5/29 - KB day...

It was KB day today... the WOD didn't look too bad on the board but it was rather deceiving...

Strength/ Skills
OHS
18-23-28-33

Did four sets of 5 reps of OHS which I haven't done it a while - again, trying to increase my confidence/ repetition for snatching.  Also, new PR.

WOD
10 KB swings (heavy!)
20 KB circles
300m KB carry
20 KB swings (heavy!)
40 KB circles
200m KB carry
30 KB swings (heavy!)
60 KB circles
100m KB carry
14:13 20kg KB

I went with a 20kg KB as I haven't used my arms much lately... I managed to break the swings into sets of 10's until the last round where I did mostly sets of 5.  The circles were pretty solid, full sets but managed to rip my hands on the last 5 of the round - full on exploded blood blister that was a bit messy on the last KB carry but made it.  There is no easy way to carry a KB at all... it's just awkward all around but made it.

AfterWOD
2 min kettlebell swings KB front squats
score = number of swings x KB weight

29 reps x 24kg (2x12kg KB) = 696

After the exploded blood blister I wasn't risking any further damage with more swings so instead I got to do KB front squats - my legs are hurting but I made it through - sets of 5's mostly but oh so hard. 

5/28 - thrusters and DU's

Back at the box today with sore legs from yesterdays beach sprints and SUP session...  what better way to do a bunch of thrusters to ease the pain (sarcasm!)

Skills Practice
Snatches
18-23-28-33-38

Practiced a bunch of reps at 28 with full depth squat which I need to get better at.  As the weight increased I was just power snatching (no problem) but I know that to keep getting higher weights I have to gain the confidence to drop into the squat every time.

WOD
4 rounds -
15 thrusters (30/45kg)
30 double-unders
200m run
13:54 Rx

The thrusters were a challenge for sure.  Most rounds I did sets of 5 until the end were there were some sets of 3.  I kept pushing though because I'd gotten slightly ahead of Kayla on the first round of DU's and I didn't want her to catch me (and she'd make up ground every round on the thrusters and sprints).  The DU's were solid for me - I did a few rounds unbroken or with only one trip up so I managed to gain a lot of ground here.  The runs I didn't go all out on because I knew I'd need my breath for the thrusters but I still managed to keep a steady pace throughout.  I was happy with this one.

AfterWOD
1 min max thrusters squat cleans (same weight)
1 min max double-unders
11 squat cleans
80 double unders 

After 60 thrusters my shoulders were starting to rebel a bit - that was a lot of heavy reps overhead after a few weeks without so instead of doing more (at the same weight) I did full squat cleans for one minute.  These still hurt a lot (my tired quads).  The double unders rocked!  I beat my previous PR for consecutive DU's by two reps - it's now 55 straight which was awesome. So stoked with that as I had zero expectations for the minute and just focused on staying relaxed and under control.

5/27 - Sunday Sprints and SUP

WOD 1
Beach Interval Sprints
10 rounds
10 second sprint
50 second slow jog

Tim joined me for my weekend beach run and instead of a steady 2.5km beach run we did interval sprints.  I suggested 10 or 20 seconds on with the rest of the minute recovery time and thankfully we agreed upon 10 seconds of 'work'.  It was challenging, especially on tired legs.  It's quite impressive how far you actually do go in 10 seconds.  The 50 seconds of recovery was a good amount of time to catch your breath and get ready to go again.  Overall it was a short workout but I definitely felt in just a few hours later when I jumped on my SUP...

WOD 2
1.5km easy SUP session

This was great!  Because of my shoulders I haven't paddled at all in almost a month - while the rest was great for my body I didn't realize how much I missed it until I was out there again on a stunningly warm and sunshine-y morning.  Stimo brought some relative beginners out (and a bunch of his race boards) so we had an easy cruise down the river.  We switched around at the sandbar and I snuck onto Stimo's new DC 14' board.  It's a beauty.  Great shape, feels fast in the flats and real easy to jump onto runners with - there were a few times where I was able to read the water, take a few quick hard strokes and get a board length on him, it was awesome.  Good way to slowly ease back into it - I don't have any hard paddling in me yet (the worst thing for my shoulders) but going easy is great.

Still feeling my abs from "Annie" on thursday but also makes me realize that I do use them for stabilization on my board too.

5/25 - Comp Training Night #1

Warning... do not eat the majority of a cow (Brazillian lunch - lots and lots of meat) before a crossfit session of any kind.  It does not feel good.

WOD
Primal Throwdown 2011- WOD 1
Amrap 5 mins
with 30kg barbell:
deadlift=1pt (42rep)
c+j=4pts (24reps)
squat snatch=9pts (0reps)
138 points
rest 1 min
800m run= 4:04

We partnered up and judged each other on this.  In the warm-up before I went I demonstrated a couple of squat snatches for Kayla and I wasn't getting deep enough (need more practice at getting full squat depth) so I stuck with the C+J.  It was great when Kayla mentioned that when I was trying to rest/ catch my breath on the C+J's to get in some deadlifts which, at 30kg was quite easy to do so I got more point.

The run was really hard.  I made it but it most definitely wasn't my best effort.

5/24 - the day with all the wods...

Today was a pretty shit day so what better way to utilize all my emotions than with a whole lotta crossfit.  My good bud Tim met me early at the box so we could get a bit of work in before the class wods - a big thanks to him for both cheering me up and also working out with me on his 'rest' day.

Because it was his rest day we did Annie, ab-mat Annie - no heavy lifting...

WOD #1
"Ab-mat Annie"
50-40-30-20-10
double unders
ab-mat sit-ups
7:24

Tim beat me by 23(?) seconds but most of that was because I tripped a few more times than him on the first round of du's.  He was 6 sit-ups in before I started into the 50.  It was a lot of fun though - knowing we were both going hard pushed us each to go harder to keep up so that was good.  It helped me PR by almost a minute - 53 seconds faster than last time which I loved especially with tripping on the du's - I know I have more time to shave off this wod and it's also the first time I've used an ab-mat as well which seemed to make it harder - something about the full ab extension while gasping for air made it hurt that much more but it was good.

My emotions started to really come through on the last two sets of sit-ups which was both good (getting them out) and bad (as I was struggling enough).  There were however moments where I was solely focused on the workout and my body and that was a sweet relief.

WOD #2
front squats
3-3-3-1
40-50-60-65

I wanted to lift heavy stuff and since we'd done back squats on tuesday I went with front squats just for a bit of a change up.  Clearly I haven't done heavy front squats (or back squats either for that matter) in a while as I PRed by 20kg!  I was quite happy with this and didn't try for anything more as we had 45 reps of front squats in the WOD.  My front squat PR is now 5kg higher than my backsquat which means I need to do some heavy backsquat lifting when my legs are tired (from so many box jumps)

Strength
3RM push press/jerk
20-30-40

I stopped at 40kg as it was the first time in 2 weeks that I'd lifted anything overhead and I felt a bit of strain in my shoulders.  No need to push it and set myself back even further.  Plus we had 45 more reps of push press coming up in the WOD.

WOD #3
21-15-9
push press/jerk (30/45kg)
front squat
8:36 Rx

Was pretty happy with this overall since my shoulders were feeling mostly better.  The push presses were still really hard - to the point where I was in fact push jerking them by the end but I felt solid in the movement, really popping through the hips rather than trying to muscle it out though there were a few reps that I didn't completely lock out my arms and had to push the last bit - just after that I started to push jerk instead which helped a lot more.  The squats were pretty steady and felt really good - it probably had a lot to do with already having gone much heavier on them as well.

AfterWOD (aka WOD #4)
Tabata Cleans
3 reps every 20 seconds
2 reps every 10 seconds
(max. reps last 30 seconds)

This was a lot of fun though after the first 20 seconds it almost became 5 reps at the start of each 10 second as there wasn't much time to put the bar down after the two reps and then pick it up again for the 3.  I did feel really good in this movement - lots of focus on tightening my upper back so that I was smooth from the ground before exploding from the hang position.  I thought the weight would feel heavier toward the end but I didn't slow down at all in the reps - took about 8 seconds each round to do the 3 reps.  Nice change of format and "surprise" after WOD.  It's been a great week or so of change up programming including the warmp-ups (we did another 'team' portion of the warm-up again today too and it was amusing and functional).

The bonus of now having 'extra' time on my hands - besides having to look for a job - I can do more strength training with Tim and Pete leading up to the Primal Throwdown which is in a month.  Focus on the positives.

Paleo Banana Walnut Chocolate Muffins

The latest paleo recipe that I tried. Noticed that I have another similar recipe that includes almond butter but I much prefered this version. They are lighter and bundles of bite sized goodness. I was quite amused after Pete and Tim had tried them and Pete's first question was 'are those paleo?'... see - eating healthy can also be tasty!

I don't know the source of the original recipe (sorry), my changes/ additions are in bold.

Paleo Banana Walnut Pecan Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas (I just used the ones I had - probably about 6 or so small ones and added more almond flour/ coconut at the end to make up to muffin consistency)

2-1/4 cups almond flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 TBSP cinnamon (sadly I forgot this)

4 TBSP coconut oil (approximated as mine was solid)

3 eggs

tsp vanilla

1 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips (used dark chocolate chips but can also coarsely chop up a dark chocolate bar)

1 cup chopped walnuts (I used pecans and approximated based on what looked tasty to me)

1/4 cup (approx.) flax seeds

1/2 cup (approx.) coconut flakes

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl mash bananas with a fork

add eggs, coconut oil, and vanilla, mix

whisk to get rid of any large chunks

I'm lazy so the bananas, eggs, coconut oil, and vanilla went into the blender until smooth

In a smaller bowl combine the dry ingredients (almond flour, baking soda, and cinnamon)

Slowly stir dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until fully mixed.

I added wet into the bowl of dry ingredients and mixed with a fork - I then added a bit more almond meal and coconut because I had excess bananas (it's all very scientific - clearly)

mix in Walnuts pecans and chocolate chips

drop spoonfuls into lined muffin pan

Bake for approx. 15 mins (this was a good time for the mini muffins, the large ones needed another 5 minutes)

Eat!

5/22 - tired legs...

Back at it today and man my legs are really feeling tired.  The warm-up on it's own was pretty tough (your workout is our warm-up? ya, about that)...  that being said, it was Coach Pete's warm-up - always dynamic, varied and sure to include hollow body holds (that last forever)...

Warm-up
300m jog
2 rounds
10 hand release push-ups (I did ring rows instead)
10 jumping squats (ouch my tired legs)
10 deadlifts (using biggest blue bands)
45 second hollow body hold (told you)

We followed this up by doing partner sprints... but wait, there's a catch (isn't there always) - we did these with resistance - using the blue bands - one partner had the band around their waist, the other was behind them trying to hold them back.  I was partnered with Kayla and she could stand there and hold me back even as I was running as hard as I could - so not fair.  She did manage to ease up on me (a tiny bit) to allow me to get to the other side of the room.  We each did 5 sprints and then again - two each - but this time with the partner holding you back by your hips for a few strides then letting go - it was like a rocket launch - you had to be ready or you would fall over your feet.  It was fun.  And... that was the warm-up.  I was definitely feeling the millions of box jumps and quad work I've done over the past week but... I kept on going.

Strength
Work up to 3 RM back squat
30-40-50-55

Stopped at 55 due to fatigue.  Not even my PR but enough for the day.  I need to find the balance between getting below my hip crease and not getting too low where I lose the connection to the squat (which I'm trying to get away from doing).  Was good to be working in partners for this and getting the instant feedback.  I also managed to keep the bar lower on my back this time (improvement from last go round - yay!)

WOD
15 minute AMRAP
1 x 200m run
3 x back squat (around 70% of 3RM - used 45kg)
5 x burpees (subbed forward burpee things)
7 x box jumps (used 24" box)
9 x push-ups (subbed ring rows)
5/1

This was structured a bit differently and was quite fun.  We worked in pairs (or threes for some groups).  the first person ran 200m and then 'tagged' their partner.  The 15 minute clock didn't start until the first person got back from the run.  From there on out you just proceeded through the WOD - there were no other tags or waiting on partner, etc. but you *could* pass your partner if it got to that point.  Thankfully Kayla didn't lap me though if the WOD had been longer she might have (she finished her 6th round as I finished the run on my 6th).

The first round of back squats was really hard - I swear my legs were barely functioning after the run - it was quite a weird sensation.  The 'forward' burpees are (still) horrible but five wasn't too bad - it's not the getting up part but rather the jump to reach the bar that gets me (and my tired legs).  The box jumps were a lot of fun.  I've been practicing!  I try to set myself up at the top so that I can hit the ground and rebound up.  I'm starting to just ignore the fact that I could do some serious damage to my shins and just go for it and it's working.  Fingers crossed it stays that way.  The ring rows were solid and I think I did all but one round unbroken.  It was a good one.

It was also a lot of fun to cheer for others during the run and provide motivation when possible.  There was one run that Glen was struggling on and as I caught him he said 'I'll run this with you' so that was good even as he called me some names at pushing him to keep at it... it was good and the fist bump at the end made it all worth it as I could tell he was happy to have pushed himself just a bit more.  Sometimes it's all we need - that little outside voice to keep us at it.

Rest tonight and my legs are really looking forward to it.

5/21 - (modified) Regionals WOD #6

Today was a good one - we did a variation on Regionals WOD  #6 as two of our coaches had just returned from the Australian Regionals the night before.  It was fun and I really liked the different format of it. 

WOD
3 rounds of -
7 deadlifts (60/80kg)
7 hand release push-ups ring rows
3 rounds of -
21 squat jumps
7 toes to bar
100m KB farmers carry (heavy!)
28 box jumps (20/24″)
100m KB farmers carry
3 hand release push-ups ring rows
17 min cut-off 

11:47 (Rx, 2x20kg KB, 24" for box jumps)

I subbed ring rows for the pushups as I'm still trying to let my shoulders heal and I'd rather ease back slowly (eliminating anything that kind of hurts) than trying to push it and setting myself back more - this is really hard for me though.

The deadlifts and ring rows were all unbroken.  The squat jumps were hard - my quads were tired from all the box jumps and leg work last week followed up by my beach run the day before but I pushed through them.  The toes to bar were fun, I haven't done these in a while and I really like them now - the first set was unbroken then 5-2 and 4-3.  I was happy with that.

I used two 20kg KB's for the farmers carry and my forearms killed.  I had to put them down on each one just over half way through - I didn't want to but I just couldn't hold on anymore.  The box jumps are getting better (I've done enough of them lately).  I'm actually starting to really like them and continue to challenge myself on the 24" box even though there were 20" boxes available at the time.  I was (mostly) stringing two together at a time (drop down and bounce right back up) though I still struggle with this.  I'm happy to keep practicing them though.  I really did enjoy this one and it seemed to take a lot longer than it actually did which was a good feeling. 

Team WOD
2 rep power clean “boat race” – AMRAP 3 mins

This was another fun one - we had teams of 3 and each person did 2 power cleans then once they'd locked out in the second rep the next person went and so on until the time was up.  We (just) completed 16 rounds.  We flew through the last minute even though it was getting harder.  I thought there would be more rest but it seemed like just as I put the bar down I had to be ready to pick it up again.  I used 33kg and it was good.  I was able to maintain a solid pace and good form throughout.

5/20 - Beach Run and food!

Another beach run this morning even as I didn't want to get out of bed.  That being said, original plan was to start running at 7:30 (per usual) but didn't make it til just after 8:30.  The upside is that I still did it.  So there was that.  No watch, no idea how long it took just a solid 2.5(ish)km run on the beach...  one day I might actually remember to both charge and bring my garmin to actually find out the distance.  Ran up and down the stairs instead of trudging through the one spot that requires going through the water but otherwise all the same.

Managed to also be a bit more organized this weekend as well and got a bunch of cooking done last night - planned food for the week.

Food!

Clockwise (from top left)
-stir fried mushrooms and brussel sprouts
-egg muffins with tomatoes, bacon, green onions and mushrooms
-banana pecan paleo mini-muffins
-cashew chicken with green onions, carrots, red pepper (perfect for lettuce wraps)
-kangaroo chunks for lunch with veggies

5/17 - my burning lungs...

Another fun night at the box... though I would (always) much rather do double-unders (1/3 less of course) than singles that's not what Coach Match had on board for our programming tonight.  It was very cardio intense but good during a week when I'm still resting my shoulder...

We had a fun warm-up.  Coach Tim had us bring a light weight KB with us on our warm up run and we stopped around the back of the box and did some swings (squats for me) and a bit more running - backwards, high knees, etc) and then we divided up into two teams for a bit of a relay - run 50m with your KB, do 10 swings and sprint back to tag the next person (do shoulder swings, jumping jacks, etc. while waiting).  Was a great way to change things up and perfect evening to be outside. 

WOD 1
100m run + 100 single-unders
200m run + 200 single-unders
300m run + 300 single-unders
200m run + 200 single-unders
100m run + 100 single-unders
11:36

Felt good to be out running the sprints but the single-unders were a mental battle all the way through - that and a lesson in counting (but that's a completely different item).  I felt solid in the sprints and love running hard now that it's not a million degrees outside.  It's also great that it's getting dark now as well - it makes me feel faster.  The singles were a challenge in that I just can't go any faster on them and when I'd trip up (only once typically per round) - I'd do it back to back - as in the first skip after a stop I'd trip again.  That was frustrating.  But alas... 

WOD 2
10 ab mat sit-ups + 10 KB swings box jumps (24")
20 ab mat sit-ups + 20 KB swings box jumps
30 ab mat sit-ups + 30 KB swings box jumps
20 ab mat sit-ups + 20 KB swings box jumps
10 ab mat sit-ups + 10 KB swings box jumps
9:26

Still the week of no arm work for me and so I substituted box jumps (again) for KB swings.  I'm really starting to love box jumps and while 20" is typically the standard for women I'm enjoying the challenge of the 24" box.  On one of the rounds I had just finished the sit-ups and Coach Match was in the corner and called me out to get right on the box jumps and I did and managed to do 5 consecutive - dropping down and bouncing right back up - which I'd never done before, I struggle with this on the 20" box let alone the 24" but it's faster and I was all about being more efficient.  It took a bit more out of me but I can't wait to get better at it.  I did a few more with 2 or 3 consecutive jumps which made me quite happy - the only thing I worry about is missing and my shin being destroyed by the side of the box (short people problems).

I go back today for more needling on my shoulder (which is strangely still bruised from last weeks session) and hopefully that's the end of it.  It's feeling mostly good - just some movements that are a little sore and while I could probably do the wods as written I don't want to rush back into things just to have another set back - I'd rather take the extra time and fully heal before going hard again.  Metal struggle for sure but I know that it'll be better in the long run.  Hoping to get out on my surfski this weekend - that should be good for mobility of my shoulder without using the paddling muscles which are why I have this recurring issue.