Happy Birthday to Andy

CFEB Athlete Andy, that gorgeous hunk of manflesh you see over to the right, turned 23 this week, and in honor of his birth Ynez concocted this little piece o' pain:

For Time
23 1/1.5P goblet squats
23 HSPU
23 Superpeople
23 1/1.5P weighted Walking Lunges
23 1/1.5P weighted sit-ups

8:34RX

It was a fun WOD, but pretty brief for a Birthday Blazer, which I feel should be particularly painful. Three rounds would've been better, I think. I did all sets unbroken except the HSPU's, which were my FIRST time doing them in a WOD. My ROM sucks (I use one of the yoga blocks as a target), but at least I'm not piking or doing them off a box anymore. They felt good, actually - I just wish I were strong enough to knock them out full-ROM. The weighted squats, lunges and sit-ups were all fine, with a pleasantly uncomfortable burning sensation setting in about halfway through the set.

We're leaving soon for a weekend in San Diego, which should be a fun time, but will interrupt our regularly-scheduled workouts. Hopefully we'll find a gym down there with a decent free weight setup so we can continue our strength routine, and I'm thinking a beach 5K might be fun. We shall see.

Back in action (if somewhat gingerly)

Warmup: run 800m, ME, kb swings, situps, supermen, ktc

WOD:
Five rounds for time of:
2 pood Kettlebell swings, 25 reps (8kg KB)
25 Sit-ups
25 Supermans
25 Knees to Elbows (knee raises as close as possible to chest)

Results:

Round	Swing	Situps	Super	KTE	Round	Elapsed
1	1:22	1:26	1:07	4:26	8:22	8:22
2	1:39	1:02	1:26	5:09	9:16	17:38
3	1:32	1:04	1:05	4:01	7:42	25:20
4	1:14	1:22	1:09	2:27	6:12	31:32
5	1:18	1:22	0:48	2:56	6:24	37:56

Comments:
I guess I am officially recovered from my cold. Too bad I tweaked my back as a welcome back present :-p I don't think it's "Injured" just a little strained.

The first couple rounds of this were slow mostly because i was just feeling out what my back would accept. I was able to pick up the pace at the end when it was thoroughly warmed up ... although I'm afraid i might pay a price for my enthusiasm ... I was also using an extremely light kettlebell to make sure my back didn't get unnecessarily abused.

I forgot to hit the timer between the situps and the supermen in the first round until i was about 6 supermen in, so those two times are a little skewed.

The KTE (or knees to chest, in my case) were definitely the biggest limiting factor. My grip kept failing - in addition to my core muscles just giving out. I think the height I was able to get my knees was a bit negatively impacted by my back. I think I've had better ROM on them in the past.

Mostly it was just really nice to complete 100% of a workout. Tomorrow is a lot of KB SDHP, and I might have to go light with those as well, which is sad, becuse i really like them. We'll see how I feel in the morning.

Fat DNF

I was really not feeling it today. Although I wasn't sore from the deadlifts, just the prospect of this workout filled me with dread.

Five rounds for time of:
2 pood Kettlebell swings, 25 reps
25 Sit-ups
25 Supermans
25 Knees to Elbows

DNF in the third round

I stopped because something funky was happening to my right wrist on the swings. It was clicking, and hurting on the downswing - I think the yanking from the KTE's plus the swings was stressing it out. With ~75 more reps of each to go, it did not strike me as a good idea to keep going. I went through the typical spiral of self-doubt and criticism afterward, but I so rarely DNF that I don't feel too bad.

Happy Birthday to Evelyn

Morning:
The gym is always deserted on Friday mornings, so this morning I decided "what the hell" and took the lead test. Despite the fact that it was at Ironworks, which is notoriously difficult.

I failed. I fell off the climb.

I don't feel too bad - everyone fails the first time, and I feel pretty confident to try again (at the Power Company) next week. My tester was Peter, and he gave me the option of a 10c on the third pillar (short but technical), or a 10b in the cave (long and pumpy, but straightforward). I chose the 10b, which was perhaps the wrong choice - I wasn't expecting him to pull out a 10c! I thought it was going to be either a 10b on the pillar or a 10a in the cave, and I haven't mock led any c's.

The climbing went well, until the fall. I made it about 2/3 of the way up, and slipped off a lateral move that required me to use a small off-route hold (my route's hold had snapped off). I fell about 15 feet, and pulled Tor off the ground, but it was a clean fall into empty air, and happened so quickly it was over before I knew it. Peter said that his only comments were that I looked a little shaky (the route was nearly entirely overhung), but that my beta, footwork and clipping were fine. I then belayed Tor, and apparently was erring on the side of a TOO-tight belay, which I thought was interesting because I was freaking out about how much slack was in the system - apparently slack in lead climbing isn't such a bad thing. So I need to work on smoother, longer pulls to feed slack, and not worrying so much about keeping the rope tight.

So, the tally for the morning:

ML10b(c), L10b(DNF), ML10c(clean, but UGLY), 10d(f)

Next week you will be mine, precious. Oh, yes.

Evening:
Today Evelyn turns 37, in celebration of which fact we at CFEB got to do a special workout in her honor...one that bears a suspicious resemblance to the Filthy Fifty.

"Evelyn"
I did them in this order:

• 37 Box jumps
• 37 Pull-Ups (Men C2B)
• 37 Push-Ups
• 37 Deadlift 185#/135#
• 37 Jump Squats
• 37 Sit-Ups
• 37 Superpersons
• 37 KB Swing 1 pood/35# dumbbell
• 37 Double-Unders
• 37 Reverse Burpees

33:54 nonRX (subbed regular burpees for inverted)
(splits: 1:47 | 5:16 | 3:18 | 7:07 | 2:08 | 1:44 | 1:24 | 2:18 | 3:46 | 5:02)

It was a good chipper - quickly ramping up to medium-high level of misery and then just stayed there regardless of what you were doing. Evelyn, of course, smoked it in under 27 minutes - Max likes birthday WODs to play to the birthday person's strengths, and Ev is very strong at these sorts of workouts. Of course, to do it in TRUE Evelyn Rodas fashion, we should have started 15 minutes late and then done something unexpected and even harder immediately afterwards, but I didn't point that out to Max. The class was pretty chaotic - it was really crowded! - but once he lifted the restriction on what order to do things in, the workout was surprisingly fine.

Afterwards we had a really nice party at Alex & Rebecca's, overflowing with healthy, sugar-free food. I really like hanging out with our CrossFit friends for many reasons, but one of the strongest reasons is that I can EAT with them. Parties and restaurants with family and friends is such a pain, as there are so many things I won't eat there, but last night's food was perfect: fruits, nuts, cheeses, meats, THREE guacamoles, simple chips, sparkling water...Polly even made a sugar-free pie out of dates and coconut that I really want to get the recipe for. Delicious!

Kitchen Sink

33:57

Splits:

1:40 10 GI Janes
1:04 Run 100 Meters
2:09 10 Box Jump 30" box (stepup 24")
1:02 Run 100 Meters
1:32 10 KB swing 2.0P/1.5P (1P)
1:02 Run 100 Meters
1:30 10 C2B Pull-ups (28kg SDHP)
0:47 Run 100 Meters
2:47 10 Weight Overhead Lunge 45#/25# (8kg)
0:49 Run 100 Meters
2:29 10 Ankles-to-bar (knees to chest)
0:41 Run 100 Meters
2:25 20 Supermans
0:45 Run 100 Meters
3:28 10 clap push-up (hopping? pushups)
0:44 Run 100 Meters
4:09 10 Double-Squat Wall-Ball 14#
0:00 Run 100 Meters
4:06 50 Double-Unders (Subbed 200 skips)

I think I was feeling a bit under the weather, and hoping not to push myself over the edge into full blown sick, I decided to do half volume. Also, we had a full afternoon planned with a trip to the Circus School open house and a friend's Christmas party later that evening, and I didn't want to be totally wiped all day. Blogging this 2+ weeks after the fact is tricky.

Gi Janes on rings are hard because you have to find the rings before you jump - unlike a bar which is stationary.

Even though I was only stepping up to the box, I still managed to fall on my butt when i got both feet up, but couldn't get "out of the hole". Lame.

The swings went relatively well, though I still have a little way to go before 16kg is reliably good form.

I did SDHP with the 28kg KB instead of pullups. 28kg is definitely the heaviest I have managed to perform this movement with, and I was able to get it most, but not really ALL the way up. This is a good practice movement for explosive hip movement.

I did the OH lunges with the 8kg KB ... these were hard. but i did fairly well with them. Definitely a movement I should practice.

I think the first couple reps of knees to chest were actually pretty close to knees to elbow. After the first 5 or so, they were barely knees to chest. another movement that would be good to practice.

The wall ball actually went much better than the last time i tried it. The las ttime I tried it, I could barely get any - I'm not realy sure why, but they just wouldn't go up. This time, it was pretty stright forward. I still can't string them together because I suck at catching it, but I managed to get the height.

Since I was only doing half the reps, I tried to really go for form, and not worry Too much about time, but it's hard when you just want to get it over with.

Oh, and 20 reps of the kitchen sink

This was the workout that wouldn't end:

20 GI Janes
Run 200 Meters
20 Box Jump 30" box
Run 200 Meters
20 KB swing 2.0P/1.5P
Run 200 Meters
20 C2B Pull-ups
Run 200 Meters
20 Weight Overhead Lunge 45#/25#
Run 200 Meters
20 Ankles-to-bar
Run 200 Meters
40 Supermans
Run 200 Meters
20 clap push-up
Run 200 Meters
20 Double-Squat Wall-Ball
Run 200 Meters
100 Double-Unders

41:48
My push-ups were "hopping," and my wall-ball was regular old wall-ball, but otherwise RX

There were five or so newbies in class today. I felt bad for them - this was a really high-skill workout, and there just wasn't enough time to drill them on everything. They seemed to do pretty well, though, whenever I checked to see how they were doing. Mostly I was concerned with my own thing, though.

It is gratifying that Max picked me to be in the first group with the other hardcore athletes, but I'm not quite there yet. I think I need to step up my game and rest less, if I'm ever going to catch up with Alex. (I have a couple personal goals: 1) do a WOD faster than Alex, and 2) be as strong as Jim. The trouble is that they're going to class too, and are also improving, so it's a moving target.) Getting real double-unders will go a long way to faster times on workouts like this, though.

It's all Evelyn's fault

Apparently, Evelyn saw this WOD on the CF national site and went "ooh! , ooh!" and asked Max if we could do it. So, Ev, when and if you read this:


Not knoeing dat many numbrz, this shit was hard:

Three rounds for time of:
21 Knees to elbows
21 Kettlebell swing, 1.5 pood
21 Push-ups
18 Towel Pull-Ups
15 Box jumps, 24"
42 Supermans
Walking lunge, 150 ft

44:04, non-RX (I only did 10 towel pullups per round)
Splits were 13:34 | 15:59 | 14:36

Actually, it wasn't all THAT bad. It was just long, and a lot of volume. The only things that really killed my time were the KTE's, which I basically did in sets of 5, and the towel pull-ups, which I did in sets of...2. (This is why I only did 10 per round. 18 and my time would've been an hour.) Everything else was in large chunks, if not unbroken.

Chipper WOD hell

Warm up: ME, run 200m, 5 KTE, 10 KB swings, 10 pushups, 10 box jymps, 10 walking lunges.

WOD:

Three rounds for time of:
21 Knees to elbows
21 Kettlebell swing, 1.5 pood
21 Push-ups
18 Towel Pull-Ups
15 Box jumps, 24"
42 Supermans
Walking lunge, 150 ft

Results:
38:12 - 2 Rounds

Exercise	Round 1	Round 2
Knees-to-Chest	2:07	1:44
KB Swing 1P	2:09	2:43
Pushups	3:26	2:22
Kip attempts	2:42	3:20
Box Jump 10"	2:05	1:39
Superman	2:10	2:22
Walking Lunge	4:42 - 50	4:32 - 47
Total	19:21	17:02

Comments:
This workout was hard. And I really didn't have a lot in the tank to start with. I very nearly stopped after the first round, but I'm glad I forged ahead and completed round 2. At one point, Max made some comment about how there was a "sneaky" amount of volume in this workout, and just about everybody who heard him yelled back "There's nothing sneaky about it! it's all right there!" When I saw this workout I thought Max might be trying to kill us. Apparently it was Evelyn all along ... thanks Ev! :-p But it definitely wasn't one of those workouts that seems easy on paper. I knew this was going to be beast.

Since I knew I wasn't going to complete the workout, it allowed me to go a little slower, and try to get better form on each exercise. A couple of my KTC actually approached much closer to KTE range. Most of my KB swings were actually overhead. I tried to make sure each pushup was full ROM. Rope climbing and towel pullups were WAY out of the question, so I decided to do Kip attempts instead. These are WAY harder than jumping pullups (duh). Box jumps were real jumps to the 10" box with some girder support - these still scare the *** out of me. But most importantly, the walking lunges felt better than they ever have before. There were plenty of strides that were wobbly and off balance, but there were many that weren't, and I even managed to cut three strides off the total in the second round by taking longer strides (47 strides instead of 50).

Filthy Fifty

I was nervous about this one - my shoulder and ankle are both feeling much better, but they're still not 100%, and this is a shitload of volume, many of the movements are somewhat iffy. But it all came out OK.

For time:
50 Box jump, 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions (superman)
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball (45# thruster)
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

40:14 - subbed tuck jumps

This is a whopping 16 minutes faster than last time (!!), and I suspect that's nearly entirely due to better burpees. In fact, some things were a little slower than they could have been, because I was protecting my injuries (specifically box/tuck jumps and KTEs). As for how the injured joints fared - well, there was some protest, particularly from jumping around on my ankle, but it was manageable.

Here are the splits, which I find very interesting:

Box jumps: 2:15
Jumping PU's: 2:06
KB Swing: 2:29
Walking Lunge: 1:43
KTEs: 8:37
Push-press: 3:05
Superman: 2:37
Thruster: 6:22
Burpees: 7:22 (!!!!)
Tuck Jumps: 3:38

Last time, I remember the burpees alone taking me over 20 minutes, done in excruciating sets of 5. Tonight's were sets of 10, and yes, they sucked, but by now burpees are like old, really shitty friends, and not sworn enemies. The KTEs were very hard, as were the thrusters. Max insists they're the same as wall-ball, but I disagree. It's true that because of my height I do not have to throw the ball as far, but I also have a physiological theory that wall-ball includes a brief moment when the muscles are not bearing ANY weight, and in this moment fresh, oxygenated blood can wash through the muscles. This is also why I still find kipping ring pullups to be easier than kipping bar pullups - there is a moment of letting go that refreshes the muscles.

Tonight felt good. I felt like I was pushing at the right rate to be very hard, but not so much to flame out or feel like puking. Consistent. I don't know the times of the second group, but I came in third in the first group behind James and Matthew, and I'm very pleased with that placement.

Filthy 50 -> Funky 40

Warmup: Mobility Exercises, run 160m

WOD:

Filthy Fifty (Funky 40)
For time:
50 Box jump, 24 inch box *step-up to 24"
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Dumbell or Plate Swings, 35 pounds *25# plate
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows *knees to chest
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Supermans
50 Thrusters, 45 pounds *25# plate
50 Burpees
50 Double unders *tuck jumps

Results:
50:30

Splits:
5:49 - Box step-ups & jumping pullups
3:43 - Plate Swings
3:14 - Walking Lunges
4:43 - Knees to chest
10:46 - Push Press
1:59 - Supermen
8:22 - Thrusters
8:12 - Burpees
3:42 - Tuck Jumps

Comments:
As Daniel points out, I did 30% more work in 10% more time, so I guess I did better than last time, but looking at my splits ... most of the "improvement" appears to have come from doing a 1-for-1 replacement of my step ups to a 24" box instead of a 3-for-1 replacement of doing step-ups to a 10" box.

My Back extensions and Knees-to-chest were better - but they might be just because i didn't have to go down a flight of stairs to do them.

The push-presses were much longer - a little more than twice! - but they were 15# heavier this time, so I don't feel bad about that.

The thrusters ... I dunno the weight was about the same - but I am inclined to believe that doing them with a plate is somehwat harder than doing them with a comparably weighted bar. Maybe that's just wishful thinking.

I'm relatively happy with the burpees - it only took me 14 more seconds to do 10 more burpees. Unfortunately, the pushup movement really started to hurt the tweaked spot in my back, so I had to start using my knees around rep 15 or 20.

Meh. I had hoped for better improvement.

Sit-up, thruster, pull-up: *fun*

Warm up - 4 squats - 12 burpees - run 400m - 10 squats (pulled from a deck of cards)

WOD
For time:
20 Sit-ups
20 Supermen
95 pound Thrusters, 30 reps
50 Pull-ups
60 Sit-ups
60 Supermen
95 pound Thrusters, 20 reps
35 Pull-ups
100 Sit-ups
100 Supermen
95 pound Thrusters, 10 reps
20 Pull-ups

*sub 15# thrusters, jumping pullups

Results
39:00

0:47 - 20 situps
0:50 - 20 supermen
2:26 - 30 thrusters
7:25 - 50 pullups
4:58 - 60 situps & 60 supermen
1:16 - 20 thrusters
7:07 - 35 pullups
9:23 - 100 situps & 100 supermen
1:02 - 10 thrusters
3:51 - 20 pullups

Comments
wasn't real good about hitting the lap timer on my watch - so the splits are approximate.

I opted to go with a very light weight for the thrusters so that i could try to really focus on my squat form. Max said it was looking better.

Someone else was using the gravitron so I found an empty pull-up bar and tried my hand at jumping pull-ups. I had a hard time finding a step that was the right height. I don't think these worked me as thoroughly as the gravitron pull-ups do. maybe i wasn't doing them right ... ?

Also - just as a note to myself, and anyone who happens to be reading this who might be considering doing a quantity of situps ... drinking water just beforehand is a BAD idea. Don't do it no matter how thirsty you might be.

After 1 round i had kind of a wicked exertion headache - the kind that just sort of sits up right behind your forehead and just throbs - particularly when bend over or lift a heavy object. I just pushed through it, and it was gone by the time I finished showering after the workout, but I felt pretty blech right afterwards. I need to do some research into what causes those, to see if there's a way to avoid getting them. Daniel and I both get them, and it's been particularly noticeable for both of us the past week or so. It makes me wonder whether it's something diet related since we're both having trouble with it. Something to keep an eye on, anyway.

In other news, I have a little stool that lives in my cubicle so that on the (rare) occasion that someone comes to visit, they have a place to sit, and I realized that if i place the stool directly next to the wall at the end of my cubicle, i can practice stepping up onto it (to strengthen my right leg) while holding onto the wall for support. it's a nice little fully constructed half wall that comes just about to my head height (not a flimsy cubicle wall). It's a nice little break from sitting still @ my desk.

Man Overboard!

As I was staring at the pool of sweat coalescing on the floor under my head during the Supermen of round 2, a couple of thoughts were swirling in my head - inasmuch as I was capable of thinking of anything. 1) I felt embarassed for myself and somewhat sorry for Raphael, who had to follow my sweaty and towel-forgetting self from one station to the next, and 2) that this workout was just what the doctor ordered.

I felt strangely "bleah" today. Lumpish. Gross. A little queasy. Could be because I didn't get my Friday morning climbing in (Tor is still nursing his thigh). I think perhaps I overdid it on the protein yesterday, and was paying the nutritional piper today. Or it was just being stuck inside working for most of the day, and my body craves more activity. Whatever the cause, a torturous metcon was just the RX (as it were), and I felt much better afterwards. Why, I do believe I have become addicted to exercise.

2 Rounds:

1. Row 250 Meters
2. Push-ups
3. Med Ball Clean 14#
4. V-Ups
5. Med Ball Jerk 14#
6. Supermen
7. Med Ball Front Squat 20#
8. Feet Anchored STRICT Sit-Ups
9. Jump Squats
10. Burpees

This is a Version of "Man Overboard" from CrossFit NYC Black Box.

The rower is the 'pace car'.

The time it takes to row is the time you have to do each movement.

Upon completion of the row, the rower yells out "Man Overboard" and the coach calls "Rotate" or "Switch", everyone then moves to the next station.

There is no rest in this workout: as soon as the Coach calls "Rotate" you may start the next exercise. Total score is total reps completed. The row does not count towards points. If you are trying for the highest score, you want to row as fast as possible to prevent others from being able to complete a lot of reps. However the trade-off in metabolic capacity of going full-bore must be considered as well.

Final score: 367
round 1: 200 | round 2: 167

Pushup: 20 | 15
Med Ball Clean: 18 | 10
V-Up: 19 | 16
Med Ball Jerk: 22 | 20
Supermen: 29 | 29
Med Ball Front Squat: 28 | 25
Situp: 22 | 25
Jump Squat: 30 | 20
Burpee: 12 | 7

Not much to note here, really. I think the 30 V-Ups for Level II are closer than I had previously thought, perhaps already within my grasp. I think the extra weight from the bulking is making metcons and climbing more difficult, but the flipside is that it'll be that much easier when I take the weight off again, so I don't mind too much.

Max showed us the roof of the Power Company where he will be holding classes, when the workout calls for it. It looks very cool. Both literally and figuratively - on foggy or rainy days it'll be COLD up there. He's going to make a huge stack of sandbags to do more heavy weight work. I for one am looking forward to it. Too bad getting the GWPC during rush hour is such a pain in the ass.

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 ;)