Murph - Family Style

Murph has always been one of my favorite WODs of all time.   What is better than a body weight workout with lots of running?  The majority of crossfitters hate running any distance over 400m,  I on the other hand like it.  The longer the better.   Today was also going to be Susie's first go at a Hero wod.  It is fitting that its Murph. 

Tristan my 8 year old wanted to come along as well.  I was thrilled to have him pace me along on his bike.   I told his brother to set a timer and come over in 30 minutes to do the final mile run with me.  I had this thing all planned out!

The only debate that was going back and forth was whether or not to wear the 20lb vest.  I decided that if no one else in the gym had put it on that I could take a pass as well.  As much as I hoped to do it sans vest that was all to put the rest when Coach John told me he wore the vest.

Susie and I showed up early so we were the only ones in our flight.    The run started off great.  I felt like I was running under control and not killing myself and managed a 7:14 with the vest on.   John had told me the vest would feel like it was constricting the ability to breath and sure enough as soon as I started on the pull-ups, pushups, squats that is what happened.  My plan was to partition 10-20-30. I was able to to hold this for 3 rounds straight but then had to start breaking up the everything.  The usual round was 6-7 pullups unbroken, 10-15 pushups unbroken and then sorry ass squats.

I forgot to take a split when I started my last run but it was clearly not the same speed I did round 1 in.  In fact I started the last run on a walk and had to take one other walking break.  I think my final run was in the 10-12 minute mark.  Final Time 54:54 with the 20lb vest.  As far as I can tell this is the first time I have done Murph with the vest.  

Bald Mt Hike

I'm feeling beat down from work,a red-eye home and a miserable cold. Took Thursday off, Friday as well. Today still feeling tired after the 6 HR drive up to Maine. That all was forgotten when my son Jack asked if we could go for a hike. I swear when he asks I will go even if my leg was broken. We picked a short but decently challenging course. The weather was overcast but the views are still spectacular.

CFL Calistoga Crossfit Throwdown

It was a challenge from colleague Christina that escalated into a mini throwdown.   The first WoD was a warm up I did with Christina and Chris King while we waited for Dennis Mahoney to finish his 6am conference call.

Suzzara's WOD
21-15-9
Lunges
Sit-ups
Burpees

6:48 


WoD - Dennis showed up ready to rumble and Chris had to run.  Great head to head competition.

“Jenna’s Grinder”
4 Rounds for time:
200 Meter Run
50 Meter Farmers Walk
10 Thrusters
10 Kettlebell Swings 20 Air Squats
20 Push Ups


15:39

Calistoga CA Bonus double day

I  must have been pretty tired as I didn't wake up until almost 5:30.  Usually when I am on the west coast its 4am.    Wasn't sure what I was going to to do because I haven't seen the gym at the hotel.   When I got there it was pretty well equipped for a hotel gym.  I had planned on doing cleans and burpees.  But changed that to Grace since Crossfit Craic did that WOD yesterday.  So the only thing is that I thought Grace called for a Squat clean and jerk.  I think this is actually a power clean.

30 Squat Clean and Jerks

10:18

I finished up with 50 toes to bars and 25 dips.

Later at the end of the day I got in a run with Dennis.  We did a short 4 miler and aside from a stiff calf i felt pretty good as the run went on.  Last mile was the fastest.

CRAIC Kids & Double Trouble

With a little bit of encouragement from the wife, Read  "you better get this done" I was able to figure out a Church Schedule that allowed Jack and Tris to attend the first sessions at Crossfit Craic.   Tris woke up feeling under the weather so he had decided he didn't want to do it.  I told him that was fine but that he should wear his sneakers just in case.   As soon as we walked in the door his whole story changed - he was in.   Sara did a great job of introducing the movements and focusing on the fun element.  The standards can come later over time. 


Double Trouble:

WOD 1:

25 – 20 – 15 – 10 – 5 push ups

10 – 20 – 30 – 40 – 50 double unders

This was all about the double unders - my are rusty and still need lots of work

Time - 5:16

10 minute break

WOD 2 

Regionals WOD 3: 21-15-9 reps for time of:

Deadlift (315lb / 205lb) scaled to 285
Box jump (30”/24”) scaled to 24 didn't have 30 inch box
I was aiming for Bubba's time of 8:23 but realized after the fact that he used a 30inch box.
Time: 6:43

Team WOD: “Balls”

Generally I am very excited for team wods as they reinforce the positive aspects of the community.   Not today.  I really wanted to do a long wod and was very envious when CFNE posted a wod from the recently announced qualifiers.   To make me even more envious Coach John posted that he did it yesterday.   

Teamed up with with Dennis O'Rourke.  Dennis always a good teammate and does a nice job pushing the pace. 

Team WOD: “Balls”

Buy In: 50 medicine ball passes with your teammate, then
each teammate must complete
25 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls (95#/65#)
25 Power Cleans (95#/65#)
Cash Out: 800m medicine ball run with your teammate

 The Run was exactly as hard as I thought it would be.   I would have liked this wod to be 2 rounds,  That would have been a sufficient ass kicking.  This one left me wanting more.

Uninspired

For some reason Im more tired than usual and the weird thing is that I have been home all week.  I saw the WOD posted and it wasnt one that got me excited at all.  I was looking forward to something longer.   To make matters worse I had some odd cramp in my upper back in the middle of the night that was really making it hard to loosen up.   Two days off and I strain something while sleeping - WTF? 

That all said I just did the work and left.  

Skill: Muscle ups- Worked through progression.

____________________________

WOD
Tabata Wallballs

 10 reps a round

Hoping for more inspiration tomorrow.

Push It, Push It real good

Strength
Shoulder Press 5-5-5-5-5

I dont know why I always get confused by 5x5 and 5-5-5-5-5-5 but it happens.  Today was suppose to be increasing weight until you hit your 5 rep max.   Screwed that up out of the gate.  Body was awake, brain was still in hibernate mode I guess.  Warmed up at 95lbs which felt heavy.   Went to 145lbs and that wasnt going up. Went to 135 and hit 4 rep max.  3rd round only got 2 and then fought thru 3 more rounds at 4 reps.   Shoulder strength is exposed as a weakness.  Damn that sucks

4X5 at 135lbs

Half of Strict Cindy

WOD

10min AMRAP

5 Pullups – Strict

10 Push ups

15 Squats

9 rounds 3 reps

Working on sub 7 2k

I could do another day of deadlifts and I needed some rest so I went with just the row today.  The class did 4x250m with 1 min rest.  I have a sub 7 2k progression chart.   I decided to jump in just over the mid way mark.   The plan was to do 10 intervals of 200m all being 42 or less with a 30 second break. It ended up being harder than I expected.

Round splits -(all in seconds)

1. 39
2. 41  total time - 1:20
3. 40  1:00
4. 41.8   1:41.8
5. 41.4   2:23.2
6. 41.3   3:04.5
7. 42.4   3:46.9
8. 41.3   4:28.2
9. 41      5:09.2
10. 40.8  5:50

total meters 2205

100 Shoulder to OH

WOD: for time
100 Shoulder to Overheads (105#/75#), and
Every Minute on the Minute 4 lateral bar hops

8:33

Great first set - 25 reps

After that i was trying to hit 10 reps It tailed off significantly.  Jack did 8:14

Paul later in the day crushed it in 7 minutes.  I think someone really strong could do 3min

More of the same

WOD
20min AMRAP
5 Chest to Bar Pullups
10 Thrusters 45/25
15 KB Swings 55/35

10 rounds

Back in the Hood

WOD
Run 400
21 Box Jumps 24/20
21 Power Snatch 75/45
21 Chest to Bar Pullups
Run 400
15 Box Jumps 24/20
15 Power Snatch 75/45
15 Chest to Bar Pullup
Run 400
9 Box Jumps 24/20
9 Power Snatch 75/45
9 Chest to Bar Pullups
Run 400

17:31

Crossfit Gotham WOD

Got into NY late because of ground delay in Houston.  Nonetheless I was determined to visit Coach Mike and the gang at Gotham.   Met Dennis and made the short walk to the Church of Crossfit.

"Diane"
21-15-9
Deadlifts 225/155
HSPU

Normally i would be excited for this WOD but I had just deadlifted on Monday.

Got through the first round no worries but in the second round had to break up the handstands.


Final time - 7:23

Monday workday

Strength
Deadlift 5 x 5

135, 185, 225, 275. 315. 315, 315, 315, 315

_______________________

WOD
Tabata Swings 55/35

Scaled up to 70lbs

8reps every round.

With the kids

There is nothing better than spending time with  family.  The only thing better is doing some type of sport with them.  My son Jack had his 1 mile fitness run in gym class on Friday and he was pretty bummed out with how he did.   Susie was great, she provided him the right level of support but also told him that him that his classmates put more time in and that if wanted to do well he would as well.   When I found this all out I told him I was proud of what he did but would love to run with him if he wanted.  Jack took me up on my offer and we did a nice training run.   Considering he is 11 and sports are not his primary interest I needed to make it as fun as possible.  I took him over the Whitcomb Woods trailhead across from Wilson Mountain.  The plan was to do 1 mile run and then do a couple of intervals.  Here is how it went. Map of Run and splits

Jack worked hard and was really happy with how it went.  I will try to find time during the week for some kind of run again. 

At home I was itching to get some exercise in as I wasnt able to make it over the Craic House because of Church and Lacrosse.  I decided that going solo was not what I wanted to do so I asked Tris if he wanted to ride his bike. Of course the first answer is always no - why is he just like his Mom and Dad?  A little negotiating and he was game.    I got a good 4 miler in and having him on the bike forced me at times to go faster than what I wanted to do.   In fact the last 300m he actually got off his bike and raced me to the corner and back.  You should have seen his face beam when he beat me at the line. 

Now Tris was so inspired we actually spent and hour knocking the soccer ball around. 

Here are the results from my run.

Dumbell Complex

Dumbell Complex


5 rounds with 45lb Dumbells

7 Deadlifts
7 Hang Cleans
7 Push Press
7 Squats
After the first round I had to break up the cleans and had to put the dumbells down between the clean and press.
Time 14:26

Rested and then did 30lb for these
 20 Thrusters
20 SHPDL
20 Push Jerk
20 OHS with 18lb bar

Conservation Running

I really look forward to our twice a year executive offsites, not only because its great to do a deep drive on the company strategy and the chance to network with my colleagues from all over the world but to run on the Coastal Trail in Half Moon Bay.  Its an amazing view from up on the bluff. I start at the Ritz Half Moon Bay and usually go out 2 or 3 miles and turn around.  It never gets old.   Im usually up early because of the time change and its great to have the whole place to myself. 

4 miles

Lalanne Visit

Another trip to the West Coast and  another chance to visit my friends over at Lalanne Fitness.  As I walked into the 6am class I got a warm Hey John good to see you from coach Mike.  There was only one other athlete in the class and I was a bit surprised when he said "whats your last name?"  His reply to my answer was oh I thought so.   This guy was Karine Versace's husband a co-worker from SFDC.   Small world. 

Warm-Up
3 Rounds of
10 Hollow Rock to SuperMan
10 K2E
10 KBS


Wod 1
For time:
50 Burpees
There was a chance to win a t-shirt if you broke 1:55.  I was no where close
Time - 2:21

Wod 2
5 Reps of 100m Prowler Push @90lbs
The idea was to push the high side and then the low side on the way back.  2nd round I couldnt get the thing to move on the way back.   This was really hard.   Much harder than I expected.   I rotated sides until the last round.   I just didnt have the gas. 

Benchmark and back Squats

Small 7am class today at the Craic House - it was just me.   Great to get some individual coaching and clearly no where to hide.

Max Pullups - 42.  This is my lowest total in awhile.  It was an issue of grip versus arm or shoulder fatigue.  I clearly didnt want to land on my head which is what happened last time.

5x5 Back Squats

Warm up - 135, 185, 225

I was able to do 275lbs.  Happy with the effort.

Final Standings

Day 1 of No Bread Challenge

I like the way Coach Johnny Irish has set up the No bread challenge.  Simple rules that will allow you to create a sustainable life change and not end up in some complete binge.

With any challenge there needs to be a baseline, John has selected 2k Row, Max Pullups and Craic Test 1.

Craic Test 1
2 minutes for max reps on each exercise. 1 min rest between each exercise. Everything must be done in order. Score is max reps
1- Burpees = 45
2- Double Unders - 137
3- Kettlebell Swings 55/35 - 60
4- Box Jumps 24″/20″ - 39
5-Wallball 20/15 - 36

Total Reps -317


I think I need to do some wall ball and box jump Tabata workouts.

Throwdown Wod

Its been about 6 months since the Craic house opened and I couldn't be happier about the gym and community that Coach Johnny Irish has created.    I can remember the first time driving by and seeing the sign in the window saying Crossfit opening soon.  I was both elated and pissed.  Pissed because - I had spied that location and said I should open a box up there.  Now someone has already done it.  Elated because it was so close to my house I knew I should be able to train more.  Its been nothing short of fantastic.  We have a growing group of stellar athletes all ready to come in and put their work in.

Now that the Open Competition is done I can concentrate on the Throwdown competition.   This happens once and month and is not nearly as stressful. Im doing and posting my scores but not bothering with all the  video bullshit.  I don't expect to win and if I do they can keep the prizes I don't want to take the fun out of working out by dealing with a bunch of technical logistics.  

Today was a huge day in the "D" household with "First Communion", a drum recital and then a lacrosse game.  In the middle was the logistics of maneuvering around the James Joyce Ramble which I missed for the first time in quite a few years.   The schedule didn't allow me to join the regular Craic schedule. So I was planning on doing something at the globo gym or taking a rest day.   Then I got a note that John was electing not to make the solo drive to CT and we could hit a wod.

As you all know Susie is a converted crossfitter which as the biggest zealots.  She wanted in and John said she was welcome.  So we had 3 going after

Event #3: WOD Rxd

FOR TIME:

5 ROUNDS:
11 Up and Over 24" Box Jumps;
10 Barbell Jerks (155#/105#);
11 Up and Over 24" Box Jumps;
15 Kettlebell Swings (70#/44#);

total time - 20:45

Splits

1. 2:46  2. 4:11 3. 4:23 4. 4:48 5.  4:37

Struggled with the jerks!