Challenge myself

For time:
155 lb Power Clean, 10 reps
1 Rope climb
155 lb Power Clean, 8 reps
1 Rope climb
155 lb Power Clean, 6 reps
1 Rope climb
155 lb Power Clean, 4 reps
1 Rope climb
155 lb Power Clean, 2 reps
1 Rope Climb

75# is my 3RM for Power Clean. I couldn't even put up 80#s once. So 70#s is 95% of my max. I was on the fence about doing this weigh just cause 10 and 8 reps is a lot... It was but 2 weeks prior that there was 3 Power Clean EMOTM for 7 mins WOD that I did 70#s, but that is only 21 reps total with some rest between sets. This 32 reps of just GO! GO! GO!

Black Lara told me to do 70#s even though I had reservation about it. A few weeks back there was a couplet WOD of Power Cleans/ GHD sit ups 21-15-9 that I did 60#s at that time and it wrecked me, so I thought 10# jump would be ludicrous. But I did, and I'm glad. And I feel stronger. AAAAAANNNND, Francisco, who was cheering me on during my last couple of minutes of agony, came up to me and said that my last reps were in perfect mechanics as my first in the WOD. I think he said something like "Your form is always perfect from beginning to end." A couple days prior, he was also witness in my Fran WOD, and he had commented on how my pull ups were legit all the way until the end, that my chin was always over the bar, leaving no room for doubt. I'm proud that I uphold those standards for myself. I definitely give credit to Zeb and Diso, whom were always on us from the early days back over 2 years ago about keeping good technique and not half-assing reps. Do it right or don't the waste the energy. Mechanics, consistency, intensity. It took up a year and half to finally bring the intensity into my WODs, and in some movements I'm still not there yet... Like my box jump. I still don't feel confident at 20" so I take it slow and make sure that I stand all the way up at the top. Do my times "suffer?" But I want to things properly first, there will always be time to ratchet it up...

I super love Crossfit. 

Oh, and being part of OnRamp, and at times having to demo movements for Zeb and Diso, I realize how far along I've come. I think I was demo'ing the back squat/OHS and rope climb, and as 14 pairs of eyes were on me and watching my technique, Diso commented to the group, "Guys, Assassin has been doing this a long time, you'll get there, too." 

It warmed my heart... and it makes me want to go after my goals more aggressively... This Crossfit shit really does work! 

2fer 1

Tuesday, Jan 10, 2010

Workout of the day:
Overhead Squat 3-3-3-3-3 reps

Cool Down:
5 minute AMRAP for reps:
Max Handstand Push-ups (5 rep cap)
Max 20″ Box jumps (10 rep cap)

On this day, I wanted to test out the new overhead position of "pack the shoulders" vs "active shoulders"- the way I've learned and been training for the past 2 years. Pack the shoulders allows for more control of the bar, allowing in the long term to support bigger loads, and "this shoulder orientation should mitigate the risk of injury." Read about Pack the Shoulders in this article by T-Nation.com. This technique is similar to Coach Mike Burgener's "stacking the bones." 

Knowing I was training a new technique I decided to pick a do-able weight and stick with it for all 5 sets, going for perfect mechanics. By my 4th and 5th set, my partner Jamie G, said that I was looking more upright than in my first 3 sets. I was perfectly pleased. Soon I will be attempting to do more weight in the new position. 

Big Deal right here:

This cool down WOD was the first WOD that I felt my clean eating. What I mean is that I didn't feel like shit and I felt like I could keep going after time was called. I know that 5 mins is a short time domain, but that means sprint, and sprint I did. I'm proud that I went 6 rounds scoring the maximum 15 rep cap :)

I was told that day that my arms are starting to look like Martina's, a compliment, BTW. 

And Zeb stated that it seems that I'm bringing more intensity to my WODs of recent. 

So after all is said and done, I can't deny that diet and nutrition is the key to excelling and acheiving goals at the box. *sigh* The fat girl in me wished it weren't true. Lol. 

Afterwards, I did my weekly "Curves" of 400m walking lunge. Then after assisting in teaching the On-Ramp class I decided to tackle.... 

“Fran”
21-15-9 reps for time of:
Thrusters, 95lbs 40#s
Pullups

I have only been doing Fran with 35#s, I believe. Previous times being in the 13min range, 11min range, then the 8min range on my birthday of 2011. So adding 5#s to the bar and beating my old time is super gratifying. 

Fran you still a bitch. 

What an action filled evening, dontcha think? 

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. 

B-a-n-a-n-a-s!

AMRAP 7 minutes of:
5 Thrusters (95#/65#)
10 Kettlebell swings 
Rest 4 minutes and then perform your score (rounds and reps) for time.  Goal is sub 7 minutes.

What a doozy! I knew when I read this last night that it was going to put me down like tranq'd out show elephant in the circus (where do I come up with this shit?). 

I'll save the nitty gritty details and go for the final conclusion: I should have listened to my back. The 2nd round of work is when I felt not so hot at the bottom of my thruster (squat) and at the top of my thruster (hyper-extension of my back). Wanting to beat my 7 mins time, my form went to shit. I should have tapped out like I did on Saturday. 

I iced. Rolled. Stretched. Iced again. 

Brushing my teeth at the sink was uncomfortable again. 

Sigh. 

I hoped I'm not fucked. 

PS- Post WOD recovery (not the shake) took about 2 hours to feel alright again. 

Reflection

Five rounds for time of:

35 Double-unders

Run 200 meters

I came in dreading this WOD but afterwards I realized I loved/hated it. At 3-2-1 Go! I had this knot in my tummy anticipating that this was going to suck. The 10 minutes went by pretty fast. I don't really remember rounds 2 or 3. I do remember coming back from my 4th run and saw Martina on the ground resting. She gave me this look like, Finish this shit up, and I shot her my index finger saying I only had 1 more round left. 

My last set of DUs were spotty. I messed up 4 times to rep 8, until I finally got in a rhythm and finished out the remaining 27 reps in one fell swoop. Started on my run and was going as fast as I could, which wasn't fast. I just knew that I was almost done (and the finish line sounded like paradise) so I kept a nice steady pace; shit, it was fastest sprint I could muster with what gas I had left in the tank.

I collapsed on the concrete and felt my tummy convulsing, making me burp continuously. Dry heaving, a good sign that I pushed myself. 

This WOD was the cherry on top to a fun and grueling week of WODs. 

I feel what I feel and I don't judge it.

"Crossfit Games Masters Chipper"

For time:

10 Handstand push-ups (on a box)

20 Wall ball shots, 20 8 pound ball to 10' target

30 Toes-to-bar

40 Hang Power cleans, 135  55 pounds

50 Burpees

60 Sumo deadlift high-pull, 75 12KG KB

As you can see above, I heavily scaled back on this WOD. Knowing that my hip/back is still not fully on point I didn't want to get ahead of myself and set back my healing. 

During the toes to bar, I started feeling a bit twitchy in my hip, so at rep 22 I just did Knees to Elbow strict, no kip. The kipping was definitely straining my hip. 

The power cleans killed me. My elbows felt fast. The burpees had to be the worst; I felt all dizzy and kept burping. That's when I started feeling the 2 pints of beer I had earlier in the afternoon. 

My intention was to do SDHP at 12Kg, but my hip didn't feel right, so I just did deadlifts. Probably saved myself anymore aggravation in my hip. 

I felt wrecked after calling time, definitely gassed. 

I am ready

"Mini JT"

12-9-6 reps NOT for time of:

Handstand Pushups

Ring Dips

Pushups

Rest as needed, then

"Annie"

50-40-30-20-10 reps for time of:

Double Unders

Situps

New PR by 1:02!!!!

While i'm super stoked about my PR I can't help but think if I had not messed up like 5 time during my 40 round I would have at least done a minute better... Aaaaaand, this is not to talk shit buuuuuut I should not have jumped rope next to Viola, whom was frantically/spasmatically Double Undering, which really fucked up my "calm" that I need to get into a groove. I really had to concentrate on not absorbing his energy and tune him out. 

My sit ups were lightening fast. I know that Smidty started his 50 set about 5 seconds fast than I, yet I managed to finish about 5 seconds faster than he. I didn't take a calculated rest at this point and went straight into my 40 set of DUs, and failed several times. I then took a deep breath and told myself to relax. 

Rounds 30-20 and 10 were without incident. 

So I worked out 3 days in a row and I am so sore. My body is pretty beat down. I plan to take the next couple of days, probably go a back in on Sunday. 

I'm strangely calm. I got some very good "advice" and comfort from close friends. It has me refocused and serene about what I have to do. 

The Silver Dollar Pancake WOD

"The Bear Complex"

5 rounds, NOT for time:

(7 times through the sequence equals one round)

Power Clean

Front Squat

Push Press

Back Squat

Push Press

I kept the weight light... I hope it was light enough. I considered doing the 15# bar. I had the bar on 2 boxes so I wouldn't have to deadlift from the ground. My back is bit tight right now, but no pain. I should have warmed up my hips a bit more for sure. My shoulders were definitely feeling it by the end of the WOD. 

Cool down was 4 rounds max rep effort of Wall Balls scaled up in weight with 90 seconds rest between each round. A few months back I could not get the 8# ball up to the 10 ft line. So I tried and I could. My numbers for each round are in the pic. I think I've graduated to the 8# ball for WODs... Sad face. Lol. 

Cause I'm nutso, I decided to try my hand at Flight Simulator:

5 unbroken double unders
10 unbroken double unders
15 unbroken double unders
20 unbroken double unders
25 unbroken double unders
30 unbroken double unders
35 unbroken double unders
40 unbroken double unders
45 unbroken double unders
50 unbroken double unders
45 unbroken double unders
40 unbroken double unders
35 unbroken double unders
30 unbroken double unders
25 unbroken double unders
20 unbroken double unders
15 unbroken double unders
10 unbroken double unders
5 unbroken double unders

As you can see, I threw in the towel after 8 attempts at getting to 40. Gosh it was frustrating, but a great way to practice double unders. I hope I didn't fuck myself with my already sore ass and quads... Shit, maybe even aggravate my hip. Let me add up how many DUs I did total.... 395!!!!!! Shit, I hope my calves are gonna be ok tomorrow. Tomorrow's WOD is Annie. I hope I can beat my old time of 9:59.

Putting it out there.... 

But the Tigers come at night... as they tear your hope apart.

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 8 minutes of:

20 Weighted Walking Lunges (75/55)

40 Double-Unders

I had a crazy double under break through today. 50 DUs were part of the warm up. I started to jump and got in this rhythm... I felt calm, my entire body was relaxed and my breathing was controlled... I was approaching 50 and I thought, "should I stop?" I didn't. I lasted until 64, which is the highest number of DUs that I've ever strung together. I was super happy. 

Rounds 3 and 4 I was able to get 39 straight, and in the 5th round I did 40 straight. I'm super pleased with myself.

This is the first high intensity WOD i've done in 2 weeks. I felt good, no pain in the hip. Afterwards, I was really knocked on my ass by the post workout drunkenness. The euphoria felt like a stranger, so I got a bit of anxiety. I took my Post WOD shake to go cause I couldn't be around people at that moment. 

I've missed the intensity.

I've been dishonest. I've been lying to myself and to you. I haven't been a good friend. I'm so sorry. I feel horrible. I don't know how to make it right. I want to be honest and open, but I'm afraid. It 's eating me up inside. I'm not at peace at all. It's starting to cloud my judgement, make me act in fear, think vindictive thoughts. I feel ashamed that it's gotten to this point. When it's all so simple. My heart has been so heavy; it's not a good way to live. I feel like a hypocrite expounding the tenets of loving-kindness when I haven't been loving nor kind to myself. I want to get through this, forge on, become a stronger, more loving person. This is my intention. Universe hear my cries. 

I'm going to stop asking

21-15-9 reps for time:

Dumbbell Thrusters (50/35#) 15# for me

Burpee Pull-ups

Lung burner. Pukie. Good god. This is like Fran on 'roids. Thrusters obviously suck balls, but then you add the Dumbbell element where you need soooo much core strength to stabilize and control the dumbbells. My left side is definitely my weaker side.

So WOD recap: Started out by doing 11 Thrusters then threw my DBs on the ground. The last 10 were wretched. The 21 burpee pull ups, while the plus side of them are that you can pace them slow, they completely zapped my energy. I had to kip so hard to get a legit pull up. Set 15 was the WORST! It was at this point I started to feel the burn in my stomach and chest up to my throat... I felt soooooo slow on the thrusters. I had to break up the 15 reps into sets of 5. Zeb had to remind me to breath; ya, I was pretty much holding my breath the entire I was thrusting, probably not a good idea. I realize I have to learn how to stabilize my core and not hold my breath while doing so. The 15 burpee PUs were kind of a blur. 

I was soooooo gassed at the start at the 9 set that it got me angry enough and motivated to just end this shit. Took 4 big ass breaths and just fuckin' hammered out the 9 thrusters with my eyes closed. 

The last 9 burpee PUs were fuckin' brutal. I had Zeb and Coach Zen countin' me down and cheerin' me on. I really wanted to take a break, but I kept moving, albeit slowly, but I was moving. I did 4. Then 2. Then the last 3 Zeb announced to the box I was on my last 3 and all I could hear was a cacophony of "Assassin this!" and "Assassin that!" and all I wanted to do was to puke. I made sure that the last 3 pull ups perfect, with chin well above the bar. Again I had to kip sooo violently since my arms were just fuckin' dead. 

I collapsed on the floor and did not move for about 15 mins. I was completely wrecked and useless. My body was a big throbbing heart beat. I had that post wod euphoria for about an hour and thirty minutes. 

I love that feeling. 

PS- I tore on my right hand. 

Healing and revealing

Three rounds for time of:

50 Double unders

25 Wall ball "2-fer-1s", 20 pound ball

Wowsers this had me in a vice grip. I did this WOD way scaled back last August. I really happy with my time. I did look at the average times on the board throughout the day, and they were mostly in the high teens, so ya I'm happy. 

This was the first WOD where i used my NEW ultra speed cable jump rope that I got shipped on my birthday! I still am not use to the rope. It definitely turns faster so my jumping cadence has to adjust, and also I feel like the handles (with screws) weighs more than the other rope I was using. My wrists also can tell that one handle weighs more than the other, and it definitely has to adjust in turning the rope. 

The 2fer's were really taxing. The first 2 rounds I broke up the 25 in sets of 5 reps. In the third round, I was soooo gassed that I had to do them in sets of 2 each. Kareem and I were pretty much pacing the same the entire time, except that I would get my DUs done about a minute advance... but he would make up ground in the 2fer's. So last round, I finish the DUs, and manage to get eight 2fer's by the time Kareem finishes the last of his DU. He makes up ground so quickly that I call time only 10 seconds before him. 

I didn't feel like I had to puke my afterwards, but lungs were really burning. I had that heady, euphoric feeling for quite some time... Probably more than an hour. I'm glad I ate clean today. I plan to all week. Sunday I felt like lethargic shit. I only ate 1 meal on both Sat and Sun and they were not nutritious. 

Glad to be back in the box. I feel fresh. I really needed that rest. 

Loitering

"Death By 10 Meters"

Run 10 meters the first minute, 20 meters the second minute and 30 meters the third.  Continue to run an additional 10 meters until you can no longer finish the prescribed number of meters within the minute. Score is complete rounds and meters run in last round.

Wowsers! I just checked the last time I did this WOD in March and I PR'd by over 3 rounds, which comes out to 460 meters! I'm happy for the new PR. Yayayayayaya! Oh, by round 8-9 I had already broken form. And I realized that I should have done some pose drills before I started the WOD. Next time, for sure. 

I ended up sticking around the box and cheering on the On-ramp class. When 13 showed up for the 8:30 and I felt inspired to do another WOD. 

2011 CrossFit Games Regional Workout 3

21-15-9 reps for time of:

315 85 lb Deadlift

30" 20" Box Jump

I really pushed myself on this. I went light on the DL cause I def wanted to keep intensity up and I was trying to be mindful of my hip. When I called time, I had that post WOD body-heartbeat-glow that I haven't felt in a while cause all the WODs I've been doing for the past week have all been 40+ mins, endurance workouts that haven't pushed me to that edge... But today made up for that. I had expressed wanting to do some sub 10mins WODs to Smidty earlier this week. 

Now I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight :)

PS- I can still do strict pull ups :)

Falling in love all over again

For time:

200 double-unders

100 kb swings, 53/35 100 Squats

* For every missed double-under AND every break in kb swings, row 25 m  do 5 Dumb bell push presses after final kb swing squat. Your time stops when the row  push presses are finished. For example, if you miss 25 double unders and break 5 times in the kb swings squats, you need to row 750m  do 150 push presses (30 x 5) before stopping your clock.

My time:  17:29

I am really really happy with my time. The first 100 DUs, I took 4 breaks. I did 40 straight, then another 10, another 26  straight, then took on last break before hitting 101. The last 100 DUs was another story. I took a total of 7 breaks. And my breaks this time around were longer in time. I was def. tired and was getting a bit discouraged. I was relieved to complete them.

The 100 squats I broke up into 30, 15, 25, 30. In total I took 15 breaks combined during the double unders and squats. That meant I had to do 75 DB Push-presses.

I was really disheartened. The number just sounded insurmountable. The had to break the 75 into smaller increments, lest I get overwhelmed by the work. I did it by 10s. After each set, I shook out my arms and took big breaths. All the jumping was killing my mid-section. I felt pukie by the 50s set. When I had 25 left, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I called time and collapsed on the floor. My body felt like one big heartbeat. I love that feeling.

I'm just happy that even though I have this potentially serious injury that could sideline me for a long time, I'm still getting my dose of high intensity. I have the best coaches.

Enlightened

Pretty straight forward. I hit my new 3RM PR by 5#s. Super stoked. Felt strong. I liked it. Of course, I <3 back squats, so not a big surprise. 

I knew this morning, I was planning to do a 10 min version of Jack. Not really sure what the RX'd weight is for ladies, but I kept it light. My left shoulder was acting all wonky during the shoulder prep, so I was a bit concerned, but it warmed up by the 2nd round in. 

(I JUST NOTICED THAT I FORGOT TO WRITE THAT I GOT 3 PUSH PRESSES- HA!)

For push press I used 45#s, for KB I used 3/4 pood and a 18" box. I'm happy with my results. I went hard the last round. I really wanted to complete 4 rounds and get some PP in, and I did it, but not without taking myself to that edge of "Oh shit!" I collapsed at the end of the 10 mins. I started to walk around and clean up, but found out too prematurely. I had a strong desire to "puke." I went outside by the bushes and just sat there. I felt the blood rushing to my face and heat just coming off of my body. I stayed like that for about 10 mins. 

Now, I'm home completely gassed and relaxed. Not really excited about working tomorrow. But I do have something to look forward to: Coaching the KIDS!

PS- the hip flexor strain seems to have worked itself out. 

Looking for Big Me

Practice Front Lever progressions for 20 minutes.

5 Rounds for time:

185 lb Shoulder to Overhead anyhow, 5 reps

10 Burpees

I need to work on my technique with the press progression into the jerk. My strength is in my legs, my upper body def. needs attention. Knowing this I shied away from going heavy heavy. I stayed at at doable weight, only because I have trouble controlling the bar bringing it back to my shoulders. I def. have the strength  to push press the bar; all 5 rounds the bar was getting pretty, so much so that I didn't have to jerk it... Does that makes sense? I had enough strength to jump it up so high that I didn't have to drop my body underneath it. But every time I brought it back down from that solid finish it almost killed me each time. Sooooooo my conclusion is to work on my presses, all of them, get strong and have more control of the bar so I can go heavier in met-cons not be slowed down by my lack of control. 

The burpees were burpees. 

I'm happy with my time. I felt I went hard the entire time, intensity was high. I needed to let out all the shit that was swirling inside of me in the WOD. It kinda helped. I'm glad I showed up. 

Advent

CrossFit Games Open 11.2

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 15 minutes of:

155/100 pound Deadlift, 9 reps

12 Push-ups

15 Box jumps, 24" box

My head has been in a funk all day. I came into the box feeling very robotic and apathetic. I went into the WOD with absolutely no strategy. 2 mins before the 3-2-1-GO, I walked up to the whiteboard to see what the average score was and came to a quick goal of 5 rounds. 

I did scale the push-ups to banded PUs. And I used an 18" box. Not sure why, but that last 2" is really difficult for me to overcome. Something to work on. I did the RX'd DL weight of 100#s, which is my body weight. 

The DLs were def the "rest." The push ups were easy to start but by round 3, I was definitely feeling the burn.  It wasn't but a couple months ago when Diso pointed out that my arms were really wide when I did push ups, and he instructed me to bring my arms in closer to my body and I really resisted against it, it felt weird and it made me use muscles that I never used before. Fast forward to today, and I was mindful to make sure my arms/elbows were tight against my body. By that round 3, I found myself feeling the urge to actually want to bring my arms in even closer. I think I may be cured of my poor push up form :D yayaya!

It was minute 10 when I started round 5, so at that point I upped my goal to 6 rounds. I was very pleased that I got to both. 

So much to consider. So much to be excited about. I must get clear on my objectives. Actually, fuck objectives, let's focus on happiness. 

The need to be (a)ROUSED

Five rounds for time of:

15 Medicine ball cleans, 20 lb ball

15 Wall ball shots, 20 lb ball

I used a 12# ball for my cleans and 6# for the wall ball.  I'm very satisfied with my time. I never looked at the clock. After I called time, my legs just felt like jello. 

I have ADD right now and cannot concentrate on thinking what to write. I know I liked this WOD. I liked it last  night when it first posted. It sucked. More than I thought it would . I had a feeling of hopelessness at the end of round 2. I was so grateful at the beginning of round 5 that the end was in sight that it gave me a little push to suck it up and finish. 

Kids Cert this weekend. Still haven't booked my accommodations for Saturday. My former procrastinator self shows rears it ugly head every once and awhile. I'm excited to feed my brain. 

That's it. Tomorrow is dead lift and overhead squat. I love both. But not sure if my body will be on board. 

I feel very sleepy and relaxed.