A Short CrossFit Week

I normally try to go to CrossFit on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. This week I skipped the workout on Monday because my legs/hips were still sore from Sunday’s run/walk. It’s important to let your muscles recover, so I decided to take an extra day. While this week was short, CrossFit wise, the workouts were still brutal!

Tuesday 9/20

Strength:
Deadlifts
3(135#) x 3(185#) x 3(205#) x 3(215#)

WOD:‎
4 Rounds
400 Meter Run
12 Power Cleans (75#)
20 Kettlebell Swings (35# 1st round, 24# rest)
Finished in 25:23

Didn’t modify the run! Shane (my coach) is blown away by the fact that he can’t hear me wheezing anymore! Hope it stays that way for a while. My back was shot from doing the deadlifts before the WOD. My max on deadlifts is 235#, so I was happy with my weight! My time wasn’t very good, but given the fact that I run/walk a mile in about 16:30, it’s not that bad! This workout had me sore for a couple of days. In fact, my lower back is still a little sore today.

Strength:
Back Squat
3(75#) x 3(95#) x 3(105#) x 3(115#)
squat to 12″ box:
3(75#) x 3(95#) x 3(105#) x 3(105#)

WOD:
AMRAP 10 Mins
5 Push Press (75#)*** update, it was only 65#. Now I’m not so stoked.
10 Over Bar Burpees
4 Rounds and 5 Burpees into round 5

Cool Down:
Partner abs
10 rounds each of GHD Sit Ups. Partner holds plank while other person does sit ups.

Oh My Goodness…this was hard! We were supposed to do bear crawls but there were too many people/bars that we didn’t have room to do them, so we cut the time down some and added abs at the end. I was happy with my push press weight. My push press max is 95# so I was lifting about 80% of my max. ***UPDATE*** I dropped down to a 35# bar because the 45#s left had grips that tear your hands up. So, I actually only did 65#. The things I think of when in the shower. Afterword, my arms were hurting quite a bit. I was a little worried that maybe I had pulled something but I think it was just because this was the most I’ve used for push press in a WOD. They’re feeling better now! We’ll see how they are tomorrow.

Saturday brings on an 8 mile run/walk with the girls. According to my marathon training, I should be doing 3/2 intervals (running 3, walking 2 mins). Last week I did 1/1 for a mile then 2/1 the last 4 1/2 miles. So, this Saturday I will attempt to do the 3/2 and see how that goes!

Hello My Pretties!!

Whoops…it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted. Ok, let’s see if I can catch everyone up to speed!

Monday 8/23
WOD Modified due to breathing
5 Rounds:
5 Front Squats (45#)
20 Weighted Step Ups (15# Kettlebell in each hand)

Tuesday 8/24
Strength:
Clean and Jerk
3(65#)x 3(75#) x 3(85#)

WOD:
100 Push Ups
200 Squats
OMG…are you kidding me?! I was sore for days afterward! The others had to run 200 meters every time they stopped/rested. I didn’t have to.

Wednesday 8/25
Skill:
Snatch

WOD:
3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, etc
Push Press (55#)
Pull Ups (Green band)
Finished round 15 and 10 push press into the next round.
The push presses were tough. My arms were quite sore from the push ups the day before. My arms were very achy over the weekend from both WODs.

Monday 8/29
Skill:
Kipping Pull Ups

WOD:
5 Rounds
3 Cleans (65#)
20 Burpees (Modified to 10)
Finished in 12:13
I could definitely do more weight on the cleans. One of my problems is estimating the right weight for me.

Tuesday 8/30
Strength:
Front Squats
5(45#)x 5(65#)x 5(75#)x 5(85#)x 5(95#)

WOD:
Tabatas
Squats (10)
Push Ups (6)
Back Extensions (7)
Abmat Sit Ups (9)
Whew…those back extensions were vicious! Glad I did those before the sit ups though. I have a love/hate relationship with Tabatas. They relatively short but it really zaps you. I fell asleep on the way home! hahaha

 

Tomorrow is my 3rd dilation. I can’t wait to be able to breathe again! Last time they were able to increase my trachea by 200%. I hope they can do the same this time. If you have no clue what I’m talking about, you can read about it here. The nerves are starting to kick in and I have a feeling I may not get much sleep tonight. I have to be at the hospital at 7:30 tomorrow morning. Surgery is at 9 and I hope to be home by 12 to get some more sleep!

Benchmarking

Today started day 1 of our benchmarking at CrossFit. On the roster:

Push Press (95#)

Power Clean (105#)

Back Squat (175#)

I started with Push Press. This was an experience! I tried to do my max with 105# but I couldn’t get my arms all the way straight. In fact, I was losing control of the weight and since it was going backward, I just plopped it down on my shoulders. Stupid? yes…Painful? A little bit….Everything was ok? yep. So, I dropped back down to 95# and maxed there. This was up 10# from last time, but not as much as I wanted. I wanted the 105#. My partner, Sunny, kicked ass! She is such an inspiration.

Next was the Back Squat. We don’t do back squats very often. In fact, the last time I did them that I can remember was when we maxed out the last time. I went up 20#, which was a 10% increase. I would have liked to have done at least 200#. Again, not what I wanted, but still happy with the increase.

Last we did the Power Clean. My max with the clean was 105# and that’s what I got again this time. I was pulling the bar high enough, I just couldn’t get myself to squat under it. It’s definitely a mental thing. My other issue is that I’m not very flexible in my arms so I have a difficult time getting my elbows up. If you can’t get your elbows up you won’t be able to support the higher weights!

All in all, I’m pleased with the increases but still a little let down. Tomorrow is the final day of benchmarking. I’m not sure what we’re doing but Shane said we were doing some other “moves” (I assume deadlift) and some body weight work (how many push ups in a minute type thing). I’m sore tonight and I imagine will be sore tomorrow. We’ll see!

Last Day!!…for this week

Skill

Bar Snatch

WOD

10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10
Clean (65#)
Pull Ups (Black band)

Finished in 16:40.

The cleans were a bit tough in the high numbers, but not too bad. Today’s workout was much better than the past 2. I felt much better about my performance! After the WOD we did Abmat Tabata Sit Ups. My abs are going to be soooore tomorrow! Tiffany, one of the girls at the gym, made the comment today that I was a beast (can’t remember her exact wording) to which I told her she had the wrong person in mind because I definitely don’t fit that mold. “You’re here every Thursday I am so I know I’m talking about the right person.” Then Michelle made the comment that I don’t give myself enough credit. While I still don’t agree with Tiffany, the comment made me feel better. However, I think Michelle has a point. I’m very quick to point out my failures and in doing that, fail to see my accomplishments.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to workout today, but since my arms and back weren’t getting more sore throughout the day and Michelle and Jennifer were going, I decided to go. I’m glad I did. Today’s workout somewhat redeemed my previous ones! Now, I can rest and recuperate for Monday’s workout.

Happy Weekend!!

Don’t Poke the Bear

WOD:

The Bear Complex:
5 Rounds of 7 reps (55#)
Clean
Front Squat
Push Press
Back Squat
Push Press

Every time you set the bar down between reps you had to do 3 burpees. You can rest as long as needed between rounds.

Today’s WOD wasn’t timed, but I think I finished around 20 minutes. All I have to say is ouch. That was hard. I definitely have bruises on the back of my neck from dropping the bar too heavily to go into the back squats. I also know my squats weren’t probably deep enough toward the last couple of rounds. My front squats really suffer when I get tired and I’m pretty sure that’s because my elbows drop which makes me want to lean forward instead of stay on my heels. That’s definitely something I need to work on. The good news? I didn’t have to do 1 burpee! Yes…

It was 100 degrees here today and I felt quite overheated between the last few rounds. We need a fan just to get air circulation in the gym. I rested more than I cared to between rounds but I did not want to have to put the bar down to do burpees. I think I was the last one done, or at least close to last, but that’s ok.

Yesterday was my weigh in day. I didn’t post the results because I got lazy and was a little miffed at myself. This month is my first gain in the 5 months I’ve been working hard.

	4/20/2011	5/25/2011
Body Fat Weight:	69.1 lbs	73.3 lbs
Body Fat %:	35.3%	36.3%
Body H20:	47.1%	46.4%
Bone Mass:	6.9%	6.9%

This really didn’t take me by surprised since I spent all month making poor food choices for the most part. But, it is what it is. I’m not going to dwell on it, especially since I’ve had my eating back under control since Monday. By next month, I should be back down to the 190’s. I’m hoping to be in the 180’s by the time I hit the beach at the end of July. Then, when I get back from there I’ll have two weeks before my marathon training starts. Eek!

Making Adjustments

It’s Tuesday….you know what that means! Yep, CrossFit time. I wasn’t sure if I should go today since my feet were still hurting (heel blisters) from the half marathon on Sunday. My fear was I would have to run and I know I wouldn’t be able to.

Today’s strength was the Clean. We paired up and did 4 rounds of 3 reps. Michelle and I paired up and started with just the 45# bar. The next round was 55#s, then 65#, then 75#s, and since everyone else was still going we did 85#s. 85 was the magic number for both Michelle and I. We both got 2 good cleans in but struggled for the third.

Source: articles.elitefts.com

The WOD was supposed to be 4 rounds of 25 Competition Style Push Ups, 10 Dumbbell Snatches and a 400 Meter Run. However, since I wasn’t able to do the run, Shane let me ride the bike for 2 minutes each round instead. The competition style push ups are where you go all the way to the ground and lift your hands off the mat to show you’re all the way down, then push back up. Since I’ve been doing the 100 Push Up Challenge, I’ve been able to do 10-12 push ups without stopping so I was making pretty good time on my first couple of rounds. My last two rounds were a little different story. I was having a hard time keeping my back straight when coming up (instead of “snaking”, as Shane calls it). I also was having to stop after 7 or 8 and rest a little bit.

The dumbbell snatches were great. In fact, I don’t think I had enough weight. Shane told us to use a 25# dumbbell last time I used a 25# dumbbell too. I should have gone up to 30# or 35#s. Next time I will make sure I go up in weight. I have to say I think the dumbbell snatches are one of my favorite weight exercises.

The bike went well. I tried to peddle fast for the whole 2 minutes. The seat was highly uncomfortable! However, I’ll gladly take a sore tush over throbbing feet any day. I think Thursday I’ll be back to being able to run. At least I’m hoping I am. I’ve also decided to get some new shoes with the hope that it will help. I finished the WOD in 17:53.

I was happy with how today’s workout went. That usually means I’ll get knocked on my ass next time!

Clean and Press

Tonight’s CrossFit session went well. We had three rounds of Ground to Overheads (Clean and Press), then dumbbell rows, and sit ups. The first round was 21 of each, the next is 15, and last was 9. I was only using the 45lb bar, but good grief it got realllly heavy toward the end! It took me 3 tries to get the last press overhead. I finished in 16:32. I was last again, but I didn’t care much.

We had a guy visiting from Washington State. I’m not sure if he was training with Shane or just here on vacation and getting his workouts in. He was nice enough, but one of these people that thinks yelling where you are in your rounds at you is motivating. I appreciate the thought, but I was very tempted to ask him to “shut up”. I’m pushing as hard as I can, I don’t really like hearing “Come on girl…no resting…push it out…only 9 more…8….7…come on push push” being yelled at me. Yelling “Come on girl” is fine…but I don’t want a barrage being yelled at me.  Shane does a great job with his motivation technique. He’s encouraging but at the same time he keeps calm, which keeps me more focused. I know some people really enjoy the constant yelling motivation, it’s just not my style! But, I did appreciate the thought the behind it.

Now, if I’m dogging it and not doing something right or well, you’re free to yell at me then. Everything has a time and place.

I had lemon thyme chicken for dinner tonight. Yum-my!