Strict Press PR

My last strict press PR was 72lbs, tonight I got 75lbs :-) I think I can get more - but I hurt myself doing 2x70. I hope it's not serious!

Back Squat!

The back squat is relatively new to me, compared to the front squat, as we didn't start doing it until last Spring or so. It always makes me a bit nervous (not as easy to dump the weight), so up until last week I've been working only the front squat.

However, about a week I decided that I would like to start training with competition in mind, and the back squat is the only one accepted. I had a power-lifter watch my form today, and I maxed out at 180! I thought I was more around 160, so I was really excited. She also said my form was pretty good - and that I was breaking parallel (which is required). I think I might have had another 5-10lbs in me, but like I said, going heavy on the back squat makes me nervous. I'm looking forward to getting more comfortable with the lift and moving some real weight around!

New Deadlift PR!

Yesterday I got a deadlift PR of 230lbs! This time I locked it out and held it, unlike my 225. I'm psyched! 250lb here I come!

On my own.....

Well, after over 2 years at Crossfit Old Town, I'm going to be taking a hiatus. I've been struggling for a while with credit card bills, and while CFOT is certainly worth every penny, it will help me a great deal to take a break for a while. I do plan on returning once everything is under control!

I'll be at CFOT for another month, but I also joined XSport last week, to help me transition over to motivating myself on my own I'll be doing about 50/50 until my membership runs out. I really like the gym - it's not very expensive, and it's huge with a pool and lots of fun classes on top of rowers, kettlebells, and barbells.

I tried Tai Chi last week and loved it, and tonight I tried Pilates. It was good - but I didn't feel like I had gotten in a good work out, so I did 8 250m sprints on the rower, and then I did some clean and jerks and some deads. I started rounding out at 210lb, and figured I should stop there!

My plan is to center my workouts around deads, squats, military presses, and bench presses. I'll do a couple of supplementary exercises for each main lift, and then do sprints of either rowing, running, biking, or swimming for the cardio. I'll also be doing the Oly lifts as part of my warm-up or supplementary exercises. On top of this, I'll try to do Tai Chi and either pilates or yoga. We shall see how well I can motivate myself! Wish me luck!

Deadlift!

I finally did it. After having it as a goal for over a year, I finally Deadlifted 225lbs!!!

On to my next goal - bodyweight snatch. This may take more like 3 years to reach!!

Cleans!

I love the Clean. The Clean and the Deadlift are neck and neck for my two favorite lifts, I think.

This past Saturday we did max cleans 1x1x1x1x1x1x1.

My previous max was 120lbs, however, I'm pretty sure I hit this max when we still had the barbell class, which was before I lost the weight. Not certain on that.

Anyway - I got an ugly 120lbs, and decided to go for 125lbs. I missed it twice. I tried 121lbs, missed it once. Then, on my second try - got it!!

You can see one of my 125lb misses here, my 121lb miss, and then the 121 I got! I'm at the very end of the video. Please note that I only weigh 29lbs more than the weight I was moving...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMLlRjMoNZI

Chins!

Today was our last day doing chins in the Blue Room. *tear* The memories... how I will miss the swinging bars!

Before I left for 3wks in Europe back in September, my PR on chins was 18. After I got back, I got sick a couple of times and simply was not making it into the Blue Room as much - and I could see a noticeable decline in my strength. It was dissapointing, as chins had been a weak point for me and it had taken me a qhile to work up to that PR.

Our workout today was Onion Skin - max strict press (I did 50lbs), and max chins. On my first round I managed 18 chins! YAY!!! I'm finally back where I was!

I'm sure re-learning the kip on the stationary bar will be frustrating, but damnit, 20 chins, here I come!

Ah... the Deadlift... my old friend

Today we hit my favorite lift - the Deadlift (it just edges out the clean as my fav). 3x3x3x3x3

Last time we hit this work out, I got 175x3.

Now - about a year ago, I hit a max single of 200lb. I also weighed around 180lbs when I did that. Now I weigh 150lb. With the loss of weight, and less work on the deadlift, I lost my ability to get 200lbs off the ground.

Today, I got 185x3 - which was quite exciting for me - a PR! Then I decided to try 190lbs, and I ended up getting in 2 reps. Just couldn't get set up right for the 3rd one. I called it a day, and went to get my shoes on.

As I was putting them I on I thought - if I can get 190x2, there's a chance I can get 200x1!

Off my shoes went, and I ran back to the bar. With a couple of people watching, I actually managed to get the bar moving and stand up with it. It was ugly - it felt ugly, and the area around my shoulder blades is just starting to feel normal again - but damnit, I got it!

My ultimate goal with the deadlift is to be able to do a circuit with 1.5xs my bodyweight, or 225lbs. I hope we hit this workout every couple of weeks so I can build up my strength with this lift!

Met THE Coach!

Tonight was a great one for me, and many others, as I had the privilege of having dinner with Coach. That's right - Coach. Coach Glassman that is - the founder of Crossfit. I brought my friend Danny along who is relatively new to Crossfit, and at first hesitant about coming, but I convinced him and by the end of the night was happily thanking me for including him :-)

Danny and Coach:


Coach was in town to give a speech at the National War College, where Lt. Colonel Dan is a student. Wait, let me correct myself... I mean where COLONEL Dan is a student - congrats on the promotion Dan!!

Col Dan, Me, Adam:

Right before dinner, I hit the blue room for front squats 3x3x3x3x3 and hit a PR of 115lbs, which I had missed 2 weeks prior - yay!

Back to the dinner. I found Coach to be extremely warm and giving - he was so nice to everyone. Dinner felt like a family gathering. I got to tell Coach that Crossfit is the first type of physical activity that I've ever been able to stick with - he seemed quite pleased with that. I also told him that I get to hang out with the jocks now, he found that to be quite funny :-) Keturah told a quite touching story of what Crossfit has given to her, but I don't feel right sharing it here. Let's just say that it tops most stories out there :-)

Coach and Keturah:



John Welbourn of Crossfit Balboa (in Orange County, CA) was in to see Coach Glassman speak. It was really cool to meet an ex-NFL player who played for "my" team - the Eagles!

John and I:

A lot of people gave toasts, great CF stories were told - and it just felt like a night with great family and friends. Great fun and fantastic people!

Myself, Jerry Hill, and a different Danny:

Chriss, Craig, Mike:


John and Katie:

Time to Dial it In!

Well, it's been the holidays, and I've been slacking a bit. Missing class due to poor decisions in when I got to sleep, or because there was no class to go to!

For example, I intended to go to bed by 10 last night, so I could get up and hit the 6am class this morning. However, I decided to read a bit... and didn't put down my book until after midnight. Yeah - waking up 5 hours later was not so appealing to me with a full day of work ahead! I did a mini-work out in my bedroom this morning. Modified Karen - found the heaviest book I owned and basically did 150 thrusters, but with a bit of a jump at the end since I couldn't actually throw the book up in the air! I bookended that with some push-ups. Better than nothing, right?

Since today is the first day of the Zone challenge, I've decided it's really time to dial it in with that and with getting my lazy ass into the Blue Room more often! It doesn't hurt that I get to have dinner with Coach Glassman tomorrow night (and a bunch of fellow-CFitters) - I'm SO excited. Talk about inspiration!

Sorry if this is a bit rambling... still not fully awake yet!

Clean and Jerks - ooof!

Being Christmas time and all, there were a few days that CFOT was closed. The last work out was on Wed at 9am, which I could not make due to work. Not wanting to wait until Sunday for my next work out, I decided to head over to the Crossfit/Jiu Jistsu facility in Loudon with a friend who CFs there.

After messing around a bit with the stationary bar (can get a chin in, but can't put them together), I decided to hit a work out I had missed in the blue room: 15-12-9, clean and jerks, touch and go - cannot let go of the bar. I saw that Katie had done 75lbs, and knowing how strong she is, I went for 65lbs. Boy was that exhausting! I think I rested a bit too much in the rack position, but I made it through each round without letting go of the bar!

Shoulders were really sore the next day, and today (Sunday), when I happily headed back to the blue room. Well, happy until I saw the work out:

Father Time
5 rounds
10 clean and jerks
30 ab mat sit-ups
400 meter run

46:11

Do your Grace weight - which for me is 85lbs. I was the only girl in to go this heavy (all the fire breathers must still be on vacation), and I think I also had one of the slowest times! I really wanted to go for 75lbs, but I'm really glad that Jerry didn't let me drop down. I almost tweaked my lower back a couple of times - just losing core tension - but I feel fine now. I may have been doing one clean and jerk at a time, but damnit, I finished! :-) Blain KILLED this work out, which was awesome.

Now my shoulders are even more sore! Time to lay off the overhead work for a couple of days..

Grace!

So - I was just looking through some of my old posts on my blog. (Yes, I'm procrastinating at work - it's the holidays!)

I came across this post on 10/24/08. My time on Grace at 85lbs was 9:24 (pictured above).

The next time I hit Grace was here on 12/11/08, as part of CFOT's first challenge. Less than two months later, my time was 7:05!

Less than two months between the work outs and over 2 minutes faster!!

I feel like I've already won the challenge. I'm so excited to see this massive difference!!!

Not quite Murph, Deads, and Front Squats

Today Jerry presented us with Murph. I'm still gun-shy about running outside, so I asked if I could sub a row. Jerry suggested that I just hit the 5-10-15 instead.

I got in 15 rounds of the 5-10-15 before I had to leave for work (36:22). The pull-ups and squats were fine, but the push-ups were killing me, I was only getting 2-3 at a time. I'm wishing I had done the express version (3-6-9), because I'm pretty sure I could have gotten in 20 rounds before I had to leave, and in the end it would have been more reps. I guess I got in a good work out, but I'm a bit dissapointed with my output today. One of these days I'll hit Murph Rx

Loved yesterday, though! I was working from home, so I came in to the 5:00 class coached by Andrea. The main circuit was Deadlifts (145lbs w) and Turkish Get-ups (25lbs w). 15-12-9-6-3. I finished in just under 18 minutes. TGUs are always slow for me, but I kept a good pace on the DLs. I haven't masted touch and go yet - my core still needs to get stronger and my breathing better for that, but what I was doing felt good just the same. 25lbs TGUs are fairly heavy for me - a couple of times I almost lost the bell - but I got through them! Afterwards I hit 3 rounds of 20 box jumps and 40 ab-mat situps. Was intending to do 5 rounds, but I kind of just stopped after 3. It was odd - still shaking my head about that one.

Sunday was a lot of fun as well - front squats 3-3-3-3-3. I worked in with Leslie and her husband (who's name escapes me at the moment!). I don't think I'd hit max 3's before on the front squat, so I wasn't sure what to shoot for. I ended up maxing out with 110. I went for 115, but was only able to get one rep in. Once again - it's my core that's holding me back! (Well, that and my form) I think I can actually clean more than I can squat (or it's very close), which is NOT the way it should be! Nothing to do but keep working it, right?

Grace and much more!

Let's see if I can give a recap of the past week so far at CFOT!

Sunday was the start of our challenge, and we hit Grace. 30 clean and jerks for time. As prescribed, was 85lbs for women - which is what I decided to go for. There was the option of going lighter or heavier (100lbs!).

I believe I finished in just over 7 minutes. I was pretty happy with my performance - I didn't miss any of the jerks, and while some of my cleans from the floor felt a bit ugly (got some nice bruises on the collarbone when the bar crashed down on me), I hit them all and Jerry praised my form (Yay!). When I was on rep 20 I saw Katie curled up on the floor (she did 100lbs) - she finished in under 5 minutes! Crazy strong!

I'm not going to be running outside in the cold again until I'm fully healthy. I feel fine, but I still have a bit of a cough and a runny nose. I got REALLY sick the evening after a run outside, and the next time I ran outside it made my cough a lot worse. So - I'll be rowing until I'm 100%.

Apparently, though, I need to watch my form on the row. The other day we hit a workout that was originally 800m run, 30 front squats (65lbs w), 30 box jumps: 3 rounds for time. I rowed 1000m instead of the run. I was rounding my back way too much on the row, not keep my spine straight, which I didn't notice until I got to the front squats. I was struggling because my back felt off - not fun! I got through 2 rounds and recorded my time, as I didn't have time to finish a 3rd round and get the work on time. I did my third row though - mainly to practice keeping my spine straight!

Today was a good day - the workout as Rx was 20 pull-ups, 30 push-ups, 40 ab-mat situps, 50 squats; 3min rest between intervals, 5 intervals total.

When I looked at that, I knew I wouldn't be able to get in 5 intervals and leave on time to get to work. Mainly because of the push-ups. So I opted for the express: 12 pull-ups, 18 push-ups, 24 ab mat situps, 30 squats; 2 min rest between intervals. I finished all the intervals in 4-6minutes, getting slower as the rounds went on!

The push-ups were my nemesis today! I could only get 2-3 in at a time, and even then, I had trouble holding the plank. Jerry had me pull my elbows in closer to engage more of my triceps, but I'm weak here, so it just got harder! I'm going to keep working it, but it's disheartening to hardly do any push-ups with the proper form by the second round! Ah well - nothing to do but keep working it, right?

Not CF related

Okay, so this is not Crossfit related - but it is me-related.

I work for this animal shelter, and it's WONDERFUL! If you have some free time, please consider voting!

Tackling the Strict Press

Today we worked one of my weaknesses - shoulder strength.

After a warmup consisting of hollow rocks, shoulder dislocates, good mornings, knees to elbows, and burpees we moved on to 7 sets of 1's of the strict press. I worked in with Leslie and Grace.

This is how it went for me:

65
70 - miss
70 - miss
67
68
70
71 - yay!!!!

I think I actually could've hit 72 or 73 if I'd had more time. I was SO excited when I finally got 70lbs - not to mention 71lbs! It was all about my form - on my misses I was arching my back too much, letting the bar get away from me. I did a better job of pushing my head forward (I think) when I finally hit it.

Seriously excited! Also just plain thrilled to be back in the blue room - I was pretty sick for way too long. Yay for FINALLY being healthy again!

Cara beats herself up at CFOT and other fun times in the blue room!

Let me start with Sunday!

As part of our warmup, we did sumo deadlift highpulls. Did I hit myself in the chin with the bar hard enough for it to still be tender today (two days later)? You bet I did! Then, this was our work out:

25 pull ups
50 hang clean jerk (65lb w, 100lb m)
50 burbees (I subed out push-ups 'cause burpees were making me light headed)
50 wall ball sit ups
50 box jumps
50 push ups
25 pull ups

On my first rep of my second set of pull-ups, what did I do? Can you guess?

Yeah - that's right, I jammed by neck into the bar, right below my adams apple.

::chokes::

Good times.

I finished this work out at around 42:30 (I think), which I was okay with. Katie estimated that it would take her 40 min (it took her more like 30!), so I was happy to get in around what she estimated for herself! (Love ya Katie!) I was also fairly happy with my work on the jerks - I'm starting to feel more comfortable with them, and 65lbs was a good weight for me!

Today was a mixed bag, but overall good.

We started again with a PVC pipe work out. I must've been getting lazy, because my form on a couple of the movements (Deadlift and Jerk) was really off. This wasn't the case on Sunday - but I had weight on the bar instead of a PVC pipe, so that must make a big difference for me with my form!

Another part of our warm-up was burpees. I was REALLY happy with them today. No lightheadedness, and I was just feeling solid on them - landing in the squat properly and all. I still hate burpees, but I'm hoping I won't have to sub in push-ups for them on a regular basis!

Our WOD today was Helen:
400m run
21 KettleBell Swings (36lb w, 50ishlb m)
12 chins
3 Rounds for time

Jerry estimated it would take people 10-16minutes. He also said that to save time, to just slip on and off shoes, as tying and un-tying adds another minute or so. Well - I've never been comfortable with just slipping on and off my sneakers (I like them tight for running), and I finished at 17:31.... so if you subtract a minute or so for my shoes, I'm almost in at his estimate!

Seriously, I probably could have run a bit faster, but I almost always avoid sprinting and smoking myself unless I'm at the very end of a circuit. The KB swings were easy for me (especially 36lbs), and I was doing about 4 at a time for the chins. Maybe if I can get that up to 6 at a time I could lower my time. I usually take about 10-20 seconds between sets - which I need to decrease. Rest later, not now, right?

Oh - right - back to beating myself up. My self-abuse was more subtle today. I have a tear on the lower joint of my ring finger. So, I taped it up. The tape extended above the first joint onto the second. The ended up restricting my finger painfully when I bent it for the chins, and 2 hours later it's still reddish-purple, hurts to bend, and slightly swollen. It's already getting better than it was - but seriously, WTF? I guess I'm going to need to use thinner tape!

Feeling Good

My neck isn't completely back to normal, but the pain is almost completely gone. I decided to come in this morning, figured if a particular movement hurt I could do a sub.

The workout:

15 hang snatches (65w, 95m)
400m run
5 rounds

It's been a VERY long time since I've done the snatch - sadly, I missed the last couple of times they were done. I don't know if I've ever comfortably gone above 50lbs on it.

I went for 55lbs - which, when I first tried it, felt quite heavy. Jerry said I could scale to 9 reps if the going was too slow. Once I got started though, I felt that I could do 15 - so I went for it.

I was the last to finish with 32:06, but I'm pretty pleased that I didn't scale the number of reps. I also didn't hurt myself further, which is always good! Jerry seemed pretty happy with my form, which was awesome.

Although I'm happy with my performance this morning, I'm still annoyed that I finished in over 30 minutes. I think my problem is that I put the bar down too much. As soon as I get a bit uncomfortable, I put it down and take a couple steps away. I'm not sure if I'm pacing myself correctly, or if I need to push myself past my comfort level. In the moment, I feel the need to put the bar down. Afterwards, I wonder if I could have pushed myself harder. I will experiment with this in the future!

Oh - I found this to be amusing. During my fourth run I almost stopped and walked. I stopped for a second, told myself "Fuck No", and then kept on running. Okay - maybe I'm the only one to find this funny...

No More Deck Squats For Me

I pulled something while doing the deck squats - I'm so glad I stopped when I did, because I can't imagine this being any worse. My lower neck/upper back hurt so much I'm considering calling in sick.

As I was getting ready to come to CF this morning I tried to see what movements I could and could not do, and that just made it a LOT worse. Shit. I can't even squat without it hurting, which makes no sense to me.

I guess no CF for me today.

Shit.

Frustrated

My last two times at CFOT have been extremely frustrating for me.

On Friday we hit Badger. Granted - I was quite sore from the squats on Wed, which slowed me down, but my time on Badger was about 15min slower than my previous time. Going backwards, much?

Today, our circuit looked like this:

12 deck-squat slam balls
12 chins
12 burpees

10 rounds for time

On round 4 I started feeling lightheaded after 2-3 burpees. On round 5 I wanted to stop, Jerry talked me into doing 6 rounds (42ish minutes).

I could not tell if I should stop or not, but the daunting task of doing 4 more rounds of 12 burpees pushed me over the edge to stopping. I don't know why I was lightheaded - perhaps because I have not been eating right or enough. It was not a good feeling - but I honestly don't know if it was bad enough to stop.

I know I got in a good work out today, despite scaling. What feels like shit is the mental beat-down I took, and the fact that I gave in.

I can only try to eat better, and make it to the blue room as much as possible. I'll get back on track, damnit.