Friday, December 25, 2009 by Rebecca
12 days of Christmas
WOD:
On the first day of Christmas CrossFit gave to us.....
1 - Muscle-up - subbed 4 band assisted ring dips
2 - HSPU - subbed piked push-ups
3 - Dead-hang pull-ups - green band assisted (mostly) dead-hangs
4 - Jumping squats
5 - Burpees
6 - Push-ups
7 - Toes to bar - subbed knees to elbows
8 - Forward rolls
9 - Double Unders
10 - KB Snatch 1.5pd / 1pd - used 8kg
11 - Box jumps
12 - Virtual snow shoveling 45# plate/25# plate (24"barrier)
Comments:
This went pretty well for a workout I didn't really think i wanted to do.
Actually the most exciting part was pre-WOD when i decided to see whether I could do box jumps, and I managed to jump - without any assistance - to a stack of bumper plates. First I tried 2 of the fuzzy 45# plates - about 10" maybe? - and it was no problem, I put a smooth 45# plate on top of that - maybe another 4" - and tried it, and it was still totally manageable, so I put a 25# plate on top of that (another 3") and, while it was a bit intimidating, I found I could do that, too. I nearly took a nasty backwards spill when I tried to show Daniel my new achievement; I got distracted by someone else. But I got it on my second attempt. I was actually bummed not to get to the box jumps in the WOD. That's a first, for sure.
Since the 3 pull-ups were supposed to be dead-hang, i tried to keep my band assisted pull-ups as kip free as I could - and for the first several rounds, they were fairly static - as the rounds went on, as I started getting tired i started kipping a bit more.
I have to say that I find it very gratifying that I am still making improvements in some areas despite the fact that my diet has been absolute crap this month, and I've only been making it to a handful of workouts a week.
Diet wise, I've pretty much written off the month of December. There are just too many wonderful things out there this time of year, and I am enjoying my freedom to eat whatever terrible food i want, but I definitely feel and see the effects of not eating clean, so I am also looking forward to getting 'back on the wagon' in January.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009 by Rebecca
800m x 4
Run 800m every eighth minute for 32 minutes.
5:18; 5:24; 5:19; 4:56
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Monday, December 21, 2009 by Rebecca
Push jerks
Push jerk
3-3-3-3-3
50-55-55(f rep 3)-55-60(f rep 3)
I find the 'proper' pre-jerk rack position to be awkward and exhausting. I can get it for rep 1, but resetting to it after rep 1 just drains all my energy. Definitely something to work on.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Friday, December 18, 2009 by Rebecca
Mary
As Many Rounds As Possible in 20 minutes:
5 Handstand Push-Ups - subbed piked pushups
10 Pistols (5 each leg) - sat down to a stack of weights - stack had to be 1 35# taller for right leg
15 pull-up - band assisted
4rounds + all pistols (i think)
4:53; 5:20; 3:34; 6:13;
Think the last time was 1 full round plus a second through the pistols ...
Really liked the 'sitting down to a stack of weights' modification for pistols - it seems like a good way to keep the proper form, and work your way down to zero assistance.
Saturday, December 12, 2009 by Rebecca
Sorta Cindy 12-12-09
WOD:
AMRAP in 20 minutes
5 push-up
5 pull-up
5 push-up
15 squats
Results:
| Round | Time | Elapsed |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:18 | 1:18 |
| 2 | 1:46 | 3:04 |
| 3 | 1:46 | 4:50 |
| 4 | 1:55 | 6:45 |
| 5 | 2:24 | 9:09 |
| 6 | 2:28 | 11:37 |
| 7 | 2:18 | 13:55 |
| 8 | 2:04 | 15:59 |
| 9 | 2:01 | 18:00 |
| 10 | 2:00 | 20:00 |
Comments:
The squats were really my limiting factor here. It was nice to break up the pushups, but since everything else was 5 reps, 15 squats felt like a lot, and since my squats are terrible, and I was trying for the best ROM I could manage, they just took a long time. In the last round I had 45 seconds to get through 15 squats, and I still barely managed to eke out the last squat before time was called.
Friday, December 11, 2009 by Rebecca
12-11-09
1 mile: 10:52
2 left handed pushups - using knees
Several 5 or 6? Clapping pushups with an actual clap - can't really catch myself after, yet, so they're not really consecutive
WOD
Clean and jerk 3-3-3-3-3
50-55x1-50-55-55
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, December 10, 2009 by Rebecca
12-10-09
Press 50-55f
Back squat 65-75-80 frep3
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, December 6, 2009 by Rebecca
12-6-09
Run 400m/Row 500m
50 Double Unders (subbed 4xsingle skip)
12 Push Press/Jerk 155# (subbed 55# and then 50# after rep #5 rd 2)
| Round | 400m | Jump Rope | Push Press | Elapsed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2:18 | 3:50 | 4:38 | 10:46 |
| 2 | 2:48 | 5:37 | 10:45 | 29:59 |
| 3 | 2:52 | 3:51 | 3:55 | 40:34 |
Comments:
This WOD was horrible. I thought the 4 x skips were going to be an easy sub. I got a side stitch. The 55# PP were ridiculously hard. Round 2 was so long because I decided to go looking for my own bar after rep #5 (i was sharing with 2 other girls) and of course by the time i got back, they were both done. But for all its horribleness, at least I can say that I finished it. Coming back from vacation SUCKS.
Friday, December 4, 2009 by Rebecca
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 by Daniel
Philippines Day 10: Wet, wet, wet
It is now most of the way through Tuesday, and it has rained all day. It is a warm and (mostly) gentle rain, so it hasn’t put too much of a damper on the experience, but it did cause us to postpone our scuba lesson until tomorrow when, hopefully, it will clear up. We did go snorkeling on the eastern side of the island, where the rain did not make much difference in the experience. It was as advertised: the quantity and variety of fish on this side dwarfed that of the other, though the coral was generally not as impressive. Everyone agreed that the highlight of the session was the large octopus that Marcus found hiding under a ledge (he has very sharp eyes), but also very cool were the breadbox-sized clams lying open-mouthed on the sea bed, and the HUGE school of hundreds of big fish sweeping slowly along the coral, tails a-flutter as they fed on something we could not see. There were also smaller schools of small turquoise fish that mingled with orange ones, and bright bright iridescent blue ones hanging out near the octopus. Parrot fish were abundant, as were other, opalescent fish that reminded me of giant mood rings. Several lavender starfish, fully two feet from tip to tip, sprawled on the bottom amid some nasty-looking but beautiful sea urchins.
Rebecca came this time, and had a far more positive experience than she’s ever had before. In the past, she’s felt somewhat freaked out by all the fish, and the sense that there was something lurking in the water that she couldn’t see. Whether it was due to the clarity of the water or her own increased bravery, however, she didn’t have that problem this time. She didn’t much like the minor jellyfish stings, though (none of us did), and has been suffering today from a bit of traveller’s rumbletummy, so she didn’t stay out too long. Jai got out a little bit later, lips faintly bluish from chill (the guy has about 5% bodyfat). I hung in as long as I could, reluctant to give up the amazing things there were to see all around us, but also having a difficult time between the nasty saltwater taste in my throat and cramping feet and calves unaccustomed to so much swimming and tired from yesterday. I would swim back to shore occasionally to stand on solid ground, empty my mask and just spend a few minutes resting and breathing normally before plunging back in for another look around. Levi and Marcus were indefatigable, diving down to the floor to point out particular things they had spotted. I tried diving myself a few times, and was surprised at the sudden pressure in my ears. I was never able to fully clear my snorkel when I came back up, though, so would usually spend a while afterwards dumping seawater out of the mask and snorkel, which was tiring.
Rebecca came back an hour or so later to tell us it was time for lunch, which tasted sooo good after all that nasty seawater. Now we are all resting in our separate rooms, staring somewhat morosely out at the storm (which has gotten very blustery). Ben checked the satellite map, and the storm is supposed to have already passed us and is heading southeast away from the islands, so it should clear up by tomorrow if not later today. There has been some discussion of returning to the western side for a little more snorkeling, but between the storm and the lateness of the hour (it’s already 4:30), I doubt it will happen. It’s a shame, as we would all love to get in some quality time in the sun – hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Addendum: we wound up going snorkeling again, after all. It was a learning experience: don’t bother snorkeling after a storm. We went quite late in the afternoon, with only an hour or so of light left. The water was dark, murky, and almost totally devoid of life. We swam from the stairs on the northwestern corner of the island down to the house where Levi and I went yesterday, a distance of about a mile, then got out and walked back. By that time, it had gotten so dark that one of the island’s security guys had come after us with a flashlight. A nice little bit of exercise, but the prettiest thing we saw was the fragment of sunset through the clouds before it started raining again.
Dinner was a bit more subdued than last night – I think people are trying not to let the weather get them down. Ben played his new favorite game: mock the Koreans. The other group on the island with us is a group of Korean couples that he says are on a marriage tour – something he says they like to do, that costs exorbitant amounts of money. They are young, rambunctious, don’t speak any English (except for their guide, who is the only one of them to interact with the staff whatsoever), and are prone to odd behavior (like wearing life vests in the shallow pool). Ben just HATES them, and relishes in opportunities to point out rude or (by our standards) classless things they do. I know mocking tourists is a favorite pastime of natives – we did it in Winthrop, and occasionally in San Francisco- but maybe since I’m a tourist here myself I’m less inclined to be critical and just chalk their behavior up to that of excited young newlyweds. I didn’t like the cigarettes they were smoking at lunch, however. (By and large, smoking here is only a little bit more common than it is in the Bay Area, and they generally have the same policies against smoking in restaurants and public areas that it hasn’t been a problem at all. You usually have to walk through a haze of smokers at the tables outside the entrance to the mall, but it’s a tiny nuisance and it’s smoke-free inside.) The resort has promised to seat us further apart in the future, and since it’s an open-air pavilion and we usually don’t eat at the same time anyway, it shouldn’t be a problem again.
Philippines Day 9: Off to Sumilon
If there is a benefit to jet-lag, it is that – in certain situations – it makes getting up insanely early a lot easier. 3:30AM found us up and about with only a little bitching and moaning, finishing up our packing, microwaving coffee and adobo pandesals I’d purchased for us the night before (Turns out Seattle’s Best, on the second floor, makes much better coffee and pastries than Starbucks. They do not, however, have real cream to put in it.) The trip to the airport was a replay of our trip to
The short flight to Dumaguette island was followed by a 10-minute drive to the beach, where we hopped on a relatively large banca that took us to Sumilon. Sumilon is the name of both the island and the resort that is its only resident. It is small (you can walk all the way around the island in less than an hour) but extraordinarily beautiful, with two large white beaches and surrounded by clear, azure waters and coral reefs. There are only 14 rooms in the whole resort, in plush cottages with big sliding French doors that open out onto the beach. The common area is up a little hill overlooking the two beaches, with a large open-air pavilion that houses a few dining tables, the front desk and a large Christmas tree constructed of wire and big, brown tropical leaves. Nearby is an “infinity pool” that looks out over the sea and is ringed with smaller hot-tubs, a series of smaller pavilions with beds where they have seaside massages. Orange, yellow and red bouganvillea arches on trellises over the stone stairs leading down to the larger beach and its lagoon. It is, without doubt, the closest I have ever been to the typical tropical island paradise. Sometimes I find myself humming the theme to “Gilligan’s
Rebecca was suffering from congested ears and a general icky feeling, and others wanted to rest, so Levi and I grabbed a pair of snorkels and headed off to see what we could find. One of the local staff recommended the waters off the western short, so we started following the path around the island. We wound up going about 1/3rd of the way around the island before we found a spot where we could clamber down some rocks to get in the water, but oh, what we found when we got there!
I have only been snorkeling once, and it was a disappointing experience. My mask leaked a lot due either to my beard or its shoddy manufacture, and the location (off the Denali coast in
By that time it was starting to get late, so we convened up by the pavilion for cocktail hour. The mosquitoes were out, which was a bummer, but also out were the bats, which were amazing. None of us had ever seen bats so large – they seemed as big as eagles, flapping overhead in the waning light. Fruity island drinks were the popular option, but I’ve never really been a fan, so I went with a simple scotch. They lit candles on the tables as it grew dark, and we watched the lights from nearby boats dance across the water as we ate our dinner.
Philippines Day 8: Winding up for the Wedding
Our last day in
I had to admit, the
After lunch, we wandered around the mall so that Alison could find some shoes to match her bridesmaid’s dress. Half of one floor was devoted entirely to luxury watchmakers. Gigantic photos of sour-faced, half-naked, anorexic women in weird makeup and weirder clothing glowered down at us from the high-fashion shop windows. Air-conditioning blasted us with frigid air while big doors stood open to the outside. I was in heaven.
Alison finally found a pair of shoes she liked (and could afford), and Rebecca and Dana got some, too. By this time Alison and Levi were feeling the effects of the jet-lag, so we went back to the hotel where they could take a small nap before we headed off to the rehearsal dinner.
While they slept, Ben and I went across the street to get some coffee. I like Ben, but I find him an interesting character. He likes to take up a lot of space, both physically (he’s as tall as I am) and psychically. He speaks to friends and fellow Americans with a boisterous southern geniality that makes him easy to like, but adds a tone of sharp command when speaking to waiters and staff that shocks my liberal Bay Area sensibilities.
After a brief rest, we were off to the wedding rehearsal dinner. I was excited, as this would be my only chance to experience Filipino home life. The dinner was hosted by a cousin of Raine’s (she seems to have an endless supply of cousins) in a very affluent suburb of
The dinner, which I had been looking forward to with great curiosity, was something of a letdown. There was a
The rehearsal itself was a casual, rushed affair, orchestrated by a stylish gay man with poofy bleached hair, granny glasses and zippers on the backs of his pantlegs (it would appear the predisposition of gay men towards wedding planning is an international phenomenon). The script for the wedding was in thick purple folders for everyone to review, and they’ve got all the bells and whistles planned. Unity candle, unity bouquet, unity wine ceremonies combined with three or four readings, a song from Phantom of the Opera and the vows themselves, the ceremony is scheduled to take an hour, but I have my doubts. It’s a very nontraditional ceremony for the
By the time the rehearsal was over, it was getting late. Alison and Levi were barely coherent, and we had to get back to the hotel and get ready to leave at 4:30 the next morning. We said our goodbyes to the nameless smiling faces of the party and went back to the hotel with Mel at the wheel, careening wildly through the streets with horn blazing in the face of drivers who refuse to turn on their headlights at night for fear of wearing out the bulb.
Saturday, November 21, 2009 by Daniel
Philippines Day 6 & 7: In which I bitch, a bit
Our last day in
I thought it would be interesting to visit Honda Bay, even though we’d sort of decided against it due to all the boat-riding it entailed and our seasick-prone crew of adventurers. But, I argued, we wouldn’t be doing the full tour of the bay, we’d just get a boat and go to one island, just to hang out a bit and see what it was like, then we could turn around and come back. This is ultimately just what we did.
With the late start and the early departure, we only got a little under two hours on
It wasn’t much, but it was a pleasant little excursion that finally got us a taste of what Palawan – and the
The rest of the day was taken up with the trip back to
This is going to be the portion of the blog wherein I do a bit of venting. You see, I don’t like malls, and I haven’t liked them since I was a teenager (when such predilections were compulsory). And it has irked me, throughout our stay, how much of our visit seems to orbit malls. We live across the street from what is probably the most upscale mall in the country. We’ll be going to yet a different one tomorrow. All Ben can talk about is which mall is better for what purpose. But I don’t WANT to spend all my time in bastions of western consumerism! I want to experience Filipino life and culture!
I had a minor epiphany today: malls ARE Filipino life and culture. They are far more, to them, than convenient places to shop. They are a center for socializing, for seeing and being seen, for getting out of the oppressive heat, grime and chaos that surrounds them all the time into a cool, clean, tidy little bit of paradise. Many of them have other attractions as well. Ours boasts a large outdoor pavilion tent that can house travelling fairs, dances, etc. Another one has a large-scale, 15-minute firework display every Saturday evening (we watched it from our hotel room). It’s like Vegas. Which I also hate. And as much as I feel trapped in this hotel, and in
Which doesn’t really make me feel any better, but I do appreciate the insight. One of the reasons I liked
Thus far, our efforts to escape have been largely stymied. Tomorrow we had planned on taking a daytrip to Ta’al, a nearby volcanic lake, but we’ve had to give that up in deference to Ben’s plans to take us to Green-something mall so we can see their great pearl market. We keep dropping hints to imply the sort of things we’d LIKE to be doing, but these are brushed aside with, “oh, I wouldn’t go there – it’s dirty and there are a lot of pickpockets” or, “that would be a great thing to do the next time you visit.” Combine this with the situation that Ben and his fiancée Rain are – in many ways – hosting us here and the fact that we have to look out for Dana and Marc, and our choices are limited. It’s frustrating, to say the least.
We got away for a very little bit this afternoon, taking a taxi to the
It is a beautiful place. I think, perhaps, that Greg likes it so much is the same reason that Filipinos cherish their malls: it is extraordinarily clean, spacious, and organized – all the things that