2010-05-01 - Murph 50%

50% Murph
Run 800m

50 Pullups
100 Pushups
150 Squats

Run 800 m

5:14;
4:41; 4:08; 4:40; 6:18; 6:08 (2:20)
7:39

Total: 41:11

This was the hardest 50% Murph I've done in a long time. I broke it up intop rounds of 10 pullup[s, 20 pushups and 30 squats broken up like so:
10Plu-5Pus-10Sq-5Pu-5Sq-5Pus-10Sq-5Pus-5Sq.

I was using a green band for assisted pullups, and it was enough of a PITA to get my foot into it, that I wanted to gang the attempts together as much as possible.

I really hit a wall in round 4. the 2:20 in brackets was me futzing with my shoe. I thought my sock was bunched up funny, but one of my toenails had gotten too long and was digging into the adjacent toe which was really painful. I ended up walking much of the last 800 as a result. (Although my time still would have been pretty dreadful - i had a terrible foot cramp and a side stitch, too.) I just couldn't bring myself to simply quit.

Inside-out Murph

I think I've done this one before, but can't find a record of it on the blog, so maybe it was just posted to CFEB but we missed it.

50 C2B Pull-ups
100 Pushups
150 Squats
Run 2 miles
50 C2B Pull-ups
100 Pushups
150 Squats

46:01 RX (no vest)

Faster than my fastest recorded unweighted Murph, whatever that means. In some ways, this is easier than regular Murph since you don't have that cruel, long last mile to run. However, I found my first 3-4 rounds in the second half to be very slow and painful, as my muscles had cooled off and stiffened during the run, and it took some work to unkink them enough to follow my commands.

I believe this is my first full-volume C2B Murph (of any variety)

Cindy

Cindy: 14 +9 pushups (PR)

My goal has been 15 for a long time, but I didn't think I had it in me tonight - had I known how close I would be, I think I could have made it (one more pushup and I'd basically be there - the squats were never a problem). Rats!

Did the pullups on the rings - don't know how much difference that made.

2-5-2010 Presses & Cindy

Warmup: run 800m

Press 5-5-5
40-50-52(f rep4)

Cindy
9 rounds + 5 (jumping) pullups

Bleah. My aerobic capacity has gone to pot. The warmup run was sluggish and uncomfortable. And I felt like I was moving through molasses doing Cindy. The jumping pullups were hard; the pushups were hard; the squats were hard.

The first round was only 1:20, but most of my rounds were 2 to 2.5 minutes. I did manage to get my last full round under 2, so although I was really working towards trying to keep my form and ROM legit, maybe the thing that's missing (as much or more than aerobic capacity) is my intensity.

Sent from my iPhone

Sorta Cindy 12-12-09

Warmup: row 2000m, - 9:2? - not my fastest, but was trying to keep it a warmup, not a max effort.

WOD:
AMRAP in 20 minutes

5 push-up
5 pull-up
5 push-up
15 squats

Results:

Round	Time	Elapsed
1	1:18	1:18
2	1:46	3:04
3	1:46	4:50
4	1:55	6:45
5	2:24	9:09
6	2:28	11:37
7	2:18	13:55
8	2:04	15:59
9	2:01	18:00
10	2:00	20:00

Comments:
The squats were really my limiting factor here. It was nice to break up the pushups, but since everything else was 5 reps, 15 squats felt like a lot, and since my squats are terrible, and I was trying for the best ROM I could manage, they just took a long time. In the last round I had 45 seconds to get through 15 squats, and I still barely managed to eke out the last squat before time was called.

12-4-09

Decsending ladder 10-9-8-...-2-1

1P kb swings
Situps
Air squats

1:35, 1:34, 1:40, 1:24, 1:19, 1:13, 1:40 (4&3), 0:37, 0:24

11:29


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Murph

WOD:
For time:
1 mile Run
100 Pull-ups *used green resistance band
200 Push-ups *squatted to a med-ball
300 Squats
1 mile Run

Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed. Start and finish with a mile run. If you've got a twenty pound vest or body armor, wear it.

Reults:
1:04:01

11/8/09	6/12/09
Exercise Time Elapsed 1 Mile 10:58 10:58 Round 1 3:48 14:46 Round 2 2:33 17:19 Round 3 3:44 21:03 Round 4 3:53 24:56 Round 5 4:16 29:12 Round 6 4:27* 33:39 Round 7 4:13 37:52 Round 8 4:10 42:02 Round 9 4:13 46:15 Round 10 3:58 50:13 1 mile 13:48** 1:04:01	Exercise Time Elapsed 1 Mile 10:34 10:34 Round 1 4:28 15:02 Round 2 4:17 19:19 Round 3 4:59 24:18 Round 4 5:00 29:18 Round 5 4:24 33:42 Round 6 4:25 38:07 Round 7 5:22 43:29 Round 8 7:42* 51:11 Round 9 5:14 56:25 Round 10 4:37 1:01:02 1 mile 12:47 1:13:49

*paused to drink some water
**includes about 50 seconds of 'transition time' to get downstairs and start the run. 

Comments:
Wow - nearly 10 minutes better than my last time.  It looks like, on average, every round was about a minute faster.

I was really able to pump out the pullups without too much trouble this time - i could almost always get a set of 8 before having to rest - i wish we had a smaller band. 

It looks like maybe in round 2, when i was still tweaking what to put where, i might have forgotten to do something ... or maybe i just did it really fast ... >.>  ... So my time might be more like 1:05, but eventually I developed a rep scheme that really helped me get through the pushups without hitting muscular failure.

1 round =10 pullups, 9 pushups,10 squats, 7 pushups,10 squats, 4 pushups,10 squats

It doesn't mean that I was able to get all the pushups in straight sets, I still had to stop and take a breath or two between some reps, but it I never needed more than a breath or two, so it effectively allowed me to stay in nearly constant motion.

I used a med-ball to squat to because I have a tendency to go farther down than I need to, and I suspect that little aid had something to do with my decreased time - I sorta wish I hadn't used it just so today's time was a closer comparison to the last time - but i definitely liked having it (it has a little bounce >.> shhhh)

Daniel said that my form looked pretty good throughout - clean decisive reps.  Which is good to hear. 

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

An individual WOD as part of a team WOD

Warm up: Run 400m ME

WOD:
In two teams:

Each team will pick one card from The Hopper Deck for each athlete present, plus two additional cards (limit strength WODs and WODs without fixed reps will be thrown out and a new card picked).

Each team will perform the entire volume in any order they desire. WODs can be done as designed, broken up or combined.

Each team will have access to 1/2 of the available equipment, regardless of the draw. The squat rack will not be used.

Each team will have five minutes from the time the volume is collated to plan: the WOD will then begin, ready or not.

Our team decided to hit individual cards individually, and then all contribute to the high chipper WOD cards.

I ended up with the card for :

Four rounds for time of:
Run 400 meters
50 Squats

Results:
400m/50 squats
2:05 / 2:26
2:18 / 2:38
2:19 / 2:57
2:26 / 3:11

20:23

Comments:

I've done this WOD once before

My time today was not that much better - only about 1:30. But my running was pretty consistent, and i was really trying to work on my squat form - keeping my knees out and my back up as much as possible, so I was not blazing through the squats. So I'm happy enough with my performance.

Once I was done with this, I helped out the rest of the team by doing some burpees and some kettlebell swings - i'm not sure what WOD they were for. Our team finished long before the other team - but they had drawn cards with a much higher volume than we had, so most of our team actually chipped in to help them finish their WODs out. I did some more burpees.

As far as the Zone goes, I'm not sure whether I'm seeing much in the way of performance gains, but my energy seems better. I'll save more commentary about my experience so far for a separate dedicated post.

Chelsea

WOD:
"Chelsea"

Set up before a clock, and every minute, on the minute, perform 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 squats.

Comments:
I had to work late, and I showed up for class about 30 minutes late. I was kind of just intending to go home because Daniel had to skip class to babysit a website launch, but he convinced me that I should go to the gym even though I was so ridiculously late. I got almost no warmup. I substituted 55# KB SDHP for pullups because I thought it would just take too long to use a box or a strap for the pullups.

Results:
1 round + 11 squats

Turns out I squat too slow for this workout. I finished my pushups with about 25 seconds to spare, and I just couldn't get all my squats done.

Bleah. so glad i made it to class.

I did get some pullup practice done after everyone else was finished and I ALMOST got my first real kipping pullup. I got my nose to the bar. Once. That was satisfying, at least.

"Fluffy Pink Cloud"

A back-off workout, so we could be fresh for FGB on Sunday.

Perform as many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of:

5 Push-Ups
10 Squats
15 Sit-ups

10 rounds + 1 pushup RX

Set a goal of 10 rounds and made it. That felt good. It was a nice workout, actually.

Fluffy Pink Cloud :-)

Fluffy Pink Cloud

Perform as many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of:

5 Push-Ups
10 Squats
15 Sit-ups

Results:

8 rounds + 8 situps

Kept pace with Bill - even think i passed him ...

It was a short sweet 10min workout - kinda a nice break :-)

Cindy Gone Bad

Warmup: ?

WOD:
"Cindy Gone Bad"

In this workout you move from each of three stations after a minute. This is a three-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. We've used this in 3 and 5 round versions, this will be FIVE rounds. The stations are:

1. Pull-ups (Reps) *subbed jumping pullups - jumping C2B with a taller box after round 2
2. Push-ups (Reps)
3. Squats (Reps)

The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. On call of "rotate," the athlete/s must move to next station immediately for good score. One point is given for each rep.

Results:

Set	Pull	Push	Squat	Total
1	16	18	25	59
2	16	18	26	60
3	16	17	26	59
4	14	16	27	57
5	15	16	27	58
TOTAL	77	85	131	293

Comments:
Apparently I originally did my math wrong and I thought I got 303. 293 is still pretty respectable, i guess, but I thought I had broken 300 reps, and that was cool. oh well.

I'm very pleased that i managed to stay so consistent throughout all 5 rounds. It was a real battle to keep the reps up in rounds 4 & 5.

Cindy Gone Bad

FGB comes in phases and flavors. Here's a new one:

In this workout you move from each of three stations after a minute. This is a three-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. We've used this in 3 and 5 round versions, this will be FIVE rounds. The stations are:

1. Pull-ups (Reps)
2. Push-ups (Reps)
3. Squats (Reps)

The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. On call of "rotate," the athlete/s must move to next station immediately for good score. One point is given for each rep.

313 RX

I set a 10/20/30 pace, and was able to hold or exceed it for everything but the pushups, which went south after the third round:

Set	Pull	Push	Squat	Total
1	11	22	35	68
2	10	20	35	65
3	10	20	33	63
4	10	14	32	56
5	11	13	37	61
TOTAL	52	89	172	313

This is basically a little better than a 10-round Cindy (which would be 300 reps in 20 minutes, as opposed to 313 in 19), however it felt rather more intense.

100% Murph!

Warmup: run 400m, ME, 15 squats, 10 pushups

WOD:
For time:
1 mile Run
100 Pull-ups *used green resistance band
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
1 mile Run

Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed. Start and finish with a mile run. If you've got a twenty pound vest or body armor, wear it.

Results:
1:13:49

Exercise	Time	Elapsed
1 Mile	10:34	10:34
Round 1	4:28	15:02
Round 2	4:17	19:19
Round 3	4:59	24:18
Round 4	5:00	29:18
Round 5	4:24	33:42
Round 6	4:25	38:07
Round 7	5:22	43:29
Round 8	7:42*	51:11
Round 9	5:14	56:25
Round 10	4:37	1:01:02
1 mile	12:47	1:13:49

*had to stop to tape hands. Thank you Alex!!

Comments:
Woo hoo! I managed to finish the whole darn thing!

That first mile is either the first or second fastest mile I have enver run. I ran one faster in December (10:12), but it did not include the little back and forth piece in the GWPC driveway/parkinglot that Max has recently added to make it an actual mile. By the time I made it back to that part I had a horrible stitch, and had to walk the back and forth piece, so the December mile was probably still a little faster.

Each round consisted of 10 pullups, 20 push ups and 30 squats - though the order varied widely. The first round was 10pull-up(plu), 10 push ups (psu), 15 squats(sq), 10 psu, 15 sq. The pullups quickly got too hard to 10 at once, so I switched to cindy style rounds to try to just keep moving as much as possible. I also started running out of pullups so i switched to 5plu, 5psu, 5 sq, 5 psu, 10 sq. It was a LOT of transitions, but I was able to keep moving instead of waiting for the strength to eke out another rep.

And then half way through round 4 something clicked with the kipping action of the pullups and i was suddenly getting a lot more plu a lot more easily so i switched back to doing 10 plu at a go. Getting into the resistance band was awkward and time consuming enough that I really wanted to minimize the number of those transitions I had to make. I was extremely fortunate that Nick and I ended up at the pullup bar at the same time for several rounds, and he was sweet enough to help me by holding that band for me to get my foot in. It made a big difference.

The final rep scheme I used for the last 3-4 rounds or so was 10 plu, 10 psu, 15 sq, 5 psu, 5 sq, 5 psu, 10 sq. For some reason I had it in my head that I only needed to do 5 rounds. It was only at round 6 that I realized I needed to do 10 rounds which was quite a dissapointment.

The last mile was exceedingly slow, but my only goal was to be able to run every step - not necessarily run them quickly, and I managed that. I figured out that it was much smarter to run the back-and-forth bit on the driveway first so that when i was done at the end, I was just done.

Murph n' Stuff

Morning:

Sprint-8 on rower: 3375m
20 minutes light jogging on treadmill
5.9(o), 10b(o), 10b(o)

The rower went well - I was able to maintain a 1:30 pace on all the sprints, which I think is an improvement (I haven't done this in a while). The first two climbs weren't too bad, although my arms were sending warning signals. The third climb, a long climb that had a bit of everything - roof, arete and stemming - started my arms screaming. So I didn't continue.

Evening:
I remember when Murph was a workout to be dreaded, one approached with much grimacing and wincing. My first knee-jerk reaction when I saw it posted was "oh, no." But once I thought about it a little, I realized that in comparison to the shit we've been doing every week, Murph is really not that big a deal. So when we lined up on the starting line, I didn't have any butterflies of dread flitting around in my stomach.

For time:
1 mile Run
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
1 mile Run

Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed. Start and finish with a mile run. If you've got a twenty pound vest or body armor, wear it.

44:36 (no vest, subbed v-ups for pullups)

V-ups are considerably easier than pullups, but I wanted to actually finish a Friday workout without the agony in my biceps, so I don't regret my choice - it was really nice to do the workout without pain. I went in ten rounds of 10 v-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats, 10 push-ups, 15 squats, and that went fairly well. Here are the splits:

run 1: 7:30
round 1: 2:31
round 2: 2:17
round 3: 3:16
round 4: 3:16
round 5: 3:17
round 6: 3:13
round 7: 2:58
round 8: 3:04
round 9: 2:47
round 10: 2:27.5
run 2: 6:59

Fairly consistent. The limiter was, once again, the pushups - will I ever be able to consistently knock out sets of 10? I dunno, it seems my chest strength is very reluctant to develop. The squats were actually pretty damn hard for the first three rounds or so, until my body warmed up to them - after last night's max-effort with them, the muscles were surprisingly uncooperative. The V-ups were fine - the last few sets involved some grunting, but I was always able to knock out 10 consecutive.

Pain Fest

Warmup: ME, BOZ warmup X 3 (10 dislocates + 10 OHS w/ dowel - increasingly narrow grip and squat stance.)

WOD:
Run One Mile
100 Squats
Run 800 Meters
75 Push-Ups
Run 400 Meters
50 Burpees
Run 200 Meters
25 "GI Janes"
Run One Mile

Results:
1:03:20

Exercise	Time	Elapsed
1 Mile	10:55	10:55
100 Squats	5:50	16:45
800m	5:52	22:37
75 Pushups	8:30	31:07
400m	2:58	34:05
50 Burpees	10:12	44:17
200m	1:05	45:22
25 GI Janes	6:13	51:35
1 Mile	11:45	1:03:20

Comments:
This was a bastard of a workout. There were a couple times - particularly once the burpees started where I nearly broke down crying. Having really suffered through 50 burpees yesterday, when i was relatively fresh, I knew exactly how horrible 50 burpees was going to be totally wiped, and that made it harder to just buckle down and get through them.

My strategy for this workout was "slow and steady" I was not worried about breaking any speed records - I knew it would be hard enough just to finish the damn thing.

"Focus" is my new mantra. "I can. I will. I must." is just too many damn syllables for when I can barely think. I used it to help me get back on track with the burpees - I kept losing count and just wanted to throw in the towel. Take a breath, "Focus".

As soon as I started the last run I found myself plagued with NaST - 'There's no way ..." "My feet hurt, my knees hurt, I think I'm getting a side stitch." ... "Focus" would get me through a couple steps, but I just couldn't keep the bad thoughts at bay and I was sure that I wasn't going to get through it without walking. And then I decided to try a technique Ynez has talked about using with food. I gave myself permission to stop if i really wanted to; if it got unbearable I could absolutely stop at any time, but I was pretty sure I had a little left in me - enough for a few more steps anyway. I dunno - something about having permission to stop shut my contary self right up - there were no more excuses about why it was too hard to continue - and then all I had to do was keep putting one foot in front of the other. it was a LONG ass mile - but I ran the whole damn thing - in fact I ran every step of all the runs. Except for the GI Janes - where I used somewhat lower rings so I could do jumping pullups, this workout was pretty much Rx.

I definitely feel like I have reachieved my ability to work through the suck, and I am very happy to have finished this workout. Max has promised to make tomorrow's workout another killer - which means I need to get myself to bed.

Overtraining is the new training

This week begins the enacting of Gita's new motto, "overtraining is the new training," in which we ride the line of volume, strength and endurance for the final six weeks leading to the Games. It got off to a good start:

Run One Mile
100 Squats
Run 800 Meters
75 Push-Ups
Run 400 Meters
50 Burpees
Run 200 Meters
25 "GI Janes"
Run One Mile

45:11 RX

Max came up with this one, and it was a well-designed bit of agony. The movements stacked together nicely in such a way that each one made the next one harder (burpees after pushups are brutal). While I'm not particularly proud of my time, I'm pleased that I was able to pick a pace and maintain it with only a few pauses for breath throughout. Well, except for the GI Janes - those were slow as molasses.

CrossFit Santa Clara Throwdown

In the runup to the CrossFit Games this summer, several of the Bay Area affiliates are hosting throwdowns each month. CFEB is a little late to the party, but we sent three teams to last month's party at CrossFit Diablo. I was covering classes that day so didn't go, but thankfully Shira took classes today, so I could go to the meetup down in Santa Clara.

We showed up pretty early to scope out the situation, which took all of 15 minutes, then we spent the next hour hanging out, playing with the toys and watching a beautiful day unfold as we waited for the details of the WOD to emerge. It wound up being a little complicated. It was a team workout, which meant four people, at least one of whom had to be a different gender from the others.

1. 100 Clean/Jerk 155/95 (2 people working) - scaled to 95/65
2. 150 KB Swings 2/1.5P (2 people working) - scaled to 1.5/1P
3. 200 45# Thrusters (3 people working)
4. 400 Squats (4 people working)

Stations are 200m apart (ie, you have to run around the building after each movement). You must complete all reps at one station before moving on. Your team must all move together and only 3 people may touch the ground at any given moment during station transfer. 7 burpee penalty for the entire team if 4 people touch.

Team Bleach - 20:47 scaled

11 people from CFEB came, which made team formation somewhat awkward. Only one team would be able to attempt the workout RX'd, Team Comfort (Max, Gita, Polly and James C). Team Milk and Cookies, the only team fully intact from last month (Alex, Rebecca H, Raphael and Elaine) went in the second heat, followed by Comfort. I don't remember what Comfort got - 24 something, I think, but Milk and Cookies got 20:48. The three of us that were left comprised Team Bleach (Rebecca R, Ynez and I). We didn't really know what to do about the fourth member until it was almost time to go, at which point the organizer conceded that we could have a five-person team, since we were scaling anyway, and take two competitors from our other teams. So Rebecca Hodges and Gita, showing incredible fortitude, stepped up to do the workout AGAIN. For which we are immensely grateful.

I should really be working, and not goofing off in Photoshop making montages like this.

The clean & jerks were heavier than I thought they'd be, which bums me out - getting weight over my head continues to plague me. The KB swings went by very quickly, and we entered the thrusters strong. That's when things headed south. Between 200 thrusters and 400 squats, even spread out among five people, our legs were jelly, and the partner carries were pretty damn difficult - by the last round, we were doing them in 50m shifts, with Polly running alongside yelling encouragement.

We came in 1 second faster than Team Milk & Cookies, but they A) only had four teammates, and B) did 2 pood KB swings for the guys, just because they could. Gita and Rebecca H did an amazing job, considering how tired they were from the last go-round (poor Gita met Pukie afterwards). On the whole the event was a LOT of fun, and it was enjoyable watching the other teams compete as well - though I could wish for more cross-pollination. The affiliates didn't seem to mingle much. I'm not positive, but I think Santa Clara barely edged out Oakland for the #1 spot, and I don't know who came in third. The top RX times were all 20 and something.

Next month is San Francisco, where I've long wanted to try doing a workout. I hope to be able to go!

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.