3 a day

Front Squat 2 – 2 – 2 – 2 – 2 – 2

Oh man, I made 2 attempts at 115# single rep. I failed bad on the first. I felt as if I was going to low and I wasn't staying active at the bottom of my squat. So I had Sean cue me as when to shoot out out of the bottom for my 2nd attempt. Coming up felt like slow motion. I think I even closed my eyes. Happy to make that attempt. I need to be more diligent about my Wendler 5-3-1; Diso said that a 135-140# front squat would be exceptional for my size. Plus it would probably guarantee me a bodyweight Clean. 

Flight Simulator was a joke. I'm going through that period again where I've lost my double unders. This only reinforces to me that I have to literally double under everyday or I'll forget how to do them. I hadn't picked up my rope in a couple of weeks, and this is what I get. My cadence was all fucked up and I couldn't get the rope under my feet. Gonna be diligent about making double unders part of my daily warm up. 

My third WOD was pulled from the Sectionals floater WODs: 3 Squat Cleans at 70-65%1RM, EMOTM until failure or 20 minutes(that stands for every minute on the minute)

On rep 12, my 3rd rep was a power clean; my legs would not drop down into a squat. Reps 17-20 I only did 2 reps vs 3. 

This really got my blood pumping. When tired, my form goes to shit. I can feel myself not using the entire jump, therefore causing me to catch the bar very forward. At the end I was drenched in sweat. 70#s is 85% of my 1RM of 85#. 

Friday, I felt really lethargic and overall sick. My sinus/chest infection really had me laying down all day. 

On empty

“Santora”
Three rounds for reps of:
155/115 pound Squat cleans, 1 minute
20′ Shuttle sprints (20′ forward + 20′ backwards = 1 rep), 1 minute
245/195 pound Deadlifts, 1 minute
Burpees, 1 minute
155/115 pound Jerks, 1 minute

Just wanted to try my hand at Snatch Balance. I haven't done this movement since my the early summer, prior to my back injury. It was a good warm up to Santora. 

OMG, what an ass kicker. It's like Fight Gone Bad but way fuckin' worse. I'm happy with my score. I'm glad that I did 55# vs. 65#. There was no way I would could have done 65# cleans into the seconde round, my legs were just killed... After 400m walking lunge then the Front Squat workout on Tuesday... my legs are still fried and on the mend. During the shuttle sprints my legs felt so heavy; running backwards felt good, it was the running forward that was difficult. 

The burpees were actually not bad. You just kept moving and pushed up and that's it. I did well each round, it kind of felt like rest. 

The worst worst worst was the Jerks. At that point of the round you are just sooooo gassed the idea od cleaning the bar and putting overhead is sickening. I would only do like 2 at a time and would have to dump the bar. Of course, before the start of the WOD the strategy was to rest the bar at the rack position and not drop the bar so you wouldn't have to clean it again, well all strategy gets thrown out the door when you're just trying to survive. 

Here's how the work broke down each round. 

Oly Oly Oxen Free!

If you can't understand Mello's scratch:

POWER CLEAN-HANG SQUAT CLEAN-CLEAN

RACK JERKS

I've been wanting to attend Tuesday night's Olympic Lifting Class by Chris Mello since its inception a few weeks back. I finally got a Tuesday night off after much finagling with those at work (god, I hate that place).

We started with the Junk Yard Dog Warm up that go me all revved up. It was great. Mello then jumped right into the lesson starting with the Burgener warm up with the pvc, then into the clean progression. We did it all over again with a just a bar with no plates- I chose the 15# bar. 

The clean complex was the 3 movements strung together without letting go of the bar. I really liked it. Mello didn't feel I needed to get to my 1RM weight (75#), but to really work on my speed and technique, so I maxed out at 65#s doing sets at that weight. 

The Rack Jerk is something I need to work on, specifically on my landing, it's a bit soft and not solid. But I feel my jump-jerk speed is good. I feel solid with the weight above me, meaning my core is solid and engaged, but for sure my feet are "slippy" if that makes any sense. 

I really really really really want to have it where I have Tuesdays off from now on so that I can attend the Oly Lift Class on a regular basis. I'll talk to Cole and Ricky about it. Orrrrrr, I could just land a regular schedule job and escape the hell that is Hotel Shangri-la. Please please please please. 

Double your pleasure, double your fun!

Not for time:

5 Muscle-ups

50 Hollow Rocks

5 Muscle-ups

30 Rolls, Forward or Backward, athlete's choice

5 Muscle-ups

20 Bridge-ups

5 Muscle-ups

I worked mostly on my dips with thin red band, and strict pull up with 1" white band. The hollow rocks were yucky. I have a love/hate relationship with forward rolls. I did not do any bridges, cause I ran out of time...

This was my "warm up" to this:

"Fran"

Three rounds, 21-15- and 9 reps, for time of:

95 pound Thruster

Pull-ups

So this is my baseline. This was first time for me to attempt Fran with unassisted pull ups. I was upset the entire time I was doing the WOD. Only because the night before I was fantasizing in my head of doing Fran with ease and grace... But when it was actually happening, I felt like shit! It wasn't what I imagined at all. I was sooooooooooooooo gassed the whole time. My arms went to failure during the first 21 pull ups. The thrusters I could only do in sets of 4. NOt anticipating to feel really gassed so soon, it fucked with my head and I think I started to get down on myself. I just couldn't believe my arms wouldn't work. 

I did do Fran by myself. YOu know my feelings about that. And I am 4 days into eating Paleo(+dairy), so my caloric intake is lower and my body is no longer relying on calorie dense carbs for energy... So I really think I'm in a transition period with my body, therefore feeling really sluggish and tired quickly def could be an outcome to my change in diet. 

I definitely did not eat enough for the amount of work I did today, but we'll get to that later. 

I left Paradiso Crossfit and headed over to LAX Crossfit  to do a heavy WOD. 

Deadlift 4-4-4

I'm super happy with my performance on this WOD. 4 reps is a lot. The WOD on December 8 I lifted 165 x2 consecutively on the minute, but I still think this is a different measure. The last set of 4 was a challenge. I felt like the bar was in slow motion. But I did not compromise my form! 

Dan then wanted me to do a 65# Clean (almost 90%) of my PR and record it so we can dissect my movements. We did; I'll post it once I get. At that point I was tired. I hadn't eaten a whole meal yet; the guys all had Peruvian food, which I grazed on a bit... I was just tired. I could have stayed and talked "shop" all day but I had to head to work. The guys at LAX Crossfit are really warm and laid back. I'm sure their box will foster that same warmth in their future members. Which is a good thing. 

My body actually feels good as I type this. I feel not achy or sore.  Woo hoo! Must be the fish oil :) I don't ever want to take 2-3 weeks off from CF. It's the worst breaking your body back in. 

So my diet has been lacking today.

4oz roasted beet

1 SFH daily balance shake made with milk

1 SFH Post wod shake made with water

1 pear

1oz of beef (lomo saltado)

1 banana

3 egg omelet with truffle cheese

small salad with balsamic vin

8oz coffee with half/half

Not enough calories for sure. 

2 days in a row

I did scale A @ 45#s. This WOD really socked it to me. In a good way. I felt really good with my thrusters. I was getting really good hip extension, which enable me to get the bar over my head swiftly. The hang cleans really gassed me. I thought for sure it would be the thrusters, but it was the hang cleans. Now, all 8 rounds I did the 7 reps without a break, but after complete the set it would definitely take me a second to catch my breath. 

The High pulls I had the habit of breaking them up into 2 sets of 5. Overall I'm happy with my work. I collapsed on the floor, feeling that yummy euphoric feelings. My shoulder is definitely sore, but not in pain. I did the shoulder mobility WOD with Rader today, so hopefully it will help the soreness pass quickly. 

More hot tub action tonight, so I'm really drowsy yet again. Good night!

I have yellow fever

"ADAMBROWN"

Two rounds for time of:

295/185 pound Deadlift, 24 reps

24 Box jumps, 24 inch box

24 Wallball shots, 20/16 pound ball

195/120 pound Bench press, 24 reps

24 Box jumps, 24 inch box

24 Wallball shots, 20/16 pound ball

145/100 pound Clean, 24 reps

My scale:

2x-

15 Deadlift @ 105#s

15 Box Jumps

15 Wallball 8#s

15 Ring dips w/ band

15 Box Jumps

15 Wallball

15 Cleans @ 65#s

The workout was tough. The easiest was the wall ball. The toughest was the cleans. 65#s is heavy for me. It was my 1RM PR just a month ago. The deadlifts kicked my ass. Not sure why. 105# is my usual weight, but for some reason it  felt really heavy. Maybe because I did them after the cleans, I don't know, but I had to break up the work into 3 sets of 5 each time. 

I was useless after the work out. My shoulder was really starting to hurt. I immediately iced it. 

It hurts when I...

-row

-Jump rope, esp DUs

-jerk

-overhead press

-open my car door from the inside

-swing my arms during box jump

and today, lifting my purse up onto my shoulder.

Things I do that surprise me that my shoulder doesn't hurt...

-Snatch

-clean

-dips

-pull ups

-deadlift

So today, I plan to see my chiropractor to get an adjustment and have him do the thing that he did last time to my shoulder. He cracked and popped it and it immediately relieved the pressure I felt was building in the area. I also plan to get a massage, time permitting. Friday I have a 9am appt. at Yosan with a post-grad student. I hope I heal quickly. I really don't want to be injured for my level 1 cert. That's 2 weeks away. I've got to really lay off of it until then. 

I'm so glad Heather loves Crossfit. She's dedicated. She goes to 6:30AM class. She texts me her accomplishments. I think it's awesome. 

A rant:

Asian aren't attracted to me. Seriously. There's all this conjecture that white guys are swoopin' in on all the Asian broads... well, it's because they have the balls to hit on us. Last Sunday, after the X games, Leah and I had dinner in K-town. The restaurant was filled with a mix of Orientals and their white friends feeling culinary adventurous. Not one slanty-eyed man would make eye contact with me. Now, there could be a myriad of reasons why (collectively) all the Asian men would not look at me, including that maybe they don't find me attractive, but this happens to me all the time. It's like I don't exist to my own race of men. Today, at Whole Foods, the checker was super hot so I flashed him a smile--- nothing reciprocated. 

I never really been attracted to Asian men until very recently. I did date an Dutch-Indonesian guy, but he looked straight Dutch. In high school, I liked a filipino guy, Erick, but again, I didn't exist to him. So I gave up on "them" because of their lack of interest in me- that was over 14 years ago. I went on to taste the rainbow of men.  I guess, I don't get it. Maybe I'm not approachable. Or could it be the way they are raised? Coddled by their mothers, but also conditioned to be stoic and reserved. Showing emotion is weak. When I think of Asian men, I hardly think them as emotionally deep. As if their capacity to express emotion is not necessary. It may seem bold of me to make such a broad statement about men of a certain region of the world, but I take into account the social mores of most Oriental cultures, where discipline and reserve is exalted as a sign of control and power over oneself... Conservatism is to be presented outwardly, while uninhibited behavior is for behind closed doors and away from prying eyes. I think this thought has a lot to do with how Asian men socialize... They are never controversial, or make waves... mostly agreeable, light hearted, good people. The same could be said of the women. I have never seen an Asian child acting up in public. My brother and I were angels said my mother. We mimic our family by being in control of our urges and emotions, even at a young age. Maybe Asians are more cautious. And this translates into not being aggressive when it comes to the male-female "dance."

Jan Bu and I had dinner a month ago. She had been in a long term relationship with a Filipino guy. After they broke up, she started to date men of other races and realized that each race had their own distinct flair, GAME you'd call it. She then came to the conclusion that Filipinos/Asians have NO GAME. They aren't bold or strong enough to make her notice. She felt she needed to chase them, pursue them because they weren't confident enough to pursue her. She wrote off Asian men. As harsh as that sounds, I totally know what she's talking about. I feel/felt the same way. It made me think about the "Americanization" of  women like myself and Jan, and the countless successful Asian women in our generation. We're not the same women that exist in our mother countries. Our ideals and romantic notions have morphed to include the bold fantasies that Western Social Media and pressed in our feminine minds. We'd like to have our men live up to those bold ideals, not blur into the background to the trail we're blazing for ourselves. As contemporary as our lives seem to be, I know that Americanized Asian women still have STRONG traditional family values, where the man leads. Men have gotten soft recently. What happened to courting, chivalry, and manners? We throw around terms like "dating" "seeing each other" "talking" "hooking up" "hanging out"... What does it all mean? We use those loose terms to avoid having to actually express what we truly want for fear of being rejected. Either you're on board or you're not, but people want to play in the gray area just in case they need to split or something better comes along. 

This rant has really morphed into something completely different. I have no idea where I'm going with this.

cleaning machine

Clean 3-3-3-3-3-3-3

55-65-70-75PR(x2)-75PR(x1)-75(Fail)-75PR(x1)

It was my intention to make it to the 6AM class, but around 3:50AM I was awakened by a hacking dry cough from extremely dry throat. No matter how much water, I drank I couldn't get the scratchy feeling out of my throat. The intense dry hack made me dry HEAVE, and choke. It was not pleasant. At this point I could not go back to sleep. I watched the time tick away on my clock... 4:15, 4:20, 4:25, 4:50... my alarm was set for 5:30AM and I knew the pressure of trying to get back to sleep was too much. So I text Suze that I wasn't going to make it to class due to lack of rest and that my intention was to attend 8AM. I reset my alarm, and dozed off quickly knowing I had 3 hours to rest. 

Working out in the new space was totally fun and EASY. No stepping on anyone's toes, you have so much room to move freely... And I believe that the energy in the morning is completely different than in the evening--- I like it better. It's more focused and on task. I try to be on task at night, but there are too many distractions, it's kind of annoying. 

Knowing the WOD the night before, I made it a goal to set a PR over my old one of 65#s. When I did 70#s it seemed easy. I moved up to 75#s. Besides getting tired, I knew it was completely mental to execute all the steps that I know how to do. I mean, it's only 5#s more, right... why was I hesitating getting under the bar? Why was I shrugging the weight too soon, well before the bar was at my thighs? Cause my head gets all jacked up when you attempt so many times you and FAIL. You start to doubt yourself. Heavy days are just as mental as the long ass 40 min met-con WODs. 

Either way, I am very pleased to beat my old PR by 10s. Yay!!!! 

I want 8AM to be my home. 

Valley Crossfit and Sweet Assassin= BFFs

With a clock running for 20 minutes:

Run 800, then
AMRAP-
3 Clean/Jerk (I cleaned only 65#s)
6 Pull ups (with band)
9 Push ups (knees)
At the end of the 20mins, run 800m

Your score is how many round you completed

My score: 5 rounds + 3 cleans

Soooo much to say... First, I loved this workout, even with all the running.  It was pretty crazy class with 24 peeps. We all warmed up collectively in the parking lot; 200m jog, skipping and DROM.

We paired up for the WOD. Janice was by herself with 35# bar and small kettlebell to do high-pulls instead of pull ups. I tried to do 65# clean and Jerk, but I couldn't get the bar over me. It is 2/3 my body weight. So Mike said to just clean the bar cause there were no more bumper plates for me to have my own bar. Mike told me to do a couple cleans to feel it out. I felt a lot of pressure. Now realize, that I just set that PR of 65# for my clean so the weight is somewhat new to me. I thought, I better do this, I don't want to look like a weak sauce in front of Mike :)

Well I did 2 right off, and my confidence shot through the roof and I felt good going into it. The 800m run wasn't bad at all.
During the WOD, after every clean I did I felt even more confident and strong. I felt good. My pull ups were nice, and I felt strong during my push ups.
The second 800m sucked. I hated it.

During the cool down, the first place woman at the CF Regionals walked into the gym and I got kind of excited, like a school girl. I'm such a goober.

I ate well today.

10 oz Chicken breast
4oz. broccoli/cauliflower
1 banana w/ 1Tbls of hazelnut butter

1 tangerine
Garlic Shrimp
5 jumbo purple asparagus

1 large orange

1 Sierre Nevada Torpedo IPA

Tomorrow is sooooo going to be rest day. Except that I look at the WOD and I really want to do it.

I'm fuckin' Crosffit crazy :D




I think Janice is seriously considering taking on Crossfit. I can see her coming up with all the objections... hopefully I've answered them satisfactorily.

Oh glorious Saturday!

I decide to do Friday's WOD this morning. It really gassed me, but I loved it. My biceps are already sore. And my results:

I used a 45# barbell.  I'm happy with my time. I didn't really set a goal but 10mins seems good. 

The PCF morning crew needed to be fed, so we all made it over to Panini Cafe. And I had this amazing grilled seafood salad with pesto. It was phenomenal. See:

Now it's down time before I pedal my ass to Manhattan Beach for some beach volleyball and R&R on the sand with CourtneyRose. Life is good :)

Sweet Assassin- Don't get too close.

Surprise, surprise

Clean one rep every minute on the minute for 15 minutes.

Watch the video:  Tommy Hackenbruck 335/275lbs, Ben Crook 305/275lbs, Miranda Oldroyd 185/165lbs, Taz Venter 165/145lbs.

Hi/Low: 65/45#s

This WOD was tiring the only way a heavy day can be tiring. I went into the workout going off of memory of my clean baseline of 65#s; immediately I thought, "Today I'm going to set a new PR, and clean 70#s." I started at 45-easy; 50-easy; 55-easy; 60- was not easy but I was able to do it in one try. 65#s was challenging and took me 2 tries to make it look "clean;" in my head, I kept telling myself that I've done this before, so get it out of your head that you can't. I was excited to finally get to 70#s which I thought if I mastered would be my new clean PR. 3 attempts- Fail! I could not get myself under the bar fast enough. Drop back down to 65: 1st attempt ugly, 2nd attempt was perfection. Back up to 70#s: failure 3 more times. I knew it was all in my head. I knew my legs and midline are strong enough to support the weight, but I just couldn't "commit." I was psyched out.

I racked my bar and resigned to the fact that I didn't hit my goal (AGAIN- 2x in 8 days-WTF!- remember Filthy Fifty!). My disappointment in myself even surprised me. It's only recently that I've become pretty down on myself when I don't accomplish a goal I've set out. Before, I was just happy to show up to the box, or just finish the WOD. The old, low standards do not apply, because I've gotten better. Those around me have to remind me that. 

So this morning, I log into my blog and search the term "clean;" I wanted to confirm my old baseline. The search returns a handful of entries. I looked at everyone. The highest recorded clean I've done is 60#s. 

I DID SET A NEW PR OF 65#s. Woohoo! All that grief for nothing. I need to start being more positive about the work I do in the box. 

Tonight is potluck and movie night at PCF. Should be good. 

I didn't eat nearly enough food yesterday. 

Tangerine

Roasted chicken

Strawberries

banana

meatloaf

That's it. I know :(