I hate my snatch.

Tuesday rooster: Hero WOD "Erin"

5 rounds for time:

15 dumbbell split cleans

21 pull-ups

Spencer had the first heat scale their pull-ups to 15 reps so we'd be done on time and not be late for work. Even doing 15 pull-ups each round was mega-challenging for me, though. Used 20# dbs on the split cleans (my poor shoulders!) and a red band for pull-ups. I baaarely made it within the cut-off time of 15 minutes. :/ That WOD was very humbling, but I read the story about the soldier it is named after, and I was glad that I suffered through it.

Today: We worked on power snatches today--more on form than on load, thank goodness. I warmed up with a 33# bb since all the 15's were taken. Sam had me roll out my hips and hammies some more since I was having trouble on the squats. I tend to jump my feet out too widely. Shared a 33# with Faith and definitely felt really weak on this lift. My max load before Sam made us stop for the met-con was 48#. Bleh, definitely a step back I think. But I think I would have been able to lift more had we been given more time because I used 35# (more than 60% of max) on the met-con and felt like I should have used a heavier load.

Met-con: 21-15-9 of power snatches and HSPUs. I subbed 20# DB presses for the HSPUs. Finished in 7 minutes flat. Eight minutes was the cut-off time. I've discovered yet another lift I need to work on, but it's okay. I know that it will only get better with more practice and skill work. I'm going to do the death march on Sunday (Kason's making me, lol), and I'm definitely not looking forward to it... We plan to do invisible Fran or Cindy at our silly gym on Saturday since there won't be any classes for the seminar. Looking forward to the Hooverball 80s fun and then Casey's party. Bleh, I feel really tired but have too much work to do to turn in early tonight. :( Gotta recharge with some coffee. Hope to see y'all tomorrow!

I survived.

Surprise surprise, I survived the week from hell! Got my author study project finished and submitted with 14 minutes to spare! I was totally down to the wire, ack! I'm so glad I got that project over with, though, because now I can breathe a bit this week and concentrate on my special interest topic project, which isn't due until two weeks from now but I plan to submit it before Labor Day. I HATED not being able to workout yet again last weekend, but I am determined to not have to skip this weekend.

Today's WOD has me so hyped!!!!!! I can't wait to see what my improvements prove to be on front squat. Last time we did this one was in May! I'm going to try to share a bar with the boys so I'll be more motivated. Last time, I was with older Dave (not nooner Dave) and another guy I can't remember at the moment, and they really were so cool--they had to keep moving the rack things so that it was short enough for me LOL. I wasn't sure of my form, but they really helped me, and I got 125# for my max. This time, I want to definitely get over my bodyweight, but a considerable amount, so like...at least 140 or 145. That's my hope anyway! The dessert sounds "fun" but I really need a good met-con to kick my sedentary ass in gear after sitting at my desk all weekend! Looking forward to it.

Well, I was determined to get as close to my old PR as I possibly could, and I did. I got 125# x3. It was tough, and I was sounding rather mannish at the end, but I find that sometimes, when you're exerting so much effort and energy, your body acts on its own accord! Dessert sucked big-time, just as I knew it would. Burpees and KB swings suck on their own, and they especially suck when combined in a met-con. Ugh!!! I used 35# and took 7:42. I started out as steadily as I could on the burpees so I wouldn't lose my momentum, but alas, by the time I got to 8 burpees/3 KB swings, I was beginning to lag. I sure am feeling the poooooor diet and next to no sleep from the weekend. Argh! I felt pretty good at work this morning, though, but CrossFit always proves me wrong in that area. Haha! Gonna try to hit up 6 a.m. WOD tomorrow.

Great seeing you today, Sandy! You looked so cute in your headband. :)

Ack, my arms are useless now!

So great to see you today, Amy! You hottie! :) Did you have a nice strong drink for me?!! I need it now!!

Yesterday's WOD: Clean and Press 3-3-3-3-3

Since my 1RM for press is 93#, I wanted to be as close to that weight as possible on my final round of these. I shared a 45# BB with Anna, and she's so awesome to workout with! We went up by 10# each time, and I got up to 85# for my max. :) The cleans were the easy part, but pressing that weight sure was challenging! For CD, we had to do ladder bearcrawl-burpees. I got to the 7th rung on the ladder before Sam called time. Then SamZ and I did 100 GDH situps, and we did the final 20 unbroken. Woo!! I sure feel it today, YES!!!! I LOVE feeling my workouts. :D

Today's WOD was a hero WOD: "Nate" AMRAP in 20 minutes of 2 Muscle-ups, 4 HSPUs, and 8 KB swings. I did 8 kipping pullups/8 parallette dips for MUs, 4 DB push presses with 20#, and used 35# KB for swings. I did the pullups unassisted for the first four rounds (whee!!) but had to digress to a red band for the remaining four rounds as my hands were threatening to tear, and my hips just didn't have the power left to get my chin up. But I did do a dead-hang pullup today!!!! I was standing there under the bar with Anna, getting mentally prepared for the WOD, and I had my hands in switch-grip. I pulled myself up until my chin was above the bar!!! Shocker!! It felt great to be able to do it! And on three hours of sleep. :D/:{ I know I know, sleep is very important, and my diet was not bad today but just not as full as it should have been. I had two hard-boiled eggs, a cup of celery with a Tablespoon of Sunbutter, and a cup of bing cherries (mmmmm). Then, since this was the last time we'll have an hour for lunch all year, my colleague and I went shopping on our break. :) So I had a handful of almonds for "lunch." Dinner was fajita meat with bell peppers and onions. I felt pretty hungry when I got home from the WOD, but as I was cooking, I didn't feel as hungry anymore. I really don't eat big portions anymore, which I guess is a good thing, but I wonder if I'm getting enough to maintain my physical demands. Definitely not complaining! The weight is staying consistent and not fluctuating, so that makes me happy.

Well, time to hit the books again. Tomorrow's a rest day, yippee! I'm going to give myself a break and play bingo with Amanda and her bf at the Village Country Club tomorrow night, though. For my sanity!!!

Sad

Ugh. Had to take Saturday and Sunday off because of lack of sleep due to grad school work. I stayed up until 4 a.m. on both days and got up at 6 or 7 to get back to my work. Lack of sleep = neglect of diet = sucky performance

Today's WOD was a repeat: 4 rounds for time of 800m run. Last time we did this one was in May, and I felt way better on it. Of course, the heat index wasn't over a 100 degrees then, and it was a smaller group. I did hit a PR, though, by 6 seconds. Last time my fastest time was 3:25, and this time was 3:19. But I took almost 4 minutes on the rounds after that first one. :( I suppose I used too much gas on that first one, plus we ran as a big group, so I felt more motivated...I had originally planned to go to the rooster today since I started back at work and want/need to get into a schedule where I workout first thing in the morning before work so then I will have my evenings free to make dinner/run errands/do grad school work. Michelle said she'd like to start doing the rooster, so if she's counting on me being there, then it will be a lot easier for me to get my ass outta bed. Ideally, there'd be a 5 a.m. class so I'd have time in the morning to make breakfast for Kason and myself before I leave for work, but I am happy there's a 6 a.m. class. Good seeing you, Sandy, for that brief moment. :)

Since I was mad at myself for doing so poorly on the running, I made myself do 50 pushups for time and then 50 situps for time at home. Took me 1:40 on the pushups (knee) and 1:50 (sad!!) on the situps. I miss my situp buddies.

Well, time to make dinner and get cracking on these assignments. I have at least ten assignments due this week, plus a major paper.

Update

Sorry I've been so swamped that I haven't been able to post for the past several days. The past three days have been super busy with professional development and grad school work.

Sunday: AMRAP 20 minutes of 20 reps each of box step-ups, good mornings, and presses, all with a barbell. I used 33# BB and 20" box and got in 6 rounds plus 20 each of box step-ups and good mornings. It sure was sweaty work! I was tempted to put down the 33 and get the 15# like I saw someone else do, but I didn't let myself downgrade. The part that was the most challenging for me was holding the BB on my shoulders that whole time. Ugh! Then I did 100 situps for time and for the first time, got an ass hickey!! It was super hot that day, so I was just a walking sweaty mess. I didn't get to see what my time was, though, because Kason was doing the push-up WOD from last Monday and was out running a 400m, and the timer was with him. So I got a nice big ol' ass hickey and had no idea what my time was. Oh well! It was a great workout day, although I will admit I was a bit scared to do the WOD since my shoulders/back were feeling the two-a-day/J.T. from the day before. But Spencer didn't let me wuss out or sub, so I sucked it up and did it. :)

Tuesday: Helen. We met again, although this time, it was normal Helen, not heavy. I wanted to use 35# KB since I had last time we did Heavy Helen, but Sam said to use 26#. My diet had been rather shoddy all weekend, plus Monday because I was in professional development and had all this free, unhealthy, bad-fatty foods at my fingertips. It has been a while since I've had to sit for seven hours straight listening to people lecture, and while I learned a great deal, I still felt really lethargic and consequently ate poorly. I also did not sleep well or enough all weekend or this week due to grad school and just not going to bed when I should have, so I felt like crap after doing Helen this time around. 11:38 was my time, and although I used a red band as opposed to a blue band last time for pullups, I still felt I should have done better. The 400m runs were awful, as predicted, although I did try to encourage the people I'd see walking or stopping. It felt good to get them back to a jog and talk them into sticking it out. Kason counted for me on the KB swings and pullups, and Erica helped me get my tired foot into the band each time for pullups. I felt okay afterward, but when I got home, I didn't anymore. I think it was the coffee I drank that day and the day before--I like coffee, but it doesn't like me. :/ So I abstained from coffee for the rest of the week, although its enticing aroma made it difficult to resist.

Wednesday: Diet was a bit better since I got up early and went to the rooster WOD. I was relieved that it was a mixture of few reps of lifting and few reps of pullups. Even though 14 rounds seems like quite a lot, the fewer reps for each move made it more manageable. I am so weak in the morning, though, and while I should have easily used 63# at least on the push jerks, I used 53#. I used a blue band on the L pullups, and those were rather challenging. I think I will start working on dead-hang/strict pullups to help me develop that skill. I finished in 14:14.

Today: Awesome time tonight with Mel, Erica, and Carin--we all shared a bar. Started out with 95# and went up to 135# to begin the progression of Sumo Deadlifts. I really wanted to beat my old PR of 205#, but I got a bit worried when Sam told us about someone who couldn't even get 60% of her old PR due to lack of sleep. But Mel and Erica really encouraged me, and I DL'd 220#. I think I could have done five more pounds, but it was already our seventh or eighth attempt, plus the 6 p.m. class was already warming up, so we had to stop. Mel beat her long-time PR of 200# by 15!!!!! And with a hurt hand and wrist! What an inspiration she continues to be!! She is an awesome athlete and wonderful person to workout with. I look forward to doing this lift with her again. She really pushed me to get my PR on front press a month ago. Definitely will enjoy/hate my rest day tomorrow, though. This new grad class is really demanding in a different way, and the prof is super strict about due dates, as she should be since it's a graduate course, but stiillllllll. :P Okay, time to get back to my reading. Not promising I'll be able to post as regularly as I usually have in the past, but I will try to keep it up!

Two today

Kason had to be up early today for a conference, so I got up with him and went to the 10 a.m. WOD, intending to do both that and the 11 a.m. one. Had to work off that cheese and chocolate from last night! Plus I'll be cheating tonight with some fried delights from Humperdink's while we watch the UFC Lightweight Championship bout between BJ Penn and Kenny Florian, plus Anderson Silva will fight Forrest Griffin. Should be an awesome show!!! Forrest will probably be streaming blood from his face--I swear his skin is paper-thin and his face is all sharp angles!

Newbie WOD was called "Tabata FTW": we rotated to four different stations--push-ups, mountain climbers (2-ct), 10m shuttles, and squats. We did a full set of Tabata intervals (eight) at each station; then we had one minute of rest while rotating to a new station. Sam counted us off, and I started at the mountain climber station. Knocked out 104 of those. Then it was time for the shuttles. What a mess that was!!!! There were too many people for the mat area where we had to do the runs, so I had to run pretty slowly to avoid running into anyone. Also, I noticed my legs were rather shaky from the mountain climbers, so I was extra cautious. Only got in 37 runs. :/ After those, I had to do push-ups, which I did on my knees for the whole set. I managed to do 82 push-ups. It was tough, though--my knees were slipping off the mat, and my hands were slipping around on the floor. I was a hot, sweaty mess! Finally, I did squats, and wow were my legs and tush tight afterward!!! I did 125 total. My grand total was 348. Next time I will do normal push-ups and hope that the shuttle isn't so crowded.

The 11 a.m. WOD was J.T. and wow was it a doozy. 21-15-9 of HSPU, ring dips, and push-ups. I subbed 20# shoulder presses for the HSPU, parallette dips for the ring dips, and did knee push-ups. I was suffering by the 15th shoulder press!!! Then when I was doing the dips, I seriously could not do more than 3 or 4 at a time. I was really ready to quit. But Erica pushed me through it, and I even repeated reps that weren't full ROM (didn't lock out elbows). I couldn't believe how difficult the dips were!!! The push-ups were the easiest part of this WOD for me. Funny, eh? The second set of dips, I could only do 1 or 2 at a time, and I would plop down on my butt after each one. It was really rough. I'm glad that Erica made me make every rep count, though, and I know I did quite a few more than I was supposed to, but if my elbows weren't locked out, she didn't count it. At the time, I hated that, but I am glad that she kept me accountable and true to the proper form. I finished in 11:11. Before we started, I was sure I'd take at least 15 minutes, so I'm not disappointed about my time. I know I could have done better, but then I remember that I'd just done over 100 mountain climbers and 82 push-ups not even 30 minutes prior to this WOD.

Now it's time to relax and finish my book before I tackle my school work. Tomorrow I plan to workout with Mel--she's doing a weighted run (how far, I'm not sure, but I'm hoping not more than a mile!), maybe some Tabata situps, and whatever else she can do without using her wrist since she injured it yesterday. Should be fun! :)

New PR!

We did my worst lift today: overhead squats. I was a bit worried going in, but once we were warmed up and Spencer gave us a few pointers, I felt a bit more relaxed. I just kept remembering the last time we did 1-rep max for OHS and how awful I felt during it. The box was stiflingly hot--I think one of the fans was in another room, so our particular work area was awfully stuffy. Also, I was unhappy about not being to see very well because I had to wear my glasses during that time (woohooooo for not having to wear glasses or contacts!!!!!!). Sharing a rack with Mel and Mere also made me feel like a weenie, although both of them kept giving me helpful tips and encouraging me when it was my turn. I was just mad at the whole world that day!!

Today was a totally different OHS experience. I shared a bar with Laura, who did a very impressive job, PRing at 70#. I started out with the 33# bar and felt a bit shaky with that weight. But I noticed that as I gave Laura and Barbie pointers and encouragement, I felt more confident and capable when it was my turn to lift. I love being a teacher! :) Barbie used her own rack, working from the 15# bar to a PR of 40#. Both ladies had excellent form throughout and will be squatting more weight in no time. We had seven attempts at getting a new PR. I started with 53# and changed out to the 45# bar because my math skillz suck, plus the clamps are almost impossible to get over that fatter 33# bar. So then I used 60 and went up by 5s. My new PR is 80, although I should have stuck it out on the 85# attempt, but my balance faltered and I felt my weight shifting to my toes, so I bailed. It's still a new PR by 15#, so I'm not complaining! :) Cooldown was 100 situps at home with Castor nomming my hair and Pollux sitting on my shins. Such "helpful" kitties!

Time to start school work for my next grad class and then it'll be time for Melting Pot for Kason and my five-year anniversary! Woohoooo! Can't believe it's been that long. I'm looking forward to many more!

Pain inc.

Darn it, I was just thinking last night how we were probably going to do something with thrusters soon, and evidently...someone has telepathic powers. Argh!

WOD: 100 Thrusters for time with 5 burpees at the start of every minute

Well, I went in and faced my fear and ended up doing more than the prescribed 100. LOL That's why I teach English, not math. I used my Fran weight of 40#, and by the tenth round, I was doing half burpees (no push-up) before the thrusters, but I am glad I went and did this WOD instead of curling up in a lil ball and refusing to go in today. I only needed to do 3 more thrusters on the final round, but I did 10 instead. Erica was helping me count the rest, and I did 6 thrusters on the 18th and 19th rounds. I guess that confused us both, because I ended up doing 7 more than I needed to. I even did the final 3 after Sam yelled time. Haha! I love how intense things get!!! It was worth the pain because tonight, Kason and I are going to King Spa and Sauna, and I'm going to soak and sweat the impending soreness out of my shoulders, back, hips, and quads. Just keep trucking when the going gets tough!!!

Great job, Jamie! It was great to see you today! I admire you for sticking with the burpees and not getting up until you were finished with them. I admittedly skipped at least two sets of burpees--I chose breathing over burpeeing. :/ Great work!!!

Back to it

Well, after a four-day break (eek, but totally worth it! Kason is back and life is so much better now.), I'm back to the gym. As a warmup, I ran to CFDC from Northbridge on Southwestern with Amanda--about 2 miles.

WOD: 100 push-ups
Every time you break from push-ups, complete a 400m run. If any part of your body touches the ground aside from your chest, or you pause for more than a second between reps, you must complete a 400m run. All push-ups must be taken from full elbow extension to chest touching the ground.

Push-ups suck, and running 400m in this heat sucks almost as much. Here's how it went: 30 - run - 30 - run - 12 (?!!!) - run - 28 all knee pushups. I think the thought of running AGAIN pushed me to finish the final set without breaking. Plus Sam and Koy were yelling at me, so that helped a lot, too. :) I think being able to pace myself and the relative coolness/circulation at the gym helped. I didn't want to run out there in the heat, so I made myself do the push-ups as unbroken as possible.

For CD, I did several kipping pullups, 2 sets of 10 KtE, and a 30-second handstand hold. Then Amanda and I ran/jogged/walked back to the Village. I got a cramp in my stomach (argh), so I had to walk for a bit, but we ran the rest of the way once we got to Southwestern. I might start running for the warmup from now on until work starts. It was a good start to the workout, plus I liked getting to know Amanda better. Kinda wish we'd known each other sooner so we would have done this more often, but I'm glad we are now.

Time to make some chicken and broccoli for dinner. Peace!