you might be a redneck crossfitter if

I haven’t written in a week again? We’ll chalk that up to summer vacation. More concerning is that I haven’t recorded a workout since I last posted. I did the work. Of late, I’m just not writing it down unless it’s a true benchmark. More on habits later.

Thursday, July 9

Strength:
Deadlift
3-3-3-3-3 @ 85% 1RM

There were some scheduling challenges this day, so I ended up opening the gym for the athletes, leading them through warm ups and providing some coaching on their strength segment.

When the coach of the day arrived I transitioned over to this, but due to time constraints only completed 4 sets. I didn’t record my weight, so I’m not sure what percentage I was using.

Metcon:
On the 2 Minute for 20 Minutes
2 Muscle Ups
5 Power Cleans (185/135)

If I remember correctly, I think I did four one arm ring rows here as a muscle up sub and did power cleans at 135. I probably could have used a bit more weight here, but I was trying to protect my shoulder. I had at least a minute of rest each round, but not much more than that.

Friday, July 10
Strength:
Back Squat
2-2-2-2 @ 95% 1RM

Did these at 275, which is 87% of 1RM. Coach Doug observed, “either your working light or your one rep max is much higer than you think it is.”

I answered honestly. “I’m a little light here based on what’s prescribed, but I’m hoping it’s a bit of both.”

Metcon:
With a partner, take turns rowing:
500m
400m
300m
200m
100m

I enjoyed these sprints! The only time I recall is the 500. I finished in 1:40. That’s very fast for me. I haven’t checked old journals to see if it’s a PR, but it’s close.

I didn’t note the other times as we switched on and off.
Monday, July 14

Strength:
Overhead Squat
10-10-10-10 @ 60% 1RM
These were done Rx today at 100#. That might have been pushing my shoulder a bit too aggressively, but all in all I was pleased with these.

Metcon:
4 Rounds:
Round 1/2:
20 Ring Dips
Ladder Run (25/50/100m turnaround) – 350m total per round
Round 3/4:
10 Ring Dips
Ladder Run (50/100/200m turnaround) – 700m total per rounD
Time cap of 20 minutes

This one was weird. At first I subbed one-arm ring rows for the dips, but after the first round those felt too easy relative to the rest of the group. I got out of the box well ahead of the rest of the class.

For the remaining rounds I did dips using a bench with my feet on the floor and my back to the bench. That felt fine for my shoulder. However I finished this METCON in less than half the assigned time.

I find it tough to accept that I dominated this workout that much. Physically and mentally I’m just not in that kind of place right now. While I thought I did all the assigned work, I’m guessing I missed a long sprint somewhere (possibly the first 100M) and in hindsight, perhaps I should have found a more aggressive sub for the dips.

That being said, everyone in the early crew finished well below the 20 min cap, so perhaps that was simply too generous today.

What’s Going On?
-) I’m finding focus and discipline to be really challenging this Summer. It’s effecting my diet, my record keeping, my effort. I am however putting some plans in place to help get back on track.

1) New Events on the Calendar:

I’m doing a 35 mile bike ride on Aug 8 with some friends. I need to prep for that. My bike hasn’t come out of my shed in three years other than to ride around the block with my kids.

I’m doing the CFD crossfit total on Aug 29. I’ve got six weeks to get serious and get ready. That will help!

I’m looking at crossfit events late in September and October. Staying focused on those will help, mostly with my diet. Having things that close together will keep me focused when I’m choosing my food.

I’m having a hard time working out what events I want to try. There is a master’s event in September that’s interesting, but it’s two hours away and individuals only. I’m really kind of jonsing for a team event, but currently have not team mates lined up. So I’m not sure.

Same for October. The fall Festivus competition is going on in October. i enjoyed that tremendously last April, but there’s an event with scaled team options going on the same day, so I’m not certain which I’ll do.

2) Taking on New Coaching Slots
I’m taking on coaching the 6am crossfit class on Wednesdays starting tomorrow. Filling my calendar with another slot or two is going to actually force me to set a better schedule and get into a more fixed routine about when I work out.

One of the biggest excuses this Summer has been, “I’ve got time. I’ll do it later today.” Then I don’t. There have been too many days this summer where I signed up for the early class, then woke up cancelled my enrollment telling myself, “I’ll go to the 7:15 class,” Then I’ve woken up to go to those and said, “ah, I’ll just stay home and do something here.” Inevitably, I don’t.

My current plan now that summer travel is done is

Sunday: Erin and I go to the gym together. We both need the accountability partner.
Monday: It’s one rep max day. Never miss one rep max day. I need to be doing this at the 6am session.
Wednesday: I coach at 6, then stay and work out at 7:15. If I’m already there, there’s no excuse for walking away without doing the WOD.
Friday: Same as Wednesday. I’m coaching the first bootcamp class of the day. So no excuses, I will stay for the 7:15.

This should get me back into a set 4 workout per week schedule, at least until school starts again in late August, then we’ll see. I am definitely best when I have a set routine. I just can’t allow myself to pick on a day by day basis.

Random Musing:
So last week I was out with the crew for drinks on Thursday night. A couple friends were drinking their recovery drinks from Mason Jars. My first thought was: “That’s brilliant! Perfect shaker bottles! Convenient, awesome!”

My next thought was, “it sounds like a Jeff Foxworthy joke.” You know what I mean, “If you drink your protein shake from a Mason jar, you might be a redneck crossfitter.” For the record, my friends who were using the jars definitely are not rednecks.

That’s got me wondering though what other redneck crossfit jokes could we write.

The only other one I could come up with was: “If you bolt the tire you flip, back on your truck at the end of your WOD, you might be a redneck crossfitter.”

How about you? What redneck or other regionally idiosynchratic jokes can you write? Whatcha got for me?

 

taking what they give me

So I haven’t written about a WOD since 15.2? Not going to try and cover all of them. I’ll just stick to those in the last 72 hours.

Here are the things that are on my mind of late that seem more important.

I’m shadowing one of the Crossfit Durham coaches in the 6:15 Bootcamp class. The intent is that come the last Friday in March, I’ll take over the Friday sessions. It’s been cool getting to know these athletes.

My role so far has mostly been one of observer and work out participant. I’m basically getting familiar with the group. They are also getting to know me.

I’m also reacquainting myself with bootcamp workouts. I’ve been doing the workouts alongside the athletes while Chad leads the sessions, stepping out from time to time to make a spot correction or assist somewhere. Doing these workouts has been a great reminder just how effective they can be.

I am looking forward to all of the experience and responsibility that will come with coaching. I have found, as just about anyone who takes on the mantle of coach must, that it’s impacted my training schedule and therefore I’ve had to make some adjustments. That’s fine. It’s part of the deal. It just means I’ve had to make some adjustments.

Since I’m involved with the Monday/Wednesday bootcamps that leaves Tuesday and Thursdays and Fridays to get my workouts.

I’ve temporarily set aside my practice of exploring new movements, techniques, activities during the strength segment of the workout. Since I only get to hang out with my gang on those days, I feel like I want to be fully engaged with them. So I’m following the full gym programming again. At least for now.

That gets us to FRIDAYS! For the remainder of the month, we’ll continue doing the Crossfit Open WODs on Fridays. That’s one more chance to synch up with the 6:15 crew and have some fun.

Guess that’s as good a work out as any to recount.

Friday, 3/13
Open WOD 15.3
AMRAP 14 minutes
RX 7 MU’s
50 Wall Balls
100 Double Unders

I have no muscle ups. I’m not even in a place where it was practical to think I might land my first muscle up, so I deferred to the scaled WOD which was:
AMRAP 14 minutes
50 wall balls – to a 9′ target.
200 single unders.

A lot of folks have a lot of heart burn with this workout. The general beef goes, “the RX is so far beyond the average crossfitter that it’s a joke to call the Open an event for everyone.” Some folks were upset that the scaled version was somehow TOO scaled because it lacked a muscle up substitution and that was somehow insulting.

I’m not going to debate it. I’m not going to discount those people’s feelings either. I remember I had the exact same thoughts during last year’s open. I said the same words. Not certain I ever published them here, but I felt them. So I get where people are coming from. I had a much different mindset this year.

I looked at the Rx WOD and said, “Nope. That’s out of my league.” Then I looked at the scaled WOD and said to myself, “No muscle up substitution? Sweet. Wait. They’re going to let me shoot wall balls to a nine foot target instead of ten? Awesome. Single unders? Let’s do it!”

Friday morning I pulled off 3 full rounds and 8 additional wall balls (758 total reps). I was very satisfied with that.

A couple of friends outscored me by a couple of reps. We all shared some good-natured ribbing online. They think I’m joking about repeating this WOD during an Open Gym time some dayand all going head to head in a face off to see how we all score then. I would love to do it. I think we’d have a blast and push each other all to even higher scores!

Festivus Games
The rest of my workout focus right now is on the upcoming Festivus Games in mid-April.

Erin and I took part in Crossfit Durham’s Competition WOD class on Friday night. Yes, that’s right. I was back at the gym for more work only 13 hours after completing 15.3!

Ponder that for a moment. Four years ago, I was a guy who guzzled two liters of Coke a day and regularly put down two fast food value meals for lunch a couple days a week. Now I’m a guy who does two a day workout sessions?! I think it’s fair to call that a paradigm shift, right?

Coach Tripp put Erin, Tony (who had JUST completed 15.3 Rx) and I through a tough combination of WODs.

The first was a 12 minute AMPRAP
3 Thrusters at 50% of 1RM Front Squat
10 Box Jumps 24/20.

11 rounds! I was thrilled. The thrusters were miserable, even though there were only three in a round.

After a short rest, we set up and tackled the first WOD for the upcoming Festivus Games.

10 minute Cap
Row 1000M
50 wall balls 20#/10ft target

Another 50 wall balls? I was not excited for this WOD and mentally I was completely prepared to let myself off the hook, if I failed to finish.

Tripp asked me what I thought I could do. I told him a fourish minute row and fourish minutes for the wall balls and I was expecting a 9 minute WOD.

Imagine our collective surprise when I finished in 6:35?! I was very, very pleased. I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do with this WOD on fresh legs.

Sunday, 3/15.
I met my friend John Hite over at Bull City Crossfit and we worked through the remaining TWO WODs for the Festivus Games.

WOD 2
With a running clock:
0-2:00: Max Front Squats in 2 Minutes (135/95)
2:01-3:59: Rest
4:00-10:00: AMRAP 6 Minutes
6 Power Clean (135/95)
6 Bar Over Burpees

There are two scores for this WOD the front squats in the first two minutes, then total reps in the second METCON.

I pulled off 24 front squats. Not thrilled with that. Thirty is my goal for that portion.

For the second METCON I pulled off 4 rounds 8 reps. My goal is to clear 5 full rounds next time out.

The thing that I need to get in my head is that it’s only 6 minutes. There should be no resting at all. I was bit too conservative today. But now that I appreciate how this one feels. I can do better.

I’m not upset with my scores. I simply feel that now that I’ve gotten a feel for how they feel, I can make those scores better.

WOD 3
5 minute AMRAP
5 push press (115)
15 box jumps (20″)

I got through exactly 5 rounds on this one. I don’t know that there was a whole lot that I could have done better/faster. All presses were unbroken. All box jumps (some rounds step ups) were unbroken with no missed reps and a reasonably fast cycle. With a bit of crowd adrenaline I might get a few more reps on this one, but I honestly don’t know that it could be that much faster.

Rest 1 minute

1 minute max rep double unders. I pulled off 42 reps here. I ran off a first run of 25 reps! That’s the longest run I’ve had in a long time and it felt great. Of course, it then took me four sets to get from 25-31. Then I hit some 5-ish runs to close it out.

Double unders are what they are. I just have to accept them, give them my best effort and go for it. I won’t stress about those.

Overall I’m very pleased to have worked these WODs and I look forward to repeating/practicing them again both in CFD and at boxes around the area with other friends.

I love the fact that Crossfit Durham’s owner has embraced the fact that a number of us are taking part in this competition and therefore he’s programming the known WODs into the gym’s schedule so we all have an opportunity to practice them. That’s very cool! I for one really appreciate it.

It also was very cool to work with John over at Bull City Crossfit today and see him throw down. He’s about to have himself one hell of a competition! I’m going to be excited to watch it.

I talked earlier about how my attitude has changed around the Open year over year. My attitude about practicing competition WODs has changed in a similar fashion. A year ago when I was taking part in some competitions, I wanted to know the WODs in advance, simply to have the confidence that the events would be comprised of exercises and weights that I could manage. I was nervous about running into an Open style WOD with say pistols and muscle ups where I’d stand around and watch everyone else compete. But I didn’t want to practice the WODs.

I was embracing an idea that Crossfit trains you to prepare for the unknown and unknowable and somehow going into the WODs without practice was truer to the Crossfit spirit. I still respect that mindset for others. But for me, this year, it once again falls into that category of “I’m taking what they’ll give me.” The WODs have been published in advance. I’m taking advantage of that to practice and try to eliminate any nasty surprises.

I look at it this way. In any other sport, you run simulated games. You scrimmage against your own teammates or have friendly scrimmages against other teams outside of the regular season schedule. You do it in order to simulate the game time experience.

Practicing these WODs is the same thing. The event coordinators have not announced the final WOD of the day. They will do so once the other three events are done. If I’m fortunate enough to be in a position to take part, then great. That’s where I’ll get my chance to demonstrate my ability to compete against the unknown and unknowable. Until then, I’m taking everything they’ll give me.

 

Worth getting out of bed

I went back and forth quite a bit this week about whether or not I should do the workout today. I’m very glad I did

Skill:
EMOM for 6 minutes:
3 2-hand Russian Swings
2 Double KB Clean
1 KB Thruster
Use a load you can handle

I did 3 rounds with 35# kettlebells and 3 rounds with 40#. I could have gone a bit higher, and on a different day, I probably would have, but I didn’t want to take any chances overdoing something before the METCON.

Metcon:
Open WOD 14.4
Complete as many rounds and repetitions as possible in 14 minutes of:
60-calorie row
50 toes-to-bars
40 wall-ball shots (20/14)
30 cleans, (135/95)
20 muscle-ups

This METCON and I have history and it ain’t friendly. When I did it during the Open Season last Spring, I completed 110 reps. I completed the row in less than 3 minutes, then spent 11 minutes flopping around on the pull up rig trying to get through 50 toes to bar. My judge at the time, said I got them all. I think he was generous. I was very dissatisfied and disgruntled about that WOD at the time. I had much higher expectations of myself that day and it left a bad taste in my mouth for days afterward.

Disliking the WOD that much made choosing to go today really difficult. I’ve been telling folks all week, “Friday will be a game time decision. We’ll see how it goes.” I know we’re supposed to face our goats, but sometimes it can be hard to screw up the motivation.

Even as I was walking out the door this morning at 5:45 this morning, I was saying to myself. “Go back to bed. It’s Lil Bit’s birthday today. Her Daddy really should be here to sing her happy birthday when she wakes up. This is just another WOD. Let it go. You can go tomorrow and do Cindy. It’s much more in your wheelhouse.” But I went.

The row today was very close to last time. I was rowing a very consistent near 1 cal per stroke at a pace of 23/24 strokes per minute. I think there were about 5 strokes that weren’t 1cal:1stroke. I’m very satisfied with that. I was off the rower under 3 minutes again.

Then it was time to face down the goat, toes to bar. Coach Lindsay offered some excellent advice with respect to the toes to bars. The first tip was don’t try to do to much too fast. Once T2B are gone, they’re gone. So pick a conservative pace. The second part of what she offered was, “even if you’re just doing singles, find a rhythm and stick to it.” She explained that last Spring she literally did singles, but built in a steady rest. So hop up. Do a rep. Hop down. Take one step out. Turn around. Take one step back. Hop up. Do another rep. Repeat.

While I liked that concept, frequently the first rep is toughest for me. So I went with a three-rep, three step rest cycle all the way to thirty. Then did a two rep, three step rest cycle to finish, with the occasional pit stop to chalk the hands. I was off the rig somewhere around the nine minute mark. I was both stunned, thrilled, and a bit intimidated. Five minutes was a lot of time and there was still a lot of work out in front of me.

As a group we’d been talking earlier about the METCON and I explained my past experience. So everyone knew it was a big deal to me to make it to the wall balls. That was the goal on the day. I’d never put a number on it. I just wanted to get into the wall balls. Griff was working alongside me and offered some encouragement and I responded with, “Hey. It’s all gravy from here on out!”

I completed wall balls in sets of 15-15-10 with no missed reps.

Part of me was hoping time would run out during the Wall Balls, after all, I’d met my goal and this shit was really starting to hurt. I never expected to get to the barbell. Hell, I almost didn’t bother to set one up. But after the last wall ball, I realized there was more than two minutes left. So onto the cleans.

I got 15 power cleans in the time remaining. They were all singles, dropped from the top, with a step back, breathe, step up and lift rhythm. Maybe I could of eeked out a few more, but honestly, at that point I was so surprised at how much better this WOD went today, that I was just grinning all through the cleans. Each rep felt like a bonus point.

So from Open season where I scored 110 reps to today where I scored 165 reps. That’s a pretty massive improvement. Yeah, that was definitely worth getting out of bed.

And Lil Bit? She seemed to enjoy having a private, silly, lounge-lizard style rendition of Happy Birthday sung to her when I got home. So I guess it’s all good.

 

something to prove

But it’s not what you’re thinking

Skill: Muscle Ups
Take 15 minutes to practice Muscle Ups or progressions or dips and pullups.

For those of us that don’t have muscle ups yet, Coach Stephen elected to put us through two back to back 5 min EMOMs of ring dips and pull ups.

For ring dips I got 3 per round. Not great. Given it’s the fifth work out of the week, I’ll take it.

For pull ups, started with 3 per round. Was doing 2 chin over bar and 1 chin at bar for the last two rounds.

Strength: Push Press
5 reps of push press at 45 % 100#
5 reps of push press at 55 % 120#
3 reps of push press at 65 % 145#
4 reps of push press at 75 % 165
4 reps of push press at 75 %
max reps of push press at 75 %

So I shared a rack and barbell with Craig again today. The discussion got around to the last set and how many reps we thought we’d each do.

I told him four today. He responded with, “yeah, but that’s what you said yesterday and then you went and did nine bench presses.”

I answered with, “Yeah, and you did eleven! So no matter what, you’re going first today!”

It ended up being irrelevant. On my third rep I lost focus. Coming out of the dip drive one foot decided it was doing a split jerk not a push press. So it started to drop back behind me. While my braiin was arguing with my feet no one was telling my arms to just keep pushing. The bar only got over my eyebrows, then it started to twist and I just bailed. Oh well.

METCON
4 reps of snatch at 135/95 lb
500 m row
3 reps of snatch
250 m row
2 reps of snatch
time cap for 8 min

The additional scaling direction here was use 70% of 1RM, if 135 is too much.

I experimented at 135 and decided I’d take the scale and set the bar at 120# (72.72% of my 1RM, if anyone is concerned).

Given the number of folks at the box, it was necessary to run two heats. I chose to take part in the second heat. I don’t normally do that. I don’t usually like getting a preview of the suffering ahead.

But in this case it was productive. The instructions were clear that these were to be full squat snatches. Coach Stephen also made a point of instructing everyone that if you caught the squat in a power snatch you were still expected to drop down into a full squat and then stand up the rep.

I noticed several folks who were catching their bars in a power snatch, standing it up all the way then doing an overhead squat. I’m not questioning their decisions, but in my estimation, that’s extra reps and more work. I was determined to catch every rep as low as possible. The lower weight allowed me to accomplish that.

In fact, I received several compliments on my snatch form this morning. Thanks, all. I appreciate that.

This was a very quick WOD. Over in 4:38. It was pretty cool, too. Although I confess my legs are still feeling the effects of yesterday’s WOD.

In fact, Craig and I were joking about that at the start of the session during warm ups.

The conversation went like this
Me: “If Crossfit is supposed to make me harder to kill, then why do I feel so weak today?”

Craig: “Think about it. When the zombie apocalypse comes, you’ll be ready.”

Me: “When it comes, it better come on a rest day.”
Bull City Race Fest – My boy has lofty goals for the 5 mile race this Sunday.

He announced at dinner last night that he expects us to complete the run in around 40 minutes averaging 8 minute miles.

When he made this declaration I reacted with an incredulous, “Really?”

His response was, “Sure. That’s like 7.52 miles per hour. It’s no big deal.”

I told him we’ll see. Personally, if we pull it off, I would be tickled.

In my estimation he’s failing to account for two things. First, he’s not figuring on his old man. He has a pretty good bead on his own ability. But he doesn’t really know what I’m capable of, and I’m not certain I’m capable of sustaining that pace. Hopefully, I don’t drag him down. Second, I don’t think he’s accounting for terrain. There are going to be some significant hill climbs in this run and I don’t think he’s giving them adequate respect. But as in all things, we shall see. All I know is I’m very much looking forward to sharing the morning with him because I do have something to prove.

We’ve talked about it before and he remembers the days when I was too overweight and too tired to play with him. He remembers me saying, “I’m sorry, Kiddo. Daddy’s gotta stop. It hurts too much.”

Or worse, not even getting started. “No, Son. Daddy’s not gonna play right now. I’m just too tired.” It still stings some times to realize that occurred.It’s very humbling and kind of disturbing.

So with respect to Sunday, I don’t feel like I’ve got something to prove to him in terms of how well we perform. This is more fundamental. For me, this is about showing him that his Dad is healthy now and whenever circumstances allow, I want to be able to say to him (or his sister), “Sure, kiddo. Let’s do that.”

 

on the cusp

Feels like there are a couple of waves about to crest, or possibly crash, soon. Not sure what to make of them all.

WOD for Thursday 052313

Strength:
Press
5 reps @55%- 85#
3 reps @65% – 100#
3 reps @75% – 115#
3 sets of 2 reps @85% 1RM – 130#

Moved pretty quickly through these. The last set was a real struggle. Put my focus into ensuring everything was tight top to bottom and trying to be explosive with the lift.

Skill:
Dips
3 sets @80% of max reps (ie, if your max set is 10 reps, you’ll do 3 sets of 8 reps)

Did 3 sets of 4 reps each. Set the rings high to ensure I could maintain a straight line with legs extended and not curl my feet under me. Worked again at getting very deep.

Before we got to the METCON I snuck in a couple of kipping ring pull ups. Just for the hell of it. I haven’t done any in ages. I surprised myself with how far up into the rings I’m able to pull my body. Coach Rachel saw me and we exchanged rather pleasantly surprised expressions when I was done. We didn’t actually say any thing but I know I was thinking to myself, “Well, ok then. That definitely didn’t suck.”

I’m realistic about this. I’m not going to be stringing together multiple muscle ups by the Fourth of July. But I am wondering if they should move up on the goal list. Right now, ring muscle ups are pretty much the bottom of my goal list. I kind of view them as the pinnacle of the Crossfit pantheon of exercises. To me they’re the ultimate expression of strength, power, balance, gymnastic prowess. They’re the complete package. Muscle ups were always something that other people can do. They’re something that I always sort of thought of as, “yeah, some day….maybe…maybe not.” Now I’m thinking, “Why not?”

Conditioning:
5 Rounds For Time:
10 Barbell Lunges (25% of 1RM Back Squat) -5 each leg
10 Dynamic Pushups (onto 45lb plates)

So 25% of my back squat is 70#. 75# was more convenient to load up. Dynamic push ups were done with 45# plates as prescribed.

The push ups hurt about as much I expected and were definitely the slower of the two exercises this morning. What caught me off guard was how much the lunges hurt, right in my backside!

After the very first round I felt each lunge very distinctly right in the glute, good, good stuff.

Finished the METCON Rx in a respectable 6:07.

There was lots of spare time post-WOD. I was thinking about how much shoulder work we did today, so I thought, “OK, do a few pistols.” That was when I realized exactly how much the barbell lunges had punished my glutes. Damn, those pistols hurt. But they are getting better!

Lexy was very generous in offering some tips on how to improve my form and balance. The two tips she offered that I’ve got to remember are 1) squeeze the knees together and 2) the foot of the extended leg should cross over your center line to be directly in front of the foot you’re balancing on. I found both of those made balancing much much easier. Thank you, Lexy.

I’ve got a ways to go, but they are getting there. I did 3 or 4 singles on each leg before calling it a day. I’m thinking I should be able to do a solid below parallel unsupported pistol on each leg before Labor Day. That’s the goal. Mark the calendar.

I did a couple of negative handstands to headstands against the wall. Given how we smoked our shoulders, I had no expectations of pushing back up and out back into the handstand. I made myself descend on a very slow 5 count from full extension to the point where my head touched the floor. That’s another one of those, “on the verge” sort of maneuvers. Feels like I’m due for a break through.

Guess we’ll see. Nothing for it but to keep working and see what happens. Who knows? Both pistols and hand stands/handstand push ups are going to be part of the focus for the next 6 weeks of programming. I’m very excited about that. Maybe the wave will finally crest then. Just hope it doesn’t drown me in the process.

 

 

open wod 13.3

Three Crossift Games Open WODs in the books, the latest was another doozy. Take a benchmark WOD, scale it up to ludicrous speed and then set people loose on it. Whew!

So here was the workout:
12 Min Cap
150 Wall Ball Shots
90 Double Unders
30 Muscle Ups

I suppose if you’re super (wo)man and you got through all of that and had time to spare, you could go around again. That was not an issue for me.

So 150 wall balls all on their own is one of “the girls,” a benchmark WOD, Karen, which I had not attempted before. Hang the additional work of double unders and muscle ups over the athletes’ head and this is quite an event. Actually, this WOD is a repeat in it’s own right. This same WOD was utilized for the 2012 Open as 12.4. Interesting, but not too applicable for me, since I didn’t participate last year. I was coming into this one blind.

I really had no understanding of how deep I would go. Muscle ups were a non-factor for me. I can’t do them yet. So my hope/goal was simply to get as deep into the double unders as possible.

I was fairly certain I would have some time for double unders, but I really didn’t know if it would be 5 minutes, 1 minute or 10 seconds. I had no previous frame of reference to work from.

My Open workout partner Einar was gracious enough to join me in the WOD this morning, because I won’t be able to get to CFD when the box hosts this WOD. Coach Rachel was gracious enough to come in EARLY on an off day and judge us and two other athletes, Matt and Brad. To Einar, Matt and Brad — thanks for working through that one together, Gang. Misery loves company. 😉 Great job to each of you! To Rachel — thanks for guiding and judging us today! Much appreciated.

There was a lot in this WOD that gave me pause. The uncertainty of how far I’d be able to go. The unfamiliar feeling of working out alone as Rachel judged each of us individually was also troubling me. I much prefer feeding off the energy and atmosphere of working out in the group environment. I just wasn’t sure how I would respond. To EVERYONE in the 6:15 session that interrupted their own work to observe, cheer and offer encouragement, THANK YOU! It was heard and if not acknowledged in the moment, greatly appreciated. It was reassuring to feel that even though I was working out by myself, I was not alone. That counted for a lot.

When it was time to go to work, I volunteered to go first. I was pretty convinced watching others go first would get in my head.

I had a strategy going into the wall balls. My plan was to do 5 or 6 sets of 15 reps each. I was going to utilize a tactic I observed in the head to head demo the night before. In between each set, I would pin the medicine ball to the wall using my torso allowing me to shake out my arms and not use them to support the weight of the ball. I also was committed to not allowing the ball to touch the floor until all the wall balls were done. I didn’t want to do a single extra squat between sets to go retrieve the ball. In between sets, my plan was to take 5 quick deep breaths then resume. So how did it go?

I THINK I did 4 sets of 15. Might have only been 3. Frankly it all blurred together. All I know at this point is two things. The first is that well before I completed 75 reps, I was doing them in sets of 5! Second, I missed a SHIT LOAD of reps! I don’t disagree with a single no-rep that Rachel called. She was entirely correct and I knew it, but man they were getting tough and it was costing me time and energy. I’d conservatively guess that I missed 12-15 reps.

I missed them just about every way possible, too. I hit the wall short of the 10 foot mark. I threw the ball high enough, but it missed touching the wall! I threw a couple well BEYOND the 10 foot line and the ball hit the 2″ by 12″ board that runs horizontally along the wall of the gym! Those got no-repped too, I’m presuming because they didn’t hit the target proper. I get that.

If I’d been aiming at a disc target mounted on a pull up rig, I’d have been chasing my wall ball like a basket ball player that missed the entire backboard. Still, some where in my mind, I was thinking to myself, “Day-um, Rachel! Help a fella out!” But she was absolutely correct and I knew it. I don’t think that I got no-repped for not squatting deeply enough, but I did get warned repeatedly that I was pushing my luck, so I tried to adjust and ensure that I made it very obvious that I was breaking parallel.

I finished the wall balls at the 9:57 mark leaving 2+ minutes for double unders. I grabbed my rope, took a couple of deep breaths and went to it. The double under gods were kind to me today. I had a couple of runs that went 10 reps+ and a whole bunch of much shorter ones and a couple false starts.

When time expired, I’d completed 198 total reps! I am VERY satisfied with that score. I have no desire to challenge that WOD again. I gave it everything I had and I doubt there’s anything significant that I could change in my approach to improve my score significantly. The wall ball pace was appropriate for me. I pushed it hard, but still felt in control of my body when it was time to do double unders. That meant those went about as smooth as I could hope.

If I tried it again, I could probably be a bit more careful about my wall ball form to minimize the number of no-reps. Even if I accomplished that and I did gain a chunk of time I’m not certain it would make a significant impact. It’s entirely possible that the Double Under gods could laugh at me and leave me totally flat-footed, stumbling, flailing wildly and getting frustrated. Nope, I’m taking that 198 and standing by it with pride. On to Open WOD 13.4. It’s time to get past my fear of Toes to Bars!

 

 

up and down day

Coming off an extra day of rest because of a cold last weekend. It sort of helped. Heck, a rough day at the gym is still better than not working out. So I’ll take it.

WOD for Tuesday 121812
Front Squat
10 sets of 2 reps at 75% 1RM

Craig is back and we shared a rack/bar today for front squats. By the numbers, 75% of my 1RM is 185#. I worked my way up to that and worked through 5 sets at that weight. But by the end of the 5th set, I realized it was too much for today.

This cold that’s going through our house is tricky. I don’t feel unwell. No aches, no pains, no fever, no congestion….just feel totally flat. I napped twice on Saturday. That’s pretty unheard of for me. I thought I was better yesterday.

I only stayed away from the gym because my son still has this cold and he was tossing and turning all Sunday night/Monday morning. My wife and I were up with him on and off through out that night. After the second or third wake up call at 1am, I turned off Monday’s alarm just to get a bit more sleep. I discovered this morning that I’m not as well as I believed myself to be. So  be it.

For the remaining sets, I shed 10# off the bar and in the time remaining completed 3 more sets. Good enough given the circumstances.

METCON
For Time:
30 Overhead Squat (95/65)
7 Muscle Ups
20 Overhead Squat
5 Muscle Ups

I set a bar at 75# for the OHS and did 5 test squats and muttered aloud, “Yeah, that’s gonna be plenty.” Jack was in the vicinity, observed and commented, “those looked light. Those looked really light.” The implication being I should probably add more weight.

My response was, “Well sure, the first 5 look light. 50 is a ton of reps. It’s the last 5 I’m afraid of.” I also reminded him that I’d been ill this weekend and that I didn’t feel 100%. He conceded and said, “all right. I can get behind that.” Pretty sure, if we see something like this  again, I’m not going to get another hall pass.

In coaching the group, Jack was pretty adamant about not putting the bar down until all the squats were completed. He encouraged everyone to rest the rack on their shoulders, if necessary and avoid allowing the bar to go to the floor before completing a round. That became my A goal. Based on how early we set up for this one, I was anticipating a solid 10 minute WOD. That was the B goal, ‘get done in less than 10 minutes.’ As you’ll see, I’m a lousy judge of these things.

Ring Dips were the substitution for muscle ups. I used a purple band for those. Jack’s direction was double the muscle ups count, if doing ring dips. Okey-dokey.

Overhead squats went very well. First round was done in sets of 15, 10 and 5 and the bar did not hit the floor until the round was done. Second time around I did sets of 10, 5 and 5. I might have dropped the bar after the 15th rep. I don’t recall now.

Ring dips were split in half the first round 7 and 7. Second round went 5, 3, 2. Time to finish: 5:38.

Jack was right again. I probably should have done the OHS at 85#. Ah well. Plenty of other opportunities to punish myself later this week.

Free Time – There was time to spare after the WOD, so I elected to work on kipping pull ups with the vague idea that if the stars were aligned and all was good in the world I might go after a bar muscle up.

In the end, I really did 3 sets of 5 solid kipping pull ups, no chicken neck today, so that’s progress. If I the thought had occurred to me, I probably could have done some effective chest to bar pull ups. That’s also progress.

I’m still well short of a bar muscle up. By Jack’s estimation, I need at least an additional 6 inches of elevation. Something else to shoot for.

Front Squat Graph — For the next few weeks, I’m going to examine some of the main lifts we do. It’s the end of another year, so I figure it’s time to evaluate/assess and set new goals. The intent here is to examine progress on each lift and consider goals lift by lift for the upcoming year.

Next year around this time, hopefully, I can do it again and we’ll see what kind of progress has taken place. I promise I’ll bury these at the ends of the posts, so they’re easily avoidable, if no one else is interested.

Today’s graph is not perfect. It includes at least one 90% of 1RM day in there (that 200 dip in October). Going forward, I’m going to try and filter these more carefully so that they only include 1RM attempt dates. Overall, I’m very pleased with the progress on this lift. From 155 in Aug of 2011 to 215 a year later, then on to 245 as recently as a week ago. Yeah, it’s safe to say I like front squats.

The challenge now is establishing a realistic goal to improve this lift for 2013. Presuming the following factors: 1) I stick with my current work out program of 4 days a week 2) No customization/specialized training, just  adhering to the box programming. With those factors in mind, is 275 a challenging goal, or a pipe dream? Is it under achieving? Would love to hear folks’ thoughts.

 

finish first then celebrate

Hit a new PR on my clean this morning. Problem was we were doing clean and jerks.

WOD for Monday 120312
Clean and Jerk
Establish 1RM

Got to share a platform and bar with Chad and Troie this morning. These guys are seriously strong. Great partners to help a person get motivated to aim high.

My previous 1RM for clean and jerk was 185. So I came into the morning aiming for 195. Coach Erin asked everyone what our goals were, so I told her. No backing out now.

We took turns working through warm up lifts at 95 and 135 pounds. From there jumped to 165 and it was singles from there on out.

We did 165 and that was not a bad lift. Chad and Troie jumped from 165 to 185. When they were done, I brought up, “we never tie a PR right? So let’s put 5 more pounds on.”

I was a bit nervous, but went after it. The clean was VERY deep, but I was able to stand it up successfully. So there I am standing around with 190# racked on my chest and in my head I’m celebrating.

“Dude! You just PR’d your clean! You’ve never done 190 before.” Totally ignoring the fact that I still needed to jerk it overhead. Once that occurred to me, I thought, “Oh well. No big deal. I’ve jerked 190 before.” Totally took the lift for granted. FAIL!

I got the bar over head, but not far enough. Neither the bar rose high enough, nor did I dip deeply enough to lock out my arms and stand up the jerk. I lost it!

Chad and Troie were both very encouraging, assuring me I could get the jerk. I in turn assured them, “Oh I’m gonna get it. The clean is the hard part. If I get it off the floor again, I’ll get it overhead next time.”

After the guys each did their lifts we reset the bar for 190 and I went again. Good lift!

After one more rotation, I had another turn. I wasn’t really planning on lifting again, but both Chad and Troie said I should go for 195. That was the original goal anyway, so why not.

Turned out to be a good move. It wasn’t easy. The clean was a struggle to stand up. I got a bit forward in the catch. When I jerked it, I had to shuffle my feet a bit to get them secure under me and get everything locked out and stationary, but it was a good lift. After that, I announced loudly, “That’s it. That’s the second PR on the day. A batter always walks out of the batter’s box with a hit. I’m ending with a hit. I’m done.”

So a 10lb PR and I’m closing in on 200# for this combination. That’s very satisfying.

Suppose it deserves noting, when I say, “Jerk,” I’m referring to push jerks. Right now, I have far more confidence in that lift, so unless specifically told to split jerk, I always default to the push. Need to work on that. My understanding is a technically competent lifter can split jerk more than they can push jerks. So if I want to continue to get better, I need to work on that.

METCON
9-6-3 Reps For Time:
Thruster (70% of C&J 1RM)
Muscle Ups

So technically, 70% of 195 is 135-ish. I elected to scale back a shade and worked at 125. It was a challenging but effective weight.

I can’t do muscle ups. The designated substitution was ring dips with a 3:1 exchange. So for me the WOD became:

For Time:

9-6-3 Reps Thruster (60% of C&J 1RM)
27-18-9 Ring Dips  (w/red band)

I was set up with my bar on the floor at the end of the rack positioned next to the set of rings that I intended to use for the dips all set with a band looped through.

I was the last person done with the first round of thrusters and by the time I completed the set some one else was occupying “my” rings! What the…?!

All other visible rings were occupied, so I scrambled to grab a bar. Coach Erin helped me set it up quickly on the rack. While I started doing unassisted dips, she went and grabbed a red band for me for later in the WOD.

I was so flustered by the confusion/situation over the dips, I really didn’t track reps beyond making sure I got all the required numbers in.

I finished in 7:55. I’m putting an asterisk by that one though for technical difficulties.

After the WOD I talked it over with Coach Erin. She saw what happened and it turns out the person that commandeered the rings I was planning to use was a victim of the same problem. Some one had gotten to the rings they intended to use before they did. This person was merely adjusting on the fly. Could it have been handled differently? Probably. Is it a big deal in the grander scheme of things? Nah.

In the moment, it was frustrating. 5 minutes after the WOD was over, I’d let it go.

Besides, I still PR’d the clean and jerk, so I’ve got nothing to be upset about.

 

cleaned my clock

There’s no way around it. Today was one hell of a workout. It was rewarding, but rough!

WOD for Tuesday 112012
Back Squat
10 sets of 2 reps at 75% 1RM

Craig and I warmed up quickly to get to our prescribed weight of 225#. Squats felt pretty good today. In fact during one set, Coach Jack commented that I achieved a “perfect depth.” Below parallel, but not too deep. Craig and I joked with Troie and Griff, the next rack over, that in all of our collective experience NONE of us ever heard Jack use the word “perfect” before. So it’s official. I had a good day.

In the last few sets, I brought my feet in closer and a bit more squarely under my hips. Those lifts felt more stable than many of the earlier sets.

Of all the things I try to pay attention to when back squatting, foot position has not been high on that mental checklist. My primary concern with my feet has been and continues to be keeping my weight back in my heels. I’ve taken for granted that I’d found a stance that feels natural and works best for me. It seems maybe I need to reconsider that. Lesson learned. Take nothing for granted.

METCON
9-7-5 Reps For Time:
Muscle Ups
Clean (185/135)

Muscle ups: the substitution for muscle ups was ring dips. I used a red band for these. Coach Jack set the required rep count for ring dips as 15-10-5, rather than 2:1 or even 3:1 ring dips to muscle ups. Don’t know about anyone else, but I was very thankful for the decision. All ring dips were completed in sets of 5.

Cleans: The direction was that this was to be heavy. If not Rx, then 80-85% of 1RM for Clean. 80% of my clean 1RM is 144#. So I set the bar at 145#. It. Was. TOUGH.

Every rep was done as a single. There was no stringing lifts together. Each repetition was its own event. There was nothing to be done about it. You just had to take them one at a time and churn through.

In the middle of the round of 7, I missed a pair of lifts (non-consecutive reps). One knocked me on my ass. The other I got too far forward and didn’t squat deeply enough. Just couldn’t get under the bar for that one. After the second fail, I told myself, “That’s two strikes. Three strikes and you’re out. Miss another rep and you need to strip 10# off the bar.” I didn’t miss again.

Heavy cleans are a funny lift. The athlete lifts the bar and then frequently, they’ll simply shrug it off their chest, step back and let gravity do the work of returning the bar back to the floor. Depending on the weight on the bar, the result is a very satisfying crash. Well, with 16 athletes dropping bars of all sorts of varying weights at random times for 12 something minutes today, it had to be very difficult for the folks who practice yoga in the building’s basement to stay centered today. I chuckled to myself imagining folks downstairs trying to remain centered and calm and periodically cringing as a heavy barbell crashed down over their heads. Some times odd things motivate you to pick the bar up again. Like just being able to drop it again on someone else’s head.

Time to finish today 9:36 and I felt shot.

Finisher:
Banded Good Mornings
100 Reps

All done with a blue band. It still surprises me how much these wear out the smaller muscles in my back.

The rest of the week should be interesting. Wednesday will be a rest day. I’m very much looking forward to that. At the moment my body is feeling a bit more than exercised. It’s feeling a bit punished. Feels like I just pushed a bit too hard the past two days. That’s no one’s fault but my own.

Thursday should be a Thanksgiving Day hero WOD. I’m curious to see which one it will be. I’m also looking forward to seeing Coach Paul. We interact frequently online, but our paths don’t cross often enough in real life. It’ll be good to see him.

Friday – Yoga, in public! Yikes! I’m a little nervous about that. But we check our egos at the door and come ready to learn, right? That’s the attitude I’m adopting for this. My friend Lexy is leading a yoga class at CFD and I’m really looking forward to that. Just like anything else we do at the gym, I always get excited for something new. While I’m sure the workout won’t be any less challenging than a Crossfit workout, I’m really looking forward to what I expect will be a “bar free” workout. I know. I know. Be careful what I wish for. 😉

I was chatting with Lexy today in between stages of the workout and she asked if I’ve done yoga before. To paraphrase Mike Rowe from “Dirty Jobs,” I told her, “Lexy, when I said ‘good morning’ I told you everything I know about yoga.”

That’s not entirely accurate. I own a yoga DVD. Two years ago, I would use it maybe once or twice a week. I know a down dog from a warrior pose. I’m acquainted with the various yoga poses some of the Crossfit instructors employ during warm up routines, but not much beyond that.

Really looking forward to the challenges that this class ought to present.

 

First Date with Grace

So Saturday I had a chance to do the benchmark WOD “Grace.” It was a good first date.

The full WOD was

WOD for Saturday 102712
Muscle Ups

3 reps on the minute for 12 minutes

I don’t have muscle ups and didn’t want to burn up too much on this portion of the workout. I did 3 ring rows focusing on using a false grip and 3 ring dips using a red band.

Things went pretty smoothly.

METCON
“Grace”
For Time:
30 Clean and Jerks (135/95)

I worried for days about whether or not I could even complete this WOD Rx. I altered WODs to avoid certain exercises the day prior.  Coaches and friends all assured me that I could and should try it that way. So that was the plan walking into the gym.

When Coach Ryan announced Saturday morning that everyone should pick a weight that would allow them to finish under five minutes, I seriously reconsidered whether I’d go Rx or not.

I spoke to Ryan as I was setting up. I said, “You know, I really wanted to try this Rx, but I don’t think I can finish in 5 minutes.”

He asked, “Can you finish in 6 or 7 minutes?”

I thought to myself, “7 minutes? Shit, either I’ll have finished, or my arms will have fallen off.” So I answered, “Yeah, in 7 minutes, it’ll all be over.”

It was a total surprise to drop the bar after the last rep, glimpse the clock and see a time of 4:54!  

From my point of view it just reinforces that I have no realistic understanding of what I’m capable of. But I’m learning.