8/10 - Saturday Sports Class

1) Back Squats

10x3rep @85% (+ 5kg's to last week)

10x3 @73kg

2) Comp WOD

9min AMRAP of;
3 Muscle-ups 6 pull-ups/ 6 dips
6 Thrusters 60/42.5kg

4 +6 pull-ups + 6 dips (30kg thrusters)

3) 10 x 100m Sprints
*rest will be determind by your group/partners 

No time for these (thankfully!!!)

It always feels like I’ve just left when I return for Saturday sports class.  It also feels like the sun shining is really the only difference – it barely feels like I’ve had a nights sleep to rest and this was especially true after the rope climbs and KB swings of last night.  My shoulders were heavy when I woke up and my legs just tired.  You can imagine how much I was looking forward to more squatting but alas, the burpee rule still applies – no negative talk about backsquats or you guessed it… burpee penalty (self-imposed).

Anyway, we started with a full hour to get through the back squats.  This was sufficient time and I managed to get them all done without failing any even though the weight was actually 91% of my 1RM backsquat (really curious to see what it will be after all this).  Worked through with Sacha which was good, we got a chance to chat and work on our hip mobility in between sets.  I tried to rest a minimum of 3 minutes between rounds which at times was closer to 4 or 5 which was needed.  I also had Sacha spot me for most of them as well again, ‘just in case’ because of how I was feeling.  You just never know and since we’re not supposed to drop the bar but rather get through the movement it worked to be aware.

Following this we set up for the WOD.  I usually love going first but when the girls (Ali and Sacha) made me go first without thought I almost dreaded it.  I had no motivation or desire as I was just so physically exhausted.  I kept the weight low on the thrusters and knew that with the current state (still) of my hands I wasn’t going to get c2b (what we were supposed to scale to) so I just did pull-ups and dips (on the bars, not the rings),  It was still crazy hard.  I didn’t even think about counting (had Ali for that thankfully) and when Sacha asked me at the end how many rounds I’d gotten I truly had no idea and I really didn’t care.  I had to ask Ali.  This WOD however for me what just to focus on each movement and get through them rather than racing the clock or whatnot.  I had to break up the pull-ups because of my hands and then dips were the part that failed first.  They are similar to HSPU’s in that when they go they go so you need to back off before failure.  It was still tough but I made it through (mostly) the full range of motion.  I struggled but it was one of those days.  The thrusters felt solid – Coach Hayden told me to keep my elbows up and really drive through which made a huge difference and definitely made me feel stronger (as could be on the day).

Followed it up with a well earned breakfast of pancakes and bacon and eggs which I struggled to eat with a knife and fork as I could barely lift my arms at this point (I think the feeling was similar for many who had done the Friday night WOD).  I had to use two hands to hold my coffee.  Hard times.  Timmy and Jack came by Foam though - awesome to catch up with them too and compare rope climb marks.  Miss you boys!

Rest day Sunday – so happy!!

7/9 – Testing Week Continues

And so we continue on with testing week – the one that we did back in April.  It’s fun to compare the results though I didn’t actually do tonight’s WOD the last go around.  Here’s my chance.

WOD #1

400m run/row

1:25

It was raining so we all rowed.  I asked Hayden why we didn’t run in the rain later on and he pointed to the flooded street out front.  Good call Coach.  Never noticed this before.  It was pretty much a lake and I kind of feared a bit for my car stalling out as I was leaving the box.  Why is my life enveloped in flooding right now (two Canadian cities are under water, ugh).

The row was good.  I was thinking about 1:30 going into it and managed to hold under 1:50/500m split throughout though I was definitely feeling it in my legs – my hammies were still tight from all the squats the night before.  I also had a higher stroke rate that I’d have preferred – it was over 30 the entire way indicating that I wasn’t being as efficient as I could be though that being said, if I can get my split to drop at the (slightly) higher stroke rate then I can then focus on lowering the stroke rate at the same speed.  Give and take.

WOD #2

12-9-6

Power cleans (60/42.5kg)

50 unbroken DU’s

5:45 (42.5kg, broken DU’s)

Started on this one thinking the power cleans would be heavy though they didn’t feel too bad (as Brendo noted – the weight gets lighter as soon as 3-2-1-Go… is called – truth).  I did 7 and 5 on the first set, 5-4 and then 6 unbroken (ouch).  I also planned to go for unbroken DU’s as I’ve done 50 unbroken twice in the past week, I started out on the first set and had to struggle to hang on from 40 onward and tripped up at 47.  Argh…  this definitely took a lot out of me and I knew from then on that I wouldn’t be going unbroken – my shoulders (from HSPU’s) and forearms were screaming already so I bailed out of the ‘unbroken’ at that point but continued on at that point starting my DU’s at zero.  Did about 35 then finished off before hitting the cleans again.  I did managed to do most of the first two sets of cleans with a hook grip though – improvement right there though touch and go it got a little weird.  Anyway, something I need to get used to it helped.

Afterward went next door for open gym and did a bit of skill work – Steph and I have plans to be awesome…

I did

3 x 5 ring dips with the yellow band,

then

3x5 jumping muscle up transitions on the rings

Got some good feedback from Rhys on the jumping MU’s too – getting my head through and into a dip rather than trying to just straight into the locked out position.  Helped and started to feel like a MU would.  Baby steps.

Rolled out for a while and gossiped with Mikey and Shaun while waiting for the torrential downpour to stop – at least it eventually died down.

6/22 - Saturday Sports Class

Last big hurrah before Primal Throwdown 2013 next weekend.

Skill work

Bar Muscle-Up Progression

Axel Bar Deadlifts

WOD

5 minute cut-off

400m row

30 KB clean and jerk (16kg – 15 per side, one side at a time)

20 pistols

10 c2b pull-ups

5:28 Rx

Note that there was scaling for all three primal categories – those listed above are what was written for intermediate women.

Was fun getting the skill work in.  I have only done bar muscle-ups once (jumping) and managed to get them (from the highest box) that day.  I got them again today and tried to increase the height from the box to the bar but couldn’t quite manage that.  It was fun though to see Steph doing them (scaled) – she faced some of the same challenges that I did the first time I tried – namely the fear.  She got one though!  Awesome.

Then we split into boys and girls and played around both on axel bars (more specifically larger diameter pipe) and on the barbells with the fat grips – infinitely harder than the fat bar as they still spun.  We eventually got up to about 80kg – all of us using a mixed grip before Coach Tara came around and told us to try using overhand grip on both hands ‘just in case’ – and only a couple of the girls could actually do it.  So hard.

We then moved onto the WOD in two heats.  I was in the first go round with Steph judging me.  I knew the row would take about 1:30 (which it did) and then it’d be a push to get through the remaining reps – I think that was the plan – this WOD had a similar format to the first WOD from day 2 of the Primal Throwdown last year – that was a 15-10-5 (row for calories, KB shoulder to overhead, toes to bar) with a 5 minute cut-off – I’m pretty sure no one finished but it was about the amount of work that you could complete hence the challenge.  This was much the same.  Only a few of the top guys managed to get through everything.  I was happy just getting to the pistols as the 16kg KB was heavy for the CJ’s especially as you had to do 15 on one arm then 15 on the other rather than splitting them up somehow.  Good to know.  I also struggled a bit with my left arm and while I got the KB up without dropping it on my head it was a bit sketchy – thankfully Steph was kind enough to give me the reps – might have been called a no rep in comp.

It was a good push – on this one and working into game day strategy – I had less than 10 seconds left when I finished the CJ’s and knew that any pistols I could get would make a difference on the ranking (if it was truly game day) and rushed through 2 quick reps without thinking and even though it hurt.  Mentally preparing as well as physically.  I’m also getting quite happy with my rowing – my stroke rate is staying low as is my power output (split time) so I’m getting the results without having to kill myself which is definite progress from the girl who used to hate the erg – don’t ask me to stay on there forever though – 1km is about my limit before I want to scream/ get bored/ annoyed.  Still.  Fun.

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!

3/22 - 2013 Open WOD 13.3

CrossFit Games WOD 13.3

AMRAP 12

150 Wall balls (16 lbs to 9' target)
90 Double-unders
30 Muscle-ups

202

Ah, this one again.  Lovely 12.4 has become 13.3.  I did not do well at this one at all last year.  I didn’t make it through the wall balls – scored 126 to be exact and didn’t love any part of it.  It was also only the second time I had done wall balls so there was that.  This year I’ve done a few more wall balls but still not enough for me to be confident I’d get through them.  Thankfully though we had a Wednesday’s WOD to practice – they felt hard.  I was scared.

My goal was to get through the wall balls.  That’s it.  I wanted 1 single DU.  I had Coach Tara judging me which was awesome.  She helped me keep moving.  I wanted it bad.  I did 10 wall balls on my first set then pretty much went with sets of 5.  It worked.  Tara mentioned that after I got to 100 reps I started moving a little faster.  I remember at rep 75 that I though ‘shit, this is just half way’ and it was slightly daunting.  I think after the 100 mark I could start to see the finish line and just kept at it.  I had about a minute to do DU’s when I finished.  Walking to my rope I was really emotional – happy, a little teary and proud.  Definitely proud.  I knew I had plenty of time for DU’s (to get more than 1) and then  I tripped on the first one.   Coach Jono yelled at me from across the room to slow down and take my time.  I got right back into it.  I tripped several times but also got out a few good chunks and at the end of it all had managed 52 reps.  Ecstatic.

Cam did the WOD in the sports class.  I was cheering him on as Brendan judged and was stoked for him when he beat my score.  Truly happy – we both gave it our all.  I am more than proud of my accomplishment and it was made even sweeter to see him excel too.  It meant I lost the bet but I had a great time cooking him an EPIC breakfast on Sunday morning.  It was a feast that I also had the pleasure of enjoying (minus the smoked salmon, gross).