snatch PR)
73x2

I am becoming more and more comfortable with the hang position!

SLDL
123x5x3

Probably should have gone with 128. Oops. These still annihilate my grip, so I am motivated to get those set of 5 done quickly before I give into the discomfort and drop the bar. Fun times! :)

GHD sit-ups
3x15

Oh, the joys of carb restriction

Just so you know, going back to good old carb restriction is pretty awful. I have gone back to under 60g carbs/day, after letting the carb intake creep up with fruit, sweet potatoes and a cheat here and there (things like Ben and Jerry's ice cream the night I got my 273# back squat. I loved it.) I really thought that it would be simple this time. I wasn't eating bread, pasta, rice... so it would be simple, right?

Well, today I feel like all I want to do is curl up into a ball and not move. I keep gritting my teeth. I have to make conscious effort to relax my jaw. The sound of someone else eating is enough to drive me over the edge. At times, the sound of my own blood pumping through my own head is torturous. Working out this morning took all the energy I had and after I was done I was shaky and dizzy. All I can do is drink water and plaster a smile on my face, hoping that when I wake up tomorrow everything will be all butterflies and roses.

I know this will pass. I know it will.

Thursday's Workout
Back Squat
I messed up the whole scheme, so it didn't work quite like it was supposed to:
203x5
213x5
238x2 then fail...

I was glad Kyle was there to pull the bar off.

WOD
7 rounds
7 DB push press 30#
7 burpees
7 pull ups (green band, deadhang)

Time-12:06

The presses were almost awesome. I looked forward to them in every round because both the burpees and deadhang pull ups were so, um...not awesome. I totally regressed on my burpee form, but for most of the wod, I didn't care.

Saturday's WOD
Snatch
53x2
63x1
73x1
83x2
93 fail, again...

Interval Cindy
2 min on, 30 sec off x5
2+5 pull ups, 10 push ups/2/2/2/2

Honest truth-once I realized that I wasn't going to get 3 rounds, ever, I just paced myself to make sure I got the full 2 rounds each interval. By round 3 I realized that I had to fly through the ring pull ups and squats to allow myself the extra time needed to complete the push ups. But even though they were hard, I felt pretty good about all my real, no knee push ups.

And I would rather do this with the ring pull ups over jumping pull ups any day. I truly, deeply, all the way to the core of my being, dislike jumping pull ups now.

Oh, and I owe great thanks to Golden for all that extra running he did to push me through the warm up run. I know you are too busy to even read blogs anymore, so you won't even see this, but without your help I wouldn't have made it. :) And my sister called me this afternoon to try to talk me into doing the Warrior Dash...agh.

A Sympathetic Coach

Power Snatch + Hang Power Snatch
2x5 at 53#

Here is how the pre-workout conversation went-(roughly...)

Joc: Leah, so how are your feeling?

Leah: Good, my legs are tired, but pretty good.

Joc: But no pain, right?

Leah: No pain! I really feel good! (smile, smile, smile) My legs are just a little tired and slow, you know?

Joc: Yeah, I know how that is. I totally understand.

Leah (thinking): How great is it to have an understanding coach, one who takes the time to check in and really cares about how I feel? How nice! (smile, smile, super happy)

Then Joc starts writing the wod on the board. I start hearing muttering of how much Leah is going to "like" this...

And the there was the wod:

WOD
35 DB Thrusters 25#
400 m run
30 hurdle burpees
Time: 8:58

So if your legs are tired this WOD just feels splendid! The thrusters don't feel hard.at.all. You feel like you are flying on the 400 m run. And hurdle burpees? You might think that you would sort of dread the thought of 30 of them, even questioning your ability to make it over the hurdle without tripping, but no. Everyone of those burpees is a piece of cake and you feel like soaring over that green bar! CrossFit is amazing.

Staycation Day 2-hung out at the gym to make sure I didn't miss anything interesting. I didn't. Then I was a tourist in Capitola and downtown Santa Cruz for the rest of the day.

Immediate Goal Setting

2 Position Snatch
1 power snatch + 1 hang snatch

I just did a bunch with 53 and then a bunch with 63. I was highly organized in my approach to this one! :)

WOD
5 rounds
30 lateral jumps
10 cross chops rt. 25#
10 cross chops lt.
7 ring dips (BB)
Time: 7:43

Since I went to the Amundsen goal-setting seminar, I figured I would set an immediate goal for this wod-

1. get the first round of jumps unbroken-done

This was the first time that I have done ring dips in a wod, so I started with the blue band. Next time I will use the green band. I will also have to think about whether I should use a heavier KB for the cross chops, but I'll worry about that one later.

One of my 7 day goals is to refocus on my diet, with proper attention to my protein and carb (specifically vegetable) intake. I find that I can fall into a pattern of eating protein at each meal, but not eating nearly as many veggies as I did back when I carefully paleo-zoned. I am not worried that I am eating too few carbs since I allowed myself fruit for the summer, but I know that I have been missing out on all the goodness that comes with a variety and great volume of vegetables. I have also fallen into the habit of sometimes just eating 2 meals in a day, and then I just get hungry too soon and eat lots and lots of fruit (or sometimes...even chocolate.)

So I took a bit of time this afternoon to shop and then prep somethings ahead.


Roasted Broccoli with Caramelized Onions
The onions elevate roasted broccoli (already pretty fantastic) to a whole new level of vegetable goodness.

1 bag of broccoli florets (from TJs)
1 onion, chopped
salt and pepper
olive oil
butter

Oil a baking sheet lightly. Dump the broccoli on the pan and sprinkle with a bit more olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast this in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt a pat of butter in a skillet, preferably cast iron. If you don't have a cast iron pan, this is a very, very good reason to get one. When the butter is hot, but before it starts to burn, add the onions. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper and add some more butter if it needs it. Turn down the heat to med-low and cook the onions until brown and soft, about 20 minutes, stirring as needed to keep them from burning. If they seem to be burning, not slowly browning, you can turn down the heat and/or add a few tablespoons of water.

Many recipes for caramelized onions will call for some type of sugar, but you do not need any at all. As long as you cook them slowly and long enough to really brown, the onions will be sweet on their own.

When both the broccoli and onions are done, toss together and enjoy!

Tire Flips

Snatch + Overhead Squat
43x1
53x1
58x1
63x1
68x1
73x1

then OHS
73x2
73x2
73x2

WOD
12 tire flips
400 m run
then 5 rounds:
10 push ups
10 GHD sit ups
finish with:
400 m run
12 tire flips

Time: 14:57
When I first saw this wod, these were my thoughts-
-There are so many words, it looks long
-What?!? running 400 meters?!? twice?!? Blech
-Tire flips: cool!
-GHD sit ups, um yeah, more dizziness and sore abs
-What kind of person comes up with this stuff?

Then I had a few more rational thoughts-
-It is only 2 rounds of running, I can do that.
-Maybe the GHD sit ups will be a little easier this time.
-Maybe they won't leave me quite as sore this time.
-Tire flips are cool.

Then I had to do the wod-
-I kept my movement above a walk for the full 800 meters, meaning I didn't stop at the turn around and I did not walk when I got back to the parking lot. No one had to yell at me to run all the way to the box (Sam, Kyle, sound familiar?)
-The tire flips were cool.
-I wasn't as dizzy from the GHD as I was last time.
-I still have to work on my push ups...
-I'll know how much the GHD sit ups will hurt when I am sitting on a plane in two days.

Happy Dance

Snatch
53x3
63x2
68x1
73x1
78x1
83x1
88 fail

Umph...I really wanted to get that 88 today.

WOD
4 rounds 2:30/90 sec rest
200 m run
7 box jumps 20"
max KBS 44#
19-15-15-14

And then pull up practice. I did it! I was totally shocked when it happened, but I got my first kipping pull up. Clearly there were several important pieces to today's success: my latte, the mocking of my hip snap, and the presence of the vuvuzela in the box. Now I just have to try to repeat it, but it more than made up for not getting the 88 on the snatch.

The Weekend Post

Saturday

Back Squat
198x5
198x5
198x5
198x5
198x5

WOD
We had a fun wod with:
broad jumps
shuffles
tire flips
half moons (15/25#)
med ball sit ups (20#)
ball slams (25#)
It was 30 secs per station with 15 sec rest and we completed the cycle two times.

This was the first time I've done half moons and tire flips. That tire got a little heavy...

Sunday
Snatch on the Minute
58x5
63x5
68x5
73x1
78x1
83 fail

So the 58s were feeling fantastic, as in one fluid lift. All of this gloriousness started to break down here and there as the weight went up, but all of this is good practice in patience. :)

WOD
400 m run
5 pull ups (GB)
20 russian twists
200 m run
10 pull ups
20 russian twists
100 m run
15 pull ups
20 russian twists
50 m run
Time: 8:55

Running wods are never something I look forward to, but knowing that each run was shorter made this much, much more manageable. If I have to run, this was actually a great way to get it done. :)

Hmm, still don't really like box jumps...

even though it seems like I get to do them all.the.time
:)

Skill
Snatch
56x2
61x2
68x2
73x2

I tried narrowing my grip again today, and I am amazed at how much I have been able to narrow it and by the fact that I no longer have any shoulder pain at all. It makes it easier to hold the bar over your head when you don't get a searing pain through your shoulder all of the sudden.

WOD
4 rounds
12 KBS 45#
12 Box Jumps
Time: 4:49

Then Russian Twists
2x20 with the 12# ball

I did not even attempt one pull up.

Right now it is painful to sit, walk up the stairs, walk normally...Thankfully my abs aren't horribly sore, but that might hit tomorrow. CF is great!

This and That

Snatch on the minute
55x1x5
61x1x5
66x1x5

Then 3 on my own-
68x1
73x1
83 f

I came to the box mentally prepared to be more aggressive. And it worked!

Deadlift
123x2
193x2
223x2
243x2
253x2


Row
1500m
6:20

Two significant notes on this one-
1. This is a 40 sec. pr
2. You aren't really cool until you row a 1500m

Fun Times at the Gym

Skill
Heaving Snatch Balance
So I almost matched my coach's last warm up! Right!!
53x5
63x5
73x5
83 failed once and then ran out of time
I was trying to work on speed...I am just a generally speedy person, so this comes easily for me.

Snatch
53x3
63x3
73x1
Then some snatch deadlifts to work on breaking my bad habit of not keeping my chest up.

WOD
20 Thrusters 63#
20 SDHP
20 Burpees
Time: 4:42

I will ever so cautiously say that I think that I am getting better at this stuff. I got through 15 of the thrusters and then racked it to take a breath. I wanted to rack it at 10, but didn't so I am going to consider that mental progress. The SDHP were easy and this was were I was able to pull ahead of my sister.

Then I hit the burpees...Kyle demonstrated my exact signature burpee as a what not to do example, so I know he was calling me out on my form, even though he didn't use my name. I tried ever so compliantly to follow the directions of my coach and actually jump down instead of stepping/flopping down. But regardless of how my burpees looked, my quads were burning. At this point, I knew that Anna would beat me. There was no chance I could get through the burpees fast enough.

GHD Sit Ups

I couldn't write this post any earlier because I was so tired I was afraid that I would never get up again if I sat down. I had to make dinner before I sat down, and making dinner was tough...but it did taste good.

Skill
Snatch
43x1x5
53x1x5
63x1x5
then
68x1
70 f
70x1

It was hard getting into the groove today. Maybe I wasn't deliberate enough about my warm up. By the time I got to the 53# I felt like I was actually kind of, sort of allowing the bar to push me down into the squat.

WOD
5 rounds
200 m row
12 KBS 44#
7 GHD sit ups
Time: 13:22

I can't put any of these thoughts together-
This was a great wod, hard and doable at the same time.
Doing these Sunday wods by myself is helping me to concentrate more on pushing myself just because I need to, not because I don't want to be the last person to finish. That certainly makes it mentally a lot tougher for me.
I will admit that I was slow with the transitions. I really made sure those straps on the rower were just perfect each time.
I really noticed the difference it made in my rowing when I actually followed directions: pull hard for a count of 1, return slower for a count of 2. That actually gets you farther with less work. :)
This was my first time doing GHD sit ups. It was tough to do the first few because I didn't really believe that I wasn't going to flip right over. My abs started to ache within one hour of finishing the wod, but so far it isn't too bad.

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.