As you can see, I am excited about doing Cindy again. Last time we did this benchmark was in the winter sometime, and I almost completed 10 rounds rx'd (was 3 squats shy). I want to get at least ten full rounds in this time!!!
Woo, got two PRs today. We did a heavy 3 of squat cleans (not 3RM), and I did 105# x3. I tried to do 115# just to see if I could clean it, and I did! That's a 10# PR. Granted, I did it only once, but that's a new 1RM for me. On Cindy, I did 11 full rounds rx'd plus five pullups. Woooooo!!! Got a tiny rip in one of my callouses, too. :) I hope we don't do Chelsea during the hottest months like last summer, but chances are, we will. Ugh. That was the only time I ever felt Pukie threatening to pay me a visit! Anyway, the box is closed this weekend for Regionals, so I gotta work hard this week! So far so good! My new class starts, too, so things are going to rev up again. Kinda wish school was out already so I have more free time...ah well--three more weeks after this one!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
San Fran Crippler
Ooooooiiiee, this brought back memories of the blazing June heat at a nooner last summer. We had a huge group then and went in at least four or five heats. So fun! This time around, I used 115# instead of 95#, and I finished in 7:37. Not sure what my time was last time, though, unfortunately. Either way, I back-squatted about 85% of my bodyweight 30 times, followed by a 1000m row, so it was a freaking good WOD. Can't wait for Saturday--game night and getting Phoenix to take the plunge! ;)
Monday, May 17, 2010
Interval Helen
Well, I got a B+ in my class. I have to say, though, I'm quite surprised that I earned a higher score on my final paper than I'd anticipated! If I can buckle down and get all A's in the rest of my classes, I'll be okay.
WOD today was great: We worked up to a heavy power snatch + 3 OHS. I stopped at 80# since I was really wobbly on the OHS. Bah, I hate those things. I need to work on them. :/ The met-con was interval Helen, which I did rx'd (35# KB and kipping pullups). I shaved about two minutes off my best regular Helen time, too, at 11:40. Sweet. The 400m runs weren't too bad, but I hated those KB swings. After so many, you can't really feel your forearms or grip the pullup bar too well. Fun! Overall, a good day at the box. The weather was really hot until about ten minutes before 5, so we got perfect weather for our workout.
WOD today was great: We worked up to a heavy power snatch + 3 OHS. I stopped at 80# since I was really wobbly on the OHS. Bah, I hate those things. I need to work on them. :/ The met-con was interval Helen, which I did rx'd (35# KB and kipping pullups). I shaved about two minutes off my best regular Helen time, too, at 11:40. Sweet. The 400m runs weren't too bad, but I hated those KB swings. After so many, you can't really feel your forearms or grip the pullup bar too well. Fun! Overall, a good day at the box. The weather was really hot until about ten minutes before 5, so we got perfect weather for our workout.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Back to it
Had to miss everyday at the box except Monday and Friday. Ugh! This past grad course I just finished last week was a killer. I don't understand how the professor "taught" this class but had the academic coach grade everything. The coach was super picky, too, so I'll be astounded if I get a B. There goes my 4.0. :( Oh well, spilt milk.
Friday's WOD: banded DL--we used orange bands (grey for guys) and worked on our form, keeping it nice and controlled on lowering the bar. I worked up to just 85# as I was feeling super lightheaded. The met-con was a classic: 10 rounds AQAP of 10 pullups and 10 ring dips. The last time we did this one, it was in May and I used a blue band on both movements. This time, I did kipping pulls and did parallette dips with a medium box. Whew the dips really get you after a few rounds!!! I had to scale my pullups after the first four rounds to 7 because I wouldn't make the 15 min. cut-off otherwise (plus the coach told us to do that). Next time, I'll do all my reps and ring dips. I can do two or three dips in a row unassisted, but if I use a band, I get a major foot cramp, every time. I remember getting one in both feet last time I did this WOD. Sandy counted for me, and she was awesome about keeping me honest on ROM. I sure miss her!!!
Saturday WOD: These past few Saturday workouts have broken me OFF! Last week was a killer chipper, and I didn't make the cut-off but finished it out. Today's was no better: 5 rounds AQAP of 10 burpees (See, Amy? Worst luck ever!!), 30 jumping pullups (those totally winded me), and 15 db thrusters (I used 20# db's). Cut-off time was 20 minutes, and I finished in 18:40. It was super humid in the box today, and I regretted wearing a bra top; otherwise, I would RS'd it!! I really like that the coaches make the Saturday WOD so tough, though. Just because it's the weekend doesn't mean we should take it easy! :)
Time to get groceries, get my hair cut (it's been three months!!!! Had to pay double rent for a month and a half, so that'll do it), and unpack some more. I'm so happy to be done with my class and have the next week off. Whew!!!! Oh, another update: the district is closing my school and turning it into an over-age middle school (i.e., 12- and 13-year-old 7th and 8th graders). There are 1200 over-age middle schoolers in this district, so I can understand why they're doing that. But, the teachers at my school are being displaced, so while we are guaranteed to have a job for next fall, the where is not certain. DISD is also opening an over-age high school, Dallas Horizon Academic Center, which is going to be pretty much a replica of my current school. I'm really interested in teaching there, plus I really like the alternative setting. I'm hoping to get an interview this upcoming week and know what's in store! Also, I see this event as a house-cleaning of sorts because the number of incompetent/lazy/unqualified/apathetic personnel at the school that's closing was bringing the rest of us and the school down. Good riddance!!!! Will keep y'all updated...
Friday's WOD: banded DL--we used orange bands (grey for guys) and worked on our form, keeping it nice and controlled on lowering the bar. I worked up to just 85# as I was feeling super lightheaded. The met-con was a classic: 10 rounds AQAP of 10 pullups and 10 ring dips. The last time we did this one, it was in May and I used a blue band on both movements. This time, I did kipping pulls and did parallette dips with a medium box. Whew the dips really get you after a few rounds!!! I had to scale my pullups after the first four rounds to 7 because I wouldn't make the 15 min. cut-off otherwise (plus the coach told us to do that). Next time, I'll do all my reps and ring dips. I can do two or three dips in a row unassisted, but if I use a band, I get a major foot cramp, every time. I remember getting one in both feet last time I did this WOD. Sandy counted for me, and she was awesome about keeping me honest on ROM. I sure miss her!!!
Saturday WOD: These past few Saturday workouts have broken me OFF! Last week was a killer chipper, and I didn't make the cut-off but finished it out. Today's was no better: 5 rounds AQAP of 10 burpees (See, Amy? Worst luck ever!!), 30 jumping pullups (those totally winded me), and 15 db thrusters (I used 20# db's). Cut-off time was 20 minutes, and I finished in 18:40. It was super humid in the box today, and I regretted wearing a bra top; otherwise, I would RS'd it!! I really like that the coaches make the Saturday WOD so tough, though. Just because it's the weekend doesn't mean we should take it easy! :)
Time to get groceries, get my hair cut (it's been three months!!!! Had to pay double rent for a month and a half, so that'll do it), and unpack some more. I'm so happy to be done with my class and have the next week off. Whew!!!! Oh, another update: the district is closing my school and turning it into an over-age middle school (i.e., 12- and 13-year-old 7th and 8th graders). There are 1200 over-age middle schoolers in this district, so I can understand why they're doing that. But, the teachers at my school are being displaced, so while we are guaranteed to have a job for next fall, the where is not certain. DISD is also opening an over-age high school, Dallas Horizon Academic Center, which is going to be pretty much a replica of my current school. I'm really interested in teaching there, plus I really like the alternative setting. I'm hoping to get an interview this upcoming week and know what's in store! Also, I see this event as a house-cleaning of sorts because the number of incompetent/lazy/unqualified/apathetic personnel at the school that's closing was bringing the rest of us and the school down. Good riddance!!!! Will keep y'all updated...
Friday, May 7, 2010
Jerk
Finally PR'd on jerk today--25# in fact! Got 130, which is 2 #s from my bodyweight. I credit Mel for that PR, too--she gave me that number before I started, and I just didn't want to disappoint her. I've always been about avoiding disappointing my friends and family. When I was in grade school, I worried more about looking bad in front of my teachers than in front of my mom. Though, that's not to say I don't get pissed at myself if I miss a PR or old benchmark. I failed at 135--got scared and didn't even attempt jerking it. Bleh! But I am quite happy with this PR, for sure.
Met-con was 7 rounds AQAP of 3 muscle-ups (I have progressions down but no jumping yet--next on the list; subbed 7 C2B pull-ups, which I can finally do without a band now) and 7 power cleans @ 85# (rx'd). Oops, just realized I did it in reversed order--I did the cleans first. :/ Everyone else worked with partners, but Barbie couldn't use that much weight, so I used my own bar. Ah well! Finished in 14:17 and got a nice rip in a new place--outer part of my ring finger. Tore my palm on Monday on the burpee pull-ups. I read Eric's comment about how to avoid tearing on kipping pulls, but I will need to really practice to do it the way he suggested. In the meantime, I'm just happy to be able to do them during WOD's now and to have C2Bs.
Diet has been mostly good (Paleo) but sometimes a girl just has to have her Nutty Bars!!! I was jonesing for them really bad last night so walked to Kroger for some--oh yeah, we moved to the Phoenix and absolutely lovelovelove it here!!!!! I'll try to post a pic of the bar stools my brother and his wifey sent as a housewarming gift. Castor wondered what the heck I was doing (he was eating his dinner). :)
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
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
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
Monday, October 26, 2009
Press and stuff
Ugh, I am so not digging this weather, although I should be happy it didn't rain when I went out last weekend. Getting back into the 3-1-2-1 schedule this week, although the rain/cold makes me just want to stay home and curl up with a good book or some MNF. :P
Today's WOD was presses, 5-5-5-3-3-3; then W/G Couplet, which was 21-15-9 of body weight back squats and ring dips. We did ring work yesterday for open gym/skill day, and that was a fun time, except my shoulders feel a bit tight from all the different skills we worked on. We'll see how they hold up on the ring dips...
Results: Man, have I lost a lot of upper body strength since I've been sick! My 1RM on press is 90#, so I thought I'd be able to do at least 75-80# for the 3RM today. Nooooo, failed on the 2nd rep of 75# on the third set of 5, so I went back down to 70#. Humbling, but not surprising. Mel told me I should think of the fact that I'm back in the box and am going through the ROM and practicing--that's something. She's right, of course. I find my small defeats more bearable when Mel is there to put things in perspective for me.
The met-con went pretty well except on my first set of ring dips, my damn foot (old complaint) cramped up on me and made me have to stop for a moment on the 10th rep. I did my usual fix-up moves with Mel encouraging me (she experiences plantar fasciitis frequently) and toughed out the rest of the dips. It didn't hurt too badly when I did the squats, but I hated getting back on the red band for the dips. I used 95# for the back squats, although I should/could have done at least 100. Ah well, no use pushing myself too far the first full week back, right? Overall, it was a good met-con experience, minus the foot cramp. I need to drink more water, but it sure is difficult when there's tons of it pouring out of the sky outside and it's cold (for Texas). Time for a hot shower and MNF. :)
Today's WOD was presses, 5-5-5-3-3-3; then W/G Couplet, which was 21-15-9 of body weight back squats and ring dips. We did ring work yesterday for open gym/skill day, and that was a fun time, except my shoulders feel a bit tight from all the different skills we worked on. We'll see how they hold up on the ring dips...
Results: Man, have I lost a lot of upper body strength since I've been sick! My 1RM on press is 90#, so I thought I'd be able to do at least 75-80# for the 3RM today. Nooooo, failed on the 2nd rep of 75# on the third set of 5, so I went back down to 70#. Humbling, but not surprising. Mel told me I should think of the fact that I'm back in the box and am going through the ROM and practicing--that's something. She's right, of course. I find my small defeats more bearable when Mel is there to put things in perspective for me.
The met-con went pretty well except on my first set of ring dips, my damn foot (old complaint) cramped up on me and made me have to stop for a moment on the 10th rep. I did my usual fix-up moves with Mel encouraging me (she experiences plantar fasciitis frequently) and toughed out the rest of the dips. It didn't hurt too badly when I did the squats, but I hated getting back on the red band for the dips. I used 95# for the back squats, although I should/could have done at least 100. Ah well, no use pushing myself too far the first full week back, right? Overall, it was a good met-con experience, minus the foot cramp. I need to drink more water, but it sure is difficult when there's tons of it pouring out of the sky outside and it's cold (for Texas). Time for a hot shower and MNF. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)