Working around an injury

I have been a bit careless at the beginning of the week and not try to protect my injured wrist.  I probably should have avoided the cleans and the presses as they both were high volume affairs and probably were counterproductive to the healing process. 

Im in SF and I had planned on trying to get to Lalanne Fitness but couldn't finish work early enough.  When I checked the programming it looked really good - muscle ups and HSPU's.  As much as I wanted to do it I knew I shouldn't.     Was originally going to do a row wod but then looked at the programming for next week and have a bunch of rowing only workouts already planned.  Hit the YMCA in SF and did this wod.  It was a classic old school bodyweight metcon workout.

5 Rounds
500m Row
30 Pushups
50 Squats

Total Time - 24 :47


 

Rest Day

Travel day forcing a rest day

River North Crossfit Day 2

Trudged through the snow and slush to get over to River North for the 7pm class.  I opted to get smart and not try and do the 8pm class last night and turn around and hit the 6am class.  In the past I would have definitely done this but I have come to realize that I am better off resting so that I can come back better rested.

Warm-Up

3 minute Double Under
Line drill movements
Lax Ball movement

Max Strict C2B - 8 reps & 6 Reps

My wrist was feeling a little bit better. I have realized that my wrist feels better if I can get the ligaments warm.

Open WOD 12.3

18 AMRAP
15 Box Jump (24/20)
12 Push Press (115/75)
9 Toes to Bar -


My game plan was to settle into a pace that I just keep moving on.   Box jumps I did jump ups and steps down.  I was really happy with the push press as I did unbroken for the first 6 rounds and then broke up round 7 as 8 & 4.   Toes to bar were all good.


7 rounds plus 15+12 for a total of 279 reps.  Not any better than last year when I did 288.  The key difference is that I did the 279 on a random Tuesday night in Chicago.  I know that in a comp like setting i can pick up a few reps. I also didnt wreck myself to get to 279.   Even thought I didnt match last years total I feel good about how I did.

 The key for me in this years open is to go head to head with some guys that will set a pace I need to chase.  I really shouldnt be doing them in an empty gym with just a judge.

Open WOD 12.3
18 AMRAP

• 15 Box Jump (24/20)
• 12 Push Press (115/75)
• 9 Toes to Bar

- See more at: http://www.rivernorthcrossfit.com/#sthash.vqtqpmma.dpuf

pen WOD 12.3
18 AMRAP

• 15 Box Jump (24/20)
• 12 Push Press (115/75)
• 9 Toes to Bar

- See more at: http://www.rivernorthcrossfit.com/#sthash.vqtqpmma.dpuf

Limits are Self Imposed

I have been getting a lot of good natured ribbing about purposefully low-balling how I would do in each of the different wods at the competition over the weekend.    I certainly deserve the ribbing and I dont blame them because what I told people what i was aiming for and what I did were dramatically different.   I have been thinking alot about why that was.  Why was I able to perform significantly better in the competition than I did in practice?  What was different?   The adrenalin of the competition is something that if harnessed properly makes a huge difference.  In Norcal I let the adrenalin take over and went out of the gate on two events way too fast and I paid for it in spades.  In the Helen like wod I was sucking wind and got slower and slower.  In the Chipper I completely blew up and had to dig super deep just to not stop.  Both of those really put a hurting on me where as this weekend I started out at a pace that put me behind but allowed me to finish faster and stronger.  In fact when I finished I wasnt even lying on the ground completely wrecked.   The ladder wod was similar as well.   Just staying within myself and using the first bunch of lifts to get loose and try to remain smooth.  What I did learn was that when I met my goal I took the foot off the accelerator.  I had surpassed the weight I thought I could possibly do so I lost the edge necessary.  Tells me that my model is capable of more if I get my brain focused.   A very important lesson.

River North Crossfit

The wrist is feeling a little better but there was no way I was going to push it.  I brought my wraps and decided that i would do the WOD at a pace that didnt put any additional strain on it. 

Warm Up
500m row
Line Mobility
40 pushups

Squat Clean drills

I was just going to go through the motions and focus on just using the day as an active recovery.   Well one of the coaches was in my grill from minute 1 on the Squat cleans.  Didnt like my hand set up, my elbow position and kept telling me I would lean forward on the pulls.  I was hoping to just be invisible but that wasnt happening.   I dont want to come across like I dont want to be coached but in this scenario with having just done a comp and then traveled I just wanted to get a sweat in.

They had two wods to chose from and I was totally bummed my wrist is all banged up otherwise I would have chosen WOD B.

WOD A: 10 Rounds
3 Power Cleans (135/95)
6 Wall Balls (20/14)
9 Burpees

WOD B: ”TRANSFORMERS” 10 ROUNDS
1 Squat Clean (225/155)
3 Muscle Up
5 Handstand Push Up
Total time was 14:40.   Just tried to protect my wrist and keep good form.

Rest Day

Way to busy of a day to really be a true rest day.   Additionally my left wrist is causing me some serious pain.   I can barely pick anything up.   Not sure when it happened as it wasnt anything I noticed during the event.  

Northeast Masters Throwdown @Shoreline Crossfit

Last competition before the opens down at Shoreline Crossfit.  I opted not to go down the night before so I could avoid 1 more night in a hotel.   It meant a 5:30am alarm on a Saturday morning which seems a bit crazy but I was looking forward to seeing a bunch of the other Masters down there - Elaine Polito, Kettlebell Rob, Richard Johnson, Kevin Unger & Ray Garcia.  Its always fun to hang out with such positive, fun and supportive people.

It was my first time at Shoreline so chalk one more box up to add to my list.  My list seems a bit small after meeting Greg Lukas aka Luke Lukas who has visited more than 100 boxes and is writing a book about it. 

During the Athletes briefing they announced that there were over 200 athletes making this the biggest Master's competition in the world as Norcal had about 160.    The big difference was the feel. It had that early day feel were things were just a little more relaxed and less scheduled.   Here is Dave Plumey explaining the wods.

The first wod was a ground to overhead ladder and then when you fail you have a 30 second max row for calories.   I had done this in training last week and the only difference was that I had to change the weights which made that minute go by very quickly.   The result was that I had very low expectations for the G2OH.  I was confident on the row as it had originally been programmed for 1 minute and i was able to do 33 calories. My goal was 225lbs.    After a long wait time I went to check what age group was up as they hadn't posted heats and Paul Wirtz one of the organizers and he said your age group is going now.  Don't worry get warmed up and join the line when your ready.  I went and got Dennis Cheatham who i had met earlier who was up from Tennessee for the event and Kevin Unger and we got in line. Those guys had huge numbers they were aiming for but I knew I could only do what I could do.    I felt good as I started and hit the 115-135-155-175-195.  At this point I started to look at all the bars and think wow I hope I dont get tired and hit the failure point too early.  Got -205-215-225 and it all felt good. Bang 235 which is a PR for C&J.   Then I nailed 245lbs  at this point I had exceeded my expectations.   Kevin Unger's wife captured it here:

I got to the 255lbs station and got the clean pretty easily and then Jerked it and missed.   Take a look at the video you will see the bar was plenty high enough just didnt do a thing to get under it quickly.

 

Jumped on the rower and banged out 21 calories.  This was key as Dennis had matched me on the clean and jerks and I would be ahead on the the tie breaker.

We had a very long wait as the next wod could only accommodate 8 athletes in a heat.  So I cooled my heels from 11 till close to 4pm.  5 hrs between wods is both a mental challenge as well as physical challenge to stay loose, hydrated and feed.   The next wod was going to be a big suckfest.  I had done it earlier in the week in 7:09 and I felt like it would take a 6:30 to win.   That was blown out of the water by a woman who scored a 5:30.   The set us in heats based on the prior finish so it was nice to know the time to beat.   A dude in the heat before mine had the strongest burpees I have ever seen.  His second set was as clean and fast as first and he scored a 5:59!   So the wod was 
AFAHP or 8 Min Time Cap:
400 Meter Run
25 KB Swings (53lbs)
25 Burpees to Target (2012 Open Standards)
25 KB Swings (53lbs)
25 Burpees to Target (Rings set 6" inches above reach)

My plan was to be steady but not crazy in the run and just try to maintain a smooth pace.   Kevin Unger took off like a shot on the run and put serious distance between himself and the field.  Dennis passed me at the turnaround but I didnt panic and stuck with my plan and was right with him when we came in the door.   Kevin had 8 swings in before I even picked up the bell.  I was across from Dennis and he and I were keeping pace.  First round in the bad feeling good and closing ground on Kevin.  2nd round swings no problem.  Burpees moving through.  At one point I had no idea what number I was on and started to think a bit until I heard my judge say 13. It was go time and I put the hammer down to finish in 6:22.   Felt good far from that roll around on the floor pain that can come when you put a huge effort in.    My score was 2nd best and kept me in first.

The next wod was run in heats of 20 so the wait time wasnt going to be nearly as bad but now I was really thinking - can I pull this off?   I had done wod 2 &3 back to back and I was sucking wind on the wod from the first set during practice.

I was getting worried as it was going to be close to 7pm by the time I hit the last wod and I was really worried about hitting the wall like I did at Norcal on the Helen like wod.   It was the worst feeling of digging down and having nothing to give.   I made sure to eat some grilled chicken and stay as loose as possible.  I was mentally ready to bury myself but also knew that I needed to go at my pace.  I clearly learned that from the chipper at Norcal as well that racing out of the gate doesn't work for  me.

Last WOD of the day.

10 min amrap of:
3-6-9-12-15-infinity...
Hang Squat Cleans
HR Push Ups (2011 Open Standards)
Box Jumps (Step Ups/Downs Allowed)

Lined up next to Dennis,  Richard was a row behind me and Unger was way down in the corner so no way to keep track of how he was doing.  3.2.1 go and we were after it.   Nice steady pace but I could see that Dennis was ahead of me.  This remained the case thru the round of 3,6,9,and 12.  When I started the round of 15 hang squat clean my judge said to me "you are not putting that bar down until you finish 15".   I really respond well to judges who coach and I said to myself ok!  That took a lot out of me so I paused before my pushups and he was on me "we dont have time to rest, get those pushups done".   As I finished the round of 15 I  looked up and saw I had close to 2 minutes still on the clock.   I was closing the gap on Dennis when I started the round of 18.  The Judge said "ok you can do 9 and 9 go!"   I was happy that I knew I was going to crush my practice score.   I got through the cleans and did the pushups unbroken and knew that if I hurried I might be able to get through the box jumps.   I even started to rebound through the first part and before I knew it they called time.  I fell 3 short of completing the round of 18.  I had managed to pull ahead of Dennis in the last round and finished the wod first with 186 reps. 

It was a great final and I was really happy with my pacing and energy level.   On a comparative basis I looked like a corpse at Norcal and was really hurting on all of the metcon there but felt much better this time around.    

Final Top 10

Great first time event.  Thanks to Dave, Paul and all of the judges and volunteers.

Rest Day

Took a rest day before the Master Comp in Connecticut.    Well more like an active rest day in that it was the parent vs the Brimmer 6th and 7th grade basketball team.  It was fun to run around and play with the kids.   Manage to score a few points but to say my game wasnt a bit rusty is an understatement. Lots of fun but the only downside is a jammed ring finger which is swollen and black and blue.  Im hoping it wont hold me back in tomorrow's comp.

Walk through pace

Instead of taking two days rest before the Comp on Saturday we elected to do some work but just not go all out.   Its a good thing because I dont know if I could have gone any harder.   Just didnt feel like I have any strength or endurance today.   Hoping I bounce back before the weekend or it is going to be very ugly.  

row 3k @easy pace 
+
10min AMRAP
2 MU's
4 HSPU
8 KBS@70

Slow and steady and picked it up for last 2 rounds to get 6 rounds.  All movements unbroken.

Rest Day and Results

Just got the results back from Inside Tracker which is a new web-based service that automatically-generates a set of nutrition and lifestyle recommendations based on a panel of blood biomarkers and the person’s goals, circumstances and preferences. I train hard and eat right but felt that I needed some more data to see where I may need further improvement.

Two big discoveries. 1. Vitamin D deficiency - correlates with greater incidence of depression and irritability. Muscle weakness, slower reaction times, and impaired coordination may also occur. 2. Low level of Magnesium - Adequate magnesium improves muscle strength and increases the time to muscle fatigue during short, intense bursts of exercise. People are likely to sleep better and feel happier when they have enough magnesium.

Will get on some supplements and retest in a few months to see where I am. 

Comp Simulation

Today was the day to test on the 2 other wods in Saturday's competition.  The WODs are as follows:

WOD #2:
AFAHP or 8 Min Time Cap:
400 Meter Run
25 KB Swings @53lbs
25 Burpees to Target (2012 Open Standards)
25 KB Swings @53lbs
25 Burpees to Target (Rings set 6" inches above reach)

Came in from the run at 1:38 which I was happy about as it was not all out.   Got thru the swings unbroken and then moved through Burpees.  Clock was at 4 something.  Got through the next round of swings unbroken and the burpees now were a crawl until i got about 15 in,   Total time 7:09  This needs to be at least 6:30 or less to be competitive in my opinion.

WOD #3:
10 min amrap of:
3-6-9-12-15-infinity...
Hang Squat Cleans @115lbs
HR Push Ups (2011 Open Standards)
Box Jumps (Step Ups/Downs Allowed)

20 minute break and then got after this one.  Definitely feeling the other wod.   

Got past the round of 15 plus 4 reps
Total reps = 103 reps

Snatch Work & 12.2

PS - build to a 1 RM in 8min after warm up
+
Snatch WOD from 2012
30/30/30


I was hoping to improve on my performance on the Open WOD with all of the work I have been putting in.  Felt Confident going in even more so after the Strength bit.


Power Snatch -

1@115
1@135
1@155
1@165
1@175
F@180
F@180

Wondering if I had a bit more time and if I either split snatched it or squat snatched it whether I could get to 180.

On to 12.2

10 minutes to do
30@75lbs
30@135lbs
30@165lbs

64 Reps.   Needed another 15-20 seconds to get one more.  Felt as much gassed versus pure strength.

Simple Double anything but

AM- 20min run/row/bike - I elected to do a row as I could do that at home.   I'm not sure if this was suppose to be @50% effort or 100% effort or something in between.   I elected to go fairly hard. 

I started off slow and started to pick up every 5 minutes or so. When I was getting close to the halfway mark I picked it up. Backed off a little but and then really drive hard to get 5k meters.

5k+ meters in 20 minutes.

Went to Craic to do the second half of the workout.  My legs felt the morning workout more than I thought I should.    Did a long warm up since I had the time to do so.    As part of the warm up I did 2 - 2minute max double unders.

Need to have someone validate the count but unofficially I broke my personal record. 



PM
12min AMRAP
7 CTB
7 THR @105
7 BJ's

I knew that this wod was going to be tough but I didnt think I would sucking wind after and during the first round!  It felt like the Thrusters were 135 not 105.  Not sure why it took so much out of me.  The C2B pullups were unbroken every round until the 7th round.  Same with the Thrusters.

6 Rounds plus 10 reps.  

Crossfit Craic Represents at Weekend Comps

Great weekend for the Craicers.    Mitch and Jim finished finished the final chipper in 4th place shaving 40'seconds off their practice run. Their month long strategic planned paid off . Overall they finished in 6th place 2 spots out of the finals.

In Melrose it was great to see all of the Craic couples - Jarrod + Lisa, Jack + Susie, and Dave + Jayme get after it.   I was especially proud of Jack and Susie making the top 12 to get to the finals.  An amazing feat when they were clearly the oldest pair in the field.   Pretty amazing to watch a pair of 42 years olds get after it with some 20 somethings. 

 

Still not right

Susie has the Love em or Leave em throwdown today so I got to the gym early so I wouldnt miss to much of the comp.  

Warm Up - 6 min AMRAP
10 Wall Balls
30 Double Unders
3 MU's

Got in 3 rounds plus 6 Wall Balls


Full Squat Snatch - Focus on good form

3@95, 3@95, 3@115, 125, 2@135, 145, 145, 155

OHS - from the floor to start
135, 155, 165, Failed at 175 2x

10Min AMRAP
60 Bar facing Burppes
30 OHS @120lbs
10 MU

60+30+5  - Did 4 better than last time

Something is still not right with me.  I have a swollen lymph node on the left side under my chin.  Just on one side which is different than 2 weeks ago when I was sick and they were both swollen.  I will take it easy and not make the trek to my parents.   Has me a bit worried though.

Rest Day

Rest Day.  Got my blood drawn today to be profiled.  I have signed up with Segterra, Inc.  which was founded by a group of physicians, scientists, exercise physiologists, and nutritionists from MIT, Harvard, and Tufts University.  They created InsideTracker™ to provide a web-based, personalized path to health, wellness and performance.   I'm really interested to see what they come up with.  Should know the results in 3-5 days.

12.1 redux in 2013

Good thing a short WOD was on the schedule.  I dropped the kids off at school and go to the gym at 7:50am.  I had approximately 20 minutes to get the wod in and then get to florist before the back to back calls started.  
 
Complete as many reps as possible in 7 minutes of:
Burpees

Jump to a target 6" above outstretched arm


Total -105.   I think this is about what I did in my first attempt last year.   It is what it is.  Didnt feel like I had great wind or legs in this wod.

Last Minute Change

The plan was to do a 20 minute recovery ride/row/run and then 4 hours later do the 7 minute burpee wod.   Coach John changed that up when he determined that I changed my rest day from Monday to Tuesday.  He had me move up the Thursday WOD to today.  Short Warm-up and then right after it to fit it in before my first call of the day.

row 1000m x3 @easy pace - rest 3mins between efforts
+
Rowing Helen
3RFT
Row 500
21 KBS
12 Pullups

Ok so I thought John told me a 90% pace but clearly I got that wrong a it was listed as easy.  It was anything but easy.   

Round 1 - 3:37 1:48/500 24s/m
Round 2 - 3:45  1:52/500 27 s/m
Round 3 - 3:47  1:53/500 32 s/m

11:10 3k 1:51/500  27 s/m

Rowing Helen
3RFT
Row 500
21 KBS
12 Pullups
12:15  Tried to keep the 500m row close to 2minutes so I could hit the KBS straight away.  Was able to do the KBS unbroken but the pullups were a train wreck.   Couldnt grip or breathe and had to break them up.  All in all not a very impressive score but I will chalk it up to the 3x1000 taking a lot out of me.

 

Travel Day - Rest Day

Traveled to Chicago Monday.  All day meeting on Tuesday.  Tuesday night fly home

Shoreline Masters WOD1 & PC WOD

I was feeling all of the work I did this weekend.  Very little of it crossfit programming specific so somehow in my mind it gets discounted.   Probably shouldn't be as I was feeling like I had done a competition over the weekend.

Warm-Up - 2 Rounds
5 No Elbow Push-Ups
10 Air Squats
15 Situps
20 Mountain Climbers


WOD #1:
Ground-To-Overhead
+
"Tie Breaker"
Max Calories Row

Men's Weights: 115-135-155-175-195-205-215-225-235-245-255-265-275-285-295

A bit disappointed that I failed at 225.  I really had my head set on at least cleaning 235lbs.  Need to definitely hit 225.  Marking it up to general fatigue. 

1 Minute Row for Calories - 33 calories

Rest 7 Minutes
30 Power Cleans@95 - approx 2minutes
30 @115 - approx 4:30 minutes   6:25 overall
30 @135  approx 5 minutes - 

Total time - 11:32

Double WOD

Did a double but not by design.   Got up early so I could buy a snow rake to clear off the roof before this sleet and rain shows up tomorrow.   The snow rake worked great but it was demoralizing to then have to re-shovel  areas that I had cleaned yesterday.  Huge Bummer.  Once that was done I still had a huge section that I didnt finished yesterday.   All in all another 3+ hours of shoveling today.   Not nearly as crushed as I was yesterday but still pretty tired.   Took an hour to refuel and hydrate before I headed to Craic to get my first real workout of the weekend.

2011 CrossFit Games Open WOD #1

Complete As Many Rounds and Reps As possible in 10 minutes of:

    30 Double Unders
    15 Power Snatches -75 lb. M/55 lb. W

This was going to be a tough one as my core. legs and arms are all pretty worn out.  3,2,1 and I kept messing up my double unders.  5 mistakes in a row before I settle into a rhythm.  After the first round I was able to do all rounds with only 1 miss.  My goal was to get 6 rounds.  Last time I did this WOD I could 5 rounds 30 doubles unders.  I was hoping to get bigger chunks on the Snatches but the best I was getting was 6-7 before I had to break it up.   I ended up with 5 Rounds and 42 reps.  I just needed 3 more Snatches to get the round.  I think that If I went into this one fresh I could get to the double unders.

No school tomorrow as there is so much snow removal to be done.  

My least favorite WOD

AMRAP Shoveling has to be my least favorite wod.   That is what was on the schedule for the day.  I went out at noon and I finished at 5:30pm.  I took two 15 minute breaks to get something to drink.  I was completely wrecked at that. I wonder if it is possible to to Rabdo from shoveling.  That would be very sad.   Here are a few photos from blizzard of 2013.   No real wods today but I feel like I got my work in for sure.

Rest Day

Mother Nature getting the driveway set up for the wod.

Got back from Palm Springs a day earlier in advance of Nemo the blizzard of 2013.  Its a good things since it really dumped on us.  It started at 2pm and didnt let up until the next day.  We got close to 24inches of snow!

Palm Springs FINAL DAY

A big snow storm is approaching the Northeast so a large group of us are cutting the meeting short and leaving to head home today versus the red eye on Friday.   Its been a good couple of days of meetings as well as training.  The coach and Athletes at Crossfit Shifted have been fantastic.  They really made us feel like we have been training there full time for years.   Its weird how you can fit in so easily in the crossfit culture versus so many other places it can be a struggle. 

WARMUP -

Back Squat 7.5.3.1
As heavy as possible
4x500m Row
Rest 4 mins
Post all 4 squat weights,
& average 500m row time.

ROW 1 - 1:34
ROW 2 - 1:39
ROW 3 - 1:46
ROW 4 - 1:40

Crossfit Shifted

Feeling even better today. The head cold is finally getting better.    Todays WOD look particularly nastly especially the plate push.   Pushing a plate after Jerks and Pullups is never going to be easy.

21 Push Jerks (135/95)
21 Pull-Ups
50m Plate Push 45
15 Push Jerks (135/95)
15 Pull-Ups
50m Plate Push 45
9 Push Jerks (135/95)
9 Pull-Ups
50m Plate Push 45

Did the first round unbroken, Second Round I did 10 and 5 on Jerks and did Pullups unbroken and then in the last round I did 6&3 on Jerks.   I was probably a little conservative on the Jerks in terms of how I broke them up.    On the plate push I actually Squatted and slid it forward versus driving it like a sled.   This technique was much easier and didnt take the stuffing out of me before the Jerks.

Time - 10:18. Fastest time in the class. 

Very impressed with this girl who is new to Crossfit (4 months) on both her snatches yesterday and her Jerks today.  Very good technically and at the RX weight.  She is a former Pole Vaulter at ASU.   I think Ben Bergeron called it that Pole Vaulters movements translate well to Crossfit.

Rough Rentry

Its been over 7 days since I have trained and Im usually itching to get back in the gym after a few days off.  This time was different, I clearly lacked energy and wasnt myself so decided that rest is what I really needed.  I had given myself until today to recovery from the QL strain and deal with this nasty sore throat /head cold.   I figured anymore and I was babying myself.  

Im in Palm Springs for a company executive meeting and would be visiting a new box.   This should make it much easier to scale and take it easy since no one knows who I am.  We had a good crew from work cued up to train - Dennis, Chris King, and Tony Beller.   Its always easier when someone else has checked the class times and even rented a car to make the commute easier. 

Crossfit Shifted was a traditional big box. Massive space with ultra high ceilings.  Huge group for a 5am class with at least 20 people.   All the other athletes were extremely friendly and a few were even committed to learning our names.  We did a 3x100m row warm up and then did mobility work before we went to the whiteboard to discuss the WOD.

So nice box, friendly athletes this was going to be great.  Not so much when I looked at the WOD.  It was pretty high volume for my first day back.  Its not crossfit though if you arent ready to embrace the suck.  First round wasnt so bad but the 2nd and 3rd rounds were anything but pretty.  Broke the snatches into set of 5 or 6 with long breaks between.


Finished in 29:20.

A Week+ of lost work

My QL is finally getting better but the whole thing has been compounded by a bad cold and a neck strain.  I have been off for over a week and i just dont seem to be healing very quickly.  It didnt help that midweek I had 2-3 nights of 4 hours of sleep.   We were in Vermont this weekend at the cabin to celebrate HC's and Jack's Birthdays.   Always a bit of sleep deprivation there as well.   I stayed off the slopes so as not to submit myself to the single digit temperatures.   I fly to Palm Springs tomorrow so no workout again.   Im packing my gear in hope that my sore throat is gone and that I can at least do some scaled workouts.