Every Second Counts

I was dreading doing Open WOD #1 again.  This WOD got in my head and really beat me down after such a poor initial showing.   Lesson learned dont get off a red eye and do a competition level wod.  That was just stupid and naive to think that I would have done well.  

I dreamed about this damn wod and felt that 6 rounds was well within reach.   Today was the day to hit it again.   I decided not to warm up with double unders as my first sets are usually my bests.    Well I was really cruising through 3 rounds just over 4 minutes.  My pace slowed down but i felt confident in nailing 6 rounds.   I blew this thing in the 4th round. I rested to much and missed 6 rounds by 1 rep.  I also should have aimed much higher.  Once I felt like I had 6 rounds in the bad I put it in cruise control.  Damn that pisses me off.  No one to blame but myself. 

Even thought that was a good workout I thought I would benefit from another WOD and decided to join Glenn for the first part of EVA but only the running part.   

Decided to do running and GHD's.   The first 800 my legs felt good but I was feeling pretty smoked from the WOD.  Glen pushed the pace the last 200m and put a good 5-10seconds on me.  We both were well under 3:30. 

Saturday 26th - Travel Day

Decided not to go to Globo gym and do  workout as I am still sore from prowler push and back squat/deadlift.  

Back on schedule

I got up early to train at Crossfit Affliction this morning.  It's about a 40 minute drive from Hillsboro but well worth it to do some heavier lifting.  As always a friendly group, the class was taught by Heidi Bowser wife of owner Steve Bowser. 

Warm Up

Mobility and Line Drills

Strength and Conditioning Workout

Back Squats 10 Sets of 3 Reps (Speed Sets)
Immediately
Dead Lifts 5 Sets of 2 Reps (Speed Sets)
Rest 5 Mins
Heavy Prowler High Bar Push 4 x 50 Meters 180M/90W (2 – 3 min rest between)

I did the Back Squats at 225 and the dead lifts at 275. I think I could have and should have gone heavier but we were partnered up so not really a chance to go heavier.   These went fine. The first 25meters of the prowler push went well and the I was crushed,  it ended up taking 10:40 which includes recovery time. 

The afternoon was the highlight as I got to coach Jack thru a workout.  He is really trying hard and learning fast.  

Sometimes logic doesn't make sense

For the past few weeks I have been 100% Paleo which isn't the easiest thing to do when traveling.   As I tied I have been tired even after getting 8 hrs of sleep.  Well I decided to have a few cheat days and it's seems to have helped my energy level.  Wouldn't think that adding desert, a Ginger beer and a roll or two would be beneficial but my energy level is telling me something different.  In fact this afternoon I felt so good I decided to even get a second workout in.

Now I'm getting ahead of myself.  Let's cover the morning workout first.  Susie took a rest day so I was working out solo which was a bummer.   I did an extra long double under and stretch warmup.  I estimate I did between 150-200 double-unders.  I did a workout that was posted on Crossfit Cynergy a few days ago.  

3 Rounds…

300M Row

9 Handstand Push Ups

This one got slowed down when the aerobics room where the rower is got overrun by the Childrens program and I had to do the HSPU's in a different room. 

Tme 7:27

***rest 3 minutes***

3 Rounds…

15 KB Swings (1.5/1) subbed a 50lb dumbbell 

7 Ring Dips

This one was harder than expected. 

Time 3:42

***rest 3 minutes***

3 Rounds…

10 Burpees

5 Weighted Pull Ups 35 lbs

Slowed down putting on the strap with weight on it.  Also a pain to do on an assisted pull up machine as the thing has a weird bar. 

Time 6:49

Finished the WOD by doing more double-unders.  3 sets of 30 and then 10,20,30,50

Later in afternoon I did a interval run.  

First quarter mile 7:26 pace  got delayed by drawbridge

1 mile - 7:01 pace

1/4 mile moderate pace 7:30

1/2 mile easy 7:58

Stretch - recover at pier

1 mile hard 6:44

Recover

1/2 mile hard 6:28

Recover

1/2 mile 6:39

Have a long way to go but running these longer intervals will help me.

Old not Tired

I just figured out that I'm not dragging because I'm old, I'm dragging because I'm tired. Now that I figured that out I'm at peace with my lack of constant energy. So I mentioned this yesterday but I have to say it again it's great to train with my wife. She has been open to whatever I hve programmer and hit the wods with gusto. It's amazing how good she has got in only a few months. All you people who believe you have to get fit before starting Crossfit are uninformed.

Today we did dead lifts as out strength work and had to improvise. Susie had to use a bicep curl bar and I had to build a small platform out of aerobic steps to use the smith machine. Neither were ideal but you make do. We both did a 5x5 Susie hit 140lbs and I maxed out the weight at 205 not including the bar.

WOD
100m run before each round of 10,9,8,7.... Of dumbbell swings. Susie used 35lbs and I used 50lbs which was the heaviest they had.

Good effort although I was teasing Susie as she was flying in her last sprint. Her time was 8:49 somehow I lapped her and lost track of a round. I think I did round 4 twice.

We then did a 500m row and Susie crushed it 1:52:9 just over her PR when was only giving 80. I did a 1:35.

We ended the WOD with tabata sit-ups. I managed 11 a round.

Make- up St Paddy's Day WOD

The nice part of vacation is that I can train with Susie without having to juggle work an drop off. We decided to do the Craic House St. Paddy Day WOD without the final movement of chugging a beer. The staff at the Hillsboro Club (St (http://www.hillsboroclub.org) was super supportive of us taking equipment outside to do our workout which was great. The only bad thing Was that the didn't have a 20lb med ball so I had to do Thrusters. They had a bicep curl bar which I ad to use for the Thruster.

We did a 500m row for warm-up which Susie smoked - it was easy effort and she was only 3 seconds off her best time. Mine practically killed me and I was 10 seconds off. Even after watching a rowing video my technique still needs lots of help.

400m Run
21 wall balls subbed 100lb Thruster
21 Burpees
400m run
15 wall balls
15 burpees
400m run
9 wall balls
9 burpees

So any lead I had in the run evaporated when I was doing Thusters against Susie. She ended up beating menu 3 seconds. 14:01 to 14:03

I was spent and Susie has been recovering very quickly.

Vacation WOD

Surprisingly my wife was up and ready to go and I was still dragging. Whenever we go on vacation I suddenly seem to tired and have hard time getting put of bed. Vacation must be my kryptonite.

JT
21-15-9
HSPU
Dips
Pushups

I had to substitute regular rings as the gym only had a dip station. I felt great in the first set and got 15 HSPU's which is my max consecutive. Problem is that it smoked me. I struggled thru the next rounds doing 2 or 3 at a time. Total time 16:02

After a short break I was planning on doing 3x500m row. Decent first round with damper at 4.5 1:32.9. Second round after a 3 min break I couldn't break 1:50 so aborted the campaign.

I will keep practicing the rowing. I wonder if I should shorten the intervals?

The Real Deal Crossfit Open Games WOD #1

My plan landed this morning around 6:30am and I reckon I got about 4 hours of sleep.   Not bad but certainly not good considering this was the day I had to get a score for WOD1.   I walked into the gym just as the noon class was ending.  Susie and the entire class was flying high after hitting a good wod.   John and Bill were both there with 6 rounds plus 30 reps under their belt.   The doubt crept in right away - "this isnt going to be your day" your double unders are sketchy lately, the jerk isnt your movement,   I pushed those aside and focused on doing what I could do.    John gave me some game planning and I hit it.  Great first round 1:09 if I could stay under 2 I was in great shape.   That plan went to hell when i was doing double unders 5-7 at a time.  I managed 5 rounds and got the sympathy encouragement all around but felt hollow.   I was just not cutting it.   I would have been satisfied with 6.  5 has left me down.

Red Eye

So I decided to rest up a bit as I have been dragging for sure.   Also recognizing that that I have the red eye home tonight.    Certainly not a great run up to the wod.

Crossfit Open Games WOD #1

After a complete technology cluster last night the HQ Crossfit finally posted the WOD for this week.  It was amusing to read all the rants and counter rants on the main site and in other blogs.   It was interesting that they only posted that they were having trouble in the comment section and not clearly on the main site and on the games site once they had it back up.    In fact the simple thing would have been to add the WOD to the regular site with either the PDF description or just that more detail would follow.  Sometimes a little communication goes along way.  I know my clients would prefer to have you tell them that you have no update then to sit and wonder.  The mind does tend to race. 

Im in California at a hotel - (yeh no surprise there) so I wont be able to do the WOD as designed.  Very few hotels have a barbell and free weights.  Machines are for the masses is the typical thought process at these places.   I did bring my rope as I had a feeling they would program double unders.

So after a call to Johnny Irish to discuss scaling and scheduling of my real attempt and my regular morning check in with wife I went down to the 24 hr fitness center to go after it.

Open WOD 1
AMRAP 10 of:
30 Double Unders
15 Power Snatches (75, 55)

As I mentioned I had no barbell so I subbed 40lb dumbell snatches.

This was about what I expected.   I was right around 2 minutes for the first round and slowed down from there.  The dumbell snatches were definitely taxing.  Probably need to do more of that.

3 Rounds 30 doubles unders and 2 snatches for 167 reps

Day of Waiting and Overhead

I would have really liked to have been able to do the first WOD of the games but the arent going to be posted till this evening.   This week wont be ideal in terms of the run up until I can do the work-out.  My option is to hope that it is a body weight wod and have someone time and judge it at Halfmoon Bay hotel or to wait until Friday after I return home on the red-eye.  

Skill: Handstands Push Ups - Worked on the HSPU with the new head position as the top of the pyramid. Much easier than going straight up and down. Did 5 sets of 5

__________________________________

WOD
Shoulder Press 5-5-5-5-5

I'm finally making some progress in this area.

Round 1 - 115

Round 2 - 125

Round 3 - 135 

Round 4 - 125

Round 5 - 125

1 rep max - 155 2 times.

Rest Day - Stratton Mt Ski Day

Another active rest day -  We spent the day on Monday with Susie's parents skiing Stratton.   We had organized an instructor so that we could bust the busy weekend lines but when our original plan got canceled we couldnt cancel.  Having never had a formal lesson it was good to get a shared coach.  I just dont have the same hunger to learn as I have with the sports I truly love.

Game Day 5

My globo gym is my back-up gym when I am pressed for time and the schedule doesnt allow me to hit the Craic House.   Today was one of those days.  Between Church, CCD and a departure for Vermont I had to hit this early.   Did I mention as well that I lost an hour with the time change as well last night?   Damn this agricultural antiquity.  The good news is that game day 5 can be done in the globo gym - C2 Rower and a bar is all that was necessary.  I knew as well it would be quick as the times were in the sub 5 to 6 minute timeframe.    I also knew that the rowers were not very near the weights in my gym so i would lose some time - no sweat though.

“Game Day 5″
3 Rounds for time of:
10 Thrusters (115, 80)
300 meter Row
You must hold onto the rower handle till all 300 meters have clicked off.  No “Ghost Riding” the last few meters in.

6:21 - Would like to do this one again soon

Finding a Way

Kelly
5 rounds
Run 400m
30 Box Jumps 24
30 Wallballs 20

I did this at the Craic house back when it first opened in November.  I used to think I liked this WOD but not so much anymore.   Jeff Peterson a crossfit newbie did a sub 20 min Kelly.  Now that is fast! I need to work on the box jumps I just dont have a good cycle time and get tired way to quickly.  I think I will do 3x10 rebounds daily for awhile and see if that helps.   My wall balls were not good today either.  I think that was partly because we were outside and hit the wall vs the ceiling.  VZ Paul took 5 minutes off his time today!   Final Time - 26:46

lap 1 - 4:22
lap 2 - 5:20
lap 3 - 6:13
lap 4 - 5:47
lap 5 - 5:02

That 3 round killed me - that is more mental than physical and I need to target my 3rd round next time to be 5:30. This photo wasnt from today but it might as well have been!

Jackie

First time doing Jackie.
Jackie
Row 1000m
50 Thrusters @45lbs
30 Pullups

I have been absolutely worn down by work.  The volume of stuff I am trying to finish grows by the minute and once I finish one thing it is replaced by 10 more.   So when I got in the gym early this morning I was feeling pretty beat down before I even started.  This was going to a be a pure gut check.   No beast mode available, it was can I just finish.   I dont mind rowing but Im just not that good.  I seem to lose all power at the midpoint of any distance.   Today was no different.  My strategy was to start a little slower and see if I can maintain till the end.  As per usual the wheels came off at the halfway point.   finished the row in 3:38.   Hit 40 straight reps and then put it down in what I call a sympathy move. Once I heard another bar touch down in the class I some how had permission to stop as well.  Bad move!   Not sure of my thruster split.   Pull-ups I hit 20 straight , stopped and hit 10.  Spent the next 10 minutes trying not to expire in the parking lot.  Time 7:19

Definitely not looking forward to 5 rounds of 30 box jumps tomorrow,

Hotel Wod

All I had time for today was a down and dirty hotel wod.   5 rounds of 20 pushups, squats and situps.  I didnt even bother timing myself.  Just got the work in and got ready for a busy day.   On the mental side I have been a bit frustrated, tired and even a bit pissed off.   I decided today that no one is making me feel that way, I am deciding to feel that way.  Since I can control how I feel I am trying to jettison those feelings when they creep in.   Those emotions and feelings are un-productive and bring negative energy. 

March 16 2011

Rest Day - Flew from Boston to Tyson Corners VA for a dinner and meeting on Thursday

Rowing against the Tide

I have been trying to do Crossfit Endurance workouts on my "rest days".  I have this goal to break 1:30 in the 500m row and I cant seem to make any progress towards.   On the other hand my wife as part of her warm-up 500m row absolutely nails it and lands in 3rd on the leader board.   I hate to say that some people are natural rowers, i prefer to say that there body types probably lend to them being more efficient.   She is long and tall for a woman and i am short and stocky and i will leave it at that.

Varied Movement

A cornerstone of crossfit is varied movement.   Although I think crossfit programming is excellent I think there is one gap.   The gap is around lateral movement,  I don't think we do enough for athletes that play soccer, lax, basketball and tennis.   So I modified today's Crossfit Craic to include lateral movement and activities like Barbell lateral jumps or lateral box jumps.

 I was surprised on how hard this was on my lower back.  Between the cleans, GHDs and Back Extensions it even slowed down my shuffles.  

Suckfest

Game Day 4 was my plan for today.   I hadnt worried about this workout like I did about "Bull" but this one kicked my ass.   I dont think I have even spent more time on my hands and knees during a wod ever.  Glen even remarked after the carnage that he had never seen me struggle like that before.  The cyborg model Derek and Matt had times around 16 minutes and the monsters were in the 19-20 minute range.  Well I had thought that if I could average 5 minutes a round (3 min for Snatches, 1 min for Pullups and burpees) I would be killing it.  After the first round which was just under 5 I realized that I would be lucky to average 6 minutes a round.  The snatches just were taking way too much out of me.  It was taxing my core (yesterdays Death by Deadlift) left me in less than optimal shape.  My grip was shot which was forcing me to break up my pull-ups and by the time I got to burpees i was a complete shell of a human being.   I even had a brief internal conversation as to whether I should pull the plug.  I quickly snuffed out that suggestion by my right brain and told it were were finishing this thing no matter how long it took.   In the end this is what it looked like:

No disappointment with the time of 24:21.  Gave it my best.  I am a little worried that my weight is up to 177lbs.   I put on 5lbs in 4 days , my diet sucked last week and now I have to fix that as well.

Back at It

Finally felt well enough to get back at it.   Thought that Crossfit Craic's Friday Wod was the perfect workout for re-entry.   Spent about 20 minutes warming up with double unders.   What is odd is that my first set is usually my best set in terms of doing them consecutive without a miss and then im stuck in the 20-30's.  I have been working on pulling my elbows in but my arms are still fatiguing to quickly.  Did some one legged double unders as well as some backward jumping to mix it up.

Did 50 consecutive swings with a 50 Kettlebell,  It was the biggest they had, Im not sure that I could swing the 70lber 50 times in a row but I will soon give it a try.  I was hoping my forearm would be completely better but I quickly learned after this that it isnt. 

WOD
Death by Deadlift 225/155
-With a continuously running clock do one Deadlift the first minute, two the second minute, three the third minute ….. continuing as long as you are able.

Susie did this on Friday and set a ridiculous mark to try and hit - 18 rounds.   I was hoping to get to 15 but wasnt sure how I would feel after being sick.  The first rounds are always way to easy but it got hard way to fast.  I only got 13 rounds.   Round 14 was a complete metldown as I only got 7 reps.

Good re-entry point, 

They have finally posted the results from the first event of the Throwdown Series. As a reminder the first wod was this:

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)

I'm sitting in 54th place out of 150 competitors.   I was 42nd after part 1 and then my part 2 was 70th on the list.  Even if my 215 counted I would only have moved up 6 spots. Some of these dudes threw up some really big weights.   Bill is in 72nd place and better yet our affiliate is in 43rd place

A little Unsettling

I was in NYC Monday thru  Thursday of last week.  I had my leadership team together to do a Q1 kick-off to make sure we were all aligned on the objectives and goals for the Quarter and beyond.  It was pretty late when I arrived on Monday at the new W hotel next to WTC site.    My room looked out on the construction and the nearly complete memorial.  Of course that view brought on an on-rush of thoughts and emotions.   My directs are from all over the country and for many it was their first time back in lower Manhattan since 9/11.   To a person they were all unsettled by being at that spot.  
We had a long couple of days as we had so many topics to cram into 2 days.  I thought it was well worth the time and effort.  The only downside is that I came down with a nasty sinus and chest cold which robbed me of my voice and caused me to miss 4 days of training.  4 days off in a row.  A pretty big setback.  I think I could have done low intensity strength training but decided that would only prolong the thing,