Lots of stuff to do to get ready for the Diesel and the boys to get ready for the relo to Maine. Still found time to hit the rower. I figured after 6 hours in the car the last thing I would want to do is sit down again. Put the rower on the back patio and got after it. I was planning on rowing nice and easy for an hour but that went out the window when I started and felt pretty good. I decided to do 2x5k with a 5 minute break between rounds. It was by no means even between the two rounds.
Wasn't sure where to start as I haven't done a 1 rep max front squat since last fall. I think I can go heavier across the board.
B) 10, 9, 8, .....1 Unbroken Pullups for time
I screwed this one up and read regular pull-ups vs Chest to Bar which I was suppose to do, when I was reading it on my iphone. Not happy about the results of this. I wasnt sure whether I needed to come off the bar after every rep count either If I do it again I will shoot for 55 straight.
Time - 2:02
C) DB external rotations - 8-10 reps x 3 sets - 60s rest between arms
Todays workout is of the type that I really enjoy. You can go all
out and spend everything you have and then get a chance to recover. I
was hoping to train with a couple of kids who are getting ready for the
college soccer season. Of course they were off today. Feeling pretty
beat up even after a ART session and massage. Felt better as i started
to get warmed up.
Warm Up
400m Run
HSPU 3 rounds of 7
WOD
3 rounds
1min max effort row for cals
2min rest
1min max effort Burpees
2min rest
1 min to complete 200m sprint
rest 7mins between rounds
Not a lot of sleep again last night. Went to bed around midnight. Not good at all. Here are a few snapshots from my Lark. Clearly an area that needs improvement.
1) Build to a 1RM Back Squat - unlimited time. The challenge is that I didnt have unlimited time. I had less than an hour to get this whole workout in.
- Barbell - 25 (reps)
- 135lbs (5 reps)
- 185lbs (5 reps)
- 225lbs (5 reps)
- 275lbs (1)
- 295 (1)
- 305 (1)
- 315(1)
- 325 (1)
In order to get to the next part of the WOD I had to call it a day. Would have liked to have gone to failure versus stopping where i was still moving the bar.
rest 10mins - I had to cut this down to 5-6 minutes
2) 1 set AMRAP @85% of weight you did for 1
276lbs - 6 times. I was hoping to get to 10 but didnt have anything left.
Great to be back at the Craic house today with Susie Diesel. Open gym is great. First time training in the new space since the remodel and it looks fantastic, more space, great paint job and all the equipment organized in a professional manner.
I have put outside my doubts and jumped full into the programming that John is providing for me. If it helps me focus on my weaknesses in a scientific way then why would I have any concerns?
Warm-Up
Outside in the parking lot under a blue bird sky and temps in the low 80's. Just a perfect summer day.
400m run
3x100 Double Unders
Ended with an additional set of 29. Im still not swinging the rope consistently. Im using way too much arm and kind of throwing it versus just turning the wrist.
Worked up a good sweat and the did 15 warmups at 53lbs and 15 more at
WOD
3 rounds for time
25 KBS @70lbs
25 Burpees
Jack Daly had put up a very fast time of 8:03 which gave me an aggressive target to chase. I'm always much better at chasing a number as it validates a pace. I felt like I settled into a steady rythm in round 1. Round 2 is always more challenging, Got the 25 swings in but the burpees were a little slower. Round 3 I broke up the swings 17 and then 8. First few burpees were slow but I knew I had to punch it to match Jack's time. Final time - 7:49. This was as bad if not worse than a Fran. My heart felt like it had exploded. Watch it here:
After the WOD got a text from John to do a 1 rep max close grip bench press. So after a few minutes of recovery I started in with that, Its a good thing benching doesnt come up in competitions otherwise I would be in trouble. My bench form and strength is not so good. On several of the lifts I was too far back and banged into the holder and on the last lift I attempted and failed on I had a good bounce but then didnt lift straight up.
It was great to have Susie filming the WOD and Tris who had wandered over there to watch. Snapped a great photo of Tris doing some free climbing which is posted above.
Susie just finished her 3rd No Bread challenge and I thought it would be interesting to track her progress as she progresses into "beast mode". She and I had a conversation on how it is hard for a "fit athlete" to win one of these challenges as everyone gravitates to the transformation stories. Those stories are amazing but lets not lose sight of how awesome it is to continue the journey. Susie and lots of others put a ton of work into grinding out incremental improvements. Large or small the ability to improve your work capacity is the name of the game. Compare here numbers to the 11-26-2011 blog. She also got a 1 rep max 300lb Dead Lift as well as a 1st place finish in the Ocean City Masters Comp this month. Its been awesome to watch her progres.
Up early to train after a night of no sleep. Finally dozed off around 3am after a night of just tossing and turning. Woke up at 6:30am to the sound of rain coming down in. buckets. In fact it rained so hard the road was flooded and a a car had skidded out of control and rammed into the guardrail near Route 9.
The regular bunch was already warming up when I arrived - Warren, Kettlebell Rob, John Doole and Warren's nephew. We were all doing our own thing aside from Warren and his nephew who were planning what looked like an awful high rep met con.
Warm-Up
Mobility
3x100 Double-Unders - they are still complete crap. My technique is just so inconsistent right now. I will get on a roll and then not be able to do 2 in a row. I will stay after it.
1) Build to a 1 RM Power Clean in 8mins after a warmup
Warm-Up
5X95
5X135
5x165
1X185
Start - 205, 215, 225, 235(F), 235
Ran out of time going to 240
Rest 2 mins then
2) 8min AMRAP @90% (Used 210lbs as I didnt have smaller weights available)
1st 2mins - 6
3rd min - 2
4th min - 2
5th min -2
6th min - 2
7min - 2
8 min - 2
Total - 18
After class got to catch up with Christian R who teaching a private at the 9am. Bubba also showed up as New England had a cert going on. He is training for MMA and the Haymakers for Hope.
As much as I wanted to WOD more for my mental health than physical
health I was asked to take a rest day. This was very hard to do. The
hour in the gym is my chance to unwind and feel good about myself. I
did get a chance to see Susie do Fran at the 50 day challenge final
benchmark WOD. Here are a few photos.
Flew to Chicago on Wed and then had a 2 hour drive to a client. Thursday was spent in meetings at the client and then another 2 hour drive to airport and a flight home. Got home to find out that we had no power for the past 8 hours and the temperature was close to 88-90. This made sleeping close to impossible. Finally fell asleep at 2:30 only to be woken up by the lights coming on.
It was great to have Susie join me for a morning WOD before I head out to Chicago. I had planned to do this weeks homework and then do last weeks that I missed. Susie suggested that we do these two burners. As Susie and I started we were in complete synch in the first wod matching movement. Not so much on the second wod. Susie's double unders were so much better. I continue to struggle with my double unders. Not sure why they are in the toilet.
Warm Up = Mobility and 100 double unders.
1a. 5min AMRAP
5 Burpees
10 Air Squats
Rest 2 mins
2a. 5min AMRAP
10 Double Unders
10 Situps
rest 10 mins
The big question for me is whether i have the rounds captured properly. I paid no intention and completely depended on Susie for the count. Not fair as she was as challenged as I was to keep it straight. No matter the rounds it was a good workout. Susie is in great form
3 rounds: 21 wall balls (30lbs) , 21 toes to bar
Went with the 30lb ball and it felt good in the first round. My toes to bar are complete crap. No kip, no speed. Had to break them up right from the beginning. Not a very good wod for me. A lot of standing around between movements. Lots of broken cycles.
Certainly didnt expect any PR's either yesterday or today based on my recent training. I have been training of course but havent done a lot of strength specific work in the last three weeks. Yesterday I did a 415lb 2 rep Deadlift and today i got a 215lb Jerk no problem. Feeling good considering right before the games I couldnt even Jerk 185lbs.
Warm-Up
100 double unders
200m Run 3rds - 3 strict pullups
5 perfect Pushups
10 bends and Bows
Hamstring Stretch
Running Drills
WOD
400m run - 1:07
Max OH Carry - Jerk to position
135, 155, 185, 205 (fail), 205 make, 215* (PR)
EMOM - 10 minutes
10 KBS - 70 lbs
10 Pullups
This was way harder than it should have been. My hands are shot. Only completed 7.5 rounds
I have been focusing on my running as my cardio is complete garbage right now. I will increase my running until I get my new gym in place. I may give up some strength in the short term but to be honest im not that concerned as its a long time till any competition. As I get back into running more regularly my son Jack is starting his training for Fall X-Country. Having never run he is doing a slow ramp. Running a mile day for a week and then 2 and so on. He is doing pretty good. He went out and did a 7:17 today.
Did just under 5 miles today. Im still getting used to this new Nike watch that I bought for Jack but that I have been borrowing. I some how reset it in the middle of my run today so there are 2 segments.
Great to be home again. Susie was more than willing to get up for the 6:30am class so we could train together which is always great. Downside was that the class was big and with this workout you had to be careful not to take a KB in the noggin.
Looks like this was my last class at Craic. Sorry it had to end this way. Class schedule and omission from competitor group made it to big a challenge to meet my personal goals. Back to the where I started - globo and at home for now.
A bit tired from three days of not being able to sleep but I still woke up at 5:30am with plenty of time to get to class. Did the 1 mile run over which has proven to be a great warm up.
I have really liked the structure of the class:
Mobility
Warm-Up
Strength
WOD
Today was no different. We did a lot of great pose running drills. I still have so much work in that area to be more effective. The WOD was 5 rounds of
400m
5 Manmakers with Lunges
I chose 45lbs for my dumbells which was a terrible decision as I was absolutely crushed.
After being up for close to 30 hours I was really dragging. I went back to my room to take a 30 minute nap before dinner and I ended up sleeping through my dinner and getting a solid 3 hours. I really needed considering I had a meeting at midnight and 1am. Ended up getting back in bed around 2:30am so all in all close to 5-6 hours.
My run took a lot longer as I got lost but the good news is that they dont make you do burpee penalties for being late.
WOD:
Deadlift - 5-7 Reps 1sec up 3 sec down
Dips - 2, 2, 1, 1, 1 sec up and 1 sec down
100kg, 120kg, 140,kg, 160kg @ 5 reps
(2) 24, (2) 32, (1)40, )(1) 46kg
WOD 2
30 Sec of Wall Balls
30 Sec of Situps
1 minute rest between rounds.
17, 18
17, 18
18, 18
17, 18
I was thrilled to find a Crossfit facility close by the Grand Hyatt in Rappongi. It was a quick 1 mile run from the hotel and although hidden in a dense neighborhood i was able to find it using my iphone.
It as a little over a 1 mile run. So got some running in along with the workout.
I got there very early given it was so close so it gave me a lot of time to speak with the owner and to warm up.
We did some different jump rope work that i had never done before which was good. I had never done a jump where you go lateral versus skipping or even lunging.
Good size class - 10 people
Mobility - Shoulder 5 way
Warm- Up -
Jump rope
Pass Throughs
OHS
Lunges with OHS
Snatch Progression
WOD
ROW 150m for Watts and then rest
460 avg watts
640 avg watts
606 avg watts
543 avg watts - fell off the seat
1 mile run home
The coach was good and identified some things that I could do to clean up my snatch technique. He even took the time to video tape me which he then sent to me complete with cues. That is amazing given I was a drop in. Here is the video Snatch video feedback
Left on Sunday and arrived here in Tokyo Monday afternoon. Not much sleep on the plane and its close to 2am and I cant sleep. This is going to screw up my training again.
Flew over on the new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. Boeing states that it is the company's most fuel-efficient airliner and the world's first major airliner to use composite materials for most of its construction
I had decided to opt out a week or so ago, Susie was a little bit pissed when I told her as I had signed her up and she felt like if she didnt go she would be quitting. Its a good thing she did go as she won her age group. She is a pretty amazing athlete. She works hard, is very coachable and even better team mate. I am so happy for her to have success after putting so much focus and attention on her training.
It was not a good week at all. I enjoy my job but the grind of the global position has been brutal. There has been no down time at all and add on top of that the travel and lack of sleep has caused a steep decline in fitness and ability to train with any kind of intensity. Mix that in with some frustration and it call it very ugly. For most of the week I didnt even want to even go to the gym which is not like me at all. Decided to pass on the competition and to just try to push some of this out of my mind and see how things fall out. One simple solution that i think I have gotten Susie to buy into is constructing our own gym. If it works out we would have a small space so that 2-3 athletes could train together. This would make things a lot easier and eliminate the dependency on current gym hours. The trade off would be on interaction with the community but I think that has already taken a hit.
First opportunity to train at the Craic house in a month. I was looking forward to seeing the box with all the renovations done. Sadly everything was done aside from the floor so we were outside in the rain. It was nt pouring so it was manageable.
Warm Up
3 Rounds of
200m run
30 air squats
20 Good Mornings
10 Pass Thrus
10min AMRAP 15 Power Cleans @95lbs 30 Double Unders
Considered going to 115lbs and Im glad I didnt as there was nothing in the tank.
I would have liked to have ridden the bike when I was in Maine but realized I didnt have a pair of cycling shoes up there once I arrived. So today was the first day out. The weather held up and I was able to connect with Tom Gormley so I would have someone to pull me around the backroads of the Western Suburbs. I felt better than I expected. That said I was lacking any punch probably from a lack of food before the ride, a month plus of crappy sleep and the cumulative affect of a bunch of ass kicking wods.
Lots of stuff to do to get ready for the Diesel and the boys to get ready for the relo to Maine. Still found time to hit the rower. I figured after 6 hours in the car the last thing I would want to do is sit down again. Put the rower on the back patio and got after it. I was planning on rowing nice and easy for an hour but that went out the window when I started and felt pretty good. I decided to do 2x5k with a 5 minute break between rounds. It was by no means even between the two rounds. 
