As most of you know, the 2010 CrossFit Games were last weekend. When I wasn't glued to my school work, I was glued to the Crossfit site to watch it live. So awesome! Anyway, the second individual WOD was Pyramid Double Helen. Doesn't that in itself just sound awful? It's basically six rounds of Helen broken into a 3-2-1 rep scheme, so: 1200m run, 63 KB swings, 36 pull-ups; 800m run, 42 KB swings, 24 pull-ups; and finally, 400m run, 21 KB swings, 12 pull-ups. The fastest men's time was 16:59 (cut-off was 22 min.), and I can't remember the fast women's time, but the cut-off was 24 min. I knew we would have to do at least one of the Games WODs but wasn't expecting this one!!!! Ack! And I was unable to do the morning class or the noon because I had to fast last night for blood work this morning, and Mel would like me to do the WOD with her on Thursday, so I will mentally prepare myself for it in the meantime. I'll work on my school work tonight and make good use of that extra hour. Roosters in the morning!
WED: New girl WOD from last year's Games: "Amanda" 9-7-5 of muscle-ups and snatch. Looks easy, right? WRONG! I subbed pull-ups/dips for the muscle-ups, so I did 18 p/d for the first round and 14 p/d for the second round. Had I made it to the third round, which I didn't, I would have done 10 p/d. Sam kept telling us that we would be able to finish the WOD in 12 minutes (cut-off) if we knew how to do the movements right. Well, apparently, my snatch sucks too much because I finished the first two rounds only. I used 73# (used 38# bar as that was all that was left besides 33# and 15#), and I just couldn't get my act together on the snatches. The pull-ups and dips weren't the issue. My technique on snatch prevented me from finishing in time! So, I still need to work on this lift, and once I feel like I've pretty much mastered it, I'll try Amanda again. I wonder, though, if I'd been able to do MU progressions (I have those down pat), would I have finished before cut-off? The class was too large for that kind of sub, but it bugs me to think of it. I know some previous classes did do progressions, and their times were fine. Anyway, it's water under the bridge. On to the next one.
THURS: HELL-en and I mean H-E-L-L. I would have been laughed out of the Games!!! Did it rx'd and finished in 36:09. I wasted tons of seconds resting too much and trying to catch my breath. I know my mental game just wasn't there today, nor was it yesterday. Could it be that my brain power has been sapped by my graduate course? The academic thinking portion of my brain has usurped the reserves in the athletic/physical part, methinks. Ugh. Either way, this Games WOD was no joke, and I have all that more respect and awe for the competitors. Here was my running internal monologue as I went through it:
1200m run: Good steady pace, a bit slow for my taste, but I want to keep Mel's pace so I don't get too tired...
64 KB swings: 15 per set isn't too bad...hmm, my arms and hips feel okay so far...just keep chalking between sets
36 pull-ups: Ack, 5 per set ain't gonna be possible for me. No grip! Gasp, gasp, rrrrgh!
800m run: pantpantpant...ugh this sun is hoooooooooot pantpantpant...keep moving, legs!! No walking!!!!
42 KB swings: Hoooboy are my arms and hips feeling tired...get that bell up! Stay calm, keep that pace...omg Mel is already on her pull-ups! 10, 11, 12...
24 pull-ups: Grrrr, two reps at a time? Stupid pull-ups, stupid pull-ups, can't get my breath, stupid pull-ups! Darn it, I ripped! Back to it!!!
400m run: Just...gotta...keep...breathing...gah that sun is hot!!!!
21 KB swings: 11 and 10, keep swinging, thank you Mel for counting the last 10 for me...
12 pull-ups: Two at a time, two at a time, keep me going Mel, okay last six, three at a time! DOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!!!!
In retrospect, I should have pushed myself harder on the runs, and the KB swings ended up being less of an issue than I had thought. Pull-ups still need work. Above all, I needed someone to count and push me--I am so bad about that if I'm going through it alone. Tons of things to improve! But I'm soooo glad I actually went in and did it. Next time I'll do better!!!!
Sounds like a cheesy horror sequel, doesn't it? Well, it was horrible, but in a different way.
I did this hero WOD last year shortly after I joined CFDC. I remember it sucking then (mostly all the dips), and it sure sucked the second time around. I'm wondering if it would have felt as bad if I'd done it at noon (missed my regular WOD time reeeeeally badly today!!!). Haha, now I'm just making excuses, right?
We started off with five sets of a heavy 3 on jerk. I got up to 115 but just couldn't get my head through/elbows locked out on that third rep. So my heavy 3 is 105: not complaining but still should have gotten that last jerk at 115, I think.
During Jason, I had to just focus on counting all the squats. I did sets of 25 on the first 100; did my 10 pull-ups/10 GHD box dips; and then I did sets of 10-15 for the remaining rounds of squats. The squats really weren't too bad, but my legs are still shaky, as are my shoulders and arms. 100 total pull-ups and GHD dips will do that to you!! I finished in 21:43, which was over the 20-minute cut-off, but Sam gave us 25 minutes to finish. The pull-ups were what held me back. I did my first set unbroken with no problem, and then I broke up the 20-30-40 sets into fives--I did five pull-ups followed by five dips. Just couldn't keep my grip for some reason. Anyway, I know I did loads better this time around, but it still sucked! Glad that's over, and now it's time to shower and get back to my work. Wonder what tomorrow's pain is going to be (I'm hitting up the noon for sure!! Can't take the evening heat, bleh!).
Looked at my old time back in April (it was the first month I'd joined CF, too! Thanks, Jamie, for telling us when we last did it), and I finished in 22:50, but I didn't specify whether I did the 3:1 ratio as noted on the blog or 1:1 like I noticed others doing...Since I didn't even have pull-ups yet, I would deduce that I did it 1:1. If that's the case, then I'm happy with how I did today! Also, back in the day, we didn't do a strength WOD before doing a met-con, and that day, all we did was "Jason", so now I'm doubly happy! :)
So I was just complaining on Saturday about not feeling motivated at all to finish my big assignment, but guess what my grades for the first week's assignments were? 100% all-around!!!!! AND, the icing on the cake: my professor posted two student examples to help everyone better understand what she had been looking for/expecting on our first big assignment (30% of our grade), and one of them was mine! I was so stoked!!!! I couldn't believe it. LOL So that was definitely a huuuuuuge motivator, and I am going into this week with much more confidence, positivity, and initiative. LOVE it!
Workout today sucked totally, mainly because of the met-con, which was ten minutes of suck. Well, first we did four sets of five DL--I worked up to 185# and since we had four girls sharing a bar, I stopped there. I could have done at least 195, but I'm not complaining...too much. ;) Then the met-con was 800m run and AMRAP burpees within the remaining amount of time. I sucked wind on the 800m run big-time. I blame not enough sleep over the weekend and the kettlebell swings we had to do between each set of DL. Anyway, it took me almost four minutes (ack!) to finish my run, and then it was burpee time. Wow do I hate burpees, especially when I'm trying to catch my breath from a half-mile run. I got in 61, which I guess isn't too bad, but I thought I should have done at least 70. Took too many little breathers. Then again, quite a few others got only 30-something! I suppose I did the run just right as in I didn't push too hard (not that I could anyway) so that I'd have enough gas for the burpees. Then again, if I'd run faster, I would have gotten more burpees in...maybe? Anyway, glad that one's done, and I'm pretty ready to tackle "Jason" tomorrow: 100 air squats, 5 muscle-ups (I'll be subbing pull-ups and dips, or C2B pull-ups if that's what they want us to do), 75 squats, 10 mu's, 50 squats, 15 mu's, 25 squats, 20 mu's. It's been forever since I last did this hero WOD, so I'm curious to see how well I do. Better get to sleep so I have enough energy tomorrow. Evening class for me for sure!
Ugh, for some reason, I just don't have the energy and motivation I usually do for my graduate work. I'm finishing up the first week's assignments (all 12 of them), and I'm on the very last one, but I just can.not.get.myself.going. I don't want to think about it or sit here and do this last assignment, although it's worth 30% of my grade!!!! Aaagh! What's wrong with me?! I'm almost to the finish line, and I'm petering out. It's not like I'm not giving myself breaks and whatnot--I went to workout four days this week, and I've watched a few movies. No excuses!
Well, since Murph, I felt pretty wrecked, but once Tuesday rolled around, I was more than ready to get back into the box.
TUES: Backsquat 5-5-5-5-5 I ran out of time and had to stop at 142# (I used kg plates), bleh. My 10RM is 145#, so I know I had much more in me. Oh well--I had to share with two others, so I didn't get in my last 5. Then we did an awful met-con--3 rounds of 200m Farmer's Carry (I used 35s) and 25 pull-ups. Chase gave us a 15-minute cut-off, and I could tell by the 15th pull-up that I wasn't going to make the cut-off, so I scaled the reps. Ugh. Had no grip after the FC, and the last round took me an eternity to finish the 200m. Worst WOD yet! Many people got their first hand rips on that one.
WED: Power snatch, heavy double--I got up to 85# (PR), but I just didn't have the right mindset to get 90#. I was happy with this weight, though, because 90# is my 1RM. Then we did "Tailpipe" (ugh!)--for three rounds, with a partner, row 250m and while one partner rows, the other holds 2 KBs in the rack position. I partnered with Erica again, but this time we did it rx'd, with 35# KBs. We did it one second slower (7:27) than when we did it in December with 26s. I was pleased, but I thought I rowed my ass off (my splits were no slower than 1:52), so I was a bit disappointed that our time was not faster.
FRI: Five rounds of this complex--5 deadlifts, 5 hang power cleans, 5 front squats, and 5 push jerks. No regripping or resting allowed. I went in thinking I'd make it no further than 85# because of the hang power cleans, but I managed to finish my last round at 95#! The push jerks were tough--by that time, you're so tired from the other movements, so it's hard to drop under the bar as quickly as you should. Mine were ugly, but they counted. Mel really helped me believe in myself and power through the fatigue. This WOD was very mentally challenging. If I am going to compete, I seriously need to work on my mental game.
SAT: Oh man, today's workout was great--I can already feel the soreness settling into my shoulders and legs. First Sam had us warm-up for thirty good minutes with kettlebell exercises, including one-armed overhead holds, goblet squats, heartbeats (HATE those), and Russian swings. We also did half Turkish get-ups, 25 each arm. Whew, those are tough! I could feel it then and can still feel it. I started with a 26# KB but after six reps, I switched out for a 20# DB. We also did 25 med-ball sit-ups, which I felt more in my shoulders than in my abs! Lots of shoulder and stabilizer muscle work today. After that great warm-up, we did 5 sets of 3 heavy floor presses. Instead of lying on a bench, we lay on the floor and pressed the weight. I worked up to 100#x3! It was very exciting because the last time I did this, I could hardly press 85# on the floor because the ROM is so limited compared to doing it on a bench. It's amazing how strong I've become--I honestly surprise myself sometimes. (Not meaning to sound conceited--just commenting on how I don't realize how much strength I've gained until we do something like that.) Between each set of presses, we did lawnmowers with a KB, 8 reps each arm. It was basically a bent-over row. I used a 26# KB. Again, my shoulders got a major workout today. After that, we worked on our snatch technique--3 reps at a time, focusing on one particular aspect that needed attention. While I could think of numerous aspects I need to work on, I chose my shoulder shrug (poor shoulders!). I just used 65# to work on my technique. Most of my reps felt good. Finally, Sam made us run an 800m time trial. By then, it was very hot, and most of us were pretty tired, but somehow, I ran one second faster than my best time. I sprinted the last 200m. So my new PR for 800m run is 3:24--still not optimal, but I plan on working on my running since I've neglected it since wintertime hit, and the coaches scheduled less running. Overall, it was a kick-ass workout today, and I'm going to really enjoy my rest day tomorrow. Shoulders are shot! OH, AND I got Howard to finally try Kozy--he got the Bowl 'o Doom, and he polished his bowl. Yet another convert, muahahahahahaaa! :)
Okay, now that I have procrastinated to write this post, I gotta get back to my assignment (grumble, grumble).
Well, I went in this morning at 10:45 expecting to totally bomb Murph since I didn't get to sleep until after 2 a.m. The Rangers game was delayed due to rain and didn't start until 9:30 last night. Then we had to stand there and watch the fireworks (the cops and security wouldn't let us cross the street to get to the far parking lots until the fireworks were over). I did not like being delayed--it was late enough when the game ended, and then the display was another 20 minutes. Anyway, I had originally intended to do the 9 a.m. Murph heat, but since we got back so late, we did the 11.
I had two goals going into this second go at this hero WOD (AQAP: 1 mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air squats, and 1 mile run): 1) complete it rx'd (not with a vest but all movements as prescribed) and 2) finish within an hour. Felt pretty good on the first mile, and as I ran, I visualized my strategy for the push-ups because they are my weakest movement. Finished the first mile in 8:15--about the pace I had wanted to run it in. I did the first five Cindy rounds with my shirt, but after that fifth round, the shirt had to come off, so I rolled shirtless. Actually, and maybe this is purely mental, I felt a lot lighter on everything, especially the pull-ups, without the shirt (haha)! Maybe I'll go shirtless more often now? Anyway, I started out doing 5 pushes, few seconds rest, then the remaining 5. After about six rounds, I did 4 pushes, rest, 2, rest, 2, rest, 2. The pulls and squats were the easiest, so I made up time on those. I didn't go to my knees at all!!! I had noticed in the Regionals pics that athletes were doing a sort of flop and then pushing themselves up, so I emulated this approach to the push-ups. I made sure to lock out my elbows at the top, let myself plop down onto my chest (and stomach), and pushed up--it made this movement a lot more doable. Not to say it was easy, though!! But I'm happy I didn't let myself go to knee push-ups. It took me about 37 minutes to do all 20 rounds of Cindy, and then it was time for my last mile. I think I spent the majority of the first 800 trying to get my breathing under control! Once I hit Dyer on the second 800, I tried to sprint...haha, my legs didn't want to move much faster. But I finished in 56 minutes and 15 seconds--almost six minutes off my old time. Woohoo!! When I get to the point where I can finish this WOD in 45 minutes, I'll wear a weight vest, as it's supposed to be done. But until then...I'm going to keep working on push-ups and making myself run hard despite fatigue. My last mile took me about 11 minutes!!! I was so tempted to walk during that first leg, but I figured if I slowed down that much, I wouldn't be able to get myself going again, plus I wouldn't have beat my old time. Love this WOD and feel honored to suffer through it for an American hero. This event was also a donation drive for the NSWF (http://www.nswfoundation.org/), so it felt great to be a part of it.
Okay, nap time before the big UFC heavyweight champion title fight!!! Should be good, although lately, title fights have been going to decision (boooo).
Was lazy on Monday after getting back from OH, so I skipped that WOD, plus the thought of all that running in Texas heat made me feel sick.
Friday "hotel" WOD at my mom's house: 5 rds of 10 each of push-ups, sit-ups, and squats; I finished in about 6 minutes (I was on a Lady Gaga kick all last week, so I used her songs to time and motivate myself).
Tuesday: Heavy single of power clean--I failed on 121# (used kg plates) but got 115# (PR). Mel was awesome and watched me and coached me. I need to work on the drop--I don't drop fast enough. Then we did the Secret Service Snatch Test, which of course left my wrists super tight and bruised. Serves me right for not snatching correctly, eh? Got 114 reps in with 26# KB--last time we did this, it was back in December, and 26# was rx'd for girls. Weird that it was 35# this time! I didn't do as well this time. :( Got in over 130 reps last time, but I think I did the movement correctly that time unlike this go.
Wednesday: "The Drill" which was 8 sets of a complex: power snatch + OHS + hang snatch + snatch--all without regripping the bar between movements. I worked up to 70# but got stuck on the hang snatch and so finished out the last 3 rounds at 65#. Not too upset about it, though--it was really good practice. We were supposed to do 10 100m sprints, but since it was pooouring down rain and storming, Sam had us do Tabata front squats with rest in the rack position. Man did those suck! Girls were to use just 45#, but after resting in rack position, I was fighting by the third round! My lowest rep count was 6 (ugh!!!). Sweat was dripping into my eyes because the coaches closed the gym doors when it started pouring, so the box was a sauna. I was more focused on avoiding getting sweat-burn in my eyes! Erin counted for me and pushed me--she kicked butt! She was very consistent with 11-12 reps per round. As a final activity, we did various plank holds--front, both sides, and Superman. It was a great workout, but I would have preferred sprinting in the rain over those front squats!
Thursday: Made up Monday's WOD with Erin, and wooow I'm glad I waited!
Front squat 5-5-5-5-5 with C2B pull-ups between sets: I worked up to 64 kg (we used the middle room since the racks were already set up), which is 140.8# and a PR. Sure felt heavy, especially after yesterday's Tabata front squats with rest in the rack position. I did five C2B pull-ups after the first 10 threatened to rip my hands, and since I'm doing Murph on Saturday, I wanted to play it conservative. Then we did the met-con: 4 rounds of 400m run, 20 GHD situps and 20 GHD back extensions. Took me 14:21, which I was happy with since my goal was to finish in under 15 min. That third round of GHD situps was the toughest--I couldn't get my breathing right. Glad I made that WOD up, though! I hope we do Michael sometime, and I'd like to do it rx'd (no scaling reps). I did a scaled version with Carin a while back, and we wore a weight vest for the 800m runs and scaled the situps and back extensions to 25 reps each instead of doing 50 each. Fun times!
We're going to the Rangers vs. White Sox game tomorrow evening, and then Saturday is Murph Day! Woohoooo! My goal is to finish in under 61 minutes and to do it rx'd until I crap out on push-ups and have to go to knees. I did it with all knee push-ups last time. The coaches scheduled the first-time Murph (for CFDC) go the Sunday right after Thanksgiving, so that was an awesome way to kick-start our return to healthier habits. LOL!
