Mini WarmupOD

Came home from work a bit early and was feeling a little antsy, so I decided to do a short run and work on some planks.

My run was 5:15.

We mapped out a .5 mile route around 2 blocks just out our door, but it's not flat; while not steep, it's got a noticeable up and a noticeable down, and I am sure that - even though it evens out with as much up as down - it affects my time somewhat. I thought i was running better than that, but I did start out a bit slow.

Then I did some 30 second planks. This was made a little tricky because Oscar (one of my cats) decided that since I was on the floor it MUST be kitty play time.

30 Sec. regular plank
30 Sec. left plank
30 sec. right plank
30 sec rest
30 sec plank right foot off the ground
30 sec plank left foot off the ground

Tried a few knees to elbows too - but didn't get any results worth mentioning.

The most exciting thing is the full 30 second right plank. I used to have to do right planks on my elbow instead of with a fully extended arm.

Climbing and 5x5's

Climbing
handful of V0's, 10c(f+), 10d(f++), 10b, 10d(f+)

Spent the day on the new climbs in the back corner, which are definitely hard climbs - there's an awful lot of negative incline back there. So lots of falling. I feel like a lot of those climbs are asking me to do a three-fingertip, one-hand lockoff or even pullup, which I'm just not strong enough to do, so I suspect my feet are not helping me enough. It's definitely awkward territory. The last d was the slab on the back that I did a week or so ago, and it was better today (though I still fell a couple times). I think it's within my grasp to do it clean, so that's my current goal - the back corner climbs will just be to work on forearm strength.

5x5's
Deadlift: 205
Shoulder press: 85!

DL's were about as hard as they were last week. My grip was starting to fail so I switched to alternating grip on the last set, which made it much easier. Some jerk tightened the rack bolts way too tight, so I couldn't set the bar high for the presses. After trying awkwardly to clean the weight up and wearing myself out, I just put the bar as high as I could and wound up taking it off the rack in a split front squat, which worked OK. Definitely hard work! I think I'm not going to jump straight to 90 next time, but use the collars to get up to 87, and if I manage that then go from there to 90. I'm pleased as hell that I managed the full 5x5, though, when I had predicted I would start failing at 80.

...And that's it for another week. Resting until Wednesday evening. Have the anchoring workshop up in Bear Valley this weekend, so I may wind up taking a week off the 5x5's - haven't decided yet.

WOD 6-29-08

Tabata That

Tabata Burpee
Rest 1 minute
Tabata Sit-Up
Rest 1 minute
Tabata Push-Up
Rest 1 minute
Tabata Squat
Rest 1 minute

Results

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Burpee*	3.5	3.5	3.5	3	3	3	3	3
Sit-up	12	11	10	10	9	9	9	9
Push-up*	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5
Squat	12	12	11	10	10	10	10	10

Total: 27

*Burpees & Push-ups were done w/knees on the way up.

Comments
Pretty happy with the scores on this workout. They weren't significantly lower than the other folks in my class, and in some instances, they weren't even the lowest.

We had a guest instructor today - Shira - and she was great. She has a strong back ground in capoeira, and she put us through a pretty lengthy warm-up that worked on things like handstands and running and she was very focused on the correct form for things which was helpful. One of my complaints, recently, is that I don't get a lot of opportunity to practice the various crossfit motions outside of class, and it's easy to forget to concentrate on form when you're working against a clock.

I asked Shira to look @ my pushup form - it was after class, and I was pretty tired, so it was hard to get a realy sense of what my form is like when i am not tired - but form is most important when you're tired, anyway :p) so it was probably a good time to check it out. Apparently support through my lower back is collapsing when I push back up - so that is something I definitely need to work on.

Tabata That!

Tabata Burpee
Rest 1 minute
Tabata Sit-Up
Rest 1 minute
Tabata Push-Up
Rest 1 minute
Tabata Squat
Rest 1 minute

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Burpee	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Sit-up	12	12	11	11	11	11	11	11
Push-up	10	10	10	10	10	10	8	8
Squat	14	14	13	13	13	13	13	14

Final score: 36

Guest instructrix Shira Yaziv led the class today while Max is off frolicking in Tahoe (not that I'm jealous). It was a fun class, and she lent a fun, dancy vibe to the group warmup. My first time Tabata-ing, and I think I did a pretty good job of aiming for consistency. I can't really conceive of doing Burpees faster, but I think I could definitely improve my squat numbers. The sit-ups might be better with a foot anchor. The pushups....it killed me that I wasn't able to hold on to the 10-per-round that I set up, losing it so late in the set.

Fight gone .. pretty well actually :)

6-27-08

Warmup
25 squats
10 pushups
20 situps
run 400m

WOD
"Fight Gone Bad!"

Three rounds of:
Wall-ball, 20 pound ball, 10 ft target (Reps)
Sumo deadlift high-pull, 75 pounds (Reps)
Box Jump, 20" box (Reps)
Push-press, 75 pounds (Reps)
Row (Calories)

In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute.The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. On call of "rotate", the athletes must move to next station immediately for best score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point.

Results
121

Exercise	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Total
SDHP 44# SDHP 35.2#	6 3	5 6	4 10	15 19
Box Jump	14	13	14	41
Push-Press 45# Push-Press 30#	4 .	3 .	. 7	7 7
Row	10	11	8	29
Wall-Ball 10#	0	1	2	3
Total	37	39	45	121

Comments
I'm actually quite pleased with how this workout went.

First of all: I GOT MY FIRST WALLBALL TO HIT THE MARK! THREE times!

Other items I am happy about:
I was able to use the 45# oly bar for most of my push press rounds, and i was able to use the medium height box jump box. I have a significant fear of trying to jump on them, so I was still just stepping, but the last time we did this exercise, I had to use the smallest box.

The air quality was still too bad for us to go on the bike ride we had planned to go on today (which was a major bummer), so we invited our friends to join us for today's CrossFit class instead (the thick silver lining to the bad air). They both did extremely well - and what a WOD to get introduced to CF with! I think they both really enjoyed the experience - if not so much while going through it, at least after having done it, they felt like they had really accomplished something.

We also saw WALL.E today. Definitely the most message laden movie Pixar has ever made. The character of WALL.E himself is just absolutely adorable. But the whole thing takes place in this sort of horrifying, entirely plausible future reality. It's all delivered in this cute, fuzzy package, but the implications are pretty d@mn stark.

It's gorgeously rendered, and a good story to boot - very much worth seeing in the theatre with the big picture, and the big sound, and the high definition.

Fight Gone Bad!

Three rounds of:
Wall-ball, 20 pound ball, 10 ft target (Reps)
Sumo deadlift high-pull, 75 pounds (Reps)
Box Jump, 20" box (Reps)
Push-press, 75 pounds (Reps)
Row (Calories)

Exercise	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3
SDHP 71#	25	18	15
Box Jump	12	10	10
Push-Press	11	7	7
Row	15	14	12
Wall-Ball 20#	10	10	8

For a total score of 184.

This was my first legit (RX'd) FGB, and I'm quite happy with it. Although I scored higher with previous ones, the wall-ball was only 12#, the jump was lower, and I didn't have a rower so did cable rows. For those things that can be compared (SDHP and Push-press), my reps were much higher.

Kacey and Brian came with us to try out Crossfit, and I think they had a pretty good time. They did really well for their first time, pushing hard but keeping control. It was great to share this with them - too bad they live so far away and can't join us more often. Maybe there's a CF gym in Sacramento they could try.

More climbing and 5x5's

AM climbing:
10a, 10b(f), 10c(f++), 10b, 10c(dnc)

Man, Jim wasn't kidding - routes set on a Monday ARE harder! Spent most of the time today on the new climbs in the back corner, and they are doozies. The first b was stemmy and delicious and will be clean next time, I just needed to give my shoulder a rest from being in a contorted lean-back for too long. The c is hard. Like, HARD hard. Tiny pincher holds and no good feet on a negative incline + overhang all the way up. I rested my way up it and my forearms felt completely thrashed afterwards. I think I've met my new nemesis. And it scares me.

PM 5x5's

Back squat: 120
Bench press: 120

There's a little bench/box thing back by the cages that I used tonight to squat down to, just as a depth marker (I never rested on it, and I made sure in the mirror that it was below parallel for me). I think it REALLY helped my form. I didn't have the problem of leaning forward at the bottom and putting strain on my back (which I think comes from squatting too low), and I finally felt like I understood what to do with my knees, managing to send them out to the sides instead of knock-kneeing in. It helped to visualize the movement as a horizontal three-pointed star sending my knees and butt in opposite direction - "OUT", and not "down." Still, even though I just touched my butt to the box and came back up, it felt a little like cheating, so next time I think I'll use it for the empty bar warmups, just to feel the depth, and then lose it when the weight goes on.

The bench is getting heavy, such that the last rep of the last two sets were a real struggle. I might start failing soon, which has me nervous. Guess I'll just ask someone to spot me.

WODs and climbing - not quite BFF

WOD 6-26-08

For time:
50 Sit-ups
50 Double-Unders
50 Sit-ups
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Sit-ups
50 Burpees
50 Sit-ups

*Mod - did twice as many rounds of 25 reps each.

Results
Total 23:04

Breakdown:
1. 25 Sit-ups 0:49.0
2. 25 Tuck-jumps 0:32.4
3. 25 Sit-ups 1:03.6
4. Walking Lunge, 25 steps 1:45.0
5. 25 Sit-ups 1:25.6
6. 25 Burpees 4:14.0
7. 25 Sit-ups 1:24.4
8. 25 Sit-ups 1:10.8
9. 25 Tuck-jumps 0:37.8
10. 25 Sit-ups 1:07.4
11. Walking Lunge, 25 steps 1:18.6
12. 25 Sit-ups 2:17.1*
13. 25 Burpees 4:07.5
14. 25 Sit-ups 1:11.6

*The times for rounds 12 & 13 are a little skewed - much of the time for round 12 actually belongs to round 13 - i forgot to hit the button on my watch.

Climbing
5.9 clean, 5.9 - not clean

Comments
SO ... my coworker friends who we were SUPPOSED to take climbing BOTH flaked on me. I was super disappointed. This is the 3rd time in as many weeks that at least one of the three of us haven't been able to make it, and one of them is leaving on Tuesday for a 3 week vacation, and I doubt that I will get one without the other, so maybe it will work sometime in August ... or September

Daniel was able to get in touch with another climbing friend of ours who agreed to meet us later in the evening for some climbing, so we decided to go to the gym at the time we had originally planned to go and do the CFEB WOD on our own. Daniel brought egg salad wraps with him when he came so we could have a bit of dinner in between CF and climbing. (He's so awesome )

I'm pretty pleased with how this workout went. I split the rounds in half, originally intending to only do half. Despite eating pretty consistently throughout the day, i still felt pretty tired and wanted to scale the workout according to what I thought i could manage. Of course by the time I got to the end of the first half rounds, and Daniel was still working on his burpees, I thought - "that wasn't so bad, I could do that again", so I did! And the second set of rounds actually felt better than the first.

All of the rounds of situps were unbroken. The walking lunges were essentially unbroken - except for having to repeatedly catch my balance. (Fortunately I was walking back and forth along a wall) And except for a couple brief pauses to stretch my shoulders, the burpees were also largely unbroken, particularly in the second round (though not by any means speedy - just ... steady).

By the time we finished it was just about time for us to meet our friend Kat (not the same as my friend Katherine). So we scarfed our dinner. Kat only had an hour to climb so she went first. She's a good climber, and fun to watch. She's very good about keeping her weight on her feet. When it was my turn I was feeling pretty peppy, and I really wanted to try some of the 10a's I've been eying, but better sense prevailed, and I decided to to warm up with a 5.9 . Good thing too. I warmed up with my old friend Thriller - and it was a lot harder than the last time I climbed it. Drat. Since I am fairly certain the climb hadn't changed, and the laws of gravity hadn't changed, it must've be me. Apparently the adrenaline rush from the CF workout makes me FEEL like i can climb anything - but the reality is something else entirely. I still climbed it clean - it just wasn't graceful.

I've never climbed directly after a WOD before, and I think the intensive ab work from the WOD did not do my climbing any favors. You really rely on those core muscles to keep your body as close to the wall as possible, and they were all tuckered out.

The gym was actually kind of crowded, so my choice of climbs was fairly limited when it came back to being my turn, the 5.8 on the negative incline wall was taken, so I decided to revisit the 5.9 on the negative incline wall I did on Sunday. I think I did some parts better just due to being more familiar with the climb, and i think i did it more quickly than I did on Sunday, but I still had to rest several times, and there were too many instances of scrambling to get up instead of intelligently using my legs and balance when possible. It's just really hard to stop and think about that when my forearms are burning from holding me on the (evil negative incline) wall. This is definitely a climb i want to keep doing until I can manage it clean.

After me Daniel climbed once (he was going to be back to climb early the next morning, so he was pretty happy just belaying and keeping us company) and then it was Kat's turn, and then it was time for her to go, and Daniel and i decided we were pretty ready to go, too.

So it was sort of a mixed day. I didn't do as well with the climbing as I had expected I would, but I did a lot better at the WOD. We didn't get home until late, and I wanted to try to get a full night's sleep, so that's why this log is a day late. (I really enjoy writing these log posts, but they take forever to write )

Tonight we opted to go out to dinner with Daniel's Dad and his Aunt who we haven't seen in a while, so I didn't get to workout today, but the extra rest was probably a good thing.

In non-workout news, I got officially got a promotion and a raise today!! I've known about the promotion for a while. My company is moving me from Accounts Receivable, and basically training me to be a cost accountant - except without the 'training' per se since we've never really had a cost accountant, and no one has any time to really 'teach' me, so it's kind of a 'toss her in and see how she does' kind of thing. I've essentially been doing the work for the past month and a half or more - and there had been some vague conversation about additional compensation, but the company isn't actually doing so well right now, so I didn't have any expectation of that happening any time soon. So, today, my boss swings by my desk ans asks if he can 'steal me for a few minutes'. What a nice gift for a Friday!

We're supposed to go for a longish bike ride with some friends tomorrow to do a little training for the Metric century we're all doing in Mid July. I hope the air clears up enough for us to go without burning our lungs. Yuck. I haven't been on my road bike all month, and I'm starting to get really worried about just having the stamina to sit on my saddle for that long. We're going to head out to the coast in the hopes that things are clearer out there.

The kinda-dirty fifty?

For time:
50 Sit-ups
50 Double-Unders
50 Sit-ups
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Sit-ups
50 Burpees
50 Sit-ups

19:02

Subbed tuck jumps for double-unders. Everything was going fine until the burpees, when it all slowed WAY down. I had to do them in sets of 10, and then fight to gain my breath. They must have taken at least twice as long as any other element. I just really, really suck at burpees, apparently. Which explains why I really hate them.

The Crossfitalypse

Due to the wildfires all over the state, air quality is TERRIBLE - and it's only supposed to get worse. Perfect day to run!

Four Rounds For Time:
Run 800 Meters
10 55#/35# Kettlebell Snatch Left
10 55#/35# Kettlebell Snatch Right

19:44, with 35# KB.

Frustrating, because this weight was just too light, and hardly any effort. However the next size up, 20kg, was OK with my right hand but uncomfortably sketchy with my left. It felt unsafe, and I don't like feeling unsafe while flinging large metal weights over my head. Hopefully soon I'll be able to go to a heavier weight.

The running was fine, except for the burning sensation in my throat from all the smoke in the air. Pretty sure it slowed me down. The splits were: 4:44 | 4:52 | 5:15 | 4:53

Not super consistent, but not too bad, I suppose.

Tried weighted pullups afterward with a 35# plate. I was able to do both a pullup and a chinup, but they were quite hard. No way I could do 60# (1.3 bw, for the skill level), so there's another thing to work on.

Waste of a Workout

WOD
Four Rounds For Time:
Run 800 Meters
10 55#/35# Kettlebell Snatch Left
10 55#/35# Kettlebell Snatch Right

Results:
24:56 - for 3 rounds and the last run was 400m

Comments:
Today's workout was just awful. Truly a waste. I'm not sure how much it will take for me to finally ACTUALLY learn that too few calories results in a horrible workout experience; one that often ends in tears of frustration.

Was it just Saturday where I was saying I felt like th 'poster girl for good nutrition'? Not this week. This week I am the poster girl for what happens when good nutrition goes out the window. Two sides of the same coin, I guess.

It's not like I haven't had that point hammered home on more than one recent occasion. But work has been crazy this week, and I have been very bad about remembering to eat while I am there all week. It is my goal to eat breakfast around 8:30 or 9, have a cottage cheese snack around 11:30, lunch around 2 and then an afternoon snack - if i'm hungry - around 4 or so.

Monday and yesterday I had breakfast (a piece of whole wheat toast with peanut or almond butter) around 10:30, cottage cheese around 1:30, forgot to eat lunch, and had a quick snack around 5 or 6:30 when I remembered I hadn't eaten lunch and had a good dinner at about 8:30.

Today, I knew that I probably hadn't gottenenough to eat the previous two days, so I brought a lot of food with my to work planning to try to eat all day long to try to 'catch up'. Well, I managed to have breakfast around 9:30 or so, and then didn't realize until 4 that I hadn't eaten anything since then.

A little backstory: I 'had' to get to work an hour early today. I had put a pricing matrix together for one of our sales people for a potential customer in NY. I gave it to him last night, but he wanted to go over it with the COO before submitting it to the customer, so he wanted to meet as early as possible in the morning (the COO was gone for the day by the time I got it to him yesterday) so he could get it to the NY people asap. I got to work at 8. The COO wasn't in, then we were supposed to meet @ 11, but the COO was occupied with other meetings and couldn't make it. The salesperson said he would come get me as soon as the COO was available. so i expectantly waiting to be called into a meeting - until 2:45! the meeting lasted until 3:45 then i had to run an errand for the owner of the company, and then it was like - oh yeah - i need food!

Class was @ 5. Not a whole lot of time to make up for the lack of calories. I opted for eating the cottage chese instead of the lunch I brought since I figured I might be able to digest that more quickly. Not a good base to start a workout from, and my workday did not put me in the best of moods.

On top of the limited calories, and my bad mood, my shoulders are STILL sore from saturday's workout - and not the good - 'i worked hard' kind of hurt - just the painful, bruised, tender kind of hurt, AND there are something like 800 fires in Northern California right now and the air quality is HORRIBLE here. I made the mistake of thinking it was was foggy. It's not foggy - the air is THICK with smoke.

AND I was 10 minutes late to class, so I missed some of the warmup. I probably should just have done something on my own. But when things are going like this, it can end in one of two ways - a wretched disaster, or a surprising success. I was hoping that by just going through the motions I could workout my stress and find the strength to get through the workout. Didn't happen.

50m into the first run I got smacked with a horrible side stitch and had to walk about 100m. I managed to run the rest of it though. 5:40

I actually did pretty well with the snatches. I thought I was going to have to use a 10# dumbell for my right arm, but it ended up being too light, so i struggled through with the 8kg kettlebell instead for both left and right.

The second run started off well, but I only made it about 200m before I had to walk, and I ended up having to walk MOST of it. Maybe 3/4. 6:45 I was so frustrated, and tired, and sore!

The third run, I decided to cut down to 400 figuring i could at least do that. Except that about 150m through i started having horrible phlegm issues (see note above re: horrible air quality). I ended up having to walk much of the 400m, too. I think it took 3:40.

Tomorrow we're going climbing with two of my coworkers - finally! And I am really looking forward to that. It can't help but go better than today. Today was just ... a fantastic reminder why i HAVE to get on a steady eating schedule. It's a little frustrating (ok - a LOT frustrating) to be SO reactive to what does or does not go into my body, but at least I know that as long I stick to a healthy, CONSISTENT diet, I'll be good. Now I just have to unlearn years of bad habits and make it happen.

Wednesday Weigh-in

What went in:
Avg daily calories: 3256
Fat: 155g - 42%
Carb: 259g - 29% (44 fiber)
Protein: 210g - 26%
Alcohol: 9g - 2%

Workout Summary:
2.5x climbing
2x strength (5x5)
2x CF strength-endurance

Note: NO serious metcon work, except for the one mile I ran

What came out:
Weight: 177 (0)
BF: 9% (0)
Chest: 38 (-0.25)
Arms: 11.75 (0)
Hips: 38.25 (+0.25)
Waist: 32.5 (0)
Thighs: 21.75 (0)
Calves: 14.5 (-0.25)
Forearms: 10 (+0.25)
Shoulders: 46.25 (+0.25)

Analysis
Nearly 500 more calories a day and over 200g/protein, and still the needle didn't move. I think in order to gain I'm going to have to go over 3500 cal/day. It's difficult to push the protein and fat without pushing the carbs up too, though. I could definitely still be better about my morning toast and the Builder bars, though.

Looking Forward
I'm torn. I think I would really like to get my waist down to 32". It seems an attainable goal, one that shouldn't be far off. However, the weights are getting heavy in my 5x5's, and I could really use some more muscle to keep pace, or else I'm going to stall out. So which is it? Drop that last .5" off my stomach, or add another 500 cal/day into the mix to try and get the weight to go back up again?

Maybe I can do both, if I can get the carbs down to 150g/day. OK, so this week I resolve to keep my protein up over 200g/day, but drop the carbs. Don't really know the best way to cut that, though - toast is only 18g, a builder bar is 26g... a LOT of my carbs are coming from milk, which I don't really want to give up. The rest are coming from beans, mainly - weekly burrito, chili, etc. Guess I'll just do the best I can.

Rockin' Recipe: Kale, Sausage and Beans

Ingredients

• 1 bunch fresh kale, chopped
  
• 4 veggie sausages (Tofurky or Soy Sausage)
• 1 can white kidney (cannelini) beans
• 2 oz chopped walnuts (~1/4 cup)
• 1 or 2 large shallots, sliced
  
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• spices (salt, fresh pepper, red pepper flakes, italian seasoning - whatever works)

Preparation

Saute the sausage in a little oil until cooked, set aside.

Heat up a couple tbsp olive oil and add the shallots and walnuts until the shallots soften and brown a little. Add the garlic and spices for a few seconds until fragrant, then pour in the beans and stir. Add the kale on top of the beans, then cover and let steam a few minutes until the kale softens. Add the sausage, parmesan, and the rest of the olive oil, then stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve dusted with a little parmesan.

Makes 4 servings approx 2 cups each. Goes great with red wine or a tall glass of milk.

Nutritional Breakdown
(per serving)

620 calories
34g fat (47%)
36g carbs + 10g fiber (29%)
40g protein (24%)

The fat is easily adjusted by using less olive oil, cheese and walnuts. These can almost be omitted entirely, though of course flavor will suffer.

Climbing and 5x5

Climbing: 9(o), 10c, 10d(f), 10c(f)

Pretty damn good, I think, considering I climbed just yesterday and I still feel pretty messed up from Saturday - my traps are cryin'. That 10c is Daniels, and I FINALLY did it totally clean! Got past the crux without any real difficulty, then nearly fell about five feet further up when my elbow accidentally hit a hold on another climb and knocked me a little off balance - it was a sketchy moment, but I managed to rescue it. Just in time, too, as I suspect that section of wall is next on the schedule for changing. The d was nearly clean, I just got greedy and moved my feet too high on the face, pushing my hips out more than my tired forearms could compensate for on their small hold. The c was slab in the back, and I suspect I could do it without much difficulty with fresher arms and chalk in my bag (it was empty). So four climbs and only two rather lame falls - I'm quite pleased with that!

5x5's
Deadlift: 200
Shoulder Press: 80

The deadlifts are starting to feel really heavy...though doing them immediately after climbing is probably having some effect. My grip was failing, probably because of the climbing, so I should switch to alternate grip a bit sooner, I think. I really surprised myself by doing all 5 sets of the presses, considering how hard the 75's were a week ago. It's primarily a technique thing, I think, in that it's much better now that I know to get the weight over my ears ASAP. I'll probably start failing at 85, but for now, again, I'm quite pleased.

Good note to end the workweek on, methinks. I'm ready for my rest day tomorrow.

Past due for a rest day ...

Ack. I did a lot better climbing today than i though I would - two 5.7's (both clean) and two and a quarter 5.9's (the first one clean, the second with a lot of rests, and the last one was just a dumb idea). Honestly - I probably should have skipped the climbing. I am COMPLETELY EXHASUTED. Apparently the problem with eating well is that you are capable of pushing yourself farther than you should go ... >.<

In the name of being social and not forgoing friendships in the pursuit of CF: instead of going to class, we had agreed to go climbing with Katherine and her husband Blake today something we used to do every weekend pre-broken finger and pre-CF. If we hadn't already made plans to meet them I very well may have made today a rest day.

We paired off in girls and boys pairs. Katherine started with a fairly easy straight forward 5.9, and did just fine. Then it was my turn; not expecting to get very far - since just raising my arms above the level of my waist kinda hurt - I decided to at least try a friendly 5.7. It went much better than i expected, and I got all the way to the top quickly and easily.

Then, at the recommendation of Daniel & Blake, Katherine decided to try a 10.a that had a tricky bit of overhang. Well she slipped trying to get over it, and really nailed her shin (the one she hadn't scraped up falling off her bike) on a hold. That was it for that climb. We got some ice for her shin, and just sat and talked for a while until she felt better.

Then I decided to try another friendly 5.7. Climbed it speedy and clean.

Katherine chose a 10.a she'd done last week, but it was a lot harder this time since she was still sorta freaked out from getting banged up (and I learned later that all she'd had for breakfast was a jamba juice smoothie -ie. sugar bomb - so she didn't have any good fuel) But after several rests and several instances of being just positive she couldn't get any further, she hung in there and with some persistent encouragement from her supportive belay partner (me :D) , she made it to the top.

Next, i was feeling perkier, so I decided to try the 5.9 'Thriller' again. It went MUCH more smoothly than when i tried it friday night, and I made it to the top easily and clean! :D That probably should have been my last climb, but it's so hard to call it a day when you still feel like you have energy left.

So after Katherine climed thriller too, I decided to try a 5.9 on the negative incline wall (the one I don't like), just to see how far i could get. I had to rest a bunch, but I made it all the way to the top. There was a tricky part at the beginning involving getting up over a small overhang, but I finally figured out how to get my right foot right up under me which allowed me to reach the next hold. I used up a lot of energy figuring that out, and by the time i got to the top, my form was out the window - i was reaching with my hands before bringing my feet up under me.

The last climb i tried was just dumb. It was a 5.9 that goes over this fairly significant piece of overhang that I have never successfully gotten over - so I decided to try it - today - when i had basically no hope of succeeding due to my tired state. I made it to the bottom of the overhang, fell a couple times, wasted a lot of energy trying to get back on route (the 'joy' of climbs with overhang is frequently if you fall, you swing a LONG way, and getting back on route can be harder than just coming down and starting over), got the rope caught on a hold distinctly off route that was pulling me off course - wasted some more energy trying to resolve that, tried to get on route again - realized i was just exhausted and decided to come down.

I am very much looking forward to two full rest days!

A Mile in My Shoes

I'm feeling really wrecked today from yesterday's workout, primarily the KB Swings. Pretty much everything between my neck and my waist hurts - I haven't been this sore in some time. So it was with some relief that we skipped today's CF class and went climbing with Katherine and Blake instead.

However, Max charged me with some homework yesterday after class: run a mile as fast as you can. Which I diligently performed this morning, to the tune of:

6:12.4

Which means I have another level II skill to cross off! And I'm damn close to level III. Although considering how hard I pushed today, those 12 seconds seem pretty tough to beat. Maybe if I did it at a proper track so I didn't have to turn around or worry about sharp corners, dodging potholes, etc, I could shave off a few seconds. At any rate, I'll take it.

Climbing: 10a, 10b(o), 10c(f), 10d(f+)

The d was a really technical bit of slab on the back wall, with complicated reverse-stem turnarounds, etc - I probably should do it a lot more, as it was really pushing my comfort levels.

Weekly Measurments

Weight 121

Waist: 30
Hips: 37
Bicep: R: 10 L:10
Forearm: R: 8 L: 8
Thigh: R: 20.5 L: 21 1/8

Body fat content according to this: Zone Body Fat % Calculator (I like this one better) 24%

Ow.

Oh wow. I have traps. Really grumpy unhappy trapezius dorsai muscles. Lifting my arms? Ow.

Daniel has different muscles that are sore - his lats mostly, I think, and I wonder if I was not doing my KB swings right yesterday - using too much arm strength and not enough momentum ...

I have other sore muscles - my abs and my hips and pretty much everything from my elbow to my mid back is whining - but my traps are crying the loudest.

Climbing today is going to be ... interesting. Think I might just do a lot belaying ....

6/21/08

6/21/08

Warmup
25 squats
20 jumping squats
15 mountain climbers (only managed 12)
10 burpees
5 pistols - each leg
25 situps
20 v-ups
15 hollow rocks (lost count - probably 15?)

WOD
For Time:
20 rounds

10 push-ups
10 KB swing 55#/35# (sub 24#)

Results:
15 rounds 51:35

my arms totally gave out on me on this. Hence the 15 rounds instead of 20. I could still do the KB swings fairly consistently - usually only 1, very occasionally 2, fails in a set, but I just could not do any more pushups.

I started off well - and my form has gotten much better. Though there were no sets that where I managed 10 straight pushups. For most of the rounds I could get 5-6 consecutive, and then I had to rest once or twice to finish the set.

For my first few rounds, I barely used my knees at all - mostly just for a touch at the bottom of the rom. The middle rounds were straightleg down, knees all the way back up. The last 3 rounds were knees down and back up (which I only switched to after hitting my nose on the ground a couple times when my arms just gave out on me). By the last round I could barely string two pushups together in a row, despite making them as easy as I could.

I suppose i could have found a step or bench to raise the angle and simplify them further, but everyone else was done, and (more importantly) we had a wedding we needed to get to, so I didn't have another 15-30 minutes to gut it out (and I didn't want to be a total zombie by the time we got there).

Possibly I should have started the knees full up sooner to conserve strength for later rounds. Also, my feet tend to slip out from underneath me when I am doing pushups, so I have to spend a lot of energy resetting them - not quite every rep, but several reps within a set. I need to ask Max if I am doing something wrong that causes this, or if it's just a side affect of the weakness in my right side, or ... what.

One thing that i was quite pleased with was the consistency of my KB swings. I considered trying this with the 35# bell - but I tried a couple swings with it before the WOD started, and couldn't *quite* manage it. I'm close, but I definitely wasn't going to be able to do a significant number of them. But with the 24# bell I had several sets of unbroken reps (several sets of broken reps, too ). I learned that as long as I kept the arch in my lower back, I could pretty much keep going; even if i came down or went up a little off kilter, I could generally recover, but once I lost the arch, I'd get thrown off balance and have to start over.

Something else I am really pleased with: even though I worked myself to complete muscular exhaustion with the pushups, my energy after class was still really good. It was nothing like the workout I did may 28th where I got through 125 pushups, and was a crying exhausted mess afterwards. (Which was just before we realized that I just wasn't getting enough calories.) I feel like the poster girl for what a difference good nutrition can make

Going twenty rounds

For Time:
20 rounds

10 push-ups
10 KB swing 55#

39:35 RX

This is one of the first times I've done a weights-WOD RX'd at Ironworks, so it's a particularly proud day for me. That said, my ass is totally whupped. This one was a real killer. At first the pushups were the hard part, but after about halfway or so, they took a back seat to the KB swings...the thing with the swings is that it relies on the rhythm, so you can't really just stop in the middle like with the pushups (that said, all my sets of both exercises were unbroken) - you have to keep going, or else build up your momentum again. I don't think I've ever done this volume of KB swings before, much less at this weight. My wrists and hands were hurting from gripping the bell, and my middle back/lats aren't really talking to me anymore... or maybe it's that they won't shut up. Bill and I did it outside, and I'm just grateful I didn't slip and send a 55-pound kettlebell hurtling into the bicycle rack.

At the start, Max advised us to try and choose a pace and stick with it, rather than sprinting out the gate, so that's what I tried to do. I had hoped for 1:30/round, but actually wound up averaging 2:00. Still, I got one of the faster times in the class, so that's satisfying.

We went directly from class to Nicole's wedding, which was a lovely, traditional Catholic affair. The vegetarian meal was spaghetti with mini-toasts, though, so the diet did not fare well today...I haven't done my log yet, but I'll be surprised if I make it to my protein goal.

6-20-08

It was a very very warm day today, and so we skipped our usual 6p yoga class in favor of going climbing a little later (when it would be a little cooler). Daniel's climbing partner wasn't able to meet him this morning, so he really wanted to get some climbing in. Today was also his 5x5 day which he usually does in the morning on fridays after climbing. So he was going to go a little earlier and get that done - except that he forgot he was going to go earlier so I got to do it with him - which ended up being fun.

Today was his back squats and bench press day.

I've practiced back squats with a dowel before, but I've never done them with weight. I tried the 45# oly bar. I got it up on my shoulders - barely - even with the help of a power cage - and i didn't feel at all comfortable squatting with it, so I grabbed a 24# bar that was *just* wide enough to sit in the power cage rack so I could at least practice the right movement. I think I might have done 2-3 sets of five - mostly just playing around with proper form. Daniel said that I was settling into the bottom of my squat too slowly - and that with heavier weight I wouldn't have any elasticity to help me get back up again. So - something to work on.

I also worked OH Squat form a bit with a 9# bar - more weight than a dowel, but not so much as to compromise form.

I've never done a bench press that wasn't a machine, so that was a fun first. I managed to do 5x 5 sets of the empty oly bar so 45#. The first 2-3 reps were fairly manageable - reps 4 & 5 were tough, with 5 being a real struggle. I suppose I might be able to go up to 50# next week - but I'm not sure I could get 5 full sets done. One thing I really need to work on is pushing with both arms equally. Not keeping the bar level makes the lift a lot harder.

When we were done I decided I wanted to try some deadlifts, too, and Daniel was kind enough to oblige me and help set up the bar, and gave me some good pointers about where to start the lift from: the hips not the shoulders. That tip made an immediate improvement in my form. Daniel said it was looking good, and it definitely felt good. I can tell instantly in the way it feels when i execute the lift whether i did it right or not. I think I could get up to 100 pretty easily. Getting the bar down is still hard though. I have a hard time keeping the arch in my back, and the right side always gets down well in advance of the left. I was wishing for bumper plates I could just drop.

By this time it was quite late but we still hadn't done any climbing, which was suposedly the reason we were there, after all ; so I climbed 2 climbs and he climbed 3.

My first climb was a 5.8+, on a wall I have never been friends with. It is negative incline most of the way up, and it has 1 - 2 overhangy bits (depending on how the route is set.) Negative incline and/or overhangs require more strength. I definitely had to rest on the way up, but I made it to the top, and without significant cheating, and a lot quicker than I probably would have before. I was pretty happy with my technique for the most part.

My second climb was a 5.9 called 'thriller' It wasn't graceful or clean, but I made my way up to the top, and figured out how to get past some tricky geometry problems w/o cheating which made me happy. The end was just sloppy because I was tired. My right foot kept slipping off holds, and I gave up form for just trying to power through to the end.

The most fun part of the evening though was just playing with the weights. I really liked having the time to just play with what was there without a super particular goal in mind and seeing what i could do. Usually I am in a class or in a rush with a very specific goal or a specific time limit, and this was a nice change of pace. Also the weight room had about 4 fans on, and the breeze was awesome.

5x5

Back Squat: 115
Bench Press: 115

Squats were fine. Bench is starting to get heavy. Rebecca did it with me, which made it a lot more fun. We climbed a bit afterwards - 10c(f), 10d(f++), and a 10b that I DNC. Just too tired and sweaty (HOT DAY) to be very effective on the wall. Still, all in all a very pleasant workout - nice to be there without having somewhere else to be, and it was nearly empty, which was great.

6-19-08

So we did actually manage to get a very little climbing in this afternoon before our trip to the theatre. It was cut even shorter by the fact that I was late getting out of work. Sorry honey :(


I climbed:
a 5.9 - clean but not graceful - I started out really well, but struggled with the finish. I climbed this same route Sunday morning and although did a much better job with it then. I think the top has just a little bit of negative incline and my shoulders are sore from yesterday's presses. Probably wasn't the best climb to start with.

a 5.7 clean and graceful, too easy.

a 5.10a not clean, not graceful, downright sloppy in fact, but I made it to the top ... with only a couple instances of 'ratcheting' (a minor form of cheating :o ). Overhangs are still not my friends, although I can tell that there are definite improvements in my overall strength, and they shouldn't pose such an insurmountable obstacle for very much longer. I'd like to try this again with fresher, happier shoulders.

For those who are not familiar with climbing, 'ratcheting' requires assistance from your belay partner who will tighten and lock off the rope for every inch of height you gain - whether or not you are steady on the hold, thus allowing you to inch your way up to the next hold. (Thanks honey!)

Daniel only climbed 1 climb, i think, and that was all we had time for. He let me climb more since he's meeting a friend to go climbing in the morning.

We went to Thai E Sun on Shattuck for dinner - couple quick notes: service was FAST food was quite tasty - though the peanut sauce Daniel got had too much sugar - and they had a ginormous goldfish in this small little fish tank that made me sad. Pretty sure it was longer than the tank was wide.

The play was good, not great.

Seven Super Shoulders

Seven rounds for time of:
75 pound Shoulder Press, 21 reps
42 Superman (May sub 21 Back extensions)

34:25

Subbed 60# barbell for the press. Press sets quickly degenerated into 6-5-5-5, but I was pleasantly surprised I was able to keep that up with 30-60 second rests. The supermans just sucked - I did them in three sets of 14. Would much rather have used the GHD, which would have been a lot faster.

I was still one of the last to finish. Guess I rested more than everyone else.

6-18-08

Warm up
(was late & missed the first 2 exercises - squats * jumping squats)
20 Mountain Climbers
20 Pushups
25 Kettlebell swings - 12 kg
15 KB cleans R &L

WOD
Seven rounds for time of:
75 pound Shoulder Press, 21 reps (Mod 24#)
42 Superman (May sub 21 Back extensions)

OR

Seven Rounds for time of
Kettlebell Press 35#/25#
42 Superman

Results
7 rounds of shoulder press with a 24# bar
3 rounds of 42 Superman / 4 round of 21 GHD back extensions

38:09

Comments
Pretty happy with my performance today.

I think 24# was probably just about the perfect weight for me. I could generally get the first 8-10 reps done before having to rest, and the last 2-5 were really tough - especially in the last rounds. It just doesn't seem like 24# should be as hard as it was ... it sounds like hardly anything, but the proof is in the experience - anything heavier would have been pretty brutal. I can already tell my shoulders are going to be unhappy with me for the next few days.

I did supermans for the first 3 rounds, and then realized that there were not many people using the (only) GHD hardware, so switched to those - i MUCH prefer them. I'm good at them. 42 supermans takes me - i didn't time it, but I'd guess 2-3 minutes w/ lots of rests between reps. I can hammer out 21 back extensions w/o stopping - so probably in under a minute.

The fact that the GHD equipment was downstairs from where I was lifting was actually a bit of a boon, cause the trip down and up gave my shoulders a bit of a break - which they really appreciated.

Interestingly i felt a lot more woozy/headrush-y from the shoulder presses than i did from the back extensions. I guess it's just the clenching from the exertion to lift a heavy weight?

I had thought about only doing 4 rounds since Max suggested that i make this week a half volume week. And I did feel a bit sluggish in the warmup and in the first round or two, which I was a little surprised by given that I just had two rest days , but after I finished round 4, I wasn't ready to stop, so I did all 7. Tomorrow will likely be a rest day too, since it's opening night @ the theatre where Daniel works, though we may squeeze some climbing in before-hand. Depends on how sore I am ;)

Someday...

Credit where due.

Wednesday Weigh-in

What went in:
Avg daily calories: 2867
Fat: 131g - 40%
Carb: 241g - 31% (32 fiber)
Protein: 185g - 26%
Alcohol: 7g - 2%

Workout Summary:
3x strength
3x CF metcon
1.5x climbing

Note: An unusual amount of running for me this week - a mile or more three times.

What came out:
Weight: 177 (-2)
BF: 9% (0)
Chest: 38.25 (+0.25)
Arms: 11.75 (0)
Hips: 38 (-0.5)
Waist: 32.5 (0)
Thighs: 21.75 (0)
Calves: 14.75 (+0.25)
Forearms: 9.75 (-0.25)
Shoulders: 46 (0)

Analysis
Looks within standard deviations to me, so I think I'll consider this one holding steady. Sad to see the trend of my diminishing waist end - it didn't feel like there was any change there to me. I think perhaps I didn't eat enough to compensate for the running, and my body went back into hoarding its fat reserves.

Looking Forward
I think I could afford to try pushing the calories (fat and protein) a little more to see what happens. If I can do that without upping the carbs as well, even better. Maybe a second cottage cheese snack per day.

Once my weight and measurements seem to have stabilized for two or three weeks, I think I might try adding in IF a couple days a week, probably on rest days, to see what that does. If I can bring myself to skip breakfast and drink my coffee black, then not eating until 11 or 12 will give me a 15-16 hour fast.

I'm contemplating taking a half-volume week - something I've never done intentionally, though I have sort of backed off for a week when I hurt my knees and when I got sick (early May) - so it's been 5 weeks or so. I am planning on taking a week 100% OFF at the Beach during the end of August, which is ~9 weeks away, so actually it's probably too soon. I should do the first week of July half volume, to split the difference. OK, I'll do that.

Thinking about protein
Since I started tracking my food in Fitday and trying to lower carbs, I've been pleased with my leaning out a bit - but disappointed in the apparent lack of muscle growth. Now, my weight has stayed the same while my waist has lost 1.5", so that must mean something, but my other measurements aren't really showing any growth.

When I started CF I was really supplementing protein like crazy. One or two shakes a day plus a protein bar, not really paying attention to carbs, etc, and I did, fairly successfully, gain about a pound a week. My waist also got bigger, though, so I was gaining fat too, so I'm wondering about the muscles... Here's the breakdown of the cycle up to the trip to Ashland, when everything crashed and I had that massive weight loss (which I still haven't recovered from):

Start (3/5) -> Peak (5/14) -> Now (6/18)
Weight: 176 -> 185 (+9 lbs) -> 178 (-7lbs)
Bodyfat: 11.9 -> 14 (+2.1) -> 10.8 (-3.2)
LBM: 155 -> 159 (+4) -> 158.8 (-.2)

Waist: 33 -> 34 (+1) -> 32.5 (-1.5)
Chest: 37.8 -> 38.3 (+.5) -> 38.3 (0)
Arms: 11.6 -> 11.8 (+.2) -> 11.8 (0)
Hips: 38 -> 38.75 (+.75) -> 38 (-.75)
Thighs: 21.6 -> 22.5 (+1) -> 21.8 (-.75)
Shoulders: 45.3 -> 46.3 (+1) -> 46.3(0)

So, while I was piling on the protein (and carbs), I DID gain some real measurements across the board. Of the 9 pounds that I gained, however, 5 of those were fat. Thankfully, I seem to have kept most of that in my current leaning out phase.

I think I'm going to try and get below 10% bodyfat (32" waist will put me at 9.74%, and probably mean another round of new pants), and then try to ramp UP the protein (to 200g/day minimum) and fat while keeping carbs ~200g/day. Haven't run the numbers, but that should mean over 3k cal/day, easily. It's my hope that this could lead to LBM gains without too much fat sticking around.

5x5's

Deadlift: 195
Shoulder Press: 75

DL felt pretty decent - only felt woozy the first set. I'm still trying to figure out the best time to take a breath on a 5-rep set. Rip says to breathe when you put the weight down, and to reset on every rep, but that felt weird when I tried it today - like it wasn't a full set. I find that naturally I'm taking a quick breath at the top, but this may just be a bad habit I need to break.

The presses felt a lot harder than last week, at only five pounds heavier - definitely pushing my limits at this weight. Last time I was at 75, though, I wasn't able to do the full 5x5, so this is a slight improvement. I'll be really surprised if I manage 5x5 at 80# next week, though. So I might cut this down to 5x3 and then 5x1, and then drop the weight and start again.

6/15/08

Warm up
Mobility
10 Sun Salutations
20 Pullups - 10 assisted, 10 jumping
10 KB Swings - green - 26.2#
100 jump rope skips
35 air squats - consecutive unbroken!
10 V-ups

WOD
A mashup of the RKC snatch test and "Sprint 8"

90 seconds running*
30 seconds Sprinting
90 seconds running
30 seconds sprinting
90 seconds running
30 seconds Sprinting
90 seconds running
30 seconds sprinting
10 minutes snatch test 35#/55#

score = total mileage (including return mileage to test area) + total poundage lifted

*subbed rowing for running

Results
Rowed 1600m - approximately. I couldn't figure out how to get it to tell me meters and I accidentally cleared the data trying to figure it out. I know my average was 2:31.8/500m * 8 minutes = 1600m. Should have played with it before I started to get familiar.

KB Snatch.
Used the yellow - 8kg - for my left. I couldn't quite manage a snatch with it with my right so I had to use the tiny blue - 4kg - bell to snatch with my right. I really need something in between.

I got to 51 total snatches - i figure approximately 33 were with the yellow bell, and 18 were with the blue. For a total of 336kg or 739.2#.

Total score: 2339.2

Comments
for the assisted PU I used the IW gravitron with 90 lbs of assistance. I am SURE that the weight measurement for that thing is wrong. I've worked on other gravitrons with 50-60 lbs of assistance, and it felt about that hard. If I set the IW gravitron to 60# of assistance - which is half my bodyweight, there's practically no assistance at all.

At any rate, I felt like i was getting good use out of my back muscles, and not just using my arms. There was a line for the gravitron, so i decided to do my 2nd 10 as jumping. I don't feel like i did these as well. Prolly should have stuck to the gravitron and just traded sets.

:Happydance: I did 10 consecutive KB swing with the green kettlebell, and it honestly felt like that weight might be too light. I didn't have any trouble with them. Think I'll try the red kettlebell next time. One step closer to the level I benchmark. W00t!

The reason I decided to Row instead of run is that the idea of sprinting makes me extremely nervous since I have such a hard time running and such a hard time with coordination, especially since we basically do all our running in a parking lot with uneven pavement surfaces. I figured it would be better to just take my feet out of the equation so I could focus on going max effort for 30 seconds instead of spending a lot of energy worrying about falling and hurting myself. Unfortunately it led to a slightly skewed timing issue for the workout so neither the row nor the snatch numbers are quite as specific as I could wish.

For the snatches Max said that that we could use whichever hand we wanted for as many or as few reps as we wanted, so I started off primarily with my left. I got to about 15 with my left hand and started feeling lopsided. SO I tried a few intermittently with my right but stuck mostly with my left until about 28 or 29, and then realized that I'd never be able to figure out my poundage if I kept it completely random, so I started alternating left-yellow, right-blue. I tried to do a couple right-yellow, just because the blue was so ridiculously easy, but always failed to get it overhead. At least I was able to work on form a little with my right.

Fundamentals
On Sundays Max teaches a CF Fundamentals class, and we frequently try to attend if we have any energy left over after the WOD. Today was wall ball, KB deadlift, KB cleans, and KB push-press.

I was excited when Max said we'd be going over wall ball. I thought for sure today would be the day I finally hit that stupid X. My energy was good after the WOD, and I was feeling peppy. My wall ball was terrible. My form was cr@p, and I couldn't get anywhere near close to the height i did yesterday. Yesterday I actually got the ball as high as the X, but it didn't actually hit the wall! Waaah! So close! The sharp decrease in performance was a clear sign to me that I am past due for a rest day.

Push-Press: I am definitely getting better at push-pressing the yellow KB on my right side - in that I can most of the time, now (though I was better at it yesterday :-p ). And today I managed to push-press the green one with my left!! Go me!

I also got to cross 30 second static hang off my Level I goals today, and I managed to get about 1/3 of the way up with a kipping pull up. That's hard on the hands!

Sprint n' Snatch

Here is a mashup of the RKC snatch test and "Sprint 8".

90 seconds running
30 seconds Sprinting
90 seconds running
30 seconds sprinting
90 seconds running
30 seconds Sprinting
90 seconds running
30 seconds sprinting
10 minutes snatch test 35#/55#

score = total mileage (including return mileage to test area) + total snatches completed

Score: 4065

Subtotals: 1700m on the sprints, 2365# on the snatches (65 completed, 10 @ 20kg, 55 @ 16kg)

Started out with 20kg on the snatches, but after 10 it was clear to me that it was too heavy for my left arm, so I dropped down to 16kg. Level II on this is 30 x 24kg each arm, so I've got a ways to go there. The new snatch form that Max taught today is definitely helpful.

We hung around afterwards for the fundamentals class, but didn't work particularly hard at anything in it, just honed form for a few exercises and went over some basic CF philosophies.

Climbing & Michael (too)

Climbing
5.9 (c) 5.9 (f)

Warm-up
10 Rock n' Roll
20 Mountain climber (hands in runner start - alternating legs in runner start position by jumping them back and forth.)
20 Jump squats
20 Pushups
20 Burpees - think i only got through 8 before Max said 'enough' and I agreed :-p
Run 400 m

WOD
Michael
Three rounds for time of:
Run 800 meters
*GHD 50 Back Extensions
*GHD 50 Sit-ups

*Due to lack of GHD hardware - sub 100 supermans & 75 situps

Time: 43:08

We met my best friend Katherine and her friend Claire at our climbing gym a little early to get some climbing in before the CF workout. This was to be Katherine's first CF workout - she's been highly skeptical about this whole 'Crossfit thing', and I was hoping that if she tried a class she might like it as much as we do, or at least stop being so negative about us doing it. Claire is visiting Katherine from Chicago and had never climbed or done CF before, but she was a really good sport and tried both. Big kudos to Claire!

We each got in two climbs before class. The first climb i tried was a relatively friendly 5.9 that was mostly a slabby climb (less than 100% vertical so more about balance than strength). I did that 100% clean.

The second climb i did was a much less friendly 5.9 that had a significant amount of negative incline, and one really hard move that I just failed to figure out; the geometry of it just completely escaped me. I had to cheat and use a hold from another climb to get past it, but after that I managed to complete the climb - with several rests.

Overall, I am very pleased with my Michael time. I did it completely, 100% as RX'd or at least as RX'd given the equipment shortage at our gym, and below the 45 minute time limit Max set for it.

I am a little disappointed with my run times. My first run was exactly 5 min. I really had thought i was making very good time, but clearly not since that's 20 seconds slower than my best time from Wednesday. My second was 5:15 and my third was ... longer - i forgot to check the actual time - but i got a stitch and had to walk most of the last 400. Grrrr. I was too focused on trying to get a good time for my last run, and I didn't think enough about my breath at the beginning, and the stitch was developing by the time I remembered. Sometimes I can pull out of the stitch spiral, but I didn't manage it today.

I do feel like i did a really good job, and picked up some good time with my situps - especially the first round: I think I did them nearly unbroken with a short rest @ the 50 mark. I've always liked situps.

The supermans were not horrible, but not my favorite exercise either, and 100 at a time is no fun at all. After the first 30 or 40 I had to break them into 10 rep sets.

I don't have it written down, but I am pretty sure that the last time I did this it took me about 42 minutes. BUT - I did it in 6 rounds of 400m, 25 situps and 25 back extensions instead, and while my transitions between exercises were longer and i had more of them - i also did 25 more situps per round this time through. So - 1 extra minute for 75 more situps and 50% more supermans than back extensions ... I totally rocked!

Katherine's still not sold on CF. Her time was better than mine (which I fully expected - she's always been more athletic than me); she finished in 3? something minutes. While i was working my @$$ off to finish out my last set of situps & supermen, she says to me: 'It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.' :-| That was so 'helpful' :-p

Benchmark Measurements

Weight 121

Neck: 13.75
Shoulders: 38
Chest: 33.25
Bicep R: 9.75 L: 9.75
Forearms R: 7.5 L: 8.0
Wrist: 5.5
Waist: 30.25
Hips: 36.5
Thighs R: 19.75 L: 20.5
Calves R: 13 L: 13.25

Body fat content according to this: Body Fat % Calculator 25.28%

These are my Benchmarks. I wish I had taken measurements before i started CF, but this is where I am working from as of today ;-) Actually I wish I had taken measurements 2 years ago - I've come a long way since then, and it'd be nice to be able to see the progress since then. Oh well - hindsight :p

Michael

Three rounds for time of:
Run 800 meters
50 GHD Back Extensions
50 GHD Sit-ups

30:57 (PR)

Subs: 75 feet-anchored situps, 50 Good Mornings

The subs were because this was for class, and there's only one GHD in the gym. My first time doing Good Mornings, and I suspect I wasn't doing them right. My first outdoor Michael (ie, not running on the treadmill), so that probably added to my run times, but my transitions were much smaller.

A PR, though only by a few seconds. Not apples and apples, though, since I have different subs every time. Still, I was first in class to finish, which is a first, so that was cool.

Oh, and also warmed up on a 10a(o) and 10b.

TRS Diablo Rock

Top rope series at Diablo Rock

Score: 2,338

10a(o), 10a/b(o), 10b(first box), 10c(first box), 10c/d(o!), 10d(first box)

Well, it was both more and less than I expected. My performance was disappointing, particularly on the b and the c (the b had a long negative incline with pincher holds, and the c had a really tricky overhang, neither of which I had the strength for). The c/d was stemmy, and ridiculously easy, so I felt better about that, and I actually got further on the d than I expected to - almost to the second box.

I maintain my fairly low opinion of Diablo Rock. The walls just aren't terribly interesting (though the a/b and c/d were actually kinda cool), the vibe is more meat-market than Oakland, Berkeley or SF, and the music was godawful.

Also had my first cheat meal in two or three weeks - pizza and beer - kinda gave me a headache.

I'm looking forward to the next comp at Ironworks in a month. Hopefully I can do better in my real range (b or c - that c/d was just a fluke).

TRS Diablo Rock

Top rope series at Diablo Rock

Score 1,199

5.8(c) 5.9(c) 5.10a(2nd box) 5.10a/b (first move - no box)

I was pleasantly surprised and thrilled that I nailed a 5.8 and a 5.9 clean on the first try. And I only had trouble with the 10a when it got all negative incline-y at the end and my finger and arms just weren't ready to support my weight without resting.

A free competition, a free t-shirt and free pizza and beer - what could be better? (other than the aforementioned god-awful music :-P)

It was a good night and restored some much needed confidence.

5x5's
Back Squat: 110
Bench Press: 110

Between the deadlifts last night and the back squats this morning, my back is feeling pretty sore. I still thinking I'm bending over too far on too many of my squats - sometimes my form feels good and right, other times it's just crap. I also need to be careful of my right knee rolling to the inside at the bottom of the squat.

Otherwise it felt strong. The bench was really no problem. Definitely easier to do without climbing first (Tor is out of town).

Climbing tonight at the TRS in Diablo Rock, though...my first climbing comp, I'm nervous!

6/12/08 - WOD

Not one of my best workout days.

I think I let my calorie consumption slip, and I'm reaping the rewards in the form of a lack of energy and a high level of frustration at how weak I am in basically every area - determined to be otherwise or not. I am so tired of being the last and the weakest!

Today's warm up:

10 rock-and-rolls
5 sun salutations
run-prep
run 1 mile

I didn't have a stop watch and Max wasn't timing us, but it took me long enough to run the mile, that by the time i was finished Max had finished explaining the day's workout to everyone else.

Today's WOD:

DL 3-3-3-3-3

There were about 15 of us, but only 3 oly bars to go around, so we broke up into 3 groups of 5 and just rotated through our reps. I was in the group with pretty much all the other girls.

As the last part of the warmup we each DL just the 45# oly bar 10 times, and then our group raised the weight on the bar to 95# and were instructed to lift it 5 times each to see if that was approximately our working weight, even though they expected to end up somewhere around 125-135#.

I completed two reps and Max told me that was probably the limit of my working weight, and escorted me over to a rack of pre-weighted bars ranging from 20-110#. It's not that Max was wrong - at all. I certainly wasn't going to be able to keep up as they added weight to the bar. But it was a little humiliating being relegated to the baby weights. Especially when 2 punk kids who are clearly ill informed on Gym etiquette basically just took over my workout space.

I felt a little better when another girl, Rachel, came over and joined me - she could lift more than me, but she couldn't keep up with the added weight either.

So - my total reps were something like this:

5-3-3-3-3-3 @ 70-80-90-90-100-90

The first set of 5 was due to me missing the workout explanation and being confused about how many reps I was supposed to be doing. I might have done another set of 90 somewhere in the middle ... i sort of lost track. I need to start bringing a notebook with me so i can keep track of what it is I actually do.

The silver lining of the day is that for the last ... 300m or so of the mile run I tried POSE running as illustrated by the perky stick figures here: http://www.newtonrunning.com/run_better.php, and as soon as I started trying it, I had a much easier time breathing. I'll definitely be trying it more in the future and see how that works for me.

So - off to drink a glass of milk before bed. I am sure things will look better in the morning.

Warmup - ran a mile and some other stuff.
Didn't have my watch on to time the run, sadly.

Deadlift 3-3-3-3-3

197-207-217-227-227

1.25 BW, so another check off on the goal list! Felt pretty good, actually. I felt like I could have gone higher muscularly, but I was feeling really woozy afterwards, almost like I was going to black out, so I decided not to push it any further. Didn't like the feeling.

6-11-08 WOD

WOD 6-11-08

"Griff"

For time:
Run 800 meters
Run 400 meters backwards
Run 800 meters
Run 400 meters backwards

Our class was at an actual track today instead of at our gym - too much traffic and uneven ground on our usual running route to make running backwards safe, I guess - and I left work a little late and missed my turn off to get there, so i missed the whole warmup I got there just in time to start the run with everyone else.

The best thing I can say is that I didn't fall, and there were at least a few people still finishing up their last backwards lap when i started my last backwards lap, so not everyone completely lapped me, and it could have been worse, but i think I was still the slowest by 3-4 minutes. Sigh. Daniel Finished nearly a full 10 min ahead of me.

Annoyingly, I appear to have written down the times for the other Rebecca in my class (my brain wasn't really processing data when I wrote them down or I would have realized that the ones I was writing down couldn't possibly be mine) so I don't currently have my exact lap times, but I know that the final time was 22:05

My fuzzy recall is about 4:40 for the first 800, 10:?? after the first backwards 400, 16:?? after the 2nd 800 and 22:05 as my final time.

Ok. Running backwards is HARD. And scary. At first it was sort of like falling backwards and just trying to keep my feet under me. I finally sort of felt like i might be understanding how to do it properly about half way through the 2nd backwards lap; I was doing better at keeping my center of gravity over my feet and just shooting my feet back. I really felt it in my calves and in my glutes. Ow.

I had to walk a lot of the backwards laps just because my feet would get confused and it was either stop and walk or fall. So the limiting factor on my backwards laps was really just lack of coordination/strength - particularly in my right foot/calf. Going backwards I never had to stop because I was out of breath. I wasn't able to go fast enough to make that happen :P

Getting winded going forward was a whole other issue. I made it straight through the first 800 meters without stopping to rest. I took a short rest - water and had to re-tie my shoe before starting the first backwards - and then i had to rest in the middle of the 2nd 800. Should have taken a short rest after the backwards 400 instead and then i probably could have gone straight through the full 2nd 800. - everyone keeping all these laps straight?

I was having a really hard time managing my breathing. Generally I try to inhale for 4 steps and exhale for 2, sometimes that allows me to get a really deep inhalation and it's such a huge relief when I manage that. Sometimes I have to inhale for a 5th step to really get the full dose of oxygen, and that messes up my pattern, and I get all off kilter, but that full breath sure was worth it. sometimes i just end up panting on a 2 steps inhale 2 steps exhale, but I know I'm not getting enough air that way because if i only breath on that pattern I get a WICKED side stitch. Anyone have any tips about the best way to manage your breath when you run? Or at least the way that works best for you? maybe I'm over thinking it.

Since I missed the warmup I have this odd sensation of not having worked hard enough AND being totally zonked. Not sure how I can feel both things at once, but there it is.

We were going to introduce a couple of my coworkers to the joys of climbing tomorrow, but they flaked on us, so we're thinking about getting ourselves over to the GWPC for a CF class. It doesn't have the convenience factor of Iron Works - which is just 2 blocks from where I work. But Friday night there is a climbing competition that we're going to so we'll get some climbing in then, anyway.

Max hasn't posted the WOD yet, but we suspect it will be yesterday's National WOD. I've never tried weighted deadlifts with an oly bar before - just kettlebells, so that should be interesting

Actual Times for Griff - Courtesy of Max who still had them ... Whew!

800: 4:40
Backwards 400: 10:50 (6:10)
800: 16:10 (5:20)
Backwards 400: 22:05 (5:55)

Looks like i shaved 15 seconds off my second backwards 400 - even despite walking a large portion of it Though my second 800 was pretty pathetic. Sigh.

Griff

For time:
Run 800 meters
Run 400 meters backwards
Run 800 meters
Run 400 meters backwards

12:27

Splits were 2:58 / 2:48 / 4:00 / 2:41
Run at King School track in North Berkeley on a hot, dusty day.

My 400m on the first lap was 1:12. So two new PRs, and two new times for my goal list! Also, if you add my first and second 800m times, it's a sub 7-minute mile...but I don't think I can count it, since there was that 400m backwards in between when I was able to even out my breath a bit - so it remains to be seen if I can get an honest < 7 minute mile, but I think it's doable - hell, even with 1/4 mile backwards, my one mile time here was 7:46.

Pretty pleased with this. I've never considered myself a runner, and the last time I did it and paid any attention to distance and time was high school, when I did awfully. So it's good to know that there's SOMETHING I'm naturally pretty good at. Of course, the freakishly long legs give me an unfair advantage...

Wednesday Weigh-in

What went in:
Avg daily calories: 2839
Fat: 138g - 43%
Carb: 228g - 29%
Protein: 183g - 26%
Alcohol: 6g - 1%

Workout Summary:
3x climbing
3x CF metcon
2x strength (5x5)

What came out:
Weight: 179 (+1)
BF: 9% (-0.5%)
Chest: 38 (-0.5)
Arms: 11.75 (0)
Hips: 38.5 (0)
Waist: 32.5 (-0.25)
Thighs: 21.75 (-0.25)
Calves: 14.5 (-0.5)
Forearms: 10 (0)
Shoulders: 46.25 (0)

Analysis
OK, what the hell. I gained a pound, nearly 2 (it was a toss-up to go with 179 or 180), and yet LOST in every measurement that changed? I'm not gonna get too caught up in the numbers, but that's just weird.

Could possibly be waterweight - last week I was trying to drink essentially as much water as possible during the workday, sometimes as much as 3L during work, but after reading Mark's Daily Apple this week, I resolved not to care so much and have only been drinking about 1L.

Fewer calories/day this week, and no LSD exercise over the weekend. I've been feeling good about myself lately and had high hopes for good numbers today, but this is mixed. I'm happy about the continuing diminishment at the waistline, but bummed about the other numbers.

Looking Forward
I'm wondering if I shouldn't be trying to get even MORE protein, since a huge portion of what I get is from vegetable sources. 183g/day is more than 1g/lb gross bodyweight, though, which is really high according to the calculators. Still, I did gain a pound this week, so I think that's an indicator to stay on this track.

Climbing: 10a(o), 10c(f), 10b, 10b(f), 10b(f)
5x5's: DL 190, SP 70

Woke up extremely sore this morning, and my hands are still tender from the climbing and kipping yesterday, so I took it relatively easy today. The falls on the b were just me trying something new with positioning that didn't work. The c wasn't too tough - with fresh muscles (and a better understanding of a funky hold), I could do it clean.

Deadlifts felt pretty damn hard, but I'm gonna blame that on being tired. The shoulder presses felt pretty good, actually.

Resting until Wednesday.

6/8/08

Climbing:
5.6 & 5.7 - both clean! woot!

WU:
run 400m
50 squats
25 sit-ups
15 PU

RX:
Ten rounds for time of:
12 Burpees
12 Pull-ups

Mods:
Had to step into & out of burpees instead of jumping, and there was some use of my knees to get back up on the push up part
Ring-rows

Time:
38:55

Comments:

We were actually set to go on a group bike ride this morning; we're riding a metric century up in the wine country in Mid July, and I need to get used to being on the saddle for hours and miles at a time. But I was feeling sore in all the same places that would be really worked by a bike ride, the ride wasn't set to start until 10:30 meaning that the ride would be unpleasantly warm and, if I am to be honest, I was(am) intimidated by the prospect of another group ride because the one I went on last week ended in an emotional breakdown. I made it through the ride just fine, it was only afterwards on the way home that I was a mess.

Mostly that had to do, i think, with being under nourished - i just wasn't getting enough calories in my diet, and I just ran out of reserves. I have since basically doubled my daily caloric intake, and i feel SOOO much better, but this morning's group ride was a no-drop ride, and while I don't mind being last (It's the place I am in most of the time, and I've learned to make peace with that and just try to make myself my best opponent) i HATE feeling like everyone is being held-up by my slow performance - which was what happened last week.

The decision to go do a little climbing and today's Crossfit class instead was made easier by Daniel who also preferred that option. 1) because he has work to do this afternoon, and the Crossfit option was the shorter time commitment, 2) because he thinks it's more important for me to get back on the climbing wall and try to regain some lost ground because we have an outdoor climbing clinic we're going to in a couple weeks, and 3) because he's concerned that the LSD exercise will eat away at the strength gains he's worked so hard to achieve, so he wasn't super excited about the ride, either.

So climbing and crossfit yay!

I really surprised myself on this one. We've been exercising everyday since Wednesday, and I was thinking that maybe today should have been a rest day, after all, and so I went into this thinking that I would aim for 5 rounds, and that anything above that would be bonus. Well I made it through all 10 rounds, and not significantly slower that some other folks in my class, either! My time was actually better than some, but that's only because I was doing modified exercises, and they weren't.

I've never done burpees before, so i didn't really know what to expect, but they always looked really hard. In the videos I've watched, even really good crossfitters get really tired doing burpees. I though they might just about kill me. Now, I know my form was not the greatest. I could neither hop forward nor hop backwards, as you are supposed to (and I am adding that as a goal); I had to vigorously step into and out of them, but I think they actually helped me get closer to doing a push-up without having to use my knees to come back up. At any rate, for most of them I was able to get my knees off the floor almost immediately after starting to push back up, which is definitely an improvement.

I realized two-three rounds in that I was over-modifying my ring rows. They get easier the closer your feet are to being directly underneath the rings, and I was always starting with my feet in about the same place, and as they got harder I would just move my feet closer-in in order to be able to keep going. Starting about - i think - round 4 I would just take a break until i could keep going.

In round 9 (a bit late :P ) i realized that i could do a sort of 'kipping ring-row' by swinging my hips up to help me pull up. I wish I'd figured that out a lot sooner!

Mostly though I'm just really psyched to have completed the whole workout (more-or-less) as RXed. AND I did not feel like i was going to keel over and die when i was done!

Actually, I'm a little conflicted about that. I wonder if that means that I am modifying too much, and not working hard enough? I know I worked hard. My hamstrings and shoulders are already vociferously complaining about their rough treatment from yesterday and today's workouts, and I'm already wondering whether I'll be able to walk like a normal person or reduced to tottering around like an arthritic senior citizen tomorrow. ... So ... yeah. To answer my own question then, as long as I am working hard enough to make gains towards getting stronger and more fit, I'd rather not feel like death at the end of a workout. It puts a damper on the rest of the day.

Now I know why they're called "Burpees"

Ten rounds for time of:
12 Burpees
12 Pull-ups

41:25

I finally figured out kipping pullups on the rings! I'm totally excited about this. It DOES feel a bit like cheating, but I'll have to trust those wiser than I who say that it's ultimately better than a DH, and I certainly like finally being able to do high-volume WODs without subbing gravitron or jumping PU's.

Not sure if it's the 5x5's or not, but I've noticed my metcons feel a lot harder than they used to. It could be that I'm not subbing as much as I was, or it could be strength workouts sapping my endurance.

6-7-08 WOD

6/7/08
RX:
4 rounds for time:
Run 800 Meters
2 Handstand Push-Ups
4 Pistols Each Leg
8 Kettlebell Swings, 2 Pood/1.5 Pood

Mods:
Modified HSPU - feet on a bike rack
assisted pistols
kettlebell - green - 12kg/26.4#

Time: 37:?? (32?)

800 Meter Times:
5:10, 5:40 (walked about 50 ft.), 5:15, 5:30 approx
my kettlebell swings were noticeably better than on 5/31. my last set was, surprisingly, my best and most consistent. I got through all 8 consecutively with relatively good form throughout.

4 rounds for time:

Run 800 Meters
4 Handstand Push-Ups
4 Pistols Each Leg
8 Kettlebell Swings, 1.75 pood (28kg)

~30 minutes (messed up stopwatch).

The HSPU's were pretty good, but still a little assisted. My pistol form is pretty terrible - definitely something I'll need to work on. The KB swings felt strong, though the weight was heavy. I'm too lazy running outside - I work far harder on a treadmill since I shame myself into plugging in a high MPH pace. Need to motivate to run harder.

6-6-08

Ashtanga Yoga - 1.5 hours.
Best boat poses EVAR. was able to keep balanced with straight legs for nearly all 5. I got a little wobbly there on the very last one.

Climbing: 10a, 10c(f), 10d(f+), 10a

Still quite tired from last night, my forearms were really pumped. I fixed the bad hold on "Daniels," but was just too tired to make it up without falling (once). But it's close. The d felt pretty good, actually, despite the falls.

5x5's: BS 105, BP 105

Getting harder, but still pretty manageable. Need to work on my form at the bottom of the squat.

6/5/08

Climbing
6.6, 6.6, 6.7, 6.7 - none clean. the first and the last were especially sloppy. The middle two were pretty good.

Climbing: 10a, 10c(f), 10b(o), 10b, 10b(o)

Took it pretty easy, but it felt good tonight. The c that I fell on was "Daniels," and I got past the crux only to find the next hold up had rotated upside-down! It was useless as a handhold, so I didn't make it up the climb without cheating, but I COULD HAVE. Tomorrow I'm going to fix that hold and then try again, so I can climb it clean.