7/19 - Friday Night WODs

Ah, Thursday was a glorious rest day and rest I did.  I loved it.  Back at it on Friday night though for another solid workload starting with the SXF WOD.

Fun time Friday was back again which was awesome – and definitely fun this week.  We divided into two teams for a wheelbarrow race.  Each person carrying the legs of the person in front of them.  I was first against Tarrsha – Lewis had my legs and it went really well except for the part where I almost fell over laughing my head off at Tarrsha’s squeals.  Good times and good ab workout.

WOD

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

KB Swing 32/20kg
100m Run

8:33 Rx

Lots of running, lots of counting, lots of losing track.  I was working beside Tarrsha and knew I was just behind her but as you come in and out it’s hard to know what round people are on.  I tried asking her at one point but that didn’t work as it required too many braincells to actually converse so I asked Lewis and he said he was on round 3.  I thought we were on the same round so I went with it though in my head I thought I was in the 4’s but like I said, completely lost count.  Turns out I was actually a round behind Lewis and should have been on the 4’s.  I finished the run after my 1 KB swing and realized that Tarrsha was heading out the door for her last run so I knew I’d missed one – I finished on the round of 4’s – not too bad anyway. 

Managed all the KB swings unbroken (the idea of the WOD) though somewhere around the round of 6’s my back really started to tighten up again as it has off and on under stress since the axel deadlifts at the primal throwdown.  I made sure to roll it out directly afterward.

We finished up the class a bit early as they were going through TGU technique (and we did TGU’s in one of our sports wods earlier in the week) so Coach Tara let us head off to get a jump on the extra work of the day – of which there was a lot. 

2/4 - Running with a little KB…

Another week… got to Southern tonight feeling like I’d just been there the day before when in fact I had two solid days of doing nothing.  Guess it was just the late Friday comp class that did it.

Warm-up

200m run

KB stuff (deadlift, Russian swings, full swings, one arm swings, snatch pull, snatch)

TGU

Mobility (calf stretch and tricep stretch)

Push-ups ring rows

KB swings at WOD weight

WOD

21-15-9

KB Swings

Push-ups Ring Rows

400m run

9:32 (20kg)

There was no weight set on the KB swings other than go heavy and challenge yourself but be sure you’ll be able to finish in 12 minutes. 

I subbed ring rows for the push-ups as they are better for my broken shoulders.  I’m really not happy with my shoulders right now but it’s better to back off and be ready for the Open (30 days).  Maintenance is definitely required – both with mobility rolling and with Cam showing me some massage love agony.

I did all the swings unbroken which I was very happy with.  I wasn’t sure I’d be able to thinking I’d split the 21 into 11-10 but with Cam beside me I decided I wasn’t going to put the KB down until he did and he didn’t so…  the ring rows, also unbroken but surprisingly took longer than the push-ups and I was out the door chasing people down.  I have one speed for running – with me it’s either on or off so I just tried to maintain a solid pace throughout even as the second 200m felt way harder than the first.

The rounds of 15 and 9 were much the same.  I remember heading out on my round of 15 run and seeing one of the first guys coming back in, by the time I returned to the spot on the way back he was already onto his last run.  Crazy.  The KB and ring rows didn’t take much time so it felt like just a lot of running with a slight break in the middle to swing a KB.  Good though and since running is one of my weaknesses it’s good to work on.

AfterWOD

Max 2 rep TGU

14kg

This was a good one after all the practice we had on Friday night.  I choose 14kg thinking I might go up to 16kg but after the WOD that wasn’t happening.  I almost dumped the 14kg from my left arm on the first rep.  Once again 1 rep equaled both arms so 4 TGU’s to finish.  My technique is starting to feel solid it’s just the weight on my arm/ shoulder that’s limiting right now but I’m happy with where I’m at.

Mobility

Quad Rolling

Pec Rolling

Delt Rolling

One the warm-up 200m run I really felt my quads from Friday’s jumping lunges (still!) so spent quite some time rolling out my quads and IT bands.  It hurt but in that rewarding way.  The pecs and delts were also good for my shoulders but again, agony.

Spent a long time too with Cam massaging my shoulders/ biceps/ pecs last night too, love having him around to do that – bonus for me though I’m sure he’ll get tired of it soon enough. Eeek!  Must get unbroken quicker.

Paleo

As mentioned yesterday I started (mostly) strict Paleo again as a bit of a restart for myself prior to the open.  I’m saying mostly as there are a few things that I will allow myself – specifically protein powder (non-paleo) and raw honey.

I managed well all day because I managed to plan really well and had a huge supply of food that I could choose from.  I didn’t eat it all but when I have options I’m less liking to stray and try and source something elsewhere (specifically the café in the first floor of my building).  Cam is being really supportive which helps though on my way home from Crossfit I started to really crave sugar (already?).  The protein shake helped that (chocolate flavored with almond milk) but I still made my ‘paleo’ cookies – these contain raw honey.  They aren’t too sweet but the cocoa powder and cacao nibs help alleviate the yearning for sugar.   Cam also likes them – bonus. 

I’m not going to document my food like I did this time last year when I went paleo but I will probably note on where I’ve strayed from being strict (hopefully not very often) and also include any recipes that I’ve been eating that I’m enjoying.  Promised Cam I’d show him how to make my microwave paleo cake so I’ll resurrect that recipe when I do.

For now here’s a link to the Paleo ‘Chocolate Chip’ Cookies I made last night.  Note that (because of Mel’s blog post) I added some cocoa to make ‘chocolate-chocolate chip cookies’ (note, no chocolate chips were actually used in the making – just cacao nibs).

1/1 - Friday Night WODs

Friday night was a long night full of WODs, three hours of WODs to be exact but it was good.  Definitely good simulation for competitions anyway.

I headed to the box directly from a crazy day at work, too late for the 4:30 class but really early for 5:30.  I rolled out my back for a bit before watching the 4:30 class get going.  It was actually fun to watch from the balcony as you’ll see from the warm-up.

Warm-up

200m run

Tabata stuff – rotating through skipping (forward, backward, running), rolling over stretch, plank hold and something else I can’t remember

Mobility (as posted Friday)

Game Time!

4/27 - motivating, inspiring...

Went to another noon session today and I realized that the energy is different than the evenings.  Not better or worse in any way but just different - there is more testosterone most definitely and the guys are beasts - going hard for the entire WOD but on the flip side they're completely laid back, cheering for everyone right until the end.  It's motivating.

I have to start at the end on this one.  It was the most inspiring part of the workout today and maybe me really proud to be a crossfitter and also to be associated with this great community that I've found at Cooee.  Like I said, the noon bunch is inspiring.  We had a 15 minute cut-off on the WOD today but that didn't stop Robin or Susan - they are hardcore.  They both pushed on after the buzzer and finished the burpee bar hops (evil).  Robin was just finishing her last four and while I cheered her on to 'just finish the burpees' one of the guys corrals the rest of the group and proclaims that we're all running with her for the last 300m (Susan was on the rower but also had people to cheer her through the finish).  Robin started out the door and we all ran with her.  We were laughing and joking as a group - it's easier to run with a smile on your face - and she finished it up.  Nice work Robin and Susan, super impressed.  This is what I love and more importantly this is why I crossfit.

Every day we write our weights and times or scores on the board but it's days like today that put it all in perspective.  It's not about being the strongest or the fastest but rather just getting better, stronger, everyday.  It's the title of this blog and it's a big part of what we do.  We push ourselves every time we step into that box and it doesn't matter if you're the strongest or slowest - we are all just there to get better.

Strength
12 minutes to find max TGU
16kg (each arm)

This was fun/funny.  I'm not sure which word is more appropriate.  It was definitely full of laughs as we all struggled with the many steps to the TGU's.  We all worked hard but enjoyed ourselves all the same.  Props to the guys who did (or almost did) 32kg.  Amazing effort!

The WOD
4 rounds
5 deadlifts (80/120)
15 burpee bar-hops
13:30 - 70kg

Was a good one.  I initially loaded the bar with 80kg and barely got it to move off the ground. I knew I didn't have it so I dropped it back which was a good idea.  My quads were definitely burning by the end even though I pulled out straight sets of the deadlifts.  The burpee bar-hops are evil, not as much as burpee box jumps but they definitely take second.  I kept moving throughout (lesson learned from 12.1) but they were slow toward the end - stepping down but still jumping up/over.  The runs were okay although I could feel my quads with every step.  I think they're still recovering from the last few weeks of burpee box-jumps, beach runs and squats.  Yup, most definitely.

I'm glad I jumped in with the nooners again today - not sure I can do this every week (it's hard to escape from work some days) but I do enjoy it on the occasional friday.  Thanks guys for being so energetic and inspiring.