Slow and Steady?

Started the evening off practicing Pistols. Yeah…I’m not very good at this! That’s me in the back with the blue shirt and black pants. My knees start to bother me when I put too much weight on one. Lunges hurt for the same reason. Plus, I’m a bit of a clutz!

Photo by Shane

 

The WOD…oh the WOD. Have I mentioned how much I hate burpees? Yes, yes I have.

 

21-15-9

Burpees

Push Press (65#, dropped to 45#)

Abmat Sit Ups

 

So, the WOD started off with my beloved burpees. I did ok up until about #10-12, then I started stepping back instead of jumping. The last round found me getting on my knees to get back up on the last few. It just takes everything out of me when we do a ton of burpees. I lost count on round two so I did extra just to make sure I hit 15.

 

I started the push press at 65#. The prescribed weight was 75#. It was quite heavy for me but I wanted to be able to do the 65# for the entire workout. The first round ate up a lot of time because I’d have to do 3-4 and put the bar down, regroup, and start again. By the time I got into #4 on my second round I was already being lapped by the others. So, I took the weight off and finished with just the bar. I’m pretty sure I could have finished with the 65# but I would have been wayyyy slower than everyone else. As it was, they were all finishing their WOD as I was finishing my second round. I finished in 16:16. ehhh. Not great…but oh well. Eventually, I’ll build up my upper body strength and be able to push through some of these workouts.

 

Photo by Shane. I need to get my butt lower.

 

Photo by Shane. I look a little crooked!

The Abmat sit ups provided a nice little break. I don’t find them that difficult unless we’re having to knock out 40-50 in a row. Who would have thought that I’d want to do sit ups to catch a breather while working out?! hahaha…

 

The Torture Continues

A: Skill work “Handstands” complete 4 sets of 30 second holds

B: AMRAP 20min of:
5 Deadlifts (95#)
10 Knees to Elbows
15 Wallball Shots (10#)

My legs were tired and sore from yesterday’s workout so I wasn’t thrilled to see more squats on the agenda for today! The skill work was tough but I was able to hold it the whole 30 seconds this time. It had been quite a long time since we’ve worked on handstands. I’m still 3 feet from the wall with my hands, but eventually I’ll get in closer. Once I’m up on the wall I can’t move my hands back. I’m doing good to stay put!

The WOD was making my quads scream. I ended up getting in 7 rounds. The last round I finished the 15th wallball shot with 1 second left on the clock. So, I was close to not completing it. I was hoping to get more and most everyone else had 9-11 rounds, but I was having some issues! The knees to elbows were tough because my grip kept failing. I’d get in three lifts and have to step back on the box to wipe my hands off and go again. I was even wearing my grips. Guess I was just too sweaty! I lost a lot of time on those. The wallballs were hard for me too. I made sure I was using a 10# ball this time because last time the 12# was a little too heavy and I want to move up from the 8# ball. While they weren’t pretty, I did better this time on my wallballs than last time. My form was better and my back wasn’t as sore. However, I got to where I did 5 and rested a bit, then did the next 5, and so on. I did take quite a few stops, but I didn’t wait as long. The goal is to push through without any breaks but sometimes I just have to catch my breath and get more oxygen in my lungs. 

I was going to go up to the gym tomorrow to work on my form but my legs are trashed. I think I’ll take a rest day so I’m somewhat better off on Thursday.

Butt Kicking

Yep…that’s what it was. The WOD looked relatively tame, but it wasn’t.

WOD:
3 Rounds
2 Minutes Each
Front Squats (55#)
Box Jumps (12″)
1 Minute Rest

At the end all of my reps were added up for each round. The point was to get the highest number possible. The picture says it all…I didn’t do very well:

The front squats were rough the first round. My back started getting tired and it was hard to keep correct form. The last round was torture. The box jumps sucked, as usual! Since my breathing is getting bad again it’s even harder to push through. My body isn’t getting enough oxygen to push as hard as I was pushing before. I’m trying to cut out all nightshades to see if that will help minimize the inflammation in my throat. I hope it works!

I finished the day up with 30 GHD Sit Ups. These were tough too since I made sure I went all the way back so I could touch the floor with my hand then all the way back up.

Helen

Whewie…Helen is a bitch!

WOD:
3 Rounds
400 Meter Run
21 Kettlebell Swings (35#)
12 Pull Ups

Finished in 16:12

Tonight’s workout was a killer. The runs get me every time and when they have them at the beginning of the workout it zaps me. However, I was happy with my kettlebell swings tonight. Last time they were hard to do and I had to stop often with the same weight. Tonight I only had to rest a couple of times. I was also able to do decent pull ups using the black band. My run is the main thing slowing me down this time!

Afterward we did 50 Floor Sweepers and 25 GHD Sit Ups. I got a raging headache as I was heading home. After eating some almonds it finally faded away.

I hope everyone has a great Easter Weekend!

What a Good Day!

Since Mike and I had dentist appointments today I was able to sleep in an hour. Once I hauled my butt out of bed, I decided to weigh myself and see how things were going. I stepped on the scale and Yeehaw!! The day was off to a great start.

You’ll have to excuse my bruised toenail. It’s kinda nasty looking. Anyway, how does this compare with last month?

	3/25/2011	4/20/2011
Body Fat Weight:	73.0 lbs	69.1 lbs
Body Fat %:	36.2%	35.3%
Body H20:	46.5%	47.1%
Bone Mass:	6.9%	6.9%

I’ll do my measurements either tonight or tomorrow. My father is coming in tomorrow for the weekend! So excited about that!

The dentist checkup came back great. No cavities or anything else to worry about. So, it was off to work in my new SIZE 14 dress!! That’s right, apparently I’ve gone down another size to a 14. I grabbed some jeans this weekend and decided to get a pair of 14s as motivation. Well, when I tried them on they fit! As did both size 14 dresses I bought (at 50% off too!).

Another One Bites the Dust

Tonight’s workout kicked my ass up the street and back again. When we got there Shane and Neil were trying overhead squats with the same set up that Jennifer and I tried the back squats with. They were struggling with the kettlebells bouncing around! Very impressive.

We did some skill work on Squat Cleans using the 45# bar. Again, I kept hitting my neck. Maybe I need heavier weight to keep from doing that.

WOD:
4 Rounds
20 Kettlebell Swings (35#)
15 Wall Balls (12# first 2 rounds, 8# last 2) (I think it was 2/2 may have been 1/3)
10 Back Extensions
200 Meter Weighted Run (12# med ball)

Shane had turned the clock off, so I don’t know my official time but I’m guessing it was around 26:00.  Of course, I was last again. My form went to shit on the last round. It wasn’t a good workout for me. My lower back was/is shredded.  Shane told me that I had to build those muscles up too, which I can honestly say they’re getting quite a workout between last week’s and this week’s workouts.

This is how I felt afterward. And yes…there is still sweat dripping from my hair.

Oh, and I wasn’t able to do a kipping pull up. In my head I should be able to but when it comes to execution, I fail.

Get a Grip!

I got my new grips in today!! Just in time for another workout tonight. If I get there early enough this afternoon, I’m going to practice my kipping with my snazzy new gloves!

Just When You Think You’re Doing Ok…

Whap….CrossFit slaps you back down. Today’s workout kicked my butt.

WOD:
100 Squat Thrusters (65# rx)
Every time the bar hits the floor you run 200 Meters

I was going to start with just the 45# bar. After all, 100 squat thrusters is a lot. But, then Michelle said “let’s do 65#.” So, I loaded my bar up and got ready to start. When we squat, we have to touch the med ball to make sure we get low enough. I got through 7 or 8 thrusters before I was having trouble getting the bar over my head. Normally, I would squat some then try to explode up to push the weight; However, with going that low in the squat I couldn’t explode. Technically, I guess it became more of a squat press than a thruster at that point. I wanted to drop down to 55# but there weren’t any 5lb weights left, so I stuck with the 45# bar.

There’s no telling how many runs I made. Probably 8 or 9. So, I got a mile in because I couldn’t keep the bar off the ground. On my last two rounds I started resting the bar on my back. The hardest part was pulling the bar back in front. If I would have that of that earlier I think I could have done more.

We had a 25 minute cut off. In 25 minutes I got in 65 thrusters and about a mile run. I wasn’t happy with my performance. I know if I stuck with 65# I wouldn’t have gotten that many reps but I’m upset with my performance. My upper body strength is crap. Tomorrow’s another day! Besides, last time I was only able to do the 35# bar. That’s a small improvement.

CrossFit Aliens

Third day in a row for CrossFit! Needless to say, I am worn out and ready for a couple of days relaxation. We were supposed to do Handstands for our skill today, but we didn’t do it for some reason. I think Shane was just too excited to get started that he forgot!

WOD:
10 Rounds for Time
4 Deadlifts (135#)
8 Pull Ups

Finished in 15:22

We were told to go heavy with the deadlifts so I thought “Ok, about 95#”. Then, Shane looked at Michelle and I and said “Since y’all both PRd over 200# on this, go with 135#.” Sure, no problem! Only, it was quite heavy…especially the last few rounds. I started off by doing the lift and dropping back down quickly. However, when it started getting harder to lift I decided to just drop the weights instead of trying to put the weights back down. No sense in hurting my back by having sloppy form lifting or putting the weight down.

Since I still can’t do a kipping pull up, I used the black band to do the pull up portion. My first two rounds went pretty good. The pulls were big and I was able to get my head above the bar. Unfortunately, my next few rounds had less than stellar pull ups! I was still moving, which was good, but not getting my head above the bar. Since my hands sweat horribly, I borrowed a pair of grips for the WOD. This was the first time I was able to do the whole WOD without stopping to chalk my hands.

I told Mike on the ride home that I wanted to order some grips for myself. My main reason is that I don’t want to waste time walking over to the chalk bucket during the workout. So, Mike says “Well, it could give you some time to get a breather!” To which, I replied “Yeah, but that wastes time and most workouts are for the fastest time possible. I don’t want to waste time unnecessarily.” Mike looked at me and asked “Who are you and what have you done with my wife?! It’s like you were abducted by CrossFit Aliens!” LOL….oh, my husband has such a way with words!

Thanks to CrossFit, I have an endless supply of bruises!

I also have more confidence (when I’m not getting waxed in a workout!), a healthier body, and definitely more strength! Sometimes I have to read back over the older workouts to see just how far I’ve come!

Grace

Another benchmark test today. Unfortunately, I hadn’t done this one before so I don’t have much to compare it to. The last time I did Ground to Overheads I had alternated between the 35# bar and 45# bar. So, just looking at the previous workout I think I’ve improved.

We started with some new squats Shane wanted to try out. I have no clue what they’re called so I’ll just refer to them as Kettlebell Weighted Squats. It looked something like the picture below, but with the resistance band looped through the handle of the kettlebells.

source: fitstream.com

The point is to make your body work harder by having to stabilize the weight while you’re squatting. We did a 25# kettlebell on each side first (5 reps), then 35# kettlebells, and last was 5 reps with normal 25# plates. It was extremely odd and somewhat difficult to walk with the weights swinging around but I kinda liked them!

The WOD was “Grace”: 30 Ground to Overhead for time. Prescribed weight is 95# but there’s no way I can do that much weight. I did 55#, which was more than last time. It started getting tougher at the end. My time was 5:32. Not bad, but not great either. Jennifer finished in 3:40 or something around there. She has more upper body strength than I do! Tonight’s workout was just the two of us.

After the workout we did 70 Floor Sweepers. For those of you that don’t know what those are, you’re holding a 45# bar over your shoulders (laying on the ground) and then lift your legs at an angle up to the bar, lower them, then lift them to the other side.  I wasn’t able to do them with completely straight legs, but I got them done. My abs are going to be very sore tomorrow.

I tried the kipping pull up some when I got there, but alas…I couldn’t do 1. I was using the green band. Maybe I just need to work on the technique as opposed to going back to the black band. Not sure. Shane asked me how my diet was going and whether I was staying away from the bread. He also asked if I was taking any vitamins. My guess is he noticed how quickly I tire out and wants me to do something to up my energy. I told him my biggest problem is my tracheal stenosis where I just can’t breathe. He recommended I try Spirulina for some vitamins, so I’ll try out some vitamins (which I know I need anyway) and see if that helps with my workouts at all.