Badger Badger Badger....

As I was running today, I got this song stuck in my head:


Don't watch for TOO long, temporary insanity may insue.

So - for the second time this week (thanks Andrea!) we hit a Hero's workout. It went a little something like this:

Badger
30 Hang Squat Cleans (65lb women, 95lb men)
30 Chins
800 meter run
3 rounds for time

Last time I hit Badger was April 6th - and as I was quite intimidated, I scaled it to 20 reps instead of 30 (although I kept the 65lbs), and finished it in 40:53.

Two and a half months later, I went as Rx - and finished in 48:52. My chins are so much stronger than they used to be, and I think I've gotten stronger on my hang squat cleans as well!

In the past - I would look at a workout, and even if I thought I could do it Rx, I would sometimes still scale. I would focus way too much in how long I thought it would take me.

No longer! From now on (unless getting to work on time is a factor), if I am strong enough to go Rx, I'm going for it. Screw my final time. How else am I going to get stronger or faster? I'm nowhere near the strongest or fastest of our crew, but one thing I CAN do is keep chipping away at something. The mentality of worrying about my final time has been holding me back - but not anymore.

This is a shout-out to McCall for inspiring me in this direction with her performance on Angie!

Daniel

Today, with Andrea as our coach, we hit Daniel - a hero's workout:

50 chins
400 meter run
21 Thrusters
800 meter run
20 Thrusters
400 meter run
50 chins

40:42 - as prescribed - 65lb Thrusters!!

I must say - Andrea is a wonderful coach, and she worked with the mixed skill levels in the 9am class very well. She also didn't give me a choice about going Rx - I was prepared to do 55lbs (as I had done 55lb clean and push press x15 5 rounds yesterday) - but I'm glad she pushed me! The Thrusters were my weak spot - as I was only doing 2-3 at a time. Chins are getting stronger for me - yesterday I hit a PR of 9chins in a row (following Katie's amazing 24!), and instead of doing 1-2 at a time like I used to, I'm now doing 3 at a time. Of course - doing 100 chins takes a toll:

Yup - my first blood blister. I'm both proud and a bit grossed out! It will heal though!

Also - I've been meaning to give Jessica a shout out for a while for how she gutted through Angie with bleeding hands. She just wouldn't stop! Here are some pictures:

Notice the gloves on her hands!
Ouch!

Yup... Angie was a fun day....

Quick Update

I've been meaning to post about Angie - complete with pictures and shout-outs, but before I do, I wanted to make a brief update.

I'm really excited to say that today I was able to move from the pink band to the floss for ring dips! I can only get about 3 at a time, but it's definitely improvement. One step closer to joining the muscle-up club!!!

Crossfit South Philly!

Phew - what a month this has been! I travelled 3 weekends in a row, and although I've had a great time, I've missed out on WAY too many days in the blue room.

This past week I travelled to Philly and her suburbs for 6 days. As I stayed in Center City for a few nights, I couldn't pass up on the opportunity to work out with Jerry's old crew - South Philly represent!

So, in the middle of my vacation, I got up at 5am to work out in a place that I had never been before, with people I had never met (but had heard good things about). I was a bit apprehensive, as I was not sure what to expect. On top of that, we had eaten at a fantastic restaurant the night before, and I had consumed a good deal of chocolate!

The cab ride over didn't help, as the driver kept repeating the intersection I had given him over and over again, like he didn't know where he was going! When I asked him if he needed me to call for directions, his response was "Neh, I know where I'm going, but you can call if you want" - and then he went back to repeating the intersection again and again.

Luckily - I made it without incident, and was soon greated by a great group of people! Everyone was really nice and welcoming - made me feel right at home.

For our warmup we did some sprints, squats, and burpees (ick!). Then we got into it - team games with a deck of cards. I was so excited to do a workout that I was familar with! We did sit-ups, burpees, push-press, bench dips, slam ball, KB swings, KB sumo high pull, and thrusters. Although no one can replace Jerry, Wil was a great coach!

I had a lot of fun - and I highly recommend checking out CF South Philly if you're ever in town!

Although, I must say, I am REALLY happy to be back!

A quick followup!

So - I did the circuit the class hit on Thursday: 7 Front Squats, 7 Pull-ups, 7 Dips: AMRAP in 20min.

Although in the warmup I had built up to 5 reps of 85lb, I used a 75lb weight. Although I tried, there wasn't enough room to kip on the pull-up machine (thanks for the suggestion Adrienne!), so I set it at 50lbs for both the pull-ups and dips. This was a good weight for me - as I could only get 2-4 in at a time.

However, there was someone else also using the pull-up machine - so I had to work in with her, and start and stop my watch a lot. Annoying - lost a lot of intensity that way. In the end, I got in 5 and 2/3 rounds. I finished up my dips after that - but since I had grandfathered in the last 2 pull-ups, I didn't count them for the circuit.

I'm out of town this weekend, but I will be back at the 7:30 class on Monday!! I can't wait!

Miss you all!

The Quickening...

This week has been a bad one for me with Crossfit - I only made it into the Blue Room once, on Monday. I've been missing out for various reasons (late night helping a friend move, early meeting, feeling feverish), but I've been trying to keep up with the workouts. This was the second time I missed The Quickening, so I decided to hit it in my gym at work. Used 20lb dumbbells for the push press, and a 45lb dumbbell for the high pull. My workout was fraught with a couple of problems:

First of all, treadmills suck for sprints. It took a full 38 seconds for the treadmill to go from 0mph to 7.5mph. Yay for wasted time and intensity? I tried to adjust my final times to compenstate (subtracted 1:15 from each). So - instead of 14:48 and 11:34, I estimated that it would have taken me 13:33 and 10:19. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to find out what my REAL score would be one of these days!

Secondly - this was the type of dumbbell I used:

Which led to this (picture taken today, workout done yesterday):

OUCH. I guess these are bruises, although I've never seen red bruises before. These are quite swollen, which you can't see in the picture. Attractive, no?

I saw that the workout I missed this morning (courtesy of Katie's blog) was working on the front squat, and then a circuit of front squats, pull-ups, and dips. Even though I'm not feeling my best, I think I can handle a strength circuit. Of course - this is what I have to work with for pull-ups and dips:

Which is SO not the same as doing kipping pull-ups and ring dips, but I suppose it's what I'm stuck with when I don't make it into the blue room!! Not sure how much weight I should use on these - maybe 50lbs? Any suggestions? I know I can't dip my full weight (using the pink band, where I can get maybe 2 in a row), and I definitely can't do a dead-hang pull-up yet. Advice welcome!

On my own....

Oversleeping seems to be a theme on here! Normally, I set my alarm for 5:15, so I can hit the snooze button until 5:45/6:00. Alas, this morning, I woke up and my clock said 6:45. Shit!!!

I decided to use my itty bitty gym at work for more than a shower, and was pleased with the results.

2mile run: 18:06 - just over a 9minute/mile pace. Before I started Crossfit, 12min + was the norm

Squat Cleans: 105lb - the maximum I could get the barbell to! Not sure if this is a PR, but I think it is. It wasn't pretty, but I got it!

Tabata:
Push ups: 5
Sit ups: 11
Squats: 13

A definite improvement from the last time I overslept!