2010-07-26 - Sprint 8

Today's WOD was a team WOD involving running and deadlifts and ring dips. On the warmup run I discovered that after 2 days of double unders my knees just weren't happy about running, so I decided to abandon class and do my own thing upstairs.

Hence - another bout of Sprint 8 on the rower:

13 minutes - 1 minute warmup, 8 rounds 30 seconds sprint, 1 minute rest.

Results w/ damper @ 4:
2720 meters
avg speed/500 2:23.4
153 calories
118.7 watts

My average /500m on the sprints was 2:04
My average on the rests was 2:40 or so.

2010-07-18 - Sprint 8

Sprint 8 - Row
1 minute warmup - 8 intervals - 30 second sprint - 1 minute rest. Rest rate hovered around 2:50; average sprint rate 2:07; lowest achieved rate on sprint 2:04;

setting 3 (BIW)
13:00

2564m

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Stir Crazy 4k

I don't want to whine too much, but I am having a difficult time here in Oceanside. I did go for a run this morning on the beach, and that was nice. Turns out it was only 4k (it didn't feel very long), but I was more interested in running sprints than in keeping a steady pace. I didn't have the means to run a proper Sprint-8, so I guessed...I'm sure my sprints were more like 20 seconds and my rests were all over the place, but whatever - it was hard. I like running on the beach when there's a nice stretch of flat firm-packed sand, but unfortunately most of this beach is not like that, so there was much rock-hopping and running in bulldozer treads.

I would dearly love to work out some of my frustration with some CrossFit. Turns out there is an affiliate in town, but it isn't walking distance. Maybe we can finagle a ride. Rebecca has gotten trapped in the pages of a Dan Brown novel, though, so I probably won't see much of her until she makes it out the other side.

A very full Friday, and not much on Saturday

Got in late last night (dinner with the CFEB crew at the warehome), so didn't get to blog Friday's workouts. It was a full day.

Morning:

• Sprint-8 on rower - 2,450m
  
• 20 minutes POSE practice on treadmill - 6MPH/1% grade
• Climbing: 10c(o), 10d(f), 10d(F+++), 11a(f+)

I held all my sprints below 1:32 pace on the rower, which is a first for me. I found that focusing on speeding up the return stroke as much as possible shaved a few seconds off my pace (but, of course, made it harder). The climbing was going well until I tried that 10d on the first pillar. 10d, my ass. That climb was at least an 11a. Super long, super pumpy, with nothing but tiny pinchers and a small, very awkward traverse over a roof. Hated that sonuvabitch. The 11a was slab and went pretty well until a move about 3/4 of the way up that I just could not figure out. Tor did it afterwards and I think maybe the problem was that my hips were too high (from the rope) to really make the move, so I need to try that again.

Evening:

Warmup: 3.5mile run halfway around Lake Merritt and back at medium/slow pace
"Danny"
Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
24 inch Box Jump, 30 reps
115/80 pound Push Press, 20 reps
30 Pull-ups (C2B)

2 rounds + 20 box jumps, 95# PP

There were 18 people in class, so Max divided it into 6-person heats and several of the regular members of what he calls "Team CFEB" were put in the last group. So, with 40 minutes to kill until our turn, Alex suggested a run around the lake, which five of us ended up doing. I was wearing my Pumas, which are historically not good for my ankle with running, but I resolved to keep a medium pace and really focus on my footwork to avoid heel-striking. It was moderately successful. We made it halfway around the lake and decided to come back the same way, since the other half of the lake is just kinda shitty. My calves and ankles are definitely feeling all the running today.

The workout itself was a good one. I lucked out and was able to do ring pullups for 52 of my 60 pullups, which meant MUCH happier shoulders and calluses. I touch the rings below my clavicle now, so I'm calling that chest-to-bar, but for whatever physiological reason they are much easier/more consistent for me on rings than they are on the bar.

Worried about my shoulder, I scaled the weight (again), and it was probably the right call - I was doing the push-presses in sets of 5-7, and my shoulder was definitely not happy about it. It's not as painful as it was at its height last week, but it's definitely the press motion that agitates it the most. I hope I'm able to do my presses tomorrow.

Today:
I woke up in the middle of the night last night, and by the tenth step away from the bed I had decided today would be a rest day. Really sore. This morning's class was supposed to be 3RM snatches, but I didn't do that. I just practiced form, mainly with the empty bar, trying to figure out how to receive the bar, and hung out in the sunshine on a beautiful day. Afterwards several of the harder core class members did the Ecuadorean Destroyer WOD, which simply never looked like a good idea to me. I'm not a fan of gratuitous high-volume painstorms. We watched them hack away at it for a while, then cut out for a delicious lunch at Picante with Alex & Rebecca.

Intervals

I've got to make this quick as I've got to go to bed, so real fast:

Morning Workout:
Sprint-8 on rower: 3,440m
10 minutes POSE practice on treadmill, 6MPH, 1% incline
Climbing: 10a(o), 10d(f), L10b(o), 10d(f)

Evening Workout:

Run 800m every 9 minutes, four times

2:56 | 2:51 | 2:54 | 3:02

Four seconds off my PR, which isn't bad considering how little running I've done lately, plus the urban guerrilla running you have to do to get around the block in Oakland. Someday it'd be nice to try this on an actual track.

HIIT and ME

Morning:
Sprint-8 on rower - 3,375m
30 minutes POSE practice on treadmill, 6MPH
20 minutes excruciating stretches in sauna

Evening:

Five rounds for max reps of:
Ring Dips
C2B Pull-ups

3/10 - 3/10 - 2/10 - 2/7 - 2/6 = 12/43 RX

Yep. Ring dips still suck. However the handstand/HSPU practice afterwards went well. Kicking up to the wall is easy and reliable now, and I've started playing with targets to find the right depth for HSPUs - I can't go all the way down yet.

Who needs thumbs, anyway?

AM:

Sprint-8 on rower, 3350m
No climbing today. :sadpanda:

PM:

Snatch setup x 3: 135 - 155 - 185 - 195
Snatch-grip deadlift x 1: 225 - 245 - 275

Hook grip HURTS. Actually, I think it's a lot like false grip: exceedingly painful at first, but necessary. These were awkward and painful, but good practice for developing a proper snatch.

Three small workouts

Got to the climbing gym a bit early today, so figured I'd hit some HIIT while waiting for Tor to get there. I hadn't done Sprint-8 on the rower in a while, and that seemed more appealing than 50 burpees.

Sprint-8 on rower: 3,375m
Climbing: 10a/b(o), 10c(f+), 10b(o), 10b(o), 10b(o)

Well, the good news is that I went about 200m further than I ever have on a Sprint-8 before - the sprints were consistently between 1:34 and 1:37 pace, the rests were usually around 2:30.

From the first 10c, it was clear my grip was totally shot. I don't THINK that's the rower's fault - I've rowed before climbing before and never noticed a problem. I more inclined to suspect last night's false-grip static hangs. Rather than spend all my time falling off the wall, I worked 10b's and just focused on getting to the top before my grip failed.

Max programmed a light WOD for today, since he and a bunch of other folks are going to the "Royal Rumble" affiliate throwdown at CF Diablo tomorrow, and he wants everyone to be rested (I'll be leading the regular classes at Ironworks). He also literally had Milk and Cookies for everyone.

"Milk & Cookies"

• Run 400 Meters
• 25 Squats
• 25 Push-Ups
• 25 Burpees
• 25 Squats
• Run 400 Meters

8:06 RX

I was keeping pace with Alex fairly well until the Burpees, when he smoked me. I was having a hard time with them on this one. I suspect my general conditioning is going south with this emphasis on strength-building. Oh well. Provided the strength stuff WORKS, then that's fine - I can always get the conditioning back later.

Another broken Monday

This will be short and not so sweet...

Climbing at IW: 10a(o), 10c(f), 10c(dnf), 10b(f++)
Sprint-8 on rower: 3,030m

It was clear pretty quick that I was just too tired to climb effectively. I'm surprised I made it up that first c with only one rest, considering how long a climb it was. The DNF was due to a pincher hold that I just couldn't sustain long enough to move my other hand up, and the last b was one of those laughable rest-every-two-feet climbs.

I debated whether or not to do Sprint-8, but I had a lot of time before I needed to be at work, so figured it would be stupid not to. I had a relatively easy time keeping it below 1:40 on the sprints, but my rests were insanely slow - like 2:45 or something. Whatever - I got through it.

I <3 Rest Days.

Climbing and Push-up Nicole

Morning workout:

Sprint-8 on rower: 3,030m
Climbing: 10a(o), 10c(o), 10c(f), 10c(f)

I made it up the 10c in the back corner that eluded me the other day, which was satisfying - I really did just need fresher arms to make it over the crimpy arete portion. Would've been clean, too, except for a misstep further up the climb. The fall on the last c was just from being tired and stupid - once I fell, took a breath and analyzed the situation, all I needed to do was stabilize with a higher foot instead of jump (as always).

Feeling pretty sore and burnt, I approached the evening WOD with some trepidation, telling myself that it would be OK to take it easy if it was too hard.

Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
Run 400 meters
Max Rep Push-Ups

100 RX (5 rounds: 30-20-20-15-15)

Turned out to be OK. My pecs were sore from the 5x5's and so my push-ups were not super-high in quantity, but I was very careful that they were all high quality (ie, chest touching the ground on every rep). I spent a lot of time in downward-facing dog. The runs all felt pretty fast. I liked this workout - I have yet to do a real Nicole for whatever reason, so don't have a comparison - but I liked the combination of metcon and strength-endurance.

Shattered

I am in shit shape today, man. Wiped. Exhausted. The last two days have totally fried my banana.

So, I probably shouldn't have done this:

Sprint-8 on rower: 3180m
Climbing: 10a(o), 10c(f+), 9(o), 10b(o)

But what the hell.

Rowing and climbing...and climbing again

This morning at IW:

Sprint-8 on rower: 3200m
15 minutes jump rope practice
3x10 weighted (25#) incline situps
Climbing: 10a(o), 10b(o), 10c(o), 10b/c(f++)

The rower was tough today, for some reason - had a hard time keeping the sprints below 1:40 pace. That said, I went the furthest distance I've ever done, so I probably had the damper a little bit higher.

For my easy cardio post-HIIT, I realized last night that jump-rope practice is a good option - better than running, anyway. It's not super-tough because I can't do double-unders yet, but it does keep the heart rate up a little. I'll do more of this, and maybe someday get a DU.

Climbed mostly on the back wall, slab or vertical, and they were all quite easy. The b/c, however, was a nasty little bitch of a difficult climb on the center column, all overhang and deep slingshot moves. My falls were all just muscle exhaustion.

So what better way to spend the evening, than to....go climbing again? This time at Mission Cliffs.

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

The b was long and vertical and too easy for a b. The c was AWESOME - a long chimney/crack climb that Jim set, with holds INSIDE the chimney, and a good chunk of some brutal lieback. My right arm was wiped after that, so I went to the slab/double-overhang wall, where the b I wanted was taken, so I did the comp route a/b instead. Fun climb. The last c was a LONG-ASS climb on the main lead wall, negative for ~40 feet and then vertical for the last 15. I sprinted up the negative as quickly as I could, since a fall would entail some wild tarzaning, and rested once I got to the lip where the line would be plumb. Sadly, I found there was an excellent rest two moves later, so I could have done it clean with a little more perseverence, but it was the end of a long day of climbing so I don't feel too bad about taking the break off the wall.

And now, bedtime. I'm quite wiped.

More climbing, more rowing

It's getting difficult to come up with post titles for Monday and Friday mornings, since they're always the same thing...

* 16 hour fast*

Climbing: 5.9, 10c(o), 10c(dnf)->10a, 10c(f+)
Campus pull-ups: 4 sets of 2 (leg-assisted)
Sprint-8 on rower: 3,115m

Tor brought his little rugrats with him today because of the holiday, so we were limited in our climbing to the section of wall that allowed us to keep an eye on them while they filled their brains with Elmo and his gang. Not a particularly good climbing day - that first 10c went well, a nice vertical climb with a bit of stemming at the end. The second c started bad and went nowhere - the start is a crazy two-block gaston thing that we just couldn't figure out WHAT was supposed to happen, and even after skipping it I couldn't get past the roof, so I just switched to a 10a that was on the same rope. The last c started well, but got iffy up at its little mini-roof.

I've resolved to spend some time with the campus board each week. My grip strength is not good, and frequently is what spits me off the wall. I currently can't even hang off the board, but after messing about a bit today, I figured out how to step up on the ledge underneath it with one foot, thereby modulating how much weight I have on my fingers. It's still REALLY hard, but in this manner I'm currently able to knock out two pull-ups before my fingers fail. I figure a few minutes, twice a week, and maybe eventually I'll actually be able to hang from the damn thing.

Sprint-8 was tougher today. Tried to keep the speed under 2:20 while resting, and under 1:40 while sprinting. Got it as low as 1:35 a few times, but that seems to be my current bottom limit.

Christ in Fuzzy Bunny Slippers

Morning workout - climbing and HIIT.

Climbing at IW: 10a(o), 10a/b(o)
"Sprint 8" on the rower - damper @ 8.5, went 2,830m

Tor was late and had to leave early, so I only got two climbs in. They were clumsy, but the ankle mostly did OK. Definitely favored the right leg whenever possible, climbing with my right hip against the wall and flagging my left foot out.

Tired of burpees as my HIIT, I thought I'd try Sprint 8 on the rower (8 rounds - 30 sec all-out sprint, 1 minute easy recovery pace). It was OK. Burpees in sets of 10 are harder, I think. I could get up to 36 SPM during the sprint, about a 1:37/500m pace, and would back it off to 26SPM during recovery. Might try it again with the damper at 10, I think I prefer it there.

* 19 hour fast *

I've been playing with making some homemade protein bars lately, and this afternoon came up with a recipe I really like. Nothing but peanut butter, pure unflavored protein powder, and cream. Tastes a lot like peanut butter cookie dough, only without sugar. I was very pleased with this, until I realized I'd lost track of time and stupidly eaten one of these little bricks just an hour before class...

Evening workout:

Three Rounds for time:
Run 800 Meters (sub: 100 air squats)
21 Burpees
15 Thruster 75/45 Sandbag or 95/65 Barbell (sub: 65# barbell)
9 Pull-ups

34:52, not RX

Jesus-Christ-in-Fuzzy-Bunny-Slippers, this was uncomfortable. (Bet you were wondering where I got the post title from.) I felt like I was carrying an additional 10 pounds in my gut, and my body frequently felt like it was considering giving up the whole "digestion" idea as a bad cause, if you know what I mean. The burpees and thrusters in particular were just brutal. The squats weren't so bad (though my quads are quite thrashed), and I looked forward to the pullups...

...because I finally figured out how to kip on the bar! I don't know what it was, but something just clicked, and I was able to knock out all 9 pullups in an unbroken set with no trouble. I think maybe the stability of the GWPC bar helped - I'm eager to try again tomorrow on the bouncy IW bar and see if still gives me trouble.

The kettlebell workout Max has posted for tomorrow looks fucking INSANE. I'm scared.

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.