2 PRs

3 short workouts today:

42-30-18
Double-under
21-15-9
Pull-up

4:59 (subbed 2pd KB swings for pullups, due to ab injury)

Work to a 1RM Clean

150# (pr)

Truly awful form, but it got there.

Run 1 mile

5:47 (pr)

4:59
150
5:47

Ripped ab

I seem to have an injury in my abdominal muscles. I Couldn't do the WOD I had planned, so instead did:

10 rounds for time:
10 double-unders
10 KB swings (2 pd)
10 pistols (medium band assisted)

21:21

A bit nervous due to the injury, so I only went about 80% intensity on this. I liked incorporating the pistols into the workout- should do that more often, hopefully get to a reliable pistol sooner.

Off the menu for now: pullups, box jumps, sit-ups...

Pretty easy metcon

In sympathy, I suppose, for our busted backs and shoulders from the last couple days, Max programmed this relatively lightweight metcon for today:

Four rounds for time:

• Run 300m
• 50 Double-unders
• 50 Sit-ups (subbed 25 GHD situps)

19:54

I didn't do this with the class, but at GWPC (had a client). I figured since I was doing it on my own, I might as well use the GHD to prevent Bleeding Ass Syndrome from the high-rep sit-ups and to take advantage of the full ROM. GHDs are definitely much harder than regular sit-ups. I don't know if they're TWICE as hard, but it's definitely a lot scarier to feel like you're going to fail a rep.

First round was 4 minutes, last round was 6 minutes, two middle rounds were essentially 5. Didn't have any trouble with the DU's until the last round, which was unusually tricky - maybe because of the wobbly core?

New ways to die with a rope

Can't make it to class tonight, so went up to the Clark Kerr track with a jumprope for some fun.

Death by Double Under: 27 rounds rx

Then, figuring that since I was at a track I should do some running, I came up with this little gem:

Death March by Double-under

In the first minute, perform 1 double-under, and then run for the remainder of the minute. In the second minute, perform 2 double-unders and then run. Continue until unable to complete the required number of double-unders in time. Score is (round of double-unders) + (number of meters/100).

Score: 52rx (25du + 27m)

Definitely a keeper, and easily transferable to other movements (push-ups, squats, KB swings, etc.) The last lap was a very CrossFit exercise in frustration.

2010-07-25

As many Double-unders as possible in 15 minutes: 162

Longest streak: 14 DU-skip-skip-DU - new PR

200-06-24 Dirty Thirty

WOD:
For time:
50 Box jump, 24"/20"
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1.0P/.75P (25# Dumbell)
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45/30
50 Good Mornings 45/30
50 Wall ball shots, 20/14
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

Scaling:
Did 30 reps of every exercise instead of 50. Box jumps were about 12" (1 45#, 2 25# and 1 15#) K-t-E were more Knees to chest and used the 10# wall ball.

33:22

2:55.87; 2:30.92; 1:51.28; 2:22.23; 5:57.86; 1:59.13; 2:02.94; 5:48.51; 3:35.56; 4:18.59

I apparently scaled this way more than necessary. I expected to be lagging way behind even at 30 reps to everyone else's 50. Instead I was consistently one of the first 2 or 3 people to any given exercise.

This is a 13 minute PR over the last time I did the dirty 30 in July of 2008, and I remember it as being very hard. And this time it never really felt THAT hard - particularly not for the first four exercises or so. I should have done the full volume.

2010-05-05 - certainly intense - not as short as expected.

Warmup: run 1 mile, ME

Original WOD:
3 Rounds

Run 800 Meters
30 Kettlebell Swings 1.5P/1.0P
50 Double-Unders

Modified WOD:
3 Rounds

Run 400 Meters
15 (Russian) Kettlebell Swings 1.25P
25 Double-Unders

26:02
Round 1: 2:04, 5:08
Round 2: 2:49; 1:51; 4:45
Round 3: 2:57; 2:09; 4:15

The reason I cut the volume in half and increased the weight of the KB is that I wanted to make this a quicker, more intense workout, and to really try to keep the effort/intensity high the whole time. It was certainly intense, but it wasn't exactly quick. I underestimated (ie didn't even consider) how hard DU would be after heavy KB swings. That's definitely what ate up most of the time.

I didn't completely succeed at keeping the intensity up the full time. I actually had to walk part of both the second and third runs because i couldn't get my breathing under control and it felt like i was about to start hyperventilating. And all the time with the double-unders - it's a really fine line between resting long enough that you won't fail the next rep, and resting longer than necessary. It's such a waste of energy to fail a rep. Most of my reps were singles - i did get a couple strings of more than 1 - a very few times i got as many as 4 or 5.

Gratifyingly, Max said my KB swings were looking really solid. I got several of them as high as my forehead - they were all at least chin level, though, and I was able to do the first set straight through, and rounds 2 and 3 were done in a set of 8 and a set of 7.

But the real victory of the day was my running (which might also have been my downfall). I didn't realize when I set out that the warmup run was supposed to be a mile. it's usually just 800m. A class mate passed me by and asked whether i was on lap 1 or 2 and helpfully told me that the warmup was supposed to be a mile when I looked confused. Yay. I knew I was going to cut the running in half for the workout, so i decided to go ahead and run the whole mile. It's been a while since I've run one. I managed to time the second lap, and I came in at 5:11 - which is actually quicker than I've been running lately, and - assuming that my second lap was not faster than my first, would put it in PR range since my best full mile time on record is 10:34. I really wish I had gotten the time for the full thing.

I also managed to get 2:04 on my first 400 - which is only 5 seconds off my PR for the 400. I was definitely booking it, but that good a result was unexpected. I've been working on lengthening my stride and running slightly less on the balls of my toes (someone told me it looked more like i was leaping than running). I guess maybe it's working? :-)

Burner

3 rounds:
800m run
30 kb swing 1.5p
50 double-unders

20:05rx

I can think of a dozen places I could have lost 6 seconds, mostly in double-unders. Goddamnit.

2010-04-17

Warmup: Run 400m, burpees, pushups, piked pushups, jumping C2B pullups

WOD:
Run 800 Meters
100 Double-Unders (only did 50)
Run 600 Meters
50 Kettlebell Swings 1.5/1.0P
Run 400 Meters
25 Burpees (stepping, not jumping - for the record, just as hard.)
Run 200 Meters
13 Thruster 115/75 (45# front squats)

Results:
36:45

800m: 5:13
50 DU: 7:50 (included bathroom break)
600m: 4:04
50 1P KB swings: 6:46
400M: 2:54
25 burpees: 4:07
200m: 1:33
13 45# front squat: 4:15

Comments:
This is the hardest I have worked in months and I am certainly paying for it now - but it's the good kind of "I worked hard" sore, and not the "I think I damaged myself" sore which is pretty awesome.

It's the first time I've run instead of subbing rowing in months, too, and it actually went just fine; not fast, or anything, but not problematic for any of my stupid nagging injuries.

My original goal for the double-unders was only 25 - i was afraid that all that jumping would really aggravate my knees, but they were going so well - I got several consecutive (Jump, skip, jump style)- I decided to go for 50. I think that was the right number - because by the time I was done with them just about everyone else was done with theirs, too. I was pretty pleased with how well these went.

When I got to the KB I didn't know whether i was going to just do 25 and stick to 50% volume for all the exercises, or do the whole thing. I decided to tough it out.

I did not jump my feet back or forward on the burpees - I've found that jumping them forward to that really low squat is one thing that is guaranteed to aggravate my knee. I did do a jump and a clap once i was on my feet. I thought these would be easier than regular burpees. they were not. Because I was not jumping forward, they were a lot more like pushups, and between the pushups from the warmup, and the largish quantity of pushups the day before, my arms were not interested in helping out. I found them to be at least as winding as regular burpees. Maybe I'm just out of practice.

The front squats were also just about as hard as I could manage and still pretend to keep any sort of decent form. I opted for them over thrusters again because of my knees. I probably should have incorporated a push-press component - but just the front squats felt plenty hard enough.

Annie

Front squat x 20: 80

Much harder than it was at 75. Because I didn't go heavy first? Didn't wear lifting shoes? I think when I can, I'd rather do a 3x5 of something heavier first on this, then drop down for the big set.

"Annie"
50-40-30-20-10
Double-unders
Sit-ups

9:46rx

My first Annie since I got reliable double-unders, and it knocked 3 minutes off my time from a year or so ago. Unfortunately, my situps are still too damn slow.

3 hours in the gym

Another marathon Wednesday in which I did not manage my time well

Warmup workout:

20 double-unders
10 KB swings (1.5P)
20 double-unders
9 KB swings
...
20 double-unders
1 KB swing

11:10RX

I was able to get about half the double-under rounds as a single set, which is gratifying. At least one skill seems to have come together. I credit the new rope.

Workout workout:

High-hang snatch x 3: 75-75-75-80-85
Squat snatch x 1: 90 - 95 - 100 (PR)
High-hang clean x 3: 95-95-100-105-110
Squat clean & jerk: 115-125-135 (PR)

Jim and I have started doing triplets from the high hang on both the snatch and the clean. I'm REALLY liking these. They put all the focus on the final pull and the dive, which I find to be the hardest part. I've noticed that they present a temptation that must be avoided: using hip thrust to send the bar out in front of me and then diving under to catch it. I have to work hard to focus on pulling the bar UP with high elbows and not OUT.

Another side effect seems to be that it has introduced a jump forward in my snatch. Here's a video of me doing a full squat-snatch at 100#, something I never could have done 10 weeks ago. The video reveals a lot of problem, but the biggest one I see is the forward bar path and jumping WAY forward to catch it. Must fix that!



The cleans were OK - my back is still a bit sore and complained about the heavy weight, but I did at least GET a 135# squat clean, which (combined with the 95# snatch) was my goal for this cycle. My back was rounded all to hell on the recovery, though, so I'm not really counting it until I can get it prettier.

Finished up with some muscle-up practice, which was a miserable failure, and some stretching.

Oly Cycle Week 3 Day 2

Warmup: 2 rounds of 10 wall squats & 55 sec active squat holds. Burgener warmup.
Consecutive double-under practice (29! Big PR)

Technique:
Snatch x 1: 60-65-70-75-80
Clean x 1: 85-90-95-100-105

Strength:
Overhead squat x 5: 85-85-85
Ring Dip x 5: BW-BW-BW
Alternated with 5 depth jumps.

Flex: various static holds, PNF hamstring with strap. Ball rolling.

12 days of Christmas

Warmup: Jump rope - got several right footed single skips. even managed to get three consecutive! It may sound like a terribly minor achievement, but it's actually pretty major. I have not ever had any success trying to jump exclusively on my right foot, and having enough balance to stay only on my right foot and make it over the rope three times is an exceptional achievement.

WOD:
On the first day of Christmas CrossFit gave to us.....

1 - Muscle-up - subbed 4 band assisted ring dips
2 - HSPU - subbed piked push-ups
3 - Dead-hang pull-ups - green band assisted (mostly) dead-hangs
4 - Jumping squats
5 - Burpees
6 - Push-ups
7 - Toes to bar - subbed knees to elbows
8 - Forward rolls
9 - Double Unders
10 - KB Snatch 1.5pd / 1pd - used 8kg
11 - Box jumps
12 - Virtual snow shoveling 45# plate/25# plate (24"barrier)

Comments:

This went pretty well for a workout I didn't really think i wanted to do.

Actually the most exciting part was pre-WOD when i decided to see whether I could do box jumps, and I managed to jump - without any assistance - to a stack of bumper plates. First I tried 2 of the fuzzy 45# plates - about 10" maybe? - and it was no problem, I put a smooth 45# plate on top of that - maybe another 4" - and tried it, and it was still totally manageable, so I put a 25# plate on top of that (another 3") and, while it was a bit intimidating, I found I could do that, too. I nearly took a nasty backwards spill when I tried to show Daniel my new achievement; I got distracted by someone else. But I got it on my second attempt. I was actually bummed not to get to the box jumps in the WOD. That's a first, for sure.

Since the 3 pull-ups were supposed to be dead-hang, i tried to keep my band assisted pull-ups as kip free as I could - and for the first several rounds, they were fairly static - as the rounds went on, as I started getting tired i started kipping a bit more.

I have to say that I find it very gratifying that I am still making improvements in some areas despite the fact that my diet has been absolute crap this month, and I've only been making it to a handful of workouts a week.

Diet wise, I've pretty much written off the month of December. There are just too many wonderful things out there this time of year, and I am enjoying my freedom to eat whatever terrible food i want, but I definitely feel and see the effects of not eating clean, so I am also looking forward to getting 'back on the wagon' in January.

Squats and Double Unders

100 Double-Unders
25 Squats
75 Double-unders
50 Squats
50 Double-Unders
75 Squats
25 Double-Unders
100 Squats

18:48 RX

Team WOD - winner!

Warmup:
was quite late, missed the warmup.

WOD:
In teams of 2 or 3

Run One Mile

30 Box Jumps 24/20
30 Muscle-Ups (or 120 pull-ups + 120 dips)
30 Handstand Push-Ups
30 Back Squat 135/185
30 Deadlift 135/185
30 Push-Press 95/65
30 Thruster 95/65
30 Kettlebell Swings 2.0/1.5P
30 Burpees
30 Double-Unders

Run One Mile

Partition the movements as needed. Athletes may assist each other with movements, as long as they work through the full range of motion. Start and finish with a team mile run.

Results:
46:?? I failed to stop my watch properly. My team came in first!! I got split times for the miles, but that was it.

My first mile was actually a PR - despite having to walk a portion of the second lap due to a really horrible side stitch. I did two laps - no driveway - in 9:46. My previous no driveway record is 10:12 - a 26 second improvement! I finished the first lap in something like 4:34, and the running felt really strong and easy - I was doing really well at keeping up with the girls ahead of me - even felt like i might be able to pass one of them, and then the sidestitch actually just kind of surprised me. My energy still felt realy good, and my air even felt good - usually I feel like i can't get enough breath in when i start to cramp up, but that was not the case today. I even had enough energy - despite the impending cramp - to pour on a little extra gas for the last 50 meters or so.

My team split up the exercises where we could with each person doing all he reps of the exercises they could do. Fortunately, despite having two of the weaker girls in the class, our third member was probably the strongest guy in class, so it was a good break down. He was able to churn out all the heavy stuff like nothing.Half way through class Max switched the backsquats to 135/95 - but Robin had already done all 30 at 185.

I took on the burpees and the double unders on my own. The burpees were fine. I had to do the double unders 1 at a time, but i had a much lower failure rate than I have had with them in the past - I'd say I probably made about 80-85% of my attempts. That's MUCH higher than the 40-50% (maybe even less) successful attempt rate I've had before.

With the team, I helped with 10 assisted deadlifts, 20 assisted HSPU - Robin basically just lifted me up and down while offered what limited help I could. And I also did 30 assisted muscleups - I guess technically, they're my first ;-) - I sat on Robin's shoulders and he basically squatted me while I went through the motions of a muscle up. - I did do some of the work - but he really did most of it. He was an incredibly good sport, and probably got about twice or three times as much of a workout as either of the other of us, but it was a good team effort.

My second run was actually much more decent than I thought it would be - it was 10:37 - also no driveway.

Two, Two, Two Workouts in one!

100 double-unders
25 burpees
75 double-unders
25 KB swing 2.0/1.5P
50 double-unders
25 dead-hang pull-ups
25 double-unders
25 Thruster 115/75

46:18RX

I think this was intended to be a solid mid-length chipper, but for me it was really two workouts: a twenty-five minute metcon followed immediately by a twenty-one minute strength workout. Yep: the thrusters alone took me nearly as much time as everything else combined. This just goes to show how poor my thruster strength is (hardly news).

The new jumpropes are nice, though - I was pretty consistently able to get sets of 10 double-unders, even when really tired.

Half Volume Daniel Modification

WOD:
50 Push-Ups
100 Double-Unders
21 Floor Press 155/95
200 Double-Unders
21 Floor Press 155/95
100 Double-Unders
50 Push-Ups

I don't remember the time I got, but it wasn't great. I only did half-volume (50/100/21/100), taking it easy to avoid a relapse on the cold.

Annie

50-40-30-20 and 10 rep rounds of:

Double-unders
Sit-ups

13:14 RX

42 seconds off my PR. I blame it on the rope.

Annie

WOD:
"Annie"

50-40-30-20 and 10 rep rounds of:

Double-unders
Sit-ups

Results:
30:08

Round	Rope	Situps	Elapsed Time
50	7:57	2:03	10:00
40	7:56	1:37	19:33
30	6:37	1:11	27:21
20	7:36	0:46	35:43
10	2:25 (2:05/0:20?)		38:08
Total	~32:11	~5:57

Last Time

Comments:
First time with double unders. Technically Rx. But these clearly need work. 8 minutes to do 50, 40 and particularly 20!! DU is just ridiculous. I probably made 4 attempts for every successful DU. This was a TON of work. And a lot of impact on my already weary hips and legs.

One consolation. Despite having a nasty sore on my lower back from the large volume of situps in Thursday's AMRAP , my total situp time was faster than the last time i did this.

no mood

This was supposed to be today's workout:

5 sets:

4 Sumo Deadlift High Pull/1 Power Clean/5 Push-Press

But: I think I pulled my right adductor in Sunday's FGB, I was not feeling well most of the day, I failed on my eating schedule, and after several days of feeling like I was doing ok with the passing of our cat Felix, I was hit with a wave of grief that just persisted all day. I was in a CRAPPY mood when I got to class (about 15 minutes late).

I needed a workout that was going to get the endorphins flowing, not aggravate my pulled muscle and frustrate the hell out of me, so I plugged in my little music player and went and rowed 2k instead. My time was 9:23 or so. Not my best time ever, but not horrible. I was able to keep the pace to about 2:19 for nearly the whole time (obviously not the whole time).

After that I tried to work on my doubleunders a little with my new jumprope, but it was aggravating my leg, so I stopped. I can get double unders with my new rope, but it's not a magic-easy-double-under rope. they're still hard - but i didn't really expect much out of a $4 rope. the best thing i can say for it really is that it fits nicely in my little bag of stuff i bring with me to class.

I felt a bit better after the workout, but I'm going to try to get a full 8 hours of sleep tonight.