Long-awaited update

Hmmm, where'd I leave off? So sorry for such erratic postings.

Tues.: Power Snatch 5-3-2-1-1-1 and Max Effort Row Sprints (15 seconds of max effort, 45 seconds of rest x 6).
The power snatch is one of my weakest lifts because of form, but I worked with Mel and definitely reaped the benefits of having such a knowledgeable, encouraging fellow athlete coaching my every move. I haven't ever felt that confident on this lift until I had the chance to share a bar with Mel. I wish she would become a coach so that the ladies would have a female coach for guidance. I'm not saying that our coaches now aren't absolutely awesome and helpful, but sometimes it is more helpful to have an athlete of the same gender coaching you...anyway, I PR'd by at least 20#--last time we did power snatch, I settled (yes, settled and sold out) for 48# (felt really uncertain about my form), but this time, I got to 73#. Ran out of time or I would have tried 78#, but with the new programming, we had to have enough time for the met-con. The row sprints were actually quite fun, but I found that I did my best on the middle attempts. My best split was 1:44. There's room for improvement, but I've noticed since returning from my long break that my rowing technique has improved drastically. When I do a 500m warm-up, my time is 1:59 to 2:03. Before, my best time was between 2:12 and 2:18! Interesting, eh? Overall, it was a great workout day.

Wed.: Back Squat 3-2-1-2-3
I went in hoping to squat my old PR of 175#, but I became doubtful when we started with 135 for the first set of 3 (again, I worked with Mel). It felt so heavy!! I struggled the whole time, and we used 165# for the set of 2. I had to use two attempts to get the 175#, and even then, I definitely did not break 90 degrees as faithfully as I usually do. Mel took three attempts to break her old PR and got it--she successfully squatted 175, 10# over her old PR. It was amazing how incredibly light 135# felt after all that! We used 155 and 135 for the remaining sets. I was glad to hit my old PR but a bit disappointed at how weak and uncertain I felt. Next time I want to hit at least 180. I think I will be able to as long as Mel is sharing a bar with me.

Fri.: The WOD from hell. When I looked at the blog in the morning, I felt my stomach do a flip and debated with myself whether I was going to take another rest day. I'm very glad that I didn't, but I was really tempted to! It was funny reading the blog and seeing people's similar reactions and anticipation/dread. The warm-up sets of burpee pull-ups told me that I would certainly not be able to complete 100 within the 20-minute timeframe, so I did the 10 sets of 10 pull-ups/10 burpees using a red band. I think I did the pull-ups too strictly, though, because my tendons ended up crapping out on me by Monday, so when I went to the WOD, I couldn't do the met-con. I made all 10 sets, though, in 19:08, so I was glad about that. Next time we do this WOD, I will do the burpee pull-ups until time runs out. Just didn't have the stomach or nerves to do them this time around.

Sat.: For Halloween, we did 10-31--10 different exercises, 31 reps of each. We did box jumps, wall ball shots, ball slams, 2-count mountain climbers, burpees (of COURSE), air squats, handstand push-ups (I subbed 20# shoulder presses because my shoulders were shot from the 100 pull-ups the previous day), double-unders (I subbed tuck jumps), knees to elbows, and ring dips (I subbed parallette with feet on the box dips). It was lots of fun!!!! I finished in 17:something.

Mon.: Single-Leg Deadlift 5-5-5-5-5 (each leg) and "Ryan" (5 rounds of 7 muscle-ups and 21 burpees)
I didn't like the SLDs at all, but I understand the importance of building up my weaker leg's strength and my stabilizers. Still sucked! I got up to 75# and stayed there because I was wobbling on my left leg so much. I should have tried to do 85, but I didn't feel comfortable going up because I had already begun feeling my lower back telling me I was lifting incorrectly. Then on the final set of my left leg, I twisted my hip flexors strangely on the lift up and felt a twinge. Bleh. But the met-con Mel and I subbed for our injuries (my tendonitis and her broken wrist) definitely made me forget about that. We did five rounds of 15 full GHD back extensions and 20 air squats. I kept up with her, which impressed me and her, and we finished in 7:30. It was both fun and painful. I definitely am feeling it pretty badly two days afterward, but I love it. It's funny--my upper body almost never hurts when my lower body does, and vice versa, except for a few particular weeks in the summer when my entire body hurt. I love CF. :)

Wed.: I was sorry to miss overhead squat and the mile time trial yesterday, but I definitely did not feel up to par (not enough sleep, etc.). Today was Push Press 1-1-1-1-1-1-1. I started with 65# because I shared a bar with Faith, whose 1RM is 80#. In retrospect, I would have worked with Mel and Victoria--they just motivate me so much and push me so hard that I usually PR significantly just from their awesome influence. Anyway, I did PR by 15# (105# this time) but I know that I could have pressed at least 110# if I had started with a heavier weight. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. :P