Obviously I've neglected my blog as of late! I don't know if there's a soul left that reads this, but that's OK. This is mainly for my accountability and to shed some light for anyone out there who is CrossFittting as well or considering it.
Since I last posted, I have had tons of life going on outside of the box. My family went out of state for two weeks over the holidays (didn't work out then), I had various out of state visitors (didn't work out then), GOT MARRIED (surely didn't work out then!), and have been sick here and there. Needless to say, I have really struggled to get back into the groove and push for more improvements. Nothing is more frustrating to me that seeing myself make such great gains and backslide so quickly. Mentally it is quite defeating to realize that your max one day is a good ten pounds lighter that your personal best several months ago. I've been back at it regularly now for two or three weeks, and as Celine says, it's all coming back to me now.
Before I launch into the WODs I've been doing lately, I thought I would make public the crazy committments I have recently made. In May I will be participating in the Warrior Dash at their Texas location. I have to admit a few things:
1) I'm totally in it for the awesome viking hat.
2) I'm scared to death about being able to do some of the obstacles, and I don't know if any of my friends are in the same heat as me.
3) I've never been in any kind of race or fun run before, so the fear of the unknown is killing me!
As if that wasn't enough, I have also registered to run the Army Ten Miler in October in Washington, D.C. My husband will be running as well, albeit he will finish hours before I do! He's a great runner, despite what he may tell you. I run around an 8:50 mile or so, and you have to keep at least a 15:00 mile pace, so I think time is on my side. I have never run further than two miles at once, so I have some serious training for endurance to work on. Thankfully I have a friend who is a triathlete who said she would develop a running program for me. Now I just have to convince myself to get out there and run.
Back to CrossFit. I have made a point this week to push myself and do all the WODs as Rx'ed. Somehow I have been able to do this and survive with relatively little damage or soreness!
MONDAY, 05 APR 10
WOD: 3 rounds for time of 30 wall balls (14#) and 30 SDHPs (65#)
Posted time: 17:39
TUESDAY, 06 APR 10
WOD: 1RM (rep max) front squats, 4x10 deadhang pull-ups, 3xL-holds for max time w/ 1 min. rest between attempts.
Posted results: New PR for front squats of 120#. Back to using colored bands for pull ups -- GRRR! Best time for L-holds was 0:40. This last exercise is harder than you think!
WEDNESDAY, 07 APR 10
"SUCKFIT"
2 rounds for points, 1 min. at each station, 1 min. rest b/w each round of:
Double unders
Lateral jumps (over bars w/ weights on them)
Push press (65#)
Kettlebell swings (1 pood or 35#)
Rowing for calories
I think I ended up w/ a 30# kettlebell b/c that was all I could find. Otherwise, done as Rx'ed.
Posted points: Round 1 -- 101; Round 2 -- 94
FRIDAY, 09 APR 10
WOD: 3x400m run for time, 3xheavy prowler pushes for length of building and back
Posted time for runs: 1:43, 1:45, 1:46. This was five to ten seconds slower than my last time; however, last time we were running on a slight downhill grade the entire way. This time was partially up and downhill at times. And the last time I even had to stop so some lady in a minivan could go get her glut on at the local donut shop. Ick. :)
We did a WOD last week that LAID.ME.OUT. It was 4 rounds for time of 10 box jump burpees, 20 air squats, 50 yd. broad jumps. It was probably all the broad jumps that did me in. I could hardly walk all week. Lastly, on Friday, we had to run a mile for time. I posted 8:50, but was really hurting most of the time in my quads. I suspect that: a) had I not been sore and had lactic acid already built up in my muscles, and b) had I been drinking more water all week, I would've been closer to 8:30, but it's still a decent time to post for me.
There we go -- all caught up! We'll see how long this lasts...!
Showing posts with label pull ups. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pull ups. Show all posts
Friday, April 9, 2010
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
CrossFitting in Your Underwear
I'm just wondering... If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around, does it make a sound? If you are doing the WOD at home in your bedroom or living room and no one is around, is it OK to do the WOD in your underwear? Or naked? Just wondering. ;)
Due to insane time constraints the week before I go out of town for a while, I have not been making it up to the box, but I did do "Angie" this morning. Everyone else did it yesterday. It is a perfect WOD to do at home or anywhere, really. The only equipment you need is a pull up bar or something on which to do pull ups. I don't have an ab mat, so I doubled over a really firm pillow to go under my lower back.
I haven't worked out since "Filthy Fifty". The last two days I was fairly sore, especially in my left gastrocnemus (calf muscle). But today was the day that I needed to do something physical or I was going to start sacrificing my "edge". I'm glad I made the time to do it.
Here is "Angie":
For time,
100 pull ups
100 push ups
100 sit ups
100 squats
Do each exercise in sequence, i.e., complete each exercise before moving on to the next one.
It's important that "they" point this out to CrossFitters, because we are notorious for breaking things down into easier chunks. For some of us, it's a physical thing. As in my case, any time I can break up squats into smaller sets and even interject an exercise that focuses on a different group of muscles, I will do that to save my knees. It can also serve the purpose of keeping you from reaching muscle failure. For others, they do this for mental reasons. Doing 100 pull ups may freak some people out, but if they have ten sets of 10, mixed in with other stuff, it's not such a daunting, intimidating task at which to chip away.
Overall, this isn't a bad little WOD. It's an easy one to take on the road, so to speak, and I can do all of the exercises with relative ease. The hardest thing is just trying to stretch out a muscle before it cramps up on you while still pushing to go as far and as fast as you can. To me, that was a real challenge.
Posted time: 20:31
Due to insane time constraints the week before I go out of town for a while, I have not been making it up to the box, but I did do "Angie" this morning. Everyone else did it yesterday. It is a perfect WOD to do at home or anywhere, really. The only equipment you need is a pull up bar or something on which to do pull ups. I don't have an ab mat, so I doubled over a really firm pillow to go under my lower back.
I haven't worked out since "Filthy Fifty". The last two days I was fairly sore, especially in my left gastrocnemus (calf muscle). But today was the day that I needed to do something physical or I was going to start sacrificing my "edge". I'm glad I made the time to do it.
Here is "Angie":
For time,
100 pull ups
100 push ups
100 sit ups
100 squats
Do each exercise in sequence, i.e., complete each exercise before moving on to the next one.
It's important that "they" point this out to CrossFitters, because we are notorious for breaking things down into easier chunks. For some of us, it's a physical thing. As in my case, any time I can break up squats into smaller sets and even interject an exercise that focuses on a different group of muscles, I will do that to save my knees. It can also serve the purpose of keeping you from reaching muscle failure. For others, they do this for mental reasons. Doing 100 pull ups may freak some people out, but if they have ten sets of 10, mixed in with other stuff, it's not such a daunting, intimidating task at which to chip away.
Overall, this isn't a bad little WOD. It's an easy one to take on the road, so to speak, and I can do all of the exercises with relative ease. The hardest thing is just trying to stretch out a muscle before it cramps up on you while still pushing to go as far and as fast as you can. To me, that was a real challenge.
Posted time: 20:31
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Christmas Challenge: FILTHY FIFTY!!!
My stomach has literally been in knots all week long in preparation for this WOD. In fact, as I was standing in line waiting for my group to start, I felt like I was going to have spontaneous diahrrea. TMI, you say? Deal with it! This was an intimidating WOD, by far one of the top two hardest I've ever done. Add to that the fact that I am struggling to have the time to attend regularly over the last week due to holiday fracas and mayhem, so I probably was not at my leanest and strongest. Nonetheless, I gave 110% and can say that it is finally behind me.
So here is the breakdown of "Filthy Fifty":
For time:
50 24" box jumps
50 jumping pull ups
50 1 pood kettlebell swings
50 walking lunges
50 knees to elbows
50 push press (45#)
50 GHD back extensions
50 wall ball (20# for men, 14# for women)
50 burpees
50 double unders
We ran these in heats, each one three minutes apart. It was nice that everyone was able to work at their own speed so that you didn't have a million people just sitting around watching you suffer for God-knows-how-long. However, I would not have been able to make it through Filthy Fifty had it not been for my teammate "S" who was helping me to count and stay on task. She was a great cheerleader and motivator. I truly could not have done it without her -- my will would've given up and I would've been sorely disappointed in myself.
Hands down, the hardest exercise for me mentally was wall balls. I don't do these often, and when I do I really hate them. I started off with the 14# ball, but my forearms were so crapped out from everything else I had done up to that point that that I just couldn't get my grip on that weight, and it was throwing me around. I couldn't even toss it up remotely high enough to get one good one, so when the girl next to me finished hers, I grabbed the 10# ball and nugged them out.
Box jumps are OK for me, but it seems like I'm slow coming off the box. The surface was wet, which kinda spooked me a little bit, but I never slipped and got past them.
The jumping pull ups went well. Those are coming along nicely for me, and I might be able to get my kip thrown in there soon. I was proud of these.
Kettlebell swings went pretty well. I had to break these down into sets of ten for two reasons. One, my forearms were starting to fatigue, and two, I was starting to feel dizzy. Otherwise, these went really well, and I was able to maintain form with no problem.
KTE is when my forearms really started being unhappy with me. I almost balked and did the modified ones, but I am very glad that I didn't. I did the true KTE for the full 50 reps. I was doing 3-2-3-2 to get my sets of 10. It was a slow, painful process, but they got done.
Push press was difficult. Good, but difficult. Again, I almost grabbed the 35# bar, but had I done that, I would not have been pushing myself and would've been feeling guilty afterwards. My regular coach was there to help, and she kept me moving 5 reps at a time. It always seems like the hardest ones to do are reps 20-35, but after that you are downhill.
GHD back extensions are easy for me. I had really wanted to make up time here, but my hamstrings kept threatening to cramp up hard, so I was doing 5 at a time and 3 towards the end. Unexpectedly harder than I had planned.
Burpees whipped my butt. Yet another sweet friend came over there to cheer me on, along with S and my coach. She even offered to knock out 10 for me, but I told her that I had to do all of them. Wouldn't have been able to live with myself had I not done each and every one. But I tell you, it was so motivational to have her right there next to me working on those God-forsaken burpees! I felt myself on the verge of passing out with the burpees, so I rested between sets of 10. These suckers felt like they took a long time to do, almost as bad as wall balls.
Lastly, I knocked out my double unders like no one's business. I've really improved in these over the last month or so. The only problem was the bladder factor. The times I stopped and started again was in order to prevent a very unsightly problem thanks to the fact that I have "mommy bladder" after having had kids. Those of you with this medical condition know exactly what I'm talking about -- I won't gross out the men with the gory details. You're welcome!
After we had all finished, we schlepped out to my coach's house for a paleo meal of steak kabobs and grilled veggies. They treated everyone to carriage rides through town as well, so it was a true holiday event. We had such a blast! And it was really neat to get to visit with the folks in all the other classes. We truly have a dedicated group of athletes and coaches at this gym, and we all come from various walks of life. It's been a lot of fun getting to know everyone and to see the camraderie that is emerging through pushing ourselves and each other.
As for tomorrow, we've got another "biggie" coming up. No rest for the weary, right? That's OK, because at CrossFit Centex we are all truly FORGING ELITE FITNESS!
Posted time: 47:30
So here is the breakdown of "Filthy Fifty":
For time:
50 24" box jumps
50 jumping pull ups
50 1 pood kettlebell swings
50 walking lunges
50 knees to elbows
50 push press (45#)
50 GHD back extensions
50 wall ball (20# for men, 14# for women)
50 burpees
50 double unders
We ran these in heats, each one three minutes apart. It was nice that everyone was able to work at their own speed so that you didn't have a million people just sitting around watching you suffer for God-knows-how-long. However, I would not have been able to make it through Filthy Fifty had it not been for my teammate "S" who was helping me to count and stay on task. She was a great cheerleader and motivator. I truly could not have done it without her -- my will would've given up and I would've been sorely disappointed in myself.
Hands down, the hardest exercise for me mentally was wall balls. I don't do these often, and when I do I really hate them. I started off with the 14# ball, but my forearms were so crapped out from everything else I had done up to that point that that I just couldn't get my grip on that weight, and it was throwing me around. I couldn't even toss it up remotely high enough to get one good one, so when the girl next to me finished hers, I grabbed the 10# ball and nugged them out.
Box jumps are OK for me, but it seems like I'm slow coming off the box. The surface was wet, which kinda spooked me a little bit, but I never slipped and got past them.
The jumping pull ups went well. Those are coming along nicely for me, and I might be able to get my kip thrown in there soon. I was proud of these.
Kettlebell swings went pretty well. I had to break these down into sets of ten for two reasons. One, my forearms were starting to fatigue, and two, I was starting to feel dizzy. Otherwise, these went really well, and I was able to maintain form with no problem.
KTE is when my forearms really started being unhappy with me. I almost balked and did the modified ones, but I am very glad that I didn't. I did the true KTE for the full 50 reps. I was doing 3-2-3-2 to get my sets of 10. It was a slow, painful process, but they got done.
Push press was difficult. Good, but difficult. Again, I almost grabbed the 35# bar, but had I done that, I would not have been pushing myself and would've been feeling guilty afterwards. My regular coach was there to help, and she kept me moving 5 reps at a time. It always seems like the hardest ones to do are reps 20-35, but after that you are downhill.
GHD back extensions are easy for me. I had really wanted to make up time here, but my hamstrings kept threatening to cramp up hard, so I was doing 5 at a time and 3 towards the end. Unexpectedly harder than I had planned.
Burpees whipped my butt. Yet another sweet friend came over there to cheer me on, along with S and my coach. She even offered to knock out 10 for me, but I told her that I had to do all of them. Wouldn't have been able to live with myself had I not done each and every one. But I tell you, it was so motivational to have her right there next to me working on those God-forsaken burpees! I felt myself on the verge of passing out with the burpees, so I rested between sets of 10. These suckers felt like they took a long time to do, almost as bad as wall balls.
Lastly, I knocked out my double unders like no one's business. I've really improved in these over the last month or so. The only problem was the bladder factor. The times I stopped and started again was in order to prevent a very unsightly problem thanks to the fact that I have "mommy bladder" after having had kids. Those of you with this medical condition know exactly what I'm talking about -- I won't gross out the men with the gory details. You're welcome!
After we had all finished, we schlepped out to my coach's house for a paleo meal of steak kabobs and grilled veggies. They treated everyone to carriage rides through town as well, so it was a true holiday event. We had such a blast! And it was really neat to get to visit with the folks in all the other classes. We truly have a dedicated group of athletes and coaches at this gym, and we all come from various walks of life. It's been a lot of fun getting to know everyone and to see the camraderie that is emerging through pushing ourselves and each other.
As for tomorrow, we've got another "biggie" coming up. No rest for the weary, right? That's OK, because at CrossFit Centex we are all truly FORGING ELITE FITNESS!
Posted time: 47:30
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Triple Threat Tuesday
Warm up: 400m run, walking lunges, frog jumps, 40 jumping jacks, 30 squats, 20 push ups
WOD: 6 tire jammers - 25 jumping pull ups - 6 TJ - 25 JPPs - 6 TJ - 25 JPPs - 6 TJs - 25 JPPs - 6 TJs
Challenge: Team relays of 4 rounds of 200m rowing sprints and jog around two buildings
My legs are so sore -- I feel like I've done three separate WODs today. Thankfully my stupid knees held out on me! Actually, everything we did today felt like it was doing my quads and knees a lot of good, strangely enough. Even the walking lunges felt like they were stretching the sore muscles out and helping to strengthen the area, which isn't how they usually feel. Maybe this is exactly what I needed to be doing to work past the soreness and do some much-needed strengthening of this problem spot.
At any rate, we were all wondering what tire jammers were. We knew that it involved the 45# bar and the big tractor tire but we still had trouble envisioning what we were supposed to do. No one could've known ahead of time just how challenging this movement was going to be -- simple yet downright hard.
So here's what a tire jammer was: You take a 45# bar and put a bumper weight on one end. I used a 45# weight. That is the end you hold onto. The other end is pushed up against the side of the tire as it rests on the floor. You are basically pushing the bar up and down, making it look like a lever -- almost as if you are trying to pry it up off the floor. On our coach's count, we all went down into a squat, holding the bar on our shoulder facing the tire. When she told us to come back up, we had to come up as explosively through our legs as we could and push the bar up until our arms were straight. Each round we did this six times, slllooowwlllyyy. Ugh. By the last two rounds, I was really exhausted but still able to come up fast. I was proud of myself because it was 90# total I was toting around and going down into a good, deep squat. And my knees behaved for the whole thing!
The pull ups were on our own. For the most part I was breaking these up into groups of fives. I noticed how my arms are getting a little bit stronger and used to the kipping motion coming up to and leaving the bar. If I can just build up my arm strength, I'll have that kipping pull up in no time. That will definitely be a hallmark moment for me.
Just when we were so exhausted that we could hardly lower ourselves to sit down without falling, our coach announces that we had a rowing challenge to complete before we could call it a day. Had we been able to summon up the energy, we would've looked at her like she had lost her mind. Instead, we all pried our creaking bones up and waddled to the rowers.
As your teammate did their rowing and running, you got to sit still and recover. Thank God for recovery time! My partner was really strong at the rowing and got us ahead a little bit. The other team was really working hard, too. For the first time since I have started CF, I was ahead of one of the girls on the other team. In her defense, her partner and I are closer as far as endurance or speed goes, but just knowing that she was chasing me and not the other way around for once really made me feel lighter as I was running.
I won't be able to attend class tomorrow, but I definitely feel like I made up for my absence with everything we did today! They are doing sprints tomorrow, so I might do some sprints here at home on my street or even try another 5K here in the neighborhood. We'll see. Either way, I'm just glad I survived the butt whooping today!
WOD: 6 tire jammers - 25 jumping pull ups - 6 TJ - 25 JPPs - 6 TJ - 25 JPPs - 6 TJs - 25 JPPs - 6 TJs
Challenge: Team relays of 4 rounds of 200m rowing sprints and jog around two buildings
My legs are so sore -- I feel like I've done three separate WODs today. Thankfully my stupid knees held out on me! Actually, everything we did today felt like it was doing my quads and knees a lot of good, strangely enough. Even the walking lunges felt like they were stretching the sore muscles out and helping to strengthen the area, which isn't how they usually feel. Maybe this is exactly what I needed to be doing to work past the soreness and do some much-needed strengthening of this problem spot.
At any rate, we were all wondering what tire jammers were. We knew that it involved the 45# bar and the big tractor tire but we still had trouble envisioning what we were supposed to do. No one could've known ahead of time just how challenging this movement was going to be -- simple yet downright hard.
So here's what a tire jammer was: You take a 45# bar and put a bumper weight on one end. I used a 45# weight. That is the end you hold onto. The other end is pushed up against the side of the tire as it rests on the floor. You are basically pushing the bar up and down, making it look like a lever -- almost as if you are trying to pry it up off the floor. On our coach's count, we all went down into a squat, holding the bar on our shoulder facing the tire. When she told us to come back up, we had to come up as explosively through our legs as we could and push the bar up until our arms were straight. Each round we did this six times, slllooowwlllyyy. Ugh. By the last two rounds, I was really exhausted but still able to come up fast. I was proud of myself because it was 90# total I was toting around and going down into a good, deep squat. And my knees behaved for the whole thing!
The pull ups were on our own. For the most part I was breaking these up into groups of fives. I noticed how my arms are getting a little bit stronger and used to the kipping motion coming up to and leaving the bar. If I can just build up my arm strength, I'll have that kipping pull up in no time. That will definitely be a hallmark moment for me.
Just when we were so exhausted that we could hardly lower ourselves to sit down without falling, our coach announces that we had a rowing challenge to complete before we could call it a day. Had we been able to summon up the energy, we would've looked at her like she had lost her mind. Instead, we all pried our creaking bones up and waddled to the rowers.
As your teammate did their rowing and running, you got to sit still and recover. Thank God for recovery time! My partner was really strong at the rowing and got us ahead a little bit. The other team was really working hard, too. For the first time since I have started CF, I was ahead of one of the girls on the other team. In her defense, her partner and I are closer as far as endurance or speed goes, but just knowing that she was chasing me and not the other way around for once really made me feel lighter as I was running.
I won't be able to attend class tomorrow, but I definitely feel like I made up for my absence with everything we did today! They are doing sprints tomorrow, so I might do some sprints here at home on my street or even try another 5K here in the neighborhood. We'll see. Either way, I'm just glad I survived the butt whooping today!
Friday, October 23, 2009
FRAN FRIDAY!!!
Warm up: 500m row, 10 push ups, 30 air squats, high knees, butt kicks, grapevines, 30 jumping jacks
WOD: "Fran" -- For time, 21-15-9 thrusters and pull ups
I have had butterflies in my stomach for a week over this one. "Fran" is a benchmark WOD for all CrossFitters, and CrossFit Centex is even having an event tonight to get a whole bunch of people together to do "Fran". I was more than a little intimidated by the thought of doing this at such a beginner's level around lots of people, mainly guys, who are virtual power houses. So, I met with my regular group this morning and we knocked it out.
It was 45 degrees when I woke up today, so I dressed for colder weather, put my hair in funky braids and a beanie, and set off. When I got to the box, we were all a little jittery but excited to be doing "Fran." I got to have two coaches talking and motivating me through this that I normally don't get to work out with, so that was lots of fun. One of them really snapped my focus where it needed to be. He asked me what my plan was for rest, and then said that he would be holding me accountable to it. If I started to go past that time, he was gonna be on me to get moving. That one thought right there really kept me moving.
Dare I say it -- I've done harder WODs. Not that this wasn't hard, incredibly hypoxic, and exhilarating all at once. For me, with the weight I used and the fact that I've been babying my knees for the last couple of days, the thrusters were manageable, and pull ups are not near as scary as they used to be, even though I'm still doing them assisted. But the thruster movement itself was not the hardest movement to perform. I think the hardest thing I've done so far was the hang squat cleans from Monday. They were completely brutal. Given, I didn't do "Fran" as prescribed -- I did it scaled -- but for my first WOD, it was appropriate weight, I think.
I think that the combination of good coaching and mental focus is what really helped me plug through today. The male coaches have a different way of pushing than my female coach, and every now and then it's nice to switch them up just to hear how they motivate in different ways. And the "zone" I've been able to get into mentally with some of the other WODs proved to be helpful today. All I know is that I felt electrified at the end of it and insanely surprised at my time.
I DID IT!
Posted time: 5:56 with 45# and assisted pull ups
WOD: "Fran" -- For time, 21-15-9 thrusters and pull ups
I have had butterflies in my stomach for a week over this one. "Fran" is a benchmark WOD for all CrossFitters, and CrossFit Centex is even having an event tonight to get a whole bunch of people together to do "Fran". I was more than a little intimidated by the thought of doing this at such a beginner's level around lots of people, mainly guys, who are virtual power houses. So, I met with my regular group this morning and we knocked it out.
It was 45 degrees when I woke up today, so I dressed for colder weather, put my hair in funky braids and a beanie, and set off. When I got to the box, we were all a little jittery but excited to be doing "Fran." I got to have two coaches talking and motivating me through this that I normally don't get to work out with, so that was lots of fun. One of them really snapped my focus where it needed to be. He asked me what my plan was for rest, and then said that he would be holding me accountable to it. If I started to go past that time, he was gonna be on me to get moving. That one thought right there really kept me moving.
Dare I say it -- I've done harder WODs. Not that this wasn't hard, incredibly hypoxic, and exhilarating all at once. For me, with the weight I used and the fact that I've been babying my knees for the last couple of days, the thrusters were manageable, and pull ups are not near as scary as they used to be, even though I'm still doing them assisted. But the thruster movement itself was not the hardest movement to perform. I think the hardest thing I've done so far was the hang squat cleans from Monday. They were completely brutal. Given, I didn't do "Fran" as prescribed -- I did it scaled -- but for my first WOD, it was appropriate weight, I think.
I think that the combination of good coaching and mental focus is what really helped me plug through today. The male coaches have a different way of pushing than my female coach, and every now and then it's nice to switch them up just to hear how they motivate in different ways. And the "zone" I've been able to get into mentally with some of the other WODs proved to be helpful today. All I know is that I felt electrified at the end of it and insanely surprised at my time.
I DID IT!
Posted time: 5:56 with 45# and assisted pull ups
Monday, October 12, 2009
A Little Bit O' Everything
Warm up: 1000m team row, 2x5 deadlift
WOD: AMRAP in 15 minutes of: farmer walk, 21 SDHPs, 12 pull ups
Holy smokes, where did Wednesday and Friday go from last week?!? Things were outta-control-crazy last week, and I did well to get to the gym those days. To be real honest, I can't even think back that far to remember what we worked on. I do know that we worked on some power cleans on Friday in lieu of what had been programmed due to inclement weather, but I'm at a loss for Wednesday's WOD. I'll go back and blog separately about Friday -- hit a personal best, so it's worth recording!
Today I was tired and had the kids with me since the local school district was having a holiday today. But I got up and got moving, and I brought the kiddos along! We got them on the rowing machine, and my son eventually found the boxing gloves, so it was all good. I'm also trying to get my younger brother to "drink the Kool-Aid," and he came up there to check out the facility. His timing rocked, too -- he showed up near the end of the WOD, and it perked me up a little bit to see he had actually come out.
Team row was a smoker but a good warm up. I need to build up speed on this for sure for the short distances, but swapping out every 250m did afford you a little recovery time. We had a new face in class today, and it was her first WOD after Elements -- what a way to get broken in! She worked hard and kept moving and did a great job.
We also had another new face drop in today -- a brave soul, indeed. My class is prodominantly women, so when a guy shows up, I always feel a little badly for him. We may be working our butts off, but so many of these guys move a lot of weight around and work a level of intensity that would drop me dead. I feel as if they don't have anyone else working on their level to challenge or push them. On the other hand, my competetive nature comes out, and I find that I don't want to fall too far behind these guys and give them a decent run for their money. It's just fun to have new people every once in a while.
Working with the deadlift was a new one for me. For the warm up, we only did a few, but I came back to it after recovering from the WOD. I found my max at 165#! That's actually more than I weigh! I was really astonished that I was able to work that far. I'm definitely feeling the muscle soreness in my paraspinal muscles, but nothing that screams injury, just good old fashioned hard work.
The farmer walk (with 30#) was an area where I was able to make up time today. My grip didn't start to go until my third round, so I did a super fast walk with it to get through it quickly. I probably could've gone up to 35#, so next time I'll go up in weight for sure.
You all know how "fond" I am of sumo deadlight high pulls (SDHPs). Just not my favorite lift. However, I was able to perform that one as prescribed at 65#! Another milestone for me! As for the pull ups, I did them assisted with the red rubber band, but looking back I think I should've pushed myself to do this just jumping sans band.
Overall, this wasn't a bad little WOD, but I think I could've challenged myself more on the farmer walk and pull ups. The SDHPs were easy enough to do, but I need to build up consistency of speed, and 65# will be a good place to work on that.
Posted rounds: 3 rounds completed, farmer walk and 5 SDHPs into round four when time was called.
WOD: AMRAP in 15 minutes of: farmer walk, 21 SDHPs, 12 pull ups
Holy smokes, where did Wednesday and Friday go from last week?!? Things were outta-control-crazy last week, and I did well to get to the gym those days. To be real honest, I can't even think back that far to remember what we worked on. I do know that we worked on some power cleans on Friday in lieu of what had been programmed due to inclement weather, but I'm at a loss for Wednesday's WOD. I'll go back and blog separately about Friday -- hit a personal best, so it's worth recording!
Today I was tired and had the kids with me since the local school district was having a holiday today. But I got up and got moving, and I brought the kiddos along! We got them on the rowing machine, and my son eventually found the boxing gloves, so it was all good. I'm also trying to get my younger brother to "drink the Kool-Aid," and he came up there to check out the facility. His timing rocked, too -- he showed up near the end of the WOD, and it perked me up a little bit to see he had actually come out.
Team row was a smoker but a good warm up. I need to build up speed on this for sure for the short distances, but swapping out every 250m did afford you a little recovery time. We had a new face in class today, and it was her first WOD after Elements -- what a way to get broken in! She worked hard and kept moving and did a great job.
We also had another new face drop in today -- a brave soul, indeed. My class is prodominantly women, so when a guy shows up, I always feel a little badly for him. We may be working our butts off, but so many of these guys move a lot of weight around and work a level of intensity that would drop me dead. I feel as if they don't have anyone else working on their level to challenge or push them. On the other hand, my competetive nature comes out, and I find that I don't want to fall too far behind these guys and give them a decent run for their money. It's just fun to have new people every once in a while.
Working with the deadlift was a new one for me. For the warm up, we only did a few, but I came back to it after recovering from the WOD. I found my max at 165#! That's actually more than I weigh! I was really astonished that I was able to work that far. I'm definitely feeling the muscle soreness in my paraspinal muscles, but nothing that screams injury, just good old fashioned hard work.
The farmer walk (with 30#) was an area where I was able to make up time today. My grip didn't start to go until my third round, so I did a super fast walk with it to get through it quickly. I probably could've gone up to 35#, so next time I'll go up in weight for sure.
You all know how "fond" I am of sumo deadlight high pulls (SDHPs). Just not my favorite lift. However, I was able to perform that one as prescribed at 65#! Another milestone for me! As for the pull ups, I did them assisted with the red rubber band, but looking back I think I should've pushed myself to do this just jumping sans band.
Overall, this wasn't a bad little WOD, but I think I could've challenged myself more on the farmer walk and pull ups. The SDHPs were easy enough to do, but I need to build up consistency of speed, and 65# will be a good place to work on that.
Posted rounds: 3 rounds completed, farmer walk and 5 SDHPs into round four when time was called.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
My First HERO
Warm up: a little stretching, couple of pull ups and squats.
WOD: "Murph" -- 1 mi. run, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats, 1 mi. run
I've had my stomach in knots about Murph for days. Silly me, I was most worried about throwing up from the intensity of the WOD. What I should've been worried about was how my knees were going to survive 300 squats. Doing my first "hero" WOD was kinda like having my first baby: I was terrified of delivery, when I should've been a lot more worried about my labor. Hindsight is always 20/20, right?!?
Meet Navy LT Michael Murphy, for whom today's WOD is named:
CrossFit doesn't just forge elite athletes. It supports our military and honors our fallen soldiers. We have an American flag in our gym, and I have rarely seen a picture of a CF gym that didn't have one in the background somewhere. As the spouse of a fallen soldier and the girlfriend (and hopefully future spouse!) of an active duty soldier, I think it's fantastic that CF goes out of its way to show such solidarity with these heroes. Going along with that concept, there are some WODs, and they are usually real smokers, called hero WODs. They are usually the ones with male names, and they honor a fallen soldier. Are there any hero WODs that honor fallen female soldiers? Don't know, but it's a definite possibility.
Here was the background to "Murph" as posted on CrossFit and quoted on CrossFit Centex's site:
"In memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., who was killed in Afghanistan June 28th, 2005. This workout was one of Mike's favorites and he'd named it 'Body Armor.' From here on it will be referred to as 'Murph' in honor of the focused warrior and great American who wanted nothing more in life than to serve this great country and the beautiful people who make it what it is."
OK. All nostalgia aside, let's talk about "Murph."
AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!! Oh, the pain and the misery! OK, it wasn't that bad, but it's the hardest I've worked in my life since popping out two ridiculously large babies several years ago. The first mile went by at a nice pace, and each time one of my teammates passed by, I made sure to say something to cheer them on. I really love working out in a group and motivating each other. I needed that on a day like today in particular.
Next came the calisthenic portion of the WOD. Prior to starting, we talked about different strategies for conquering the mind-blowing numbers of pull ups, push ups, and squats. I knew ahead of time that I needed to plan for knee discomfort and try to do mine in sets that would maximize my efforts and minimize stress to my joint. I ended up with this method of attack: 10 rounds of 10 pull ups, 15 squats, 20 push ups, and 15 squats. Basically, you could do 10-20-30, but I knew that I couldn't do 30 straight squats for 10 rounds, so that's why I broke mine up. However, on the last round, I did 10-30-20 so that I wasn't ending with squats prior to running. This plan worked like a charm for me. I broke it down pretty manageably, even though it was still a struggle.
I mentioned earlier how nervous and anxious I had been going into this WOD. Today was equal parts physical exertion and mental dedication. Going into round four, I hit my wall with knee pain and quads getting tight. By the end, I was walking and bending my knee as little as possible. I really didn't know if I was going to be able to finish it. But just like my coach says, I just knew I had to keep moving, keep getting one more. By round five, I was trying to just break those squats down into groups of five and resting more between exercises. I just knew that, if I didn't fully complete this WOD, I would never forgive myself for quitting. And my coach won't let you sit still for long; she's excellent at keeping us moving and utilizing planned rest.
I have to say, I was proud of myself with my pull ups and push ups. I still can't do a completely unassisted pull up, but that's OK. I used a band and was really able to knock them out many times. My push ups had to be on my knees, but I was able to knock those out pretty fast, going all the way down to the mat and touching my head almost for almost every rep.
That last mile was just nuts. I started off at a pitiful little jog, but my knees and calves were laughing hysterically at my efforts to run. At one point, I even mused out loud, "Who the heck am I kidding here?!?" So, I decided to power walk the rest of the way. My coach and a teammate motivated me to jog the last quarter mile, so I ended on a very positive note.
As I was out there doing that last mile, I started thinking. I could imagine this young man in his PT gear, probably outside with his buddies in the humid darkness of early morning, cranking out this WOD. Then I thought of something that another one of the coaches said this morning, which was that hero WODs are really hard, and the least we can do is to give it everything to do this WOD in their honor. And as I write this, it reminds me of the amazing soldiers of C Co, 2-30 IN, 4TH BDE 10TH MTN DIV, who were going to name a FOB after my late husband in his honor as their first CO. Remembrance is so important; it is how we keep a little piece of that person and what they stood for with us forever.
I may not have posted the fastest time at the gym, but I completed "Murph" and will likely be "feeling" my tribute for days. For me, this was a milestone in many ways. Thank goodness tomorrow is a rest day!
Posted time: 72:42
WOD: "Murph" -- 1 mi. run, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats, 1 mi. run
I've had my stomach in knots about Murph for days. Silly me, I was most worried about throwing up from the intensity of the WOD. What I should've been worried about was how my knees were going to survive 300 squats. Doing my first "hero" WOD was kinda like having my first baby: I was terrified of delivery, when I should've been a lot more worried about my labor. Hindsight is always 20/20, right?!?
Meet Navy LT Michael Murphy, for whom today's WOD is named:
CrossFit doesn't just forge elite athletes. It supports our military and honors our fallen soldiers. We have an American flag in our gym, and I have rarely seen a picture of a CF gym that didn't have one in the background somewhere. As the spouse of a fallen soldier and the girlfriend (and hopefully future spouse!) of an active duty soldier, I think it's fantastic that CF goes out of its way to show such solidarity with these heroes. Going along with that concept, there are some WODs, and they are usually real smokers, called hero WODs. They are usually the ones with male names, and they honor a fallen soldier. Are there any hero WODs that honor fallen female soldiers? Don't know, but it's a definite possibility.Here was the background to "Murph" as posted on CrossFit and quoted on CrossFit Centex's site:
"In memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., who was killed in Afghanistan June 28th, 2005. This workout was one of Mike's favorites and he'd named it 'Body Armor.' From here on it will be referred to as 'Murph' in honor of the focused warrior and great American who wanted nothing more in life than to serve this great country and the beautiful people who make it what it is."
OK. All nostalgia aside, let's talk about "Murph."
AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!! Oh, the pain and the misery! OK, it wasn't that bad, but it's the hardest I've worked in my life since popping out two ridiculously large babies several years ago. The first mile went by at a nice pace, and each time one of my teammates passed by, I made sure to say something to cheer them on. I really love working out in a group and motivating each other. I needed that on a day like today in particular.
Next came the calisthenic portion of the WOD. Prior to starting, we talked about different strategies for conquering the mind-blowing numbers of pull ups, push ups, and squats. I knew ahead of time that I needed to plan for knee discomfort and try to do mine in sets that would maximize my efforts and minimize stress to my joint. I ended up with this method of attack: 10 rounds of 10 pull ups, 15 squats, 20 push ups, and 15 squats. Basically, you could do 10-20-30, but I knew that I couldn't do 30 straight squats for 10 rounds, so that's why I broke mine up. However, on the last round, I did 10-30-20 so that I wasn't ending with squats prior to running. This plan worked like a charm for me. I broke it down pretty manageably, even though it was still a struggle.
I mentioned earlier how nervous and anxious I had been going into this WOD. Today was equal parts physical exertion and mental dedication. Going into round four, I hit my wall with knee pain and quads getting tight. By the end, I was walking and bending my knee as little as possible. I really didn't know if I was going to be able to finish it. But just like my coach says, I just knew I had to keep moving, keep getting one more. By round five, I was trying to just break those squats down into groups of five and resting more between exercises. I just knew that, if I didn't fully complete this WOD, I would never forgive myself for quitting. And my coach won't let you sit still for long; she's excellent at keeping us moving and utilizing planned rest.
I have to say, I was proud of myself with my pull ups and push ups. I still can't do a completely unassisted pull up, but that's OK. I used a band and was really able to knock them out many times. My push ups had to be on my knees, but I was able to knock those out pretty fast, going all the way down to the mat and touching my head almost for almost every rep.
That last mile was just nuts. I started off at a pitiful little jog, but my knees and calves were laughing hysterically at my efforts to run. At one point, I even mused out loud, "Who the heck am I kidding here?!?" So, I decided to power walk the rest of the way. My coach and a teammate motivated me to jog the last quarter mile, so I ended on a very positive note.
As I was out there doing that last mile, I started thinking. I could imagine this young man in his PT gear, probably outside with his buddies in the humid darkness of early morning, cranking out this WOD. Then I thought of something that another one of the coaches said this morning, which was that hero WODs are really hard, and the least we can do is to give it everything to do this WOD in their honor. And as I write this, it reminds me of the amazing soldiers of C Co, 2-30 IN, 4TH BDE 10TH MTN DIV, who were going to name a FOB after my late husband in his honor as their first CO. Remembrance is so important; it is how we keep a little piece of that person and what they stood for with us forever.
I may not have posted the fastest time at the gym, but I completed "Murph" and will likely be "feeling" my tribute for days. For me, this was a milestone in many ways. Thank goodness tomorrow is a rest day!
Posted time: 72:42
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
A Cure For Migraines
Warm up: Pick a "goat", Coach Burg's snatch clean progressions
WOD: Power cleans, 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
I went to bed last night sick to my stomach from a migraine. I can tell you that my pulse was probably in the upper 60/lower 70 bpm because I could feel the veins pulsating in my head. I have had some sort of headache since the 13th of September, on and off, but mostly on. I woke up with the same headache and having hot flashes that would've made me look like I was up in flames had you looked at my image through a thermal lens. Yet somehow, after I got up and started warm ups today, my headache dissipated. As I sit here typing, however, I can feel it coming back. I think the physical activity I'm doing at CF every morning somehow diverts the flow of blood to my muscles and lessens the pressure in my head. Just a theory.
What is this goat thing? you may ask. Are you guys doing CrossFit with farm animals? While I wouldn't put that past some of the local yokels, no goats were harmed at the gym today. A "goat" is something that is a roadblock for you, something that you could use some practice on. Box jumps can be a goat for some because of the tricks your mind will play on you about the height of the box. For me, pull ups will always be a goat until I can get up there and knock them out like a pro, doing the kipping and going all the way up on my own strength. I worked on doing good jumping pull ups and then practiced kipping back and forth. I can tell I'm getting a better range of motion on the kipping but still lack the strength to pull up my body weight. With a little practice, I think it will come.
The snatch clean progressions break down each step of this olympic lift into three reps each, finally putting them all together in one fluid movement at the end. We did these with the PVC pipes, so we weren't bearing weight but working on form and warming up those joints we would need for today's WOD. Pretty easy, pretty fun.
When we got ready to do power cleans, we did lots of practice with PVCs before actually handling the bar. It was a little intimidating to finally pick up something heavy, but once I did that and did it with the proper form, I was so proud of myself! Now for the real test -- adding weight...
I started off with 65# and got that up easily. Once I added what I thought was 10#, I just couldn't get up past the shrug. I was so bummed! Long story short, I had not added 10# -- I had added 10 kg! Big difference! Basically I had unwittingly gone from 65# to 85#. No wonder that weight wasn't going anywhere! So the girl working with me swapped out kg's for lb's and we got to cranking them out. She and I finally topped out at 80# successfully! WOO HOO!!! I worked well past the WOD requirement of seven reps because I really wanted to see how far I could go, and once I got up to 80#, I was sooo close. I failed a couple of times but was just too close to walk away from it. Finally, that last time I got it up there, and let me tell you -- that felt gooood. :)
Side note: I have learned the art of a good bail. A couple of times I either lost balance and rocked too far back or just couldn't get underneath the weight properly. Allowing myself to fall and just letting the weight go was all I had to do, and I was able to dump the weight safely. Check!
Posted weight: 65-65-85F-85F-70-70-75-75-80F-80F-80
WOD: Power cleans, 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
I went to bed last night sick to my stomach from a migraine. I can tell you that my pulse was probably in the upper 60/lower 70 bpm because I could feel the veins pulsating in my head. I have had some sort of headache since the 13th of September, on and off, but mostly on. I woke up with the same headache and having hot flashes that would've made me look like I was up in flames had you looked at my image through a thermal lens. Yet somehow, after I got up and started warm ups today, my headache dissipated. As I sit here typing, however, I can feel it coming back. I think the physical activity I'm doing at CF every morning somehow diverts the flow of blood to my muscles and lessens the pressure in my head. Just a theory.
What is this goat thing? you may ask. Are you guys doing CrossFit with farm animals? While I wouldn't put that past some of the local yokels, no goats were harmed at the gym today. A "goat" is something that is a roadblock for you, something that you could use some practice on. Box jumps can be a goat for some because of the tricks your mind will play on you about the height of the box. For me, pull ups will always be a goat until I can get up there and knock them out like a pro, doing the kipping and going all the way up on my own strength. I worked on doing good jumping pull ups and then practiced kipping back and forth. I can tell I'm getting a better range of motion on the kipping but still lack the strength to pull up my body weight. With a little practice, I think it will come.
The snatch clean progressions break down each step of this olympic lift into three reps each, finally putting them all together in one fluid movement at the end. We did these with the PVC pipes, so we weren't bearing weight but working on form and warming up those joints we would need for today's WOD. Pretty easy, pretty fun.
When we got ready to do power cleans, we did lots of practice with PVCs before actually handling the bar. It was a little intimidating to finally pick up something heavy, but once I did that and did it with the proper form, I was so proud of myself! Now for the real test -- adding weight...
I started off with 65# and got that up easily. Once I added what I thought was 10#, I just couldn't get up past the shrug. I was so bummed! Long story short, I had not added 10# -- I had added 10 kg! Big difference! Basically I had unwittingly gone from 65# to 85#. No wonder that weight wasn't going anywhere! So the girl working with me swapped out kg's for lb's and we got to cranking them out. She and I finally topped out at 80# successfully! WOO HOO!!! I worked well past the WOD requirement of seven reps because I really wanted to see how far I could go, and once I got up to 80#, I was sooo close. I failed a couple of times but was just too close to walk away from it. Finally, that last time I got it up there, and let me tell you -- that felt gooood. :)
Side note: I have learned the art of a good bail. A couple of times I either lost balance and rocked too far back or just couldn't get underneath the weight properly. Allowing myself to fall and just letting the weight go was all I had to do, and I was able to dump the weight safely. Check!
Posted weight: 65-65-85F-85F-70-70-75-75-80F-80F-80
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