Tabata Front Squats

Tabata Front Squats
75# rx'd
total score: 57
Vero, you are amazing. That is all there is to it.

Then-
Chest 2 Bar pull ups (GB) 8-6-4-2
KBS 53# 16-12-8-4
Push ups 32-15-12-8
Time: 8:04

The push ups were KILLING me, so Sam adjusted the middle rounds a bit. Otherwise I would have been working right until the next class...4 hours later. And I was worried about the 53# KBS!

Jump, Jump, Jump

Snatch PP
63x5
73x4
88x3
98x2
108x1
118 fail

SLDL
83x3x5

You do enough of those behind the neck presses and jerks and you learn to absorb that weight a little better! You do those SLDLs and they just remind you that your hamstrings exist and complain a bit if you don't give them enough attention.

WOD
8 rounds
8 Box Jumps 20"
8 KBS 44#
50 m run
Time: 11:56

I could say that the difference between completing 36 jumps on the 20" box last week, coupled with almost no other leg work, compared to the 64 jumps, coupled with the runs, was just a tad noticeable. If you want a more honest assessment, I'd have to say that it was tough to even finish. Blah, like leaning against the wall, wondering why I put myself through this stuff kind of tough. I'll admit that I felt pretty proud/hard-core/legit for actually completing those box jumps, but it was hard to get them done.

And guess who actually completed a double-under? Yep, and then I was able to do it again. I was just too overwhelmed with the thrill of a double-under to get the rope around again...

On a diet note, I went to Whole Foods yesterday, fell so in love with all the fabulous fruit that the produce guy kept giving me to taste that I decided to add fruit back in for the summer. It is good to eat seasonally, right? I think I'm going to have figs and prosciutto tomorrow.

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. :)

7, the Perfect Number

Snatch Deadlift
63x3
68x3
73x3
83x3
93x3

Lots of important work on leading with the chest.

WOD
7 rounds
7 lateral jumps
7 back extensions
7 GHD situps
Time: 9:55

Lateral jumps were my major frustration on Saturday, but I was far more successful today. The GHD situps were hard to get through by about round 4, so that made 5,6 and 7 delightful. I was glad to have someone counting my rounds or I am sure I would have done at least 9. I get all light headed on the GHD machine and can't remember anything beyond the 7 reps I need to do at one time.

Box Jumps and OHS

Mini-Warm Up WOD
10 Box Jumps 20"
10 vertical jumps
30 single jumps
5 ninja rolls (hate them, because I can't do them)
5 burpees
Yep-the 20" box jump today. This was the first time I have grouped together any jumps at 20" since I gouged my leg on this box in Jan. (you all remember that made up story about the box jumps and the staph infection, right?) And I was told that I was actually doing burpees today. That is a good thing and I bad thing. I guess that now when I am told to do the burpees correctly, I won't be able to just yell back that I CAN'T DO BURPEES.

Overhead Squat
33x3
53x3
73x1
83x1
93x1
103x1 (PR!)
108 fail

Super happy to break 100. I still love seeing the regular, steady progress of CrossFit!

WOD
AMRAP in 10 minutes
5 snatch balance 53#
7 pull ups green band
9 box jumps 20"
Rounds: 4 + 5 snatch balances

Yep, the 20" box again! And I didn't miss even one of them. :)

No Pull Up Yet...

Jerk
Warm Up
63# push press, push jerk, split jerk
83# push press, push jerk, split jerk
Then single split jerks
103x1
113x1
123x1
133x1 (PR)
143 fail

Ah, I was so excited about the 133 that I got greedy and jumped right to 143. That was not the best decision as I missed the 143 royally. It was like my brain and body just totally and completely failed to function as they should have.

WOD
4 rounds
8 SLDL 63#
10 ring push ups (knees)
12 sit ups
Time: 5:21

Fun!

Then multiple attempts at a pull up. Not yet...

Hard Things

In some ways the last year and all of the changes I have made in my health and fitness have been easier than I thought and it some ways it has all been harder. Right now I am thinking about the harder. It hasn’t been magic and easy. I didn’t find the one spectacular way to suddenly change all of my poor diet and fitness habits. And as wonderful as my CrossFit box is, it has all been very hard. There truly is no easy way about it.

I have worked really hard, harder than I imagined that I would. I have cried, occasionally in a workout, but usually all by myself after I left. There have been so many days were I could hardly do anything all evening because I was so completely exhausted and sore. I have ached and hurt for what seemed like endless days-my knees, my neck, my shoulders, my arms, my everything, just not my fingernails. I had to learn to enjoy the pain that comes with doing weighted lunges and GHD sit-ups.

I have been sick at the thought of going to the box to work out, and then sick to my stomach while waiting for a wod to start. Of course I have been sick to my stomach during and after a wod. But I detest throwing up, so I still haven’t done that. I had to learn to just embrace that nervousness and get to work.

I have wanted to quit so badly that it almost consumed me, as in it was a struggle that I wasn’t sure I could overcome to take one more step or swing that KB one more time. Occasionally I have given in, and then I have felt the regret of quitting when I shouldn’t have. I know there is a time to quit, in order to avoid injury, but I honestly don’t face that decision often. I am faced most often with just wanting to quit because it is so hard-hard to move, hard to breath, hard to not give up. I had to learn to just keep going, long after I thought I couldn’t do anymore.

I have worried myself endlessly about what other people thought of me and what I looked like while working out. I have worked really hard to hide in the corner. I would carefully choose where I would lift or work so I would stay as inconspicuous as possible. I have been so thankful that there are no mirrors, but embarrassed that even though I couldn’t see how silly I looked, other people could. I tried to hide in pictures. I still don’t like the idea of being videotaped, but I’ll adjust. I had to learn to be more comfortable in my own skin, working on whatever I need to work on.

I have left classes feeling totally uncoordinated and disgustingly out of shape. Now I wasn’t happy about being fat and out of shape, but then when I started CF, I had to deal with a whole new side of unhappiness-the total dissatisfaction and frustration of really seeing how bad I had let things get, of being smacked in the face with that every time I worked out. And even with that awful awareness, I had to pick myself up and do it all over again another day.

I have learned many things since starting CrossFit, much more than I ever would have imagined, and I know that I have many hard things still to learn.