9/23 – Smashed it…

What better way to get back into this little blog then by smashing a WOD, a much needed (non-competitive) win.  It was one of those days.

And also, when friends note how they still check this space it’s a good reminder that you enjoy writing and to get back at it (thanks Mike J.)

So… here we go.  Ready?

First let’s talk about how I’m kind of broken right now… I dealt with my nagging shoulder issues for months now and never bothered to do anything about it mostly because I hate stopping and I know that the only real solution is rest – complete and utter rest – and an abusive relationship with my physio but that’s another story (love you Andrew).

Spent the morning getting needled and swearing out loud (see, not a positive relationship at all) and having a dead achy shoulder all day long.  I knew that I’d be subbing in the WOD.

Strength

3-3-3

Strict press

17.5-15-16-17.5(2)

Minh and I were both down a shoulder so we were instructed to do one arm dumbbell presses.  It worked well though 17.5 was really hard (I did it in the warmup time just to see if I could) then 15kg was pretty easy so I switched to 16kg KB for the last set then gave 17.5kg a go again just to see if I could (I couldn’t – the second rep even was crap) – still made it work.

WOD

21-15-9

Chest to overhead (60/42.5)

Deadlift (60/42.5)

200m run

6:16 (15kg DB/ Rx/ Rx)

Again, used a db for the WOD and did all one arm chest to overhead.  The 15kg was a solid weight even though I managed to go unbroken throughout it was still a struggle physically though my mental strength got me through (especially when I saw others putting the bar down).  The deadlifts were good, not too heavy but still taxing.  Had to keep reminding myself to breath.  And the runs were good – 200m isn’t a bad distance.  It wasn’t far enough for the fast boys just behind me to catch up so I managed to win the heat – and while I know it’s not a competition it was just one of those days where I needed the win personally.  It was a shit day and I felt strong and solid and gave everything in that wod and it paid off.

Thankfully too it stopped raining between the start of class and the WOD otherwise we would have had to row (and I would have had 50 DU’s to do instead – though that might have been fun too).

Also, the final inspiration of this post was to note how my words were used against me last night – and it was a good thing.  I think it might have been when I was trying the 17.5kg db again at the end that I said ‘I can’t do it for three’ and Mingh turned to me and said ‘you’ve already talked yourself out of it, there’s no way you’ll do it now’ and I had to change my mindset before picking it up.  He has a point, it makes a HUGE difference – believe in ourselves and though it’s easy to forget sometimes in the moment it was a reminder I needed.  I think it also helped me during the WOD to push through my perceived mental barriers and keep grinding out the remaining reps each set rather than resting.  Thanks Minh.

8/7 – DU’s and Rows and SEX WOD

Another rainy day today which meant that the running portion of the WOD was cancelled in favor of rowing – this is always the case, not because running in the rain is bad (I miss running in the rain) but rather because the road actually floods (quite easily at that) and it would be more like swimming rather than running.

Rowing it was (which we’ve been doing so much of lately).

Before that though we had a little gynamstic-y fun.

Pre-WOD

L - Sit 

3 Max Effort L-Sit Holds

25-25-27 seconds

Then

2 x 6 Minute AMRAP

50 Double Unders

200m Run Row

*2 Minutes Rest between each AMRAP

Round 1 - 3+20 DU’s Rx

Round 2 - 2+50 DU’s +176m Rx

Partnered up with Cam for the WOD today which included the L-sit holds.  He convinced me to give them a go on the parallettes rather than the pull-up bars (parallettes are harder apparently) so I did.  It wasn’t too bad though I did them with bent knees.  My abs were already killing from Monday and Tuesday so that didn’t help.  I managed to get 25 seconds in the first round as Cam counted up by 5’s – I pretty much dropped once it hit 25 seconds like that was my target.  In the second round I wanted to match this.  Going into the third Cam knew that I would be doing the same (this boy knows me for sure) so he didn’t count much above 20, I think he stopped at about 22 seconds then went silent and left it up to me.  Because of this I gained two extra second before dropping.  Felt good to get more but man did it hurt.  He laughed at me (in a good way).

Then it was on to the double AMRAP.  I sneakily got to go first based on the fact that Cam made me go first on the L-sits (I didn’t want to but that’s how it went) so because of this I didn’t have to wait 15 minutes before getting through this – so glad to have it over sooner rather than later – it was a lung burner.

Started out solidly on the DU’s (and as a note, I did 50 unbroken when we were doing the 30 second test before the WOD – I stopped at 50 not wanting to kill myself before the WOD).  The DU’s helped me keep pace with most of the boys.  I think I might have actually been ahead of everyone in my group that was actually doing DU’s (not scaled).  I got big chunks for all though they were diminishing a bit more by the end (down to sets of 10 or so).

I felt solid on the row even though it hurt (butt and hamstring cramping again- still?).  My pace on average throughout both WODs was 1:55/500m or below which I liked.  I also really focused on keeping my stroke rate low so that I could focus on catching my breath.  I noticed that I can maintain the same pace with anywhere between a 28-32 stroke rate so obviously I’m targeting the lower number.  I noticed a lot of the bigger boys in the second round weren’t getting that extra ‘rest’ at the end of the stroke which would make it easier on them if they could time it well – technique on the row makes a huge difference. 

I took my time in the transitions, walking to my rope and shaking out my legs so that I  could get feeling back and then trying to get right into the DU’s and bang out as many as I could before tripping up.  It helped overall I think.  Focused rest when necessary – getting right onto the rope knowing that I didn’t have a huge set but that I’d then get to rest.  Little things make big differences to the overall score.  I was happy to get as far as I did in the second round given that my DU’s sets were getting smaller as I was tiring.  I think I had about 45 seconds or less when I finished the last set of DU’s and headed to the rower.  Cam told me he’d let me know when there were 15 seconds left so I could go all out but I really wanted to finish the 200m so I went hard (as hard as I could anyway) right from the start of that last piece with my split closer to 1:50/500m.  I still didn’t finish but was so close – it definitely hurt but I really did want it and it was worth it.  I rolled off the rower and was so happy to be finished.  Definitely tough to rest for 2 minutes then go again on the same thing.  A new challenge.

Followed that up with the extra work.  There were two parts tonight and while I don’t usually talk about those workouts publicly (top secret y’all) – today I want to for a few reasons.

Sports Extra (SEX) WOD – August 7, 2012

1 x Max Set T2B

12

First we had to do one set of max toes to bar – I have had limited success linking these together in the past though I think my max before today was 4.  I knew I had one chance and I managed to get 12.  Not only get 12 but get 12 solidly and made them look pretty too.  Coach Jono was sitting on the box beside me and noticed and made some comment like ‘don’t screw these up’ and as I kept going and he kept encouraging me I noticed from my peripheral vision that people were stopping what they were doing (barbell club) and watching.  It was both awesome and intimidating all at once.  I felt strong and on every kip could feel the lightness in my grip on the bar and being able to move my hands a bit more, it was amazing.  I managed to get 12 in all before I missed on the 13^th and my abs were on fire – so sore still.  Definitely happy though.  There was a bit of an ‘awesome’ dance afterward.

Backsquats

7x5 @ 75%+5kg

7x5 @68kg

Not much to talk about on the squats themselves specifically but rather on mindset.  My legs are tired and I knew it was going to be another heavy squat day – my hip flexors are crazy tight even with insane amounts of mobility on them and lately I haven’t been looking forward to squatting.  Today I was over 80% of my 1RM for the work but instead of dreading the work all day I decided to be positive.  To love squats.  I made an agreement with myself and told all my friends that if I complained at all about squats that they could give me burpees.  It was set.  I didn’t want burpees (and squats) so I let myself love squats – even as Cam did everything he could to try and agree that the squats were going to be horrible.  And guess what… the squats weren’t horrible.  They were way easier to go overall with my focus being on the positives – getting through one set – knowing I was that much closer to them being done – feeling strong.  Enjoying the movement.  Half way through, only one set left.  All of it helped and they didn’t feel as heavy as they would have if I’d been negative.  So that’s the lesson – focus on the positive, turn things around and they are in fact easier.  Loved it.