12/19 - 'Randy' and Tabata

Third day in a row at the box and it’s been a good week so far.  The holiday excitement is in the air and is pushing me a little bit more these days.  Tim had mentioned that he’d be at the box before class to do some clean and jerk work and I decided I’d try to get in early as well with a plan to get ‘Randy’ (it is so not a dad joke Cam!).   Southern had programmed ‘Randy’ (75 power snatches) for the day and I knew Cam would be doing it – since he was also coming over for dinner I figured I’d definitely hear all about it from his so I figured I’d do it instead.  It worked well too considering I wanted to work on snatching rather than C&J’s (did a bunch of those last week).  So I told Tim that was my plan and then of course it was pretty much set in stone.  He was no doubt holding me accountable.  It was good as well as it’s been a really long time (pre-Primal Throwdown) since I’ve done multiple WODs in a day.

WOD #1

‘Randy’

75 power snatches (25/35kg)

6:35 Rx.5

This was much harder than I expected.   A while ago Coach Match had programmed a similar WOD at lighter weights (20.5/30kg) and it took me about five and a half minutes to finish it.   Since that was almost 3 months ago I figured that I could probably do the slightly heavier weight in about the same time.  I was wrong.

I did the first 10 reps unbroken and being able to put the bar directly back onto the ground (rather than catching on my thighs which I usually do when the weight is heavier – to save my shoulders from being ripped off my arms).  The rest were done in sets of 5.  I tried to rest as little as possible but it’s amazing how heavy 25kg starts to feel after that many reps.  Angie was a great cheer squad and had a great cue about half way through telling me to be quick through the middle which made getting the bar overhead much easier though towards the end my forearms/ grip started to go.  By the end when Tim told me to get the last 5 done unbroken I almost couldn’t hold the bar.  I’m pretty sure that rep 4 and 5 of that set I was just curling my fingers around the bar and hoping I wasn’t going to drop it.  Made it though.  A minute longer than last time at the lighter weight but still a good effort.

It was interesting to be solo in doing a WOD and trying to push the intensity on my own, or at least with only a few people cheering me on.  There was also no music which I really noticed early on, no distraction just me and that bar, repetitive motions.  Definitely as much a mental WOD as it was a physical one today.

WOD #2

“Tabata This”
Wall balls (6/9kg)
Row for calories
Shuttle runs
Knees to elbows

62/49/49/56 = 216

We worked in ‘teams’ on this one – basically we all did all the work we just rotated stations with our ‘team’ with teams all starting on different movements and rotating through in order.  Angie, Tim and I were a team and it was great.  I chose wall balls to start basically because I was standing beside them at the time, because they were first on the list and out of everything they were the ones I was least looking forward too – figured might as well get them out of the way first.  So glad we did because I couldn’t even have imagined doing them once we finished the knees to elbow.  They would have really hurt (more).  For the wall balls we could select the weight we used and the line we went to but had to stick with it.  I ended up using the 9kg med ball so I only went to the 8 foot line.  This was hard enough especially after ‘Randy’.

The row was fine.  The only down side was trying to get moving again after each 10 second rest.  Once you were going hard it was almost time to stop again.  I was hoping for 50 calories but came up about half a stroke short unfortunately.  Working on it.

The shuttle runs were awesome.  I kept pace with Angie and Tim on the first couple and then decided to try and keep pace with Tim for them all.  He got about a half length lead on me at times but I’d close in just before time ended so I was on pace until… until the last 20 seconds.  He shot straight out of the gate, full on and I went right with him.  Unfortunately he got one more rep in than me, though I was only half a length behind him he managed to just touch the wall when time ran out and I didn’t.  Boo.  Was definitely good tough and I was happy consistently getting 6 lengths per round until getting that bonus one on the last go.

The knees to elbows were truly horrible.  My hands were (are) killing.  Even though I had my hand grips on it was still really hard to hold onto the bar – between my lack of grip strength from ‘Randy’ and the (very) sore callouses on my hands from hanging off the bar so much this week it was a battle.  My abs also started to really feel it after the first few rounds as well.  I was quite happy when they were over and we were completely done for the day.

Cam came over for dinner and we did a good debrief on ‘Randy’ and more importantly feasted on bbq… steak and veggies, so happy.

My body is quite achy today from the last three days.  I’m back in tonight for what I hope is a chipper (was begging Coach Match for one as it’s been forever since I’ve done one) which should be fun.  Rest day tomorrow (Friday) and if the world doesn’t end then back at it again for Saturday’s Cooee Christmas WOD – ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’, one of my faves because of the excitement of drawing it out of a hat.  Then it will be a few days of rest and/or playing on my (new) SUP that is coming soon (hopefully it’s on a plane now).  Can’t wait as I saw a photo of it yesterday and it is AMAZING!

Also, huge, HUGE congrats to Angie who killed her goal of getting unassisted pull-ups by the end of the year – she not only did one, but she did two’s and three’s a few times and made it look easy at that.  Awesome work chick!  I knew you had it.  Next pull-up WOD… Rx!!

Angie rocking the kipping pull-ups! Source

The graphics on the new SUP

12/18 - Butterfly pull-ups!!!

Let me get right to the best part of last night (if the title of the post didn't already give it away)…

BUTTERFLY KIPPING PULL-UPS

Yes, all caps AND bold required there. 

I had mentioned to Tim on Monday night that this was next on my list of goals as the muscle up is being slowed by my shoulder issues.  I figured it would take a bit of time and more than anything switching up the mental rhythm of the movement (similar to going from alternating double/single skips to full on double unders).  It was much easier than that.  The trick – well, just watch the video below (thanks Tim for recommending it!).  That’s all that it took for me to get it on my first attempt.

I managed at least three every time I tried.  Definitely requires more thinking (for now) but I love having the skill whether or not I actually use it anytime soon.

On to the class…

We did a fun partner workout.  Jaimie and I partnered up – he said it was because he could justify going with a super light (KB) weight being paired with a chick (his words, paraphrased).   He made me laugh my ass off so it was totally worth it.

Warm-up

(pairs)

300m run (together)

30 (each) KB SDHP

30 (each) KB Swings

30 (each) KB Upright Row

30 (each) HR push-ups

30 (each) partner sit-ups

I talked a lot of crap on the run which was fun and enjoyable (at least for me) and we worked well through the SDHP’s.  Then on the swings – which by the way were ridiculously light (for me) and I almost threw the first rep – Jaimie decided that doing sets of 10 was a better option even though Coach Match had explicitly stated that we were to only do sets of 5 each.  Silly boys, unable to listen to directions (no surprise).  Ha!  Apparently I was sounding like a nagging wife because of this.  Oh well…. Live and learn and definitely laugh.  I found it all amusing.  It was a fun start to the class.

Strength

5-5-5

Bench Press

30-35-35(PR)

I managed a PR on this one basically because I’d never done a set of 5.  I also realized just how bad this movement is for my shoulder.  I was definitely not going heavier than 35kg and I wasn’t doing a third set at 35kg either.  It was too much already and I definitely felt my shoulder rebelling.  Hmmm, not sure what to do about it other than just not do it?  I asked Jaimie to spot me for the last set as it was tough and I knew I’d need him to keep me on it – he has a good way of pushing me in both a hard-ass and also supportive way.  It’s a skill.  He’s also probably the only person that can call me dwarf and I’m okay with it.  He’s a good one (but no Jaimie, I’m still not going to set you up with my single girl friends).

WOD

12-6-12-6-12-6

SDHP (30/45kg)

Burpee bar hops

Jump squats

7:47 Rx.5

The 12-6-12-6-12-6 combo is starting to become as dreaded as anything 21-15-9.  Both are deceivingly hard. 

I did the first set of 12 SDHP’s unbroken then was down to sets of 6 for the rest of the WOD – though I didn’t take much time in between, just enough to question myself as to why I was stopping because it wasn’t that hard (except for my racing heart but still).  The burpee bar hops (almost) made me happy.  I didn’t mind them but again, Jaimie made a comment that they’re not that hard when I’m already so close to the ground.  Fair but also awesome.  I was steady through all of them – the first 6 would always be pretty quick then I’d slow down a bit on the second 6 (in the rounds of 12) but only a little.  By this point my heart was racing and my legs were aching.  The jumps squats were just an evil addition.  My quads were burning (need to work on my squat form obviously) but I managed to get through them.  It was quite similar to a WOD that Cam gave me when I was up at site that had both burpees and jump squats in them.  I felt like I smashed through this WOD but there are still a few girls I have to (try and) chase down – Tash, Chriselle, Kirst…  thanks for continually pushing me (indirectly).

12/17 - Light 'Elizabeth'

Was really happy to get to the box tonight. I think 3 straight days of not working out is too much for me.  It’s good for my body for sure but my mental state definitely suffers. 

Saw a lighter version of Elizabeth on the board when I walked in and knew it was going to hurt.  That 21-15-9 rep scheme always does.

WOD

Light 'Elizabeth'
21-15-9
Squat cleans (30/45kg) Ring dips pull-ups

9:21 Rx

I didn’t do the ring dips.  They are really bad for my shoulder.  I’m not sure how I’ll ever get a muscle-up (still working on that one) but one day!!!

But back to the WOD.  It was tough.  Tim was near-by and on the rings beside me and was pushing me.  I was the first one in the room (I think) to get finished the squat cleans.  I did three sets of 7 to push through them and then worked away at the pull-ups as best I could. I wanted to do sets of 5 but don’t think I ever really got there – forgot  the grips on my hands which wasn’t the best idea.  The second set of squat cleans hurt even more (I’m really struggling with squats lately, don’t know why).  I had a plan though and went 6-5-4 to push through them.  I was still slightly ahead of Tim at this point (he was doing 60kg squat cleans) and kept at it.  Once again the pull-ups slowed me down.  The last set of squat cleans were 3-3-3 (though I’d wanted 5-4) and then the pull-ups were in 2’s and 1’s.  Hands.  Ouch.

This hurt more than ‘Fran’ and I don’t know why.  I can’t even contemplate doing ‘Fran’ two minutes faster than this but I have and it amazes me right now.  Perhaps it was that the bar doesn’t have to touch the ground in ‘Fran’ and therefore there is less time spent resting (because resting in the rack position isn’t really rest).  Perhaps it is the hotter weather.  Perhaps I’m just (still) tired.  Who knows but I’m interested to do ‘Fran’ again just to see if I can in fact do her faster.

12/13 - 2011 CF Open WOD #3

Today was all about clean and jerks and I was excited.  A little terrified of the Rx weight for the WOD but definitely liked the lifting part.

Since the WOD was only 5 minutes we spent a lot of time working through the movement and then loading up to our 1RM (or heavy).  My C&J 1RM on the board was 57.5 kg which I set not too long ago but both my squat clean and jerk on the board were at 60kg.  I’d done both movements at 60kg but never together and while I really wanted to PR my C&J I wasn’t sure I had it in me given the week I was having.

My week has felt slow and heavy and exhausting.  I’ve felt tired and everything seems to take more out of me than it should (or so it seems).  It’s a combination I think of hotter weather, lack of sleep and being busy.  I did however take the day off of work (love sick days) and slept for an additional 6 hours through the morning so there was definitely something to be said for how tired my body was.  As an aside, I need to cut back on my coffee consumption (limit of 1 per day or less?) – perhaps another self imposed period of zero coffee is in order, no idea but something has to give. 

Strength 
1RM Clean and Jerk 
60kg PR 

Back to the C&J’s.  After warming up with the bar (20kg), I added green plates (10kg).  Coach Tim gave me a bit of a ‘aren’t you cocky’ smirk when he saw my starting weight.  Heh.  I did 3 or 4 reps at 40kg then jumped to 50kg since 40kg was pretty easy.  I again did a few reps at 50kg then jumped to 55kg.  Coach Tim saw a rep at 55kg and noted how easy it seemed and it did.  I figured at that point that I’d get 60kg no problem.  A couple reps at 57.5kg and then 60kg was staring me down.  Coach Tim (knowing it was PR weight) came to watch and I pretty much half-assed my first attempt.  Not intentionally by any means but I was already thinking about the jerk portion of the movement as I was doing the squat clean – never a good idea.  I didn’t get too far under the bar before I dumped it forward, landed on my ass and laughed.   

Nowhere in that attempt did I ever commit to just going for it (which is why I was laughing at myself).  You can’t be afraid of a weight and expect to get it over your head – we all know that.  Anyway, not long after I went for it again and got it.  The squat clean was the limiting factor in the lift, the jerk was pretty straight forward.  Need more squats!

 I dropped the bar, did a (hugely) happy dance and rang the bell.  Completely satisfied with the PR.  I mentioned to Tim that it didn’t matter how the actual WOD went as I was happy with the (slightly unexpected) PR.  

CrossFit Games 2011 WOD # 3
 5 min AMRAP
1 x squat clean – 1 point
1 x jerk (50/75kg) – 1 point 
28 Rx 

I managed 14 reps of C&J at 50kg.  Given that it was only about 6 weeks ago that I managed to Rx ‘Grace’ (30 C&J’s at 45kg) I was very happy.  It was hard.  Not the jerks but the squat cleans.  I probably could have scored higher on this if we were able to just power clean and jerk.  Definitely see (a lot of) squats in my future.  That being said, I’m also quite ecstatic that I could even Rx this weight as it wasn’t long ago that I couldn’t.  I’m seeing amazing progress in everyone around me as well – we’re all pushing each other to get better and it’s amazing.

My body – now that it’s working it’s way back up on sleep, needs a few days of rest. Definitely nothing planned for today (Friday) and Saturday though Sunday might prove differently.  I’m hoping the boys might be up for a Sunday morning Albert Street WOD for old time sake but I’m still waiting to hear back from Vini on that one.

Must also give a HUGE shout out to Paul (I know he reads this now too!) – he got his first (strict even) muscle up tonight.  I was mid-C&J’s but heard the excitement in the room.  Nicely done!  I did fundamentals with him and it’s been amazing to see how far he’s come (as have we all).  Awesome!

12/12(/12) - Possible end of the World WOD

With today being 12/12/12 counting was quite easy at the box… everything was in multiples of 12.  12 reps, 12 rounds, 12 minute cut-off.  12.  It felt a bit like Sesame Street – today is brought to you by the number 12, not sure what the letter of the day might have been but I’d guess it would have been ‘F’, at least in my world there was a lot of use of that one specifically.  I’ll get to that. 

Strength 
12 rep push press 
28 

I wasn’t feeling these at all and then when Coach Match gave me some feedback/ technique to work on (pushing through my heels on the way up, not coming onto my toes) it became a lot harder.  Sometimes you have to take a step back to move forward or something to that effect.  Also had been feeling quite off this week, especially after all the PR setting last week.  My body is just tired but this was good.  Made me focus on form over heavy weight. 

Possible end of the world WOD 
12 rounds
12 mountain climbers pairs
12 cockroaches pairs
12 backward single unders 
11:16 

I knew just by looking at this one it would be a huge lung burner but was I underestimated was the toll it would take on my quads (mountain climbers) and on my abs with both the upper and lower abs getting targeted in the mountain climbers and cockroaches.  Ouch.  The backwards skips were a well needed rest that went way too fast.  

Match was doing this workout with us and was right beside me so I could see his pace and it pushed me to keep going.  I was slightly ahead of him throughout but at some point got all confused with the number of rounds I had remaining (I wasn’t diligent with marking them off my scoreboard – oops) and I could kind of see his board but couldn’t tell if he had one or two rounds to go so when I finished what I thought was round 12 I checked the time on the clock then pushed on for another round just in case he had two to go (rather than being on his last round).  I finished what turned out to be an extra round right at the beep of the cut-off.

Shortly after the WOD my legs decided they were going to not work anymore.  Lifting my feet off the ground was a challenge which is awesome (sarcasm).  Today (two days later) my hip flexors are rebelling.  Nice one.

Friday Funnies...

Thanks Kirst for this one...

Only in Canada?  A monkey was found a few days ago wandering around an IKEA store in a shearling coat...  the full story is here.  This photo really made me giggle because of it.  Poor monkey.

12/10 - WOD that almost broke me…

It was hot and humid in Perth last night and as soon as I looked at the board I knew it was going to be a tough WOD.  I really didn’t need the strength portion of the class and didn’t really find the motivation to push myself too much.

Strength

8-8-8

Front squats

40-40-45

There was a large class tonight (as is typical of Monday evenings) and we were to use the racks however there are only 4.  Kayla and I both (independently) did the squats from the ground on the other side of the room.  We probably should have paired up which might have pushed us both a bit more – I needed it at least.  Helps being able to clean a heavy amount in situations like this. 

As I mentioned above, I would have preferred to just WOD – to not have such a short (and mostly unachievable) cut-off time and to just force us through it.  I think overall I would have built up more mental strength – as it was it nearly broke me so had it continued it just well might have…

WOD

12-6-12-6-12-6

15 minute cut-off

Cleans (40/60kg)

Front squats

Burpees

15:36 Rx.5 (had 6 squats/12 burpees and entire final round of 6 remaining – 36 reps)

The first round I did sets of 6 cleans though rested before the final one each time so I could then clean and go right into the squats.  It’s probably not hard to realize that the squats were horrible.  I struggled with 45kg in sets of 8 before the WOD so 40kg in the WOD hurt.  I really only managed sets of 3 and 4 throughout which really slowed me down but for some reason my legs just weren’t cooperating.  I loved the burpees.  LOVED.  I actually looked forward to them each round and was sad when they were over.  If this could have been a 15 minute amrap of burpees I might have been ok.  Seriously.  The weight felt twice as heavy tonight.  Might have been the heat.  No idea but I have to get used to it again.  Summer is upon us and 30+ degree days are going to become the norm.  Hopefully the humidity goes away soon though. 

This WOD nearly broke me.  There were many times throughout that I really wanted to quit.  Did not want to pick up the bar again.  Stared at it with meanacing thoughts.  But every time I picked it up again, even with 10 seconds to go I got in another two squats.  I definitely think being forced to finish this out (without a cut-off) would have been a real struggle (I would have though) and would have built up more of my mental capacity to keep on pushing even through the suck.  After the WOD was over I wanted to die.  Perhaps not quite die but vomit at least.  I hurt. 

Regarding the cut-off…  I think that sometimes it’s a bit of a cop-out and I hate that we so often have them especially on heavy weight days. It’s a function of 45 minute classes I guess but maybe on days like this there isn’t a need for a strength portion especially when the weight for the strength (sets of 8!) are so similar to the weights in the WOD (sets of 12).  It’d be nice to have to push through a hard/ heavy WOD without thinking about scaling the weight to meet the cut-off or not completing all the work because of going heavier – seems both options are lacking.   I’m not a coach though so this is just my opinion on things.  Last night though everything just seemed too rushed with the number of people and the amount of work to be completed.  

Because Friday Funnies have been lacking...