Monthly Recap and CFNE WOD #3

I really liked Coach Johnny Mac's monthly summary log he posted on his blog last month.  I think its a great way to get a sense of what you really accomplished and whether you worked on your goats or not.  I am pretty happy with the training aside from that forced rest weekend when I was in Vermont.  It would have been good if I could have gotten some more running in, otherwise fairly balanced.  I would be interested in feedback as well.   What do you all think when you look at it? Click on the image below to get to a size you can read.

 If I had the perfect schedule today would have been a rest day but since Im on the road I needed to take advantage of the time in the home gym.   Even though I missed the cutoff for being included in the CFNE Game Day 3 Rankings.

 “Game Day 3″
For time:
50 Power Cleans (135, 95)
50 Wall Balls (20, 14)
50 KB Swings (53, 35)

I was most worried about those cleans and knew they would take the majority of the work out.  Finished them in about 4:16.  Did 2 breaks on the balls and 1 break on the swings to finish in 8:33.

Ubiquitous Competitions

It used to be that you would have to wait what felt like 6 months for a throw down to be scheduled but now you can do a competition on a weekly basis.  I'm not talking about a intra-box competition but a virtual global throw down.  I found a link to another one on TJCrossfit when I was trying to see what was up with Triathlete Jeff Peterson whose blog has gone dark.    I really like the structure of the event which has a online event the  Last weekend of each month from February to June.   They also recognize that most folks have jobs, families and other obligations so the scoring is based on best 3 of 5 to see who advances.   Check it out here  - Throwdown Series.   Oh this last one is funny - No ringers - no cash to former CF Games participants.

With this new competition in mind I was torn whether to do the wod from this site or the CFNE WOD Game Day 3 WOD.   I decided in the end to leave it up to Sara and Fireman Bill to see if they had a preference.   Sara already had a plan so she was not joining for either.  Bill was game for either so we decided on the throw down series.   The schedule on my end was tight so this was going to be 20 minute warm-up and then just hit it. 

Event #1: Rx

PART 1 (for time):

50 Wallballs (20#/14#) plus
3 ROUNDS:
30 Double Unders;
15 Toes to Bar;
10 Front Squats (135#/95#)

PLUS (IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING)

PART 2 (max weight):

1 Rep Max Clean (3 MINUTE TIME LIMIT) 

My wall balls in the warm up felt great so this was all going to come down to whether the rhythm was there or not.   Sara set the clock and the familiar 3.2.1 go was sounded.  Bill is an excellent training partner for me as we are fairly evenly matched.   I finished the first part in 8:19 and then spent the next 40 seconds resting and adding on weights.  I quickly hit 185,  and on 20lbs and got 2:05.  Now I was running out of time.  Got 5lbers on and hit 215.  Then I realized that when I hit my split time on the watch i had shut it off.   The 215lb lift didnt count as I was 15 seconds over, drat.   Im going to try and get in the CFNE wod sometime this week if possible.

More Short and Sweet

The original programming planned to have 400m runs and some kind of OLY lift but that went out the window when the weather report called for snow and rain.  I think John and Sara have played it very smart in adjusting for the weather as it was all ice when I walked over this morning.  Some crossfitters have a hard time adjusting for safety as they feel like its wimping out.  I think its using common sense.  A sprained ankle or broken arm slows the progress down more than changing a wod.   I was really considering doing Game Day 3 if the class was small but decided to try and do that tomorrow. 
A nice small class with just Amanda, Bill and Myself hitting Deadlifts and then "Annie"

Sara is super nice and gave us the option of doing Annie first which we all decided was a better idea.  In my mind having a fast time on Annie is predicated on the double unders flowing and my warm up was good so the confidence was high.   That said as soon as the wod started I flubbed up at 15 and again at 25. this kills a lot of time.  My situps were really good and I tried out the pushing off with your hands to accelerate backwards my wife told me about yesterday.   The Round of 30 was perfect but Bill was still neck and neck.  It was very close right to the end.  I hit a new Craic House Pr of 6:35

I was able to convince Amanda and Bill that instead of hitting the strength portion we should see if we could push Glenn down a few spots.  Now Glen has been hyperfocused on knocking John out of the leader board and in fact is currently tied.  Im not in there league but was able to increase my gym record to 132.  1 behind the next person.

Ended with Deadlifts. I misread the board and thought it was 7x7 so started a little to light.  Sara and Bill both told me to go with a regular grip to build hand strength.  Good idea.  I wonder how these deadlifts will translate to a 1 rep max.  My best is 415 but havent even attempted that in awhile.

Short, Sweet and Completely Brutal

Friday February 25th WOD

Thursday and Friday's workouts on paper looked very simplistic. I have heard some read the white board amd say "Is that it, is that all we are doing today?  That is usually a very bad omen with lots of carnage sure to follow.  These are also the kind of WODs that show up in a throwdown.   I was feeling pretty rested after Thursday day off (especially as it wasnt dictated by travel) so decided to string a few of these together with a short break between them.  


So the first WOD had box jumps which have been my kryptonite so I need to find some time to work on that.

8 rounds for time of 5 pull ups & 10 box jumps.  I went head to head with Firefighter Paul and it was a good battle to the end.  After about a 7 minute break I hit the next WOD which was "Burnout"  21-15-9 Push Ups & Sit Ups. My goal was to hit that one under 2 minutes. As you can see from the left I made it with a second to spare.  

Rested for  5 minute break and went after the last one with a bit of hesitations  12-9-6 – HSPU + Toes to Bar.   This one was going to be the hardest because my max HSPU is only 15.  I was forced to break up the HSPU's each round and felt like I did a lot of standing around.  These were fun workouts and hopefully beneficial as well.

Improving by doing nothing

Its hard to fathom that on the day I did absolutely nothing represents the day that my overall conditioning improved the most.   Check out this diagram below:  

The body is amazingly elastic and can put up with a great deal of punishment, but over time, continued heavy workouts without breaks will break the body’s performance level. As the chart indicates, a workout results in the immediate degradation of the body followed by the eventual improvement if recovery methods are implemented properly.
No one knows this better than athletes using performance enhancing drugs.   These drugs are actually allowing for a fast recovery allowing an athlete to do more work.   That said I will do it the legal way by resting, eating properly and being properly hydrated.   I dont think that any athlete who is eating healthy should be messing around with supplements.  

Pull & Press

500M row - 1:31.7 - Still not able to beat 1:30.  Need to turn my damper up from 4/5 to 6/7

Strength Press:

5X5 at 115
3 at 135
1 at 155 Fail
1 at 135
1 at 140
1 at 145
1 at 150
1 at 160 Fail

I feel like I am dating Helen and channeling Nelson Mandela

Its rare that you hit the same WOD twice in the same month let alone twice in 2 weeks.   Last week I did Heavy Helen in a Globo gym with same friends and it came up again at Crossfit Craic today.   That's a bit of a lie as it was originally scheduled for Monday but postponed because of the morning snow.  By the afternoon the snow was gone so Coach John gave everyone the option to do Shaheen or Helen.  I opted to wait a day and also let someone else put up the score to try and beat.  

I opted to do a double today which is what I am trying to do when  I am home.   Morning was dedicated to strength training and some skill work.   Warmed up with sets of double unders and then hit backsquats.  Back Squats gave me a chance to rest my forearm and wrist which are nicked up and to do something that will hopefully benefit me across the board.  The plan was to hit 5x5 with the weight straight across.  Warm_up - Bar, 135, 185, 205, 225, 225, 225 and the hit 255.  Felt good and probably should have gone up to 275.

Move on to Dips after that and did sets of 10, 15, 15 and then 3 sets of 5 with 35lb weight and then a set of 10 body weight to close it out.

Then I had all day to think about Helen and wonder if I could improve on my time of 8:46.  Once you hit a degree of strength this WOD is all about how fast can you do those 400's.  Thats where most of the time is spent since the rep counts are relatively light.  Fireman Bill had put up an 8:13 yesterday which was totally sick.   As I warmed up and doubts started to creep into my mind and I channeled Greg Amundson and his advice from the Journal a few days ago and decided to talk myself into why I could crush this.   All those negative thoughts do really hold you back.   This reminds of a powerful speech by Nelson Mandela. 

I think that keeping this verse front and center will be very beneficial.   After a brief warm up we hit the WOD.   First Round 2:24, 1 second off Bill's pace.  Round 2 still feeling good 5:14  4 seconds down on Bill.  Round 3 really starting to wobble on the run and the pace is way off. Final time 8:21 a new PR by 25 seconds!  Lost another 4 seconds in that last round definitely on the run.  It would be good to do this head to head with Bill and Paul.  As I only finished 4 seconds ahead of Paul and 8 seconds by Bill.

Sheehan results in fish out of water

This WOD is named after a fellow Crossfit Craicer who is sadly moving back to Ireland.  Coach John programmed to of his least favorite moves to torture him one last time.  I sense a pattern emerging at Craic where Wods named after people always include the movements they dread. Clearly no sense in basking in the glory of a wod you might be good at.  The good news is that if "Anthony" ever comes up we know if wont allow for a visit to pukie the clown.



Strength
We started with a 3 rep max Thruster.  The goal was to build up to close to a max. I think I started to light and ran out of time and steam.  After a quick warm up with the bar I banged out 135, 155 pretty easily.  175 went up pretty easy although I swung the bar forward a little to much during the Thrust portion I was able to recover and lock it out.   I went to 195 and the first one went up easy.  Somehow on the second one in my attempt to keep it close I got it moving to quickly backwards and had to dump it. Next time I want at least 200.  Goal should be 225.

 

WOD
Sheehan
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Thrusters 95/65
Burpees

There was no way around it this one was going to leave me on the ground.  Clearly Mikko would not have been proud to see me thrashing around like a fish out of water when I finally finished.  I got the Thrusters straight through but need to improve cycle time on both movements.  Final Time 7:37

Sunday February 20th - Rest Day in Acadia National Park

The Hike Begins

The trek back across

The Adventurers

Lounging on the beach in winter

Acadia National Park is as beautiful in the winter as it is in the summer! Jack, Tristan and I hit the trails to explore the park in the winter.   It was clear that the trails get pretty good usage, with X-country, Snoeshow and hiking boots crisscrossing the path.   As usual Tris was leading the way,  he is a bundle of energy jumping, sliding and floating along the way.  Jack and I were more measured.   I knew Tris was really excited to get to the pond and play on the ice.  The fact that we hadnt brought ice skates was lost on them as they were thrilled to slide around and look for signs of cracking.  Little Long pond was completely frozen solid and we made the trek from one side to the other to prove it.

It was too bad that Susie couldnt come out with us but she was under doctors orders to lay low after the cortisone shot in her hip.  

Fight Gone Bad

When I first started doing Crossfit back, I used to be very happy when wod's like Fight Gone Bad showed up in the programming.   It meant a break from the Oly lifts and other goats that we were working on a lot.   I laugh when I think back about this now.   It wasnt like I was putting up any monster FGB score, and realistically couldnt without working on my over head strength and rowing.  Now I fear this WOD when its posted as it is a complete killer.  It hits your legs, shoulder and blows your heart up.

My plan was to hit this WOD at Crossfit Craic and then head up to Northeast Harbor to enjoy a bit of the winter season there.  The 9am class size was perfect -6 people.  I suggested to Coach JI to run two heats, as that would allow for someone else to count.   Although John hadnt planned to do that,  he called for a a vote and the outcome was 2 heats,   I dont know about you, but when Im in a real tough wod simply counting seems like a rocket science to a brain that isnt getting enough fuel, blood and oxygen.

I was lucky enough to go in the 2nd heat which delayed the oncoming pain and suffering.   There were some terrific first time efforts by the first responder contingent.  I dont know about you but I always feel better when these guys crush the workouts.  The high score after the first group was 292.

 I felt good in the first part of the first round but that quickly went by the wayside and it was down to just trying to keep moving,   All in all I was pleased with my efforts and finally broke 300.

Movement	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
Wall Ball	36	26	20	82
SDHP	30	20	18	68
Box Jump	23	19	17	59
Push Press	23	20	15	58
Row (Calories)	15	11	14	40
Totals	127	96	84	307

Milestone Friday

Being back at home is always most excellent. Being able to go to Crossfit with my wife is even better. I see you are hijacking your wives personal training session was how I was greeted at the door by a grinning coach Johnny Irish. It is always nice for your home box to be happy to see you. I joined Suz strength plan of 3x5 dead lifts. Just as Susie was about to start Coach J.I. called an audible and told her to hit the bar and do her first pull-up. Susie's reaction was classic, " you mean now?". It was great coaching as she didn't have time to think and ket her get her mind in the way. She walked to the bar and nailed a dead hang pull up. way to go!
After our deadlfts (185, 225, 275, 315, 345) we hit the following WOD.
5 rounds
400m run
10 thrusters (95lbs)
10 toes to bar

Nice to be able to run outside in a t-shirt. Came in just under 1:30 in the first run and out the door in just around 2:24. Next round was 2:51 and then I messed up splits until the last lap which was 3:06. final time 14:38. Bill knocked that off the board with a 13:11 at evening that is a sick time. By the way Bubba us crushing everything that CFBE is programming.

Globo heavy Helen

Still in NYC and met Jack again for a globo wod.   Dennis came in town last night so he joined us as well.  CFNE had programmed Heavy Helen so that is what we set out to do.  Now Globo gyms are not organized to do any multi movement exercises.  There treadmills are very far away from the free weight which are far away from an open area to do KB  swings etc...  This wasnt going to stop us or even slow us down.  I know a lot of crossfitter get frustrated by this as they wont be able to PR.  I say get over it,  Your getting a good workout in even though you may have to wait for 10 seconds.  For petes sake dont get soo caught up in your white board score.


For those of you who dont remember what the hell Heavy Helen here is the reminder

3 rounds
400m Run
21 KB Swings 2 pood ( i love saying that word Pood)  Man was that a 2 pood kb?  2 pood is 70lbs
12 C2B

So poor Jack was slow on the draw and was forced to swing the 88lb KB.  Man that f**cker looked heavy.  The pull up bars in a globo gym are usually way over complicated with rubber grip over 3 different handle holds that are sure to cause carpal tunnel immediately upon use. It really doesnt matter anyway because after 21 swings my forearms were rolling up like a pulldown shade.  I ended up walking over to the pullup bar with my arms curled up like my friend in the photo on the right.   

The one thing that is easier in a globo gym is running on a treadmill.  There is practically zero resistance unless you crank up the elevation and you can be sure I wasnt doing that unless bad ass Ben programmed it that way,

I had a slight lead after the first treadmill run but that gap was closed by both Dennis and Jack as they were throwing those kettle bells around like pom poms.  The gap was ever so slight through the next rounds and right to the finish.  The lead wasnt really built through effort but by those guys being slowed  by having to wait for a place to do pull-ups.   Interestingly enough we debated whether having to wait allowed you to go faster during the movement and whether it evened it self out or not.  Final time - 14:18

"OHS-athlon"

In NYC so I got the chance to train with my Needham neightbor Jack O'Connor.  Its a pretty sad commentary on the strength of business in Boston when so many of us live in Boston but work in NYC.

Jack is a powerhouse crossfitter who continues to slay his goats.  If he keep up his rate of improvement Big Brian will be breathing down his neck for a masters title.

I did a 1000m row warm up and some mobility work and just wanted to put off doing the WOD that Jack had suggested.  It was 100 OHS squats at 95lbs - everytime you put the bar down the penalty was 10 toes to bar.  I was hoping to knock of a big number each set but that didnt happen.   It really taxed my OH strength as much as my legs.  Finished in 7:42.

Travel Day

Tuesday was a forced rest day based on fact that I was up at 4am for an 8am meeting in NYC. Given we had a evening function there was no time for even 100 burpees for time.

Snatches on Valentine's Day

1000m row warmup and mobility drills

I thought we we work hang snatches first and we ended up doing a 500m row TT. Felt really strong out of the gate but realized that I was on calories not meters setting. I didn't want to slow down to change it myself so it took a few precious rows to gets someones attention. Finished in 1:32. ecet time consisting I didn't count down and I wasn't completely wrecked when I was done.
next we worked hanger power snatches focusing on form with a light weight. 1 minute drill at 65lbs did 17 reps. I'm not sure a 1minute drill makes sense when you are trying to dial in form.

WOD 21-15-9 OHS Squats at 95lbs and pull ups. This is practically Fran with what should be an easier movement. First round I ripped through and was able to hold butterfly, Next round lost the butterflies and by the third round had to pause on the bar. Did a 3:35. Need to push myself harder. Needed bubba or some other fire breathers to go head to head with.

Better Judgement

Last year on the last night of our world wide sales kick-off I wemt out hard. I remember looking at the clock in the room and it was close to 5am. This year at SKO has been different - in my room by 11 and not one sip of anything stronger than seltzer water. I was able to train everymornng and today was no different. I joined my colleagues Dennnis and Amy at Crossfit Las Vegas! I love their box as it's big and all the equipment is well spaced out.
Strength Wod
5,5,5 Press 115,135,155
4,4,4,4. Weighted pull-ups. Used a 2O kilo KB

3 rounds of 1 minute of
Row for calories
Squats
Sit-ups
Push-ups
Total reps 373

On the flight home. Next 2 days off. Meeting the family in Vermont

Running Man

Today we had Tony Robbins in to present at our Global Sales conference. As amazIng a personal development coach that Tony is, Ted Chapman one our own at Salesforce.com was the inspiration for the day. Ted was called on to discuss his successes and failures during the year and he took the opportunity to tell his story about his battle with cancer. Ted was asked by a friend to speak with someone who was also recently diagnosed with brain cancer since Ted was thought to be dealing with it so well. Ted shared that he wasn't really handling it well and wasn't sure what to tell this person. Even though he had outlived the 1 year to live statement the doctor gave him it had been really hard. After the year he decided he needed to reset his vantage point. He made shirts that said he was living with cancer nit dieing of cancer. he decided to focus on living and not how much time he had. It was amazing.

The day started at 5:30 am for a run with Dave Dempsey and Dennis Mahoney. Now Dave Demsey is an runner extraordinare and a short run for Dave is only hour. This is in contrast to Dennis and I who focus on mostly short runs. It was a great way to watch the sun come up as Dave paced us around the Strip. We ended up going for an 1hour and 5 minutes. Probably close to 8 miles.

Venetian

Day 2 in Vegas and so far it's been the monks life for me. Been in bed early and nothing but bottled water. I had planned on going to Crossfit Vegas but when I checked the WOD I realized it was probably more efficient to train in the hotel gym. I got buy in from Dennnis and we were the first ones through the door when it opened at 6am. After a quick warmup, Dennis and I hit the "Venetian"
THE VENETIAN
5 Rounds of
10 Burpees
20 Pull-ups
30 Push-Ups
40 Squats
50 Sit-Ups

Dennis and I were neck and neck the entire wod. Final Time 27:24
Back Squats
5x3. 135(5), 185(5), 225(3), 275(3)

Lucky Seven's

Skipped the distractions of Vegas after dinner and got in bed at a decent hour for the location.   The Venetian hotel has an excellent gym, complete with a monster climbing wall which Im going to guess gets as little use a snow plow in Jamaica.   Lots of aerobic equipement a big section for nautilus machines and a small area for free weights.

Lucky Seven's

7 rounds of
7 Deadlifts (45lb DBs)
7 Hang Squat Cleans (45lb DB)
7 Push Press (45lb DB)
7 Burpees

Time 18:30


2 Minute Drill

Exercise	Round 1	Round 2
Situps	90	86
Squats	106	102
Pushups	64	63

Travel Day

I flew from Boston to Vegas today for prep sessions for a meeting a worldwide meeting we are holding over the course of the week.   I was dead tired and cranky when I got on the plane.  I slept hard for half of the trip and then spent the other half cleaning out my inbox.    I knocked my message count down from 1800 to 500 by the time I landed.   Using travel days as a rest day is next to useless.   So goes it.   Someday when they have a competition category for males over 40 who have spent over 250days on the road and flown 200 miles I think I might do ok.

Well Balanced

As a crossfit athlete we strive for excellence or at least balance across the 10 recognized fitness domains (Cardio-respiratory endurance, Stamina, Strength, Flexibility, Power, Speed, Coordination, Agility, Balance, and Accuracy).   Today was all about working on the areas that are not "in-balance".

Coach Johnny Irish program for the day was for Bill and I to work Clean and Jerks, specifically working on a split jerk.  This movement has improved but I am really finding it hard to eliminate a pause I have during the dip and drive stage.   We were focused on singles and just kept adding a bit of weight,   The goal was to get to 205 but that was abandoned when my shoulder starting burning.  I had taxed it the day before shoveling snow off my roof.   Cant say I was happy with the C&J's but at least I got the work in.

After a long brainstorm we decided to do 2 minute drills for our wod.  We each picked a few movements  and would do then for 2 minutes and then rest 30 seconds before transitioning to the next,

OH Squat (45lb Bar)
70lb KBS
Pull-Ups
Double Unders
We all started at different stations and kept rotating.  Here are the results

Name	OHS	KBS	Pull-Ups	Double Unders	Totals
Bill	57	35	41	133	266
Coach John	62	31	40	135	268
Johnny D	79	45	41	25	190

 
So what started out so well ended in an epic failure.  For the life of me I couldn't string more than 1 double under in a row,   I completely panicked, got frustrated and that made it worse.  Lesson learned if you cant find a rhythm, take a deep breath and relax.

Im looking forward to taking tomorrow off.  Im a bit more sore than normal. 

Important Milestones

Today my wife Susie did her first group cross fit workout. She has been doing 1x1's as a ramp so that she can really learn the movements and skills. She was definitely a bit nervous and I was excited to share the group workout experience with her.

Coach Sara and the other athletes made her feel welcome. After a good warmup and period for everyone to figure out the weights and scaling plan it was time for the familiar 3,2,1 go.


"Powder Maker"
for time
40 overhead lunges (45/25#)
25 push ups
30 front squats (95/65#)
25 push ups
20 push presses (95/65#)
25 push ups
10 dead hang pull ups
25 push ups

I was pretty tired from stringing too many consecutive days together as well the hour I spent shoveling my roof off before class. I was hoping to grind through all of the services straight but that fell apart pretty quickly. Finished in 10:07.

Susie picked good weights and reps and was able go power thru it as well. It's nice that Susie's first class is also marks the occasion of our oldest son Jack's 11th birthday. The birthday plan is dinner, movie and sleep over. So far we are Into the second event and everyone is having fun. It's a really nice and interesting group of kids.

I hAve been not very Paleo tonight as I enjoyed a piece of cake. It was worth it as your oldest only turns 11 once.

End of the line

Pretty torched at the end of this week  and not looking forward to essentially two straight weeks on the road coming up.   It will be a huge challenge to train, eat well and get enough sleep.   I want to make it clear that business travel is not glamorous regardless of your location or hotel.  Sitting in a meeting room with no windows for hours on end is torturous. 

What will be fun is to train with all of the recent converts that I work with,  Im not sure Crossfit Vegas will be able to fit us all in.  I was thinking the other night that there could be 8 or 9 of us easy.

Skill: Split Jerk  

This was good for me to work on as I will be doing a 1 rep max on Sunday.   I cant seem to get this little pause during the dip and drive out of my system.  Coach thinks I am improving but I just dont feel like it yet.

WOD -
5-10-15-20-25
KB Swing 55/35
25-20-15-10-5
Wallball 20/15

Another no name wod.  I think all WODs should be named even it is just the date.   Coach Johnny Irish made me scale up to the 70lb KB.   I didn't think it would be that bad but my lower back is still fatigued from the dead-lifts from two days ago.   I had to break up the last swings into sets up 5.   Wall balls are just evil.  They never get easier.  Time 8:03 

Active Recovery

I dont know if you all saw the wod posted on Crossfit Endurance or not but it looked very nasty:

Thursday, 02.03.11: “Peterson’s Ghost 

Run WOD Only  Run:2 x 1 mile rest 3 min between intervals, 2 x 800 rest 2 min between intervals, 2 x 400m rest 90 sec between intervals, Rest 3-5 min,  1 mile TT rest 3 min, 2 x 800 holding 1 mile TT pace -5 sec pace per mile rest 2 min, 2 x 400m holding 1 mile TT pace -10 sec pace per mile .

Jeff Peterson: Miles… 5:01, 4:59 /800′s… 2:25, 2:24 /400′s… 63, 64,    Mile TT 4:46 /    800′s 2:23, 2:21 /

Well Jeff is a guy I met a few summers ago up in Northeast Harbor Maine while we were both on vacation.  Jeff is a fantastic triathlete who has started "Crossfitting" and adhering to the principles of Crossfit Endurance.  This is a big mindset change for most endurance athletes but he is bought in 100%.   He is quickly coming up the learning curve on the OLY lifts, KBS, etc...  He will be a force to be reckoned with.

So the next page I flip to has a feature on Lisa Mikkelsen who is one of the stars over at Crossfit New England.   Lisa is another one of these aerobic machines like Jeff who have quickly picked up Crossfit and regularly crush wods all with a smile on her face. I still think Lisa should spot me some Innov8's since I advertise the brand at every box I visit.

Not suprising is that Jeff and Lisa are as humble and friendly as they come.

My plan for today was to do something that would add my recovery and to get on the dreaded rower.  I started with the Crossfit Endurance Recovery Wod 3X15 of bench press. KBS, GHD's and pullups. 

After that was over I did 3X800 on the Rower.
Round 1 - 2:55 - (rest 3)
Round 2  2:57 (rest 3)
Round 3 3:00 ( rest 3)

That was enough for today. Back at it tomorrow.

Ice pellets

I was still feeling a bit worn out from this mornings workout but still felt I would benefit from another workout this evening. Of course I was late because of a business call that went long so I had to pay the piper with 20 burpees. 3 rounds of Cindy to warm up and then we hit the Strength portion

5x5 front Squats - the plan was to warm up and hit a weight that you could continue all the way thru the set. I still don't have a max front squat so I was really trying to figure out what I should do using the board as a guide. I settled at 175 but felt like it was a little too comfortable. Next time I should shoot for 200.

We ended with a 2 minute double under test. I have been really struggling with this movement lately and after a brief warm up went well I thought this may be the day. I had a nice run thru the 1st minute just under 100 and then had a ll sorts of trouble. Shoe came untied and then hit a rough patch. Hit 124 I would like to get this to at least 150.

Weekly Storm

The only upside to the weekly snow storm has been that one of my business trips was canceled giving me an opportunity to get another double workout in.  After getting my driveway shoveled out last night I awoke to a fresh 6 inches.   Crossfit Craic was closed so my only option was my Globo Gym.   I think if you ask most crossfitters the majority belong to a globo gym as well.

5X5 Deadlifts
225, 275, 295, 315, 335, 365 (4 reps - my grip slipped) I think that I can get that 5 times.

“Deathwish”
21 Deadlifts (225, 155)
100 Barbell Hops
18 Deadlifts
100 Barbell Hops
15 Deadlifts
100 Barbell Hops
12 Deadlifts
100 Barbell Hops
Barbell Hops are a lateral jump over the bar. 


10:32 - That was ok but nowhere near Matt Frankel's 8:01. WOW