6/22 – Epic Double WOD Day

WOD #1

2010 Crossfit Games Chipper

25 minute cut-off

15 squat cleans (70/50kg) (scaled to 42.5kg)

30 toes to bar

30 box jumps (24/20”)

15 muscle ups (scaled to 2 ring rows/ 2 dips with orange band for each rep)

30 dumbbell push press (17.5/12.5kg)

30 double unders

15 thrusters (60/42.5kg) (scaled to 40kg)

30 pull-ups

30 burpees

90m overhead walking lunge (20/15kg)

Finished through 23 burpees

You can imagine the look on everyone’s faces in the sports class as we watched Coach Hayden write this up on the board.  As we talked through (all) the movement standards and then got set up to go through it – three heats in all.  Boys, girls then the elite.  It was as hard as it looked too.  A challenge and one that never seemed to end.  I do love a good chipper though.

It started out hard and heavy.  I broke up the squat cleans into 3 sets of 5 and was definitely happy I’d scaled them with my shoulder still being a bit unhappy and the work that was ahead.  I need to work on more heavy cleans though as it’s been a while since I’ve done them.  The toes to bare still cause me grief, I can’t link them at all though again I think that stems from my shoulder – I can’t stay active so it becomes a struggle and I need an extra kip in the middle.  I was happy to do them (mostly) in sets of 5 and not kill my hands.  The box jumps were steady – I used the 18” box as the two twenties were already in use.  I did three sets of 10 only switching to the other side in between to change my perspective/ have an extra breath.  Then it was on to the ‘muscle-ups’ which by far took the most time.  It was solid though the dips were troublesome near the end – it was just a lot of movement, back and forth for two reps at a time but it’s what I get – still need to get my muscle ups in order.  Jas was amazing, the only girl in our group to do the muscle ups.  Solid.

The dumbbell push press hurt much less than I anticipated.  I broke it into 10-8-7-5.  Yes, my head plays funny math games mid WOD.  It made it manageable as I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold sets of 10 throughout and didn’t want to go straight into sets of 5.  I managed the double unders unbroken and they went far too fast.  The thrusters hurt.  I did sets of 3 right from the start and even then (especially after the db push presses) they were a struggle.  My pull-ups were where I started to really fail.  I did baby sets, 2’s and 3’s.  Managed not to rip my hands but boy did they hurt.  I was happy to get through them but they took up so much time.  Then I had to finish out on the burpees.  A grind until the clock beeped.  I wanted to finish them but came up 7 short.  Still got through much more than I’d expected.  Solid effort by all.

I was a little broken after this WOD and dreading what Vini/ Shonelle had programmed for ASG.  I knew I’d be working with all the girls (Angie, Sarah, Kayla, Shonelle) so it’d be fun but I wasn’t sure what my shoulders would be capable of.

ASG Afternoon Session

Strength

3RM strict press

32.5kg (1 rep at 34kg)

This was way off my PR but not surprising.  Happy I managed even that.  The one rep at 34kg was a struggle. 

WOD#2

4 rounds

6 HSPU’s

12 power cleans (55/40kg)

24 double unders

9:13 (scaled the HSPU’s to an abmat)

This was fun – great to be amongst the girls and pushing through it.  Wanted to cry on the power cleans.  Happy with my HSPU’s – in that I didn’t die from them – only failed one I think though definitely couldn’t have done them to Rx range of motion – my shoulders were having none of that.  Broke up all the power cleans – I think 6-6 then 4’s thereafter.  The double unders were all unbroken except for one silly trip in the third round.  It was a good one and thankfully over quicker than anticipated.  Four rounds is definitely easier on the mind than 7.  It was a great time with the girls, playing, being goofy and working on headstand progressions after it all (with some epic crumples by myself – oops).

Thanks for the great work out girls... and ASG.  Good times as always.

 

Laughing at Angie... (sorry!)

The girls!

1/21 - Yoke Carry and Barbells

Back at the box tonight.

One thing that Southern does – that I think I like – is post their WOD late the night before so you know what to expect when you get there.  This is similar to the Crossfit Open format as well and I think I like it.  Some people might pick and choose which days they then show up but anyone truly wanting to get better will be there regularly and perhaps even try to make the days with their weaknesses programmed even more so (hello, that’s running for me).

Actually, come to think of it… another thing I’ve noticed and only after the fact and not during the moment is that Southern doesn’t blast music during the WODs.  I really don’t miss it which is funny because at Cooee I always heard the music and when it was too bubbly or poppy it annoyed me and probably took more of my focus during the workout than I realized.  It’s not until I’m driving home or now as I sit and write this that I even realize that it was ‘quiet’.  And by ‘quiet’ I mean there were only grunts and groans and drops of sweat hitting the floor.  You could clearly hear the coaches and when they were giving cues to someone else you could still hear them and do a self-check as well.  I think I like it.  That’s not to say there aren’t times where loud and angry music pumps me up but still, the change is refreshing.

Yoke Carry

3 rounds - 15m yoke carry (150/100kg) 

This was fun – we were all out in the alley beside the box with two yokes and basically just rotating through the carries – this was something I’ve never done before – a bunch of new toys to play with so that was good.  I did two carries with just the empty frame (70kg) and then one at 100kg which was tough.  Considering my deadlift PR is 102.5kg this was pretty taxing.  Once I got it going I kept a slow and steady pace as the rails on the bottom weren’t that far from the ground (downside of being short?) and I was afraid I’d catch a corner and face plant.  It was intimidating to many of us at first but by the end we were all very motivated to keep at it.  It was fun to just play – no time being kept or anything but just something new and outside our comfort areas that we became comfortable with (as much as you can) in the 20 minutes spent playing and cheering each other on.

WOD
15, 12, 9
Push Press 50/35kg
Back Squat 50/35kg

6:29 Rx

This was a good one.  Jase told us when explaining the WOD that if the Rx weight was within 10kg of our max to go for it.  If we didn’t finish then it’d be a strength WOD for us but otherwise it’d be a bit more metcon.  This was tough – 35kg was the weight that I did a set of 3 with on Saturday at ASG.  Looking back through my archives the last time I logged a max push press was in late August and it was 40kg for 5 reps.  I still really struggle to not push jerk the lift – Jase called me out on this a few times and it was good – I got a bunch of ‘no reps’ at the Affiliate cup for the double bend on in my legs so it’s good to focus on the proper form for the lift.  Definitely felt the difference in my shoulders though – heavy. I broke up the 15’s into 9-6 then went unbroken in the backsquats. 

I struggled through the round of 12 though Tarrsha was awesome in that she was right behind me and told me to get on it which made me pick up the bar again after a rest.   Probably ‘wasted’ most time resting on the round of 12 – broke up the pushpress into 5 (wanted 6 but when I only got 5 my mental game plan fell apart – oops)- 3-2-2 then put the bar down once on the backsquats. 

We had a 7 minute cut-off so I knew that I had to push the round of nine to get it done – think I only had a minute and a half or maybe a bit more when I started the round of 9.  Pushpress was I think 6-3 and then unbroken backsquats.  I still struggle though to keep my knees out and have a lot of work to do on my squat form namely engaging my posterior chain rather than relying solely on my quads.

Mobility

Spent a ton of time rolling out/ squirming on the floor/ trying not to cry/ laughing to keep from crying/ moaning/ breathing/ relaxing

Rolled through my quads (ouch) and IT band (double ouch)

Sat on the ball for quite a while and found some really painful points in my glutes

Continued to be lazy by working the ball through my pecs/ shoulders/ biceps while lying on the ground

Pigeon pose/ close to falling asleep

Luke was funny when I had just gotten up from pigeon pose to put my stuff away – he said something about how I looked really worked over and I told him I was basically just waking up – completely relaxed from pigeon.  Love it.

Hung out at Cam’s for a bit before we went and met up with a bunch of the Cooee kids – Sarah, Angie, Shonelle, Vini, Tim and Jack (and a random bump into Kosta at Foam) for burgers (and frozen yogurt) in Leederville.  Was a ton of fun.  It was almost 10pm by the time we left Leederville and almost 11 before I got back to Freo – the drive was a bit crazy as I was trying not to pass out.  I pretty much dropped into bed when I got home and slept hard – still really tired though, could have done with a few more hours.  Hopefully I’ll get to play a  bit of catch up tonight if I can get to the 4:30 class and then home for a chilled out night.

Photos - Affiliate Cup (Part 2)

Thanks to Sarah for some awesome (belated) photos from the Affiliate Cup...

Teammates

I did do thrusters (once)

Mostly though I was just carried (truth)

Unsure of the tire flips

Making it happen

All done so quick

Egg on spoon? Crossfit?

Just hang on...

Running

Photos - ASG WODfest "The Workouts" (aka Part 3)

Thanks to Sarah for some awesome photos from yesterday's WODfest...

'Flight Simulator'

Click for more photos

Photos - ASG WODfest "The Faces" (aka Part 2)

Thanks to Sarah for some awesome photos from yesterday's WODfest...

The 'how have you people lost my son?' face - Sorry Ric

Click for more photos...

Photos - ASG WODfest

Thanks to Sarah for some awesome photos from yesterday's WODfest...

Post 'Annie' in the pool

Yoga Warm-up

Pre Calf Blowout

Working out the 'Angie' knots

Carnivores

1/1 - ASG WODfest - 'Angie', 'Annie' and 'Grace'

ASG WODfest, aka the day of the girls...   

The 'Girls' - Board was empty at the start of the day

Wicked start to 2013.  If today was the measure of how the next 365 days are going to go it’s going to be AMAZING. 

More photos and words below the cut.

12/31 - The End of 2012

Monday was the last day at the box for 2012.  What a year it’s been.  Since classes were only running until noon I had signed up for the 9:30 class hoping to beat the heat but then I remembered the Patriots (American Football!) were playing the late game back home I knew I could probably sneak in a bit of live action by waking at an ungodly hour so I pushed back to the noon class.  This was a good idea since I didn’t get out of bed until 10:30.

The downside? It was hot.  HOT.  H-O-T.

WOD
5 rounds
30 double-unders
10 hang cleans (40/50kg)
7:07 Rx.5

I’m not sure who wrote the programming for this WOD but it made me laugh in that it was so similar to the Sunday WOD at Albert Street.  I did however appreciate that it was only 5 rounds and not 7.  The weight, still heavy.

Coach Jack had said we should try and pick a weight that we could do 10 unbroken in the first round.  I knew this was unlikely however I also knew I could Rx the WOD but playing it smart.  For all 5 rounds I did the DU’s unbroken and split the cleans into 6-4 reps which worked well – always do a bit more than half on the first go.

I was happy with this and when looking at the board after realized I was the only girl to Rx though that being said there weren’t as many in for today’s sessions as usual.

AfterWOD
500m row for time
DNS

I skipped this.  My shoulders were just exhausted from all the heavy lifting over the past three days.  Also, the heat… no thanks.

Had an awesome (yet quick) trip to City Beach afterward where Sarah and Tim Casey got to laugh at my inability to swim very well or rather more specifically navigate the incoming waves (breaking or not).  Ya, I’m a Canadian okay, I didn’t grow up with the ocean.

Another good way and a nice and fitting ending to 2012.

12/28 - So (expletive) hot...

I felt nauseous before this WOD ever began... the box was sauna like and the noon WOD was definitely not the brightest idea I've ever had.  I was in full on sweat mode before the warm-up even started.  Not cool.

After we'd done some shoulder mobilisation - actually while most were still doing this and I had given up on it I grabbed a bar and set up right in front of the fan.  Yup, I was that jerk.  I'm also Canadian and it was freaking hot - yup, I'll use that excuse too.  The WOD looked mean just written on the board... I knew it would be.  And so I present it to you (mostly) in photos...

My reaction to the WOD...






















WOD
AMRAP 15
Min 1-5 Power Snatch (30/45kg)
Min 5-10 Clean & Press
Min 10-15 Thrusters Front Squats
Every min 4 Burpee bar hops
99 reps Rx.5

After the cleans my shoulder wasn't exactly happy so I did front squats instead of thrusters. Probably shouldn't have done the presses either but... ego.

Nick and I before the WOD even started... and then somewhere in the middle Andy and Sarah (I think)... or at least at some point but there is photo evidence of that below...

 




















It was awesome having Nick beside me... after the first 5 minutes and 40 power snatches (love!) we were both struggling... a few times I heard him telling me to just pick up the bar - it was motivation for us both and when I moved to the bar from his comments he did the same... it was definitely team work.  There was even a high five in there at some point as we both tried to catch our breath from the burpees before getting back to the bar.  Mid WOD motivation at it's finest...

The burpees sucked, and I like burpees (mostly) these days.

Not a single person uttered these words today...


















Or these ones (too hot)...

But these... oh yes, definitely a defining statement of the day...

Mostly because of Bec and her awesome forward thinking... and an inflatable pool...

The Cooee Spa open for sweating post-WOD treatments...

Just missing Bec in this shot.  Big thanks to Bec for bringing the pool by and her (apparent) blowing up skills and Tim for um, supervising? Also to Andy for keeping us all entertained, there was definitely some ab work through all that laughter - back, crack and sac wax anyone?  Oh, and to the rest who decided to comment, yes the water was truly disgusting after we'd all sat in it for over an hour - our hands were all de-calloused and yes, there were bits of skin floating around.  Was it worth it though given the temperature, sauna like workout and burning concrete, definitely.

12/24 - Christmas Eve WOD

Christmas Eve was the start of a crazy and awesome few days so it's taken me a while to update this little blog...  started off the morning bright and early at the Friends and Family Lululemon sale (thanks Shonelle) and then had coffee with Shonelle and Bren, it was great to stop for a little and savour the (hot) holiday season that was in full swing.  Then it was off to Cooee where this awaited me...

Strength
5RM Thruster
28kg

I partnered up with Sarah for this and neither of us were too thrilled with the heat or to be working out that morning so we took it pretty easy.  We also partnered up for the WOD...

WOD:
In pairs:
AMRAP 12
Thrusters (50/35kg)
Pullups
Every minute on the minute run 100m (swap)
Jac - 97 (front squats)
Sarah - 79
Total = 176

I did front squats instead of thrusters as my shoulder has been achy again and I don't want to push it.  I did Rx the pull-ups though.  I started on the 'front squats' and got 15 reps out in the first minute so that definitely helped my score.  I was also pretty solid on the pull-ups which I loved.  We were on the bar right near the door which helped to get into the 100m run quickly.  It wasn't a bad WOD and I'm glad I got a workout in before all the ham I'd eat later in the day...

Spent Christmas with Cam's family which was awesome and there was so much yummy food, especially the 7kg ham that Cam cooked up...  AMAZING.  There were definitely some pigishly full bellies and meat sweats happening, so good.

10/16 - Garage WOD(s)

Went over to catch up with Tim tonight and got a trifecta with Shonelle and Vini added into the mix.  Although a WOD was the tentative plan I showed up fully intending to convince Tim that this didn’t need to happen – though if you know Tim (especially these days) you knew that was going to be hard to do.  Soon enough Shonelle was wiping the last WOD from the fridge and ready to write up the next one.  After a bit of brainstorming we came up with the following pairs WOD.

WOD 
Partner WOD with Shonelle
4 Driveway sprints – there and back (2 each)
1 length of driveway OH walking lunges (10/20kg) – switch with partner any time
60 cleans (25/50kg)
60 push-ups
60 squat cleans (25/50kg)
1 length of driveway OH walking lunges (10/20kg) – switch with partner any time
4 Driveway sprints – there and back (2 each)
4 x 25 DUs unbroken 
12:50 

Yes, it's written on the fridge

It was boys vs girls for this WOD, lots of work to be split however we wanted to do it.  It took on a similar format to the Pink Day WOD which was cool and it was fantastic that all the equipment we needed was in their garage.

Once we got moving (our only warm up was a 400m job) it went fairly quickly.  We each did two back to back sprints to start and then Shonelle rocked out most of the OH walking lunges and left me a bit at the end (she was feeling generous I think as she could have gone the whole way).  We split the first set of cleans into 10 reps each and worked our way through them quite quickly.  I had my back to Vini and Tim but knew that Tim was working when I was so I tried to keep pace with him and pretty much did.  It was a good incentive to push even hard.  

Pause in the action here…  I LOVE THE 15KG WOMEN’S BAR… LOVE

I’m back.  Seriously though, love that bar.  It has such a sweet spin on it that made those power cleans quick and easy.  Love.  Okay, carrying on…

The push-ups like the cleans were consistent and not too bad.  I’m finally doing full push-ups in the WODs (still on my knees in warm-ups usually) and they’re definitely getting better.   Then it was back to the cleans (and thanks to Tim for suggesting that the second round be squat cleans).  These hurt.  It was the first part of the WOD where I slowed down.  Shonelle and I were neck and neck with the boys still at this point but the squat cleans got them more than us (Shonelle was iWODing because of her back and therefore just doing cleans again and not squatting).  My squat cleans were horrible, I could tell that my legs were fatigued and my knees were quite wobbly – poor form.  Ugh.  I think I did the first set of 10 and then from there I was only able to do 8-7 and Shonelle picked up the extra 5 for me.  We split the OH walking lunges 50/50 – I started and knew that my legs wouldn’t have more than half of the driveway PLUS we had to do unbroken DU’s as well.  It worked.  We split the sprints this time, alternating for each one, as we were finishing the boys were just starting their lunges.

The DU’s was a fun added twist that Tim threw on at the end.  I’d mentioned it to him as I’d seen it in a WOD on Crossfit Kits programming -  they had 3 rounds or something with lifting and DU’s (25 or 30) and you had to do them unbroken to move on in the WOD.  I liked the challenge.  I stuffed up my first round because I hadn’t tied my ponytail down and my hair caught the rope.   Shonelle rocked out our first set of 25 so I had to pick it up and got another one right away.  We then went back and forth a few times with me getting tripped up at 24 reps one time which is so hard – so close but yet not enough.  We both got another 25 unbroken and were done.  Over.  Finished.  The boys rocked their DU’s and finished only a minute behind us.  It was a good WOD and fun to all be working together/ in close proximity.

After the WOD I knew I was going to do another one.  The Albert Street WOD – aka their house WOD.  I really wanted my name on their board.  

Albert Street WOD

Strict HSPU’s

Max. rounds EMOM

15 rounds @ 3 reps per round (stopped due to time, not missing reps)

Thanks Vini for the photo

The premise of the WOD is this – you start at 3 reps per minute of strict HSPU’s and go until you can’t get the three reps in the minute.  If you get at least 10 rounds then the next time you do the WOD you add another rep (in this case you’d go for 4 per minute).  It’s a progression WOD and quite fun in how it works.

I started with HSPU’s to an abmat but it wasn’t too much of a struggle.  Vini suggested that if I got 10 rounds to an abmat then instead of adding a rep I just decrease the height – I liked this plan but… I wasn’t going to wait until 10 rounds.  After 5 rounds I grabbed the 5kg plates and put my hands on them and therefore increasing the depth of the HSPU.  There were a couple rounds in the middle that I struggled a bit – went for a rep and didn’t even try to push back up as I got stuck at the bottom.  After 10 rounds I decided 15 would be good and that I could do it so that was the cut-off (we had to be somewhere by 7pm).  Somehow towards the end I was managing 2 reps at a time rather than just singles as I had been doing – it was weird but worked and I was happy to finish 15 rounds and more importantly get my name on the house board!

"Albert Street" WOD board

For not wanting to do a WOD it was a fun night  of TWO WODs.  Lots of fun! Thanks guys. 

Best dressed?

WLC

Not a great day food wise – had more coffee (black) than water.  Had a sandwich for dinner with cheesecake as it was 11pm and nothing else was open but it’s all good.  Though on the flip side got some awesome WODs in and spent quality time with important people in my life.  I am okay with it all.

Also, since the Landmark Forum I have been exhausted, feel like I could sleep for days but yet I don’t want to.  There’s too much to do.  And I don’t feel heavy anymore, I’m not dragging.  As Vini so clearly put it last night –it’s purely a physical exhaustion, the mental exhaustion has been lifted and I love it – more time to do stuff.

Found a good quote today too which I feel is relevant to me right now…

“Everything is out there waiting for you. All you have to do is walk up and declare yourself in. No need for permission. You just need courage to say, “Include me”.
- Stuart Wilde