cfe

i did yesterday's CFE workout, 2x1200m with a 2:00 rest in between.

round 1 - 5:29.4

round 2 - 5:31.4

this, after ten minutes or so on the elliptical while i was waiting for a random guy to get off the C2. not bad. my endurance is getting better slowly i think.

Proof that CrossFit + paleo work

I have been Paleo with the exception of these past 3 or 4 days (no time to get groceries; exams), and I have been doing a strength-biased program that Mike K. sent to me.

I am seeing big results in body comp. I need to tighten up my eating though because that damn lower abdominal fat is refusing to budge.

My arms are going to get even better once I get my pull up / can do pushups. Can't wait to do some skill work at home.

Back Squats

3-3-3-3-3. I did 40, then tried 50 and did my first bail on the 3d squat. Felt liberating just to let go of the bar and let it crash to the deck and bounce around. Backed it off to 45, then another 45, then a 47. Lots of stretching with Lacrosse ball on my pecs. We have new TP Therapies rollers in the house too, so been rolling around on those trying to get my shoulders loose.

Turkish Get Ups

Lots of fun! AMRAP 20 min. I did one round with 8K kettlebell - 26 reps plus started with 500m row. Your mother did more. This uses essentially everything in your body. It feels great to do, especially for shoulders and sides. Tonight lotsa body parts are sore. It was really fun.

Upper Body Zeit

Today's workout was ostensibly 5 rounds of 7 inverted whatnots on the rings and 15 ring push ups. So I did 4 inverted whatnots with tuck position before I could not haul myself up into inverted anymore; so after that did knees to elbows. Also pushups on the pvc pipe thangs that sit around on the floor. Made it to 3 rounds of them when it was time for me to get on a pro bono committee conference call. Shoulders are OK. My gut still hurts from last Friday when I did those GHD situps.

Idling

Yesterday I felt another cold coming on so sat out from doing Lumberjack which I had planned to do. Slept till 10 or so, and repeated that this morning in an effort to "shake the disease" as DM says. Sleeping like a wildman is the key to getting resistance back for me. Hopefully it will work, because I hate walking around on the edge of another cold or something worse. Today, it's interesting that my lower gut muscles feel like someone kicked me about 20 times - this comes from doing 36 GHD sit ups which Dan and Mike were telling me I was doing wrong. The comments on HQ site and other places said that you will get a delayed reaction and it's painful if you do them wrong, and they were correct. So I am waiting for that to go away. But the good thing is the muscles feel really tightened up down there even if painful, so I figure it has to be good for the core to do these things if I can just figure how to do them right. It's not real clear to me. Except that they are dangerous as hell for your back somehow if you do them wrong. Scary because they felt good whilst I was doing them.

Diagnosis

So the nice people at the health center told me that I "probably have a mild case of the flu." Ugh. The pseudoephedrine and nasal spray they gave me have held me over for some time now, but I am simultaneously exhausted and not tired at all. I wanted to go to the gym, today to get some maxes to give to Mike K so he can program something for me, but that would have been incredibly irresponsible, both for my own personal health and that of anyone who would lift in the rack after me.

Apparently cough drops are NOT paleo, so that means I have to start my count over again. Am thinking of restarting tomorrow and biting the bullet and not using cough drops. I am pretty pissed that I broke paleo after all my good behavior on Thanksgiving. Hate being sick!!!

How was the CFATL holiday party???

Rest Days

I ahve caught some kind of awful cold that is keeping me basically immobile. I have been taking NyQuil and DayQuil Cold & Flu, but it hasn't helped. Today I slept until noon. It's tech week for my dance company, so I have to dance at night every day this week. I feel like I'm going to diiiiiiieeeee. Accordingly, no CF workouts...

Also, there are two of those huge, nasty bugs in my light fixture crawling around. It's only a matter of time until they find their way out into the room and terrify me. I don't really like that.

Delayed Reaction

The pain from the lunges, which I did Sunday, set in Tuesday a.m. Tightness in quads and butt, hard to climb the stairs. Butt hurt when I sit down. It's going away now. Just in time to see what tomorrow brings.

Epsom Salts

I took a bath in Epsom Salts just to try it out. A magical experience, sort of like the mineral baths where they take the cure. I stayed in the tub about 20 or so minutes. Got out, felt so good I went on line and googled "how do Epsom Salts work." Turns out the body absorbs Mg ions and also Sulfate ions, both of which it has a hard time getting through the digestive tract. Both of which are really good for you in all sorts of enzymatic and other ways. So I became a Facebook fan of Epsom Salts. It's amazing stuff. Should go get a shitload and soak in it 3 times a week. 2 cups in the bathwater does the trick. Only reason I did not find out about this before was the heinous cretins at big pharma, same folks who have kept tea tree oil under the bushel, a magical potion that has laid waste in mere days to the second worst case of athletes foot I ever had.

Lunges

It was a nice day today and I was walking around the park after a 1.5 run was to the trashcan over by Woodley when I say a path through the trees and the thought occurred to me to do the lunge workout. So I did it. But thought it was 400 lunges. The grass on the knees was a lot nicer than I imagine the pavement would have been. It took 25:05. Got home and your mother reminded me it was 400 meters, not lunges. So I did 10 in the front yard and it turns out I did 512 meters. I did lots of stretching afterwards, but my hips and thighs are sort of hurting right now. At least it makes the rest of my body not feel so bad from Linda on Saturday.

3 Bars of Death - Still Dying

Yesterday we did Linda, which was 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 for time of dead lift, bench press and cleans. I did not feel so bad yesterday afternoon but last night in bed got real sore turning over. Today my upper body is hurting more by the minute. Dan was right when he said, "I hope you're not planning to do anything for the rest of the weekend." Except die maybe. Hoping to get better soon. Be sure to watch Coach's video yesterday on CrossFit Journal where he spends about 20 minutes talking about why CrossFit is different. Great talk.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!  I will be sitting down all day--or for as much of the day as I can--because I did the 400m walking lunge workout yesterday.  That workout is no joke...  I have never been more sore in my life.  Even after stretching and extensive rolling.

On the super happy side, I will be eating this rather paleo apple crisp (next time I will sub in honey for agave) instead of pie today...so I am thankful for that.  It's delicious, and also the butteriest non-butter-containing item I've ever eaten.

All out intervals

So on Sunday I got a new PR for 5RM deadlifts: 80 kg.  My hamstrings were pretty shredded yesterday, so I did the CFE workout and didn't do Angie.  Today is a CFE rest day, and I think I am going to take another rest day for the main site WOD too.  

But let's get on to the numbers...

All-out efforts: 6x1:3 (1 minute on, 3 off, 6 times through)

246 m

250 m

251 m

246 m

246 m

245 m

I tried as hard as I could to keep those last three above 250, but I'm just not there yet.  Also, 3 minutes may sound like a really long time to rest, but your pulse never quite comes down to where you want it to be before you have to start up again.

Low fat diet = SB

A new study promoting the low-fat diet has come out.  It claims that there is no difference between low-fat and low-carb diets except that people on low-carb diets become significantly unhappier.  Participants in both groups lost 30 pounds over the course of the study.  I guess they didn't bother testing the physical aspects (percentage fat lost vs. muscle; athletic performance; etc.).  Silly.

This all just reminds me of Good Calories, Bad Calories, which I am in the middle of reading.

Out Sick

With cold of a lifetime. I was on the edge when I came back from Germany, and thought I had it beat. Tuesday morning I did the workout with 5 sets of 30 wall balls and 5 sets of 30 GHD's which seem to have put it over the tipping point allowing the little viruses to run rampant and bring me down. Looking forward to being back and going to the gym.

Ballet Flats

Today I was lifting barefoot because I forgot my shoes.  The track coach came over and told me that usually they don't allow anyone with even sandals in the weight room.  I've met this guy before and he's super nice, so I was okay with it.  He said he knew that I knew what I was doing, but he just wanted to make sure I didn't step on something sharp or anything.

Then a kid comes over and asks," Hey, are those special dance shoes or something?"  I said no, I am stuck wearing those because I forgot my lifting shoes.  He said, "But you should never lift barefoot anyway."  To which I answered that no shoes is actually better than most shoes because it allows a direct transfer of force from the floor, etc. etc.  

Then he asks, "Yeah but what if you drop the weight on your foot?"  

me: "I don't drop weights, or when I do, I do it safely.  I know how to drop weights."

him: "But what if someone drops something on your foot?"

me: "Then they'd be in my rack and I'd kick them out of my rack before I started the lift."

him: "Well, you got me."

The track coach also told me I'm "not right in the head" because I like deadlifts so much.  But he said it in a positive, joking way.

Fun times.  In the midst of those hijinks, I got a clean and jerk 1RM of 40 kg.  Not bad.

Workout of Today

Today I did yesterday's CFA workout which Dan made up since it was an HQ rest day. It was 5 rounds of 400 m run, 30 GHD's and 30 wall balls (16 lb). My right leg is essentially well from where I yenked it about a month ago (judicious stretching and toe raises helped) - but was running in my geezer skids, the gray new balance 991's not my VFF's. The first set of GHD's, which are usually no problem, tightened me up for the first round of wall balls; might be because I have been on the road for a while doing Eva T workouts which aren't quite as intense. Anyway, the inner voice was screaming at me the whole time - so much of this is psychological and the need just to be tough about it; battling the voice and thinking positive thoughts. The quote from the Inner Voice article I like best is:

Ensure your inner dialogue

is about the present tense.

Remember, the point of power is

always in the present tense.

As this morning proved, it's easier to read this than truly to live it out in the workout, to be totally in the present tense and not OCD about the 140 wall balls you have left to do but rather just focus on driving from the heels and looking at the 10 foot mark. Anyway, did the workout in 37:02. Point of power: Present tense. My mantra for today.

CFE

Today is a HQ rest day, but I did today's CrossFit Endurance WOD to atone for my biscuit and multiple brownies after dance practice today.  

15 minutes of rowing = 3184 meters  (I used damper level 4)

I was psyching myself out for the first three minutes: "I'm so tired, I can't do 15 minutes, this is brutal, I feel like I'm going to throw up."  But then I remembered that I have done way worse workouts before (5 rounds of snatches + running, anyone?) and promptly told that inner voice to "quit that shit," in the words of Coach Glassman.  I got into a good rhythm of breathing and generally managed to keep myself within a 10-second window for pacing (measured on my display as time it would take to row 500m).

These days I have been pretty good about keeping it Paleo for breakfast/lunch/snacks, but come dinnertime (especially on Wednesdays and Thursdays after dance practice) I head for the carbs.  Then I wake up with a headache the next morning.  I need to figure out why I do that.  

I mean, I'm pretty sure it's because I want to eat at the dining hall with my friends instead of coming home and taking an hour or so to cook myself a meal--and then once I get to the dining hall, there is nothing healthy at all.  I still need to fine tune my system of cooking intentional leftovers for the rest of the week...once I get that set up and find a way to be with my friends that doesn't involve food, I'll be good.

So true, so true

I like this image of the food pyramid promoted by the government. (I swiped this off CF Balboa's blog.)

Compared to the Paleo pyramid:

Yum, love that meat, love those fats.  (From the Paleo Diet Blog.)

Random stuff

Today at the gym I didn't do a specific WOD.  I was thinking of doing the 5k, but I don't have any running shoes up here, so I decided not to.  I started the CF Endurance WOD and then stopped after 500 meters because my knee was hurting.  Then I hopped on the elliptical for ten minutes.  I also did 20 pull ups on that stupid knurled bar (taping the hands doesn't help!) and 30 ring dips--both with blue bands.  Boy is my upper body hurting!  I may do yoga tonight, we'll see.  My knees hurt, though, so I may be done for the day.

EDIT: Also, I did CF Total the other day and got a total of 375#, or 170 kg!  This is way higher than I expected, so I am happy.  I am also happy that I was able to replicate my 1RM deadlift even after my legs were tired from working up to a 55 kg squat (and still recovering from a 3RM squat set a few days before).  That's 90 kg easy, folks, and hopefully moving up to 95 next time I attempt it.

Back to it

Well, I am back from my one-day trip to Boston, and I went to the gym immediately after returning.  I didn't even unpack (but then again, I don't unpack immediately either).  I made up Friday's pull up ladder since I am in no way ready or equipped to do the Filthy Fifty.  I did 10 rounds with a blue band.  I am very pleased with this, since last time I did it, I did 11 rounds with green PLUS purple bands.  I could have managed 11 in terms of muscle fatigue, but the stupid pull up bar at the gym is KNURLED so my hands were in agony and I wouldn't have been able to keep a grip much longer.  In fact, one of my blisters has turned into a blood blister because of that stupid bar.  The other pull up bar that isn't attached to a wall (no kipping on those!) has a rubber slick covering on it, so that's no good for the grip either.

I also did tabata rowing, as Rx'd by CF Endurance.  I noticed that my knees tended to buckle in, just like they try to in squats and deadlifts--a visible sign of inner thigh weakness--so my whole knee problem makes a lot more sense now.

I want to make up CF total tomorrow, plus the regular WOD from HQ.  We'll see if my knees are up to it.

Lastly, I have figured out that pin curls are a great way to get your hair out of the way for working out, especially if you tie a bandana around them.  That keeps the sweat off, and you don't have to worry about your ponytail falling out or your hair getting in your face.  And then afterwards, you have nice curls in your hair.  See?

It's no-nonsense WOD hair.

More Eva T

Yesterday did 10 sets of 10 squats, pushups, situps in 12:02 and lots of yoga, shoulder and ham/calf stretching. Today did 3 sets of 25 squats, pushups, situps in 9:13 and lots of yoga, shoulder and ham/calf stretching. Hotel floor is hard as hell; doing situps on the bed which was about as hard as my manduka black yoga mat is.

Knees

So I went to the athletic trainer who trains dancers and some of the wrestlers and men's soccer, and she said that my quadricep is so much stronger than the muscles on the inside of my thigh that it is causing the patella to be pulled over towards the quadricep, out of its groove, and to rub against the thigh bones that connect at the knee.  (Dad you probably know what I'm talking about, and in more technical terms.)  

She told me to ice it 6 times per day, stretch it as many times with certain exercises she gave me, and take ibuprofen with every meal.  And I can exercise as long as I use my judgment and stop when I need to.  She said we'll work on strength later once I loosen up my hip flexors and reduce the inflammation.

So today I went into the gym and did front squats:

3-3-3-3-3

30-35-40-45-40...new front squat PR wheeee-ha!

Wish me luck

Going to the athletic trainer in about an hour.  The elliptical machine made me knees (and elbows) hurt even worse.  Ugh ugh ugh.  I'm hoping this is something fixable.

Hotel Workouts

At the fabulous Angelo in Munich. Eva T yesterday and today. Yesterday, 6 rounds of 10 squats, push ups, sit ups. Today, 3 rounds of 25 of each of them. Plus a bunch of stretching on shoulders. I can say that Jet Lag makes squats harder. My pushups are building however.

Back in ATL for 2 Days

So got to cop 2 workouts at CF ATL. Yesterday was 140 double unders, so with my calf in bad shape I did rowing Helen: 3 rounds for time of 500 m row, 21 kb swings (1 pookie), 12 pull ups (blue band). 15:33. Can tell I have lost a little ground since it had been almost 2 weeks since I had been to the gym but instead was doing Eva T workouts in the dinky ass little Sofitel workout room. Today I really wasn't stoked up to make it to the gym but your mother really was, so we went and did 1/2 the WOD: We did 3 rounds for time of 12, then 24, then 36 squats, push ups, pullups and sit ups. I did 19:32. Hat's off to your mother for making it happen. Now to jump a plane to Munchen.

Jennifer take care of your knee, breathe a lot of love and patience into it; the body will heal if you show it the love.

Knees

After the rowing extravaganza, my left knee started hurting.  I told the director of my dance group, who told me that I shouldn't be working out without a trainer; that I need to work on strengthening whichever leg was "obviously" weaker and the cause of my knee pain (even though I can deadlift 1.25 x BW); and that I needed to dance for the practice.  So I did.  Now my knee hurts even worse, and there is no way I'm not giving it a few rest days.  I am going to dance today, but I will NOT dance.  This really annoys me.

Variations

Tonight I had some risotto, and I think I reached the pinnacle of my non-Paleo eating.  I had been more or less doing 2 paleo meals per day plus snacks and then one at the dining hall (laziness, forgetting to unfreeze my frozen meats), and tonight I decided that I just needed some comfort food.  I'd had a headache all day and obviously there I also some relationship drama lurking in the background...anyway, this risotto is sitting in my stomach like a ton of bricks.

I almost decided not to go to the gym, actually.  Wasn't in the mood for a 20 min AMRAP, and I can't do HSPUs or muscle ups.

I've been eyeing CrossFit Endurance for a while now.  Sunday's Michael (21:22) showed me that I can improve a LOT in my running/rowing, and I need this more than I probably need to get my strength up.  Strength comes up anyway, Coach Glassman says, because of the nature of the programming.  Tonight I did the CFE WOD in lieu of the HQ WOD.

I accidentally left out the first minute of rest, but wow...what a workout!  It actually wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it'd be.  In 14:50 I managed 2741 meters.  I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to do that a few months ago...cool.

I am going to try for the HQ WOD in the morning and CFE in the evening...we'll see how well I can manage that.  When it comes down to it, though, I am trying to be a CrossFit athlete, not just someone who works out at the gym from time to time.  My goal is performance on the WODS, and 2-a-days and strict Paleo are a great way to achieve that.

Also, I can do 8 pull ups with a blue band without coming off the bar, which is a huge thing for me.  Wheeeee.  My dips are getting there slowly too.

Getting the strength up

I think I'm going to do some supplementary lifting.  Now that I haven't already, but I would like to get my deadlift up to 1.5xBW, and my press is kind of shameful right now.

So I want to do the CF 603 PTP program along with the WOD, or on days like today, instead of the WOD (since I can't do pull ups yet).  I am also going to work on pull ups and push ups extra hard.  Just...maybe when the athletes aren't all there, as I do have a wee bit of shame about knee push ups and resistance band pull ups.  But I'll get there...

Elizabeth take 3

Yesterday I did Elizabeth for the third time.  Let's review:

Elizabeth take 1, September 2 2009

cleans with 25kg, dips with green and purple bands

9:03

Elizabeth take 2, October 1 2009

cleans with 30kg, dips with green band

8:53

Elizabeth take 3, October 16 2009

cleans with 30kg, dips with green band

6:00 even

I cut my time down by 2 minutes and 53 seconds!  !!!  I should go up in weight next time and down in band size because this...well, it didn't feel easy, but I waited a little over 2 weeks and cut down almost 3 minutes, so...yeah

Anyway that made me super happy yesterday!

091017 Tyler

Today was Tyler, a hero workout. Rx is 7 ring dips and 21 SDHP at some unGodly weight. But Marie suggested I sub 21 pullups and 21 bar dips for the ring dips. So I did that - still on blue band for pullups and not feeling real strong on them today; and big band on bar dips. 30KG on SDHP. This was an endurance workout; took me 36:03. Chili Peppers were on the stereo which helped me along. Also had on new Under Armor gray tracksuit which helped keep me warm; gym was cool inside - both garage doors down since wx outside was in the 40's.

Yesterday's

Yesterday since I still can't do 30 push ups, I decided to do the GHD extravaganza from a few weeks ago.  This was way worse than I'd thought it would be.  The back extensions were brutal from round 3 on.

5 rounds for time

30 GHD situps

25 back extensions

time: 9:22

Of course, today's WOD is back extension extravaganza.  Figures.

Silly me

Well yesterday I attempted CrossFit Total, as the HQ ordered...well, it would have been great had I read more closely and realized that "press" meant shoulder press and not bench press.  Oh well.  Got a new PR for benching, anyway, and for back squats.

Back squat: 55 kg

Bench: 65#

DL: 85 kg

That's not my 1RM for deadlift, but due to being back at Williams and in the gym at 9:45 pm, I didn't have my heart completely in it, and my legs weren't fresh since I did the squats.  Yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses....

Tue Oct 13, 2009 / Fran

On Sunday, I did 45 minutes of Astanga with David "Stand at the front of your mat" Swenson and then went for a run in my five fingers. My right soleus / achilles started hurting over by the golf club so I had to stop and walk it in.

Rest day yesterday.

Today did Fran. 21 - 15 - 9 thrusters and pull ups. I did 25 kg bar and blue band, for 10:21. This exceeded the last Fran I did on 9.9.09, where I used a clean mens bar and a blue band for 11:44. Today I was doing thrusters by doing 10 first, then bunches of 5's.

The soleus / achilles feels better day by day; am "activating" it by walking some stairs on my toes.

Whoah

Today's WOD was:

AMRAP 20 min

row 250m

21 SDHP (I used 25 kg = 55#)

15 pull ups (green band)

I got 3 rounds plus 250 m.  The workout wouldn't have been so bad if we didn't have to go up and down a flight of stairs and across a basketball court to get to the C2s.  I say we because I did it with two guys named Mike who also CF.  One of the Mikes is an absolute powerhouse.  I think he got 4 rounds, but then again, he stopped his timer when walking to and from the rowing machine, and I treated it as a rest while the clock was still going, so who knows...  I definitely felt the pressure not to rest as much during the SDHPs because of that long walk.  

This is the first real met-con I've done in a while, and it kicked my ass.

I think next time I'll attempt women's Rx of 65# on the SDHPs, as these didn't take as long for me as they did for the Mikes, who were doing theirs at men's Rx.  I also want to go down a band to blue on the pull ups, but I knew I wouldn't make it through if I tried to do that today.

My gluuuuutes

I have come to the conclusion that once Wednesdays I can't do both CF and the 2.5 hours of dance.  Until we have our fall show, I can't skip any dance rehearsals, so I will just have to cut out CF on Wednesdays until then.  Either my legs are too destroyed from CF to dance (happened last week), or my legs are too destroyed from dance to go and do my WOD afterwards.  And leg-intensive WODs always seem to fall on Wednesdays.

Today we did some Scottish step dance, which really took it out of my glutes for whatever reason.  I don't even have really bad shin splints right now, just glute pain like crazy.  Yowza.  There was no way I would get even close to finishing today's WOD with my jelly legs haha.

Tuesday 091006

Karen 150 wall ball shots - 14:07; a few seconds better than I did last time using the same ball, a 16#. This time, unlike last: (1) I did all sets of 10 rather than having to revert back to sets of 5; and (2) James Brown was not on the stereo. Still good though. My ass had been hurting ever since doing the one leg squats on Saturday, and this loosened it up somewhat, somehow.

How come it taste so good?

Bacon, I mean. I just finished off my first pack of Benton's, used the grease to saute some brussels sprouts and kale...yum. Good Paleo eats.

I eat Paleo because, as everyone in CF says, you shouldn't piss in your fuel tank. The workouts make you want to eat Paleo. So I had to indulge myself in some meat and veggies tonight--never mind the fact that the dining hall would be way faster and give me more time for my reading. Nope, today was Paleo and I feel gooooood.

Today's workout was ass-kicking.
120 pull ups (green band)
120 ring dips (I used parallel bars w/ green band)
time: 27:27

My whole upper body, but especially the arm region, is shot. Heck, it was shot after pull up 60 or so, when I could just feel the lactic acid coursing into my back and triceps. The dips were pure agony, and accounted for more than half of my time; I got my pull ups done in about 10 minutes.

Then again, take this time with a grain of salt, since I inadvertently stopped the clock for a minute or so while adjusting my setup (bench under a cable machine = shins smashing into bench while kipping), so it's more of a ballpark figure I suppose.

Leg Burner 091003

Today was an interesting one, and fun.

800m run

15 one legged squats, left

15 one legged squats, right

25 sit ups

12 olsl

12 olsr

25 sit ups

9 olsl

9 olsr

25 sit ups

800m run

I did the squats to 20" box. Dan showed us the one legged squats using rings to help pull up with, then using a rope, then using a pole. Any of those are good subs. We were strong enough to squat one leg to the box. Probably climbing stairs at the building and doing yoga for balance helped. Anyway, it was a great workout.

Rest Day at Half Moon Outfitters

To celebrate rest day, I went over there after work to buy "Born to Run" which Dan had lent me and I had already read, about barefoot running. Talked with him for a while and got him to autograph a copy for your mother. I told him I had already read it and how much it has turned around the way I think about and do running, me, after being back in 1974 one of the first people I knew to buy the Nike ST1000 which started the whole cushioned sole bullshit. Didn't understand in the 70's whilst running in Maine why I was having knee problems and had to go down to Deaconess Hospital in Boston to see Dr. MacGregor to help me along. Anyway, it is a great read and helps understand why constraining the feet from doing what they were formed to do is nonsensical. Anyway, fun time.

Yeehaw

Got my super sweet interval timer in the mail yesterday, used it on my workout, Elizabeth.

21-15-9
cleans (power clean, 30kg)
ring dips (I did parallette dips with green band)

Previously I was only able to do the dips with green + purple bands, but this time around the green band only was no problem. I have a HUGE bruise on my collarbone from the cleans.

Just got the Rippetoe DVD in...so excited to watch it!

EDIT: whoops, forgot to mention that I finished it in 8:53

Tuesday was rest day, so I spent it resting and pondering the greater things in life.

Today's workout was a "grinder" according to Dan. When I walked in the gym and saw it on the whiteboard my jaw dropped. Nothing for it but to warm up a little bit and grind through it.

25 walking lunges

20 pullups (thin strap!)

50 box jumps (20")

200 jump ropes

25 parallel bar dips (big band)

20 knees to elbows on rings

20 kb swings (1 pood)

30 sit ups

20 hang squat cleans

25 back extensions on GHD

30 wall ball shots (16#)

3 rope climbs

Got a nice rope rash on my right leg. Literally the last time I climbed a rope was 11th grade at Druid Hills High where we had it as part of our PE test every semester.

I was sore in many places throughout the day from this. Though it was less intense than fight gone bad, it made me just as sore. Must be doing some good.

Snatches

Today I did 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 snatches. I managed 15-20-25-30(0)-30(0)-25-25.

The 25s were fine but the 30s didn't happen due to a few things: (1) I have terrible form and nobody to watch it and give me cues; (2) a photographer from the newspaper was there trying to get a good shot, and he had a point-and-shoot digital camera, so I just wanted to get that done with and went back to 25kg. I think I'll hold off on snatching until I get back to the affiliate.

Funny story: I think this was the kid's first assignment and he told me that he thought I would know what he should photograph. Ha! Finally, he had me pretending to do a push up, and he took some shots of me doing power snatches and cleans. But he asked if I could maybe hold the bar up in mid-path. HAHAHA. NO.

Rest Day

Yeehaw, rest day. Went to Pilates, which is required if you're a member of a dance company on campus. I actually am getting way more out of it than I thought I would. Holly (instructor of pilates and director of INISH) is really into the anatomical aspect of it--keeping the lumbar curve intact and being very specific about muscles used--so I think this may be a good supplement to my CrossFit. Something to keep me a little more limber.

The interview with the paper went well. I took the reporter through the CF warmup, too; I was going to the gym after the interview and she asked if she could tag along for a few minutes. I think the article comes out Monday, so we'll see...

Ugh

I have to say, CrossFitting without an affiliate is harder than I thought it would be. Today I was trying to do the WOD from the main site, and I was looking forward to it, but it's so hard to keep going when you're doing it alone and timing it on your cell phone. I may sound whiny, but I really miss the trainers and encouragement and camaraderie. To make a long story short, I stopped mid-WOD today. Sucks.

Then I decided to not completely waste my gym trip, so I was going to do overhead squats 3-3-3-3-3. Well, after round 3, my wrists gave out (and I don't have tape), so I couldn't even finish that.

Today feels like such a failure. I am going to try and hang up my pull up bar tonight. Hopefully it works and today won't be a complete waste.

I am going strict Paleo starting tomorrow--no cheat days or anything since I still feel subpar--and I will stick to CF HQ's 3-on, 1-off schedule. We'll see how that works. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving, when I will have a whole week at the affiliate.

Coach Rip DVD Starting Strength

We just finished watching the power clean and the dead lift portions of Rippetoe's Starting Strength DVD. You will not believe how absolutely useful and common sense it is. He is such a good coach. He also teaches some technique that differs from what we have learned in some pretty material ways - and what he says makes total sense. I strongly suggest you one click this right away and watch it if you don't have it.

Eurgh

I must admit that life this week has gotten in the way of my aspirations to keep strict Paleo.  Namely, after dance gets out I am ravenous and don't have the time to cook before I get my rear in gear to the library to do my reading, so that's a bummer.  When I am not Paleo I tend to get very sad because I miss how good it makes me feel.  This weekend I am going back on Paleo and hopefully pre-cooking some meals for the coming week so that I don't end up in hungry-let's-eat-carbs land again.

Seriously, right now I just feel sick to my stomach.  Blegh.

This is a device I got at city sports to help open my shoulders more. You can hang body weight to pull your shoulders back, out of their sockets, or whatever. Hurt me Rhonda. Seems to be doing some good, if pain is any measure.

9.23.09 and 9.24.09

After 3 days off on account of feeling lousy (was it the walnuts I had, some bug or what?), yesterday did Cindy; max rounds in 20 minutes of 5 pull ups, 10 push ups and 15 squats. Used blue band, and did real pushups. Did 8 rounds + pullups + pushups. There was nothing left in upper body.

Today WOD was more of the same plus more: 3 rounds of 100 foot lunge walk (10 lb overhead), 20 pullups, 25 push ups 30 sit ups for time. Used blue band but had to do pushups on knees. Time was 22.35. Still did not have total strength today.

Got some Chia seeds, started putting them in my superfood in the a.m. Yum.

Gah my legs

Yesterday and today I've had 2.5 hour long dance practices, so I am counting those as the workouts of the day.  My legs feel like jelly.

WOD - Hauling Poods of This

Rest Day

Paleo day 1 tomorrow...again.  Doing another 30 days, as just under a week of eating like I used to is making me feel like crap on a stick.

Also, thank God it's a rest day.  I am sooooooo sore.

Fran

Today I did Fran after hearing that mom and dad did it.

Boy am I out of shape as far as pull ups are concerned!  When I go, the gym is usually full of athletes doing what they think are deadlifts and squats (hint: they aren't), so I haven't been able to do pull ups in my warm up usually because there are a lot of people waiting for the bars.  Ugh.  Also, I had to correct some guys doing snatches for their team workout yesterday.  I hear "Dude, what's a snatch again?"  "Uh I think it's where you put it over your head."  And then they tried to snatch using a really narrow grip, and the bar path was all over the place.  I think they were really surprised to be corrected by a girl.

Anyway, I used a 20kg bar for the thrusters and a green band for the pull ups.  Time was 8:01

Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009

Today did Fran. I just tried posting on this blogger.com piece of shit but it ate my post so here goes again. 21-15-9 thrusters and pullups. Clean bar and blue band. 11:44. Your mother subbed 12 lb kettlebell swings for thrusters cause she yenked one of her legs yesterday nach hause, and she used purple and green bands for liftoff. She beat me again with amazing 11:38. See our photo from yesterday or day before on cfa site. OK I am going to see if this f****ing thing takes the post this time.

Saturday Sept 18, 2009

Today did an unnamed workout which comprised 5 rounds of 30 sit ups on ab mat and 25 rdl's (instead of ghd, since they were all occupied). Dan taught us on rdl's this morning and it made all the difference - not surrendering back, not caring that much about going down too far, the idea being to stretch the hamstrings (which it did). Your mother did the workout too and beat me on time. Time was 21:52; your mother smoked it in 21.36 and beat me!

Today did Daniel which was 50 pullups, 400m run, 21 thrusters, 800 m run, 21 thrusters, 400 m run, 50 pullups. Used green band, 35# bar. Did 27:45. This was an OK workout except I still could not walk normally from all the jump ropes on Monday. Went to see Jack today and my soleus and gastrocnemius's are still sore. Must be doing some good.

Today was one of those days where I had a headache getting out of bed and was having trouble moving around being stiff and sore from previous workouts, generally feeling lousy. First rounds of pullups could tell I was way low on energy, almost like a bug. By the first set of thrusters I was feeling more normal, but never got totally energetic. But I can say I believe that at the end of the workout I felt better, less sick, than I would have if I had not gone.

Bleh

Ugh ugh ugh I am starting back on paleo tomorrow, I feel like Crap On A Stick without it.  For serious.

No more Paleo

No more days of Paleo, and I already feel nasty and fuzzy-brained.  This is just confirmation that I am going to start another 30 days tomorrow.  Wheee.

Yesterday was front squats 3-3-3-3-3

I did (in kg): 25-30-35-40-40

The day before that I did DL 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 and established a new 1RM Deadlift: 85 kg.  Yay!

Thank goodness today is a CF HQ rest day...my glutes are killing me!

New Shoes

Paleo Day 27: Almost done

At this point in my Paleo routine, I am craving a huge pan of brownies.  I'm not sure why the beginning was easier than now is...oh well.  I was reduced to eating a potato last night because the restaurant I went to didn't really have any other vegetables.  Grr.  But I skipped the butter.  Tonight is another restaurant (going with different people), and it's an Italian and Greek place, so I may well end up eating before I go see these people.  I can't really eat pasta, so I may have no other option.  I don't really mind.

Today I forewent doing Barbara in favor of doing Linda.  Linda is 10 factorial of DL, clean, and bench press.

My stats: 

DL 35 kg

power clean 15 kg (used the only women's bar in the whole gym, but it was, in retrospect, too little weight)

bench 20 kg (up from 15 last time)

time: 15:16

So I increased my DL and bench and still decreased my time.  

I need to get an AbMat before I try any of the sit-up stuff again, the difference for me is huge.

I hear that my mom made it into CF ATL today!  Gooooooo Mooooooom!  Now we just need to get Allison into CF Buffalo and we'll be a family of CrossFitters.  Hehe...

090912 - Barbara

Did Barbara today. Before I started I could not visualize how I could do that many pullups, pushups and squats - am used to doing lots of situps. So I decided to knock it out a chunk at a time, be totally existential about it and not think about the next round, just finish this one. It was more psychological than physical in some ways, especially the part standing around between rounds for 3 minutes feeling guilty about not doing something in the middle of a workout. I used big band on pullups, and did pushups on knees; did each round in ~8 minutes something. Total time was 41:09.

Don't know who Barbara is, but after this I am not sure I want to meet up with her. Maybe a cousin of Mr. Pukie or Uncle Rhabdo.

Nancy went today and Vas showed her some things. She looked like a natural gym rat, fit right in.

Sept 11, 2009

Today was a rest day. The WOD looks pretty tough.

090910

Push press 3-3-3-3-3. Heidi, then Dan were coaching me. Also Brent gave me a few comments about sticking my butt out when I land. I did 30 Kg, constrained by shoulder range of motion issues. But did a lot of practicing on the push part off the shoulders. I did a lot of extra ones trying to work on my form and am pretty sore from it, especially my forearms. Must be doing some good.

Also, today I did not follow a school bus all the way from Howell Mill to XFit. I followed two of them.

Paleo Day 25

Today was push press 3-3-3-3-3

I did 20-25-30-35(failed)-30.

Not too bad, actually.  My shoulders are super sore today. 

I can't believe it's Paleo day 25!  I dream of a big pan of gooey brownies...ack.  5 more days!

Lastly, I really miss CF ATL.  The Williams gym is full of people bench pressing and doing squats with really bad form.

090909

Today it was four rounds for time of 20 pullups, 100' lunges carrying dumbbells (10lb), 30 x 24" box jumps. I had seen this on the HQ site last night and was praying to Jah all night long that CFA would put up a different workout. But when I got to the gym and saw the whiteboard, I just stared and tried to stoke up. Even though last Friday I had trashed my quads to the point of spasming (sp?) doing weighted lunges and they still had some recovering to do. On pullups I did blue bands first set, then back to green the next 3 sets. Had trouble getting up on the box for even the first try, so I knew that was going to have to go one at a time - finally got the hang of swinging my arms so I could do 4 and 5 at a time. Literally the whole workout was to do one movement at a time and work hard at not thinking about the next one, just doing this one. This one was a beast, it was definitely not no joke. As Dan called it, a beat-down.

Jennifer, Leah and that tall guy with the braces who said "It ain't no joke" both said to tell you hi and that they miss you. Leah was really happy to hear that you are coming back Thanksgiving - she says it will be here in no time and that she looks forward to it.

090908

This morning I followed a school bus all the way from Howell Mill to the driveway of XFit. But it was good, because I was rooting down to some dub music all the way, Sunshine Dub from Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad - old school reggae from Rochester NY. Anyway the workout was 10 rounds of: 5 pull ups, 5 push ups, 10 sit ups, 10 squats for time. I used a blue band today and also did real pushups. Time was 15:04. On the way home followed an old beat up Lincoln cruiser who finally turned off, but it was OK bks I was saying thanks to Jah all the way that the w/o was over.

Paleo Day 20

My life has gotten easier now that I have figured out that 1 Larabar = 3 blocks.  Yum.  This might especially help on the road tomorrow / Monday / Tuesday.  I will be taking those days off from exercise, obviously, since I will be in the car the whole time.  Can't wait to get my pull up bar set up in my room.  I will be kipping away at all hours of the night.

Friday, 090904

Today we did a workout that sounded easy. 50 lunges with a dumbell overhead held by one arm locked out. 50 situps. 4 rounds. I had no trouble with the situps, but the lunges were hurting me after about 15 of them in the first set. By the fourth set my upper quads were twinging when I came up (the trailing leg quad). It was more odd than anything else. So with 16 left to go I broke it with the last set of situps, and then came back to finish off the lunges, quads firing away like someone was sticking cattle prods into them. They have been sore all day, though I have been walking around to try to stretch them out. Crazy. Might have had something to do with the rounds of chips/guac, 3 (4?) scoops of Nancy's vanilla ice cream, or 2 pieces of lemon cake I had at Dante study last night. Actually now that I think about it, I would trade twinging quad-lunges for Nancy's vanilla ice cream any day, worth the pain and more.

Paleo Day 19

Cripes!  I am basically 2/3 of the way done with my 30 Day Paleo Endeavor.  I am going to have a cheat meal (ooooh!  dairy!) and then probably start in on another 30 days.  I just like the way I feel.  I don't get random energy drops; I like taking the guesswork out of mealtime; I like the built in snacks.

Today is a CF HQ rest day, but CF ATL prescribed some sort of beastly-looking WOD involving lunge steps and situps.  I opted to do back squats, since I haven't done those and wanted to try them before I leave.  Tomorrow is my last day at the affiliate...tear...

Back squats 5-5-5-5-5

20-30-40-45-45 (kg)

Did the squats without a med ball today (for height reference).  I was kind of happy about that, as I need to know where the bottom is on my own without a med ball.  Nevertheless, Dan said that I was on the verge of not going down deep enough.  This is where having lifting buddies up at college will help.

Paleo Day 18: best day ever...

...to take a rest day, as today's WOD is a 5k.  Which is further than I have ever run continuously in my life.  

I am enjoying the rest, especially as I have a nasty bruise on my thumb from my hook grip (forgot to tape for Elizabeth!).

Tomorrow is my second to last WOD with my affiliate, and I am very upset about that.  I am pulling together a CF group up at Williams.  There are a few people who have done it and a few more who want to start, so at least I'll have someone to work out with.  It's really too bad that the gym is so badly set up for crossfitting, though.

Well, this just gives me more incentive to get certified in the late winter and then possibly demand money ( = space, equipment) from my school because we are affiliated.

Paleo Day 17

I can't believe I'm already more than halfway through the 30 days of Paleo.  I am feeling (and looking) great.  This is definitely something that I will be continuing past the 30 days.

Monday's WOD was deadlifts!  My favorite.  

2-2-2-2-2-2-2 (although I only did 2-2-2-2-2)

with 60-65-70-75-75

Tuesday's was pure torture:

row 1000m

21 thrusters (men's bar = 20 kg = 45#)

21 pull ups (green band for assistance)

row 750m

15 thrusters

15 pull ups

row 500m

9 thrusters

9 pull ups

My time for that one was 26:56.  Good lord, I was happy to be done with that one.  This workout magically taught me to kip, though.  For the last set of pull ups, I had 6 left and just wanted to be done, so I told myself that I wasn't coming off the bar, and so I didn't.  I just kipped.  Coooooool.

Today's was:

21-15-9

cleans (I did 25 kg power cleans)

ring dips (used the bars instead, used green + purple bands)

Aaaaaand I am very glad that tomorrow is a rest day!

Paleo Day 14

Yesterday even though we were going at 9, I was up from 6:30 on with some...indigestion.  Not pleasant.  We went to CF ATL around 9:15 and I ended up toughing it through maybe the worst WOD I have ever done.  (It's somehow worse than the full Michael...?!)

5 rounds for time of:

15 power snatches

400m run

My time was 25:45.  I'm not so happy with it, but I did have to take a lot of breaks because I got kind of dizzy/nauseous.  I am ultimately just proud of myself for finishing the damn thing without meeting Pukie.  Or Uncle Rhabdo, for that matter.  I hope...

090827 Fri

Yesterday was a rest day.

Today was, for me, Karen with 150 wall balls. I used a 16 lb ball this time. I started off with one round of 10 and then did 5's after that. Toward the end, when I had done about 115 shots, James Brown came on the stereo with "Get On Up" and even though I was dying I was home free. Time 14:42. Slower than the 11:20 time I got 5 weeks ago on Friday, 090724, but this time I was throwing a 16lb ball rather than 12. I was pretty much tore up after it was over.

Happy Days

My pull up bar came in from Again Faster!  Yessssss!

Paleo Day 12: Oh.

Today was overhead squats, and it was my first time doing them with weight.

3-3-3-3-3

I did:

10-15-20-20-20-andthenanother20forgoodmeasure

I had to tape my wrists because the first time I did the 20kg my wrists hurt so damn much that I had to drop the bar.  Mid-squat.  Oh the indignity.

I'll be increasing my weight next time because those last 3 20s were fairly easy for me.

Paleo Day 11: day of rest

Yep, today's a rest day. Which, I might add, is more than well deserved after yet another 20 minute AMRAP WOD.

We did Nate: 20 min AMRAP
2 muscle ups (we subbed 8 pull ups and 8 parallette dips)
4 HSPUs (we subbed a 20s handstand)
8 2pd KB swings (I did 12 kg)

I managed 7 rounds and 7 additional pull ups. My arms were and mainly still are shot. My right arm is also covered in little red spots, as all the capillaries burst since my arm was working so hard. Ha!

Tue, 090825

We walk into the gym and one guy with whom we trained last week says, "Good luck Man." His friends says, "It ain't no joke." What they were talking about was this WOD: 5 thrusters, 7 hang power cleans, 10 sumo dead lifts; as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes. I had a clean bar so I was able to do 10; which meant I wasn't lifting enough. In any event, I was blowed out for the rest of the day. It wasn't no joke at all.

Paleo Day 9

Still hanging in there. Yesterday's WOD was Cindy. I did 12 rounds + 5 pull ups with a green band only. Last time I did Cindy, I did 10 rounds + 3 pull ups with green and purple bands, so this is a huge improvement all around. Happy :) I still have been using dumbbells instead of pushups because my elbows tend to hurt. Dan says he thinks it's maybe mild tendonitis or something. But pushups are something I need to work on. The good things is that I used dumbbells both times I did Cindy, so the comparison is accurate.

Today we did AMRAP in 20 minutes of:
5 thrusters
7 hang power cleans
10 sumo deadlift high pulls

I did 10 rounds even. So did Dad.

Heidi and Brent were giving me some good motivation this time around. With one minute left, I needed to do the 7 cleans and 10 high pulls, and it was nice to have someone motivating me to finish. Additionally, Dan and another guy both individually complimented me on my form. (The guy told me two or three times in a row that my SDHPs look good.) Dan says I've gotten WAY better since starting at CF ATL. So hurray. I just need to learn snatches and I'll be set for lifting out on my own.

Paleo still going strong. Still eating more fruit than I should. In the fall at school I NEED to stock up on kale, broccoli, and brussels sprouts, which are three of the more manageable vegetables in terms of block amounts. I'm really not looking forward to leaving my affiliate, though. Hope they don't forget who I am :/

Here is me chowing down on raspberries for dessert last night:

Monday, 090824

Cindy - 5 pullups (green band), 10 pushups (knee), 15 squats; as many rounds as possible in 20 min. Today I got 12, which is up from 10 in the last Cindy I did, about a month ago. Felt pretty strong.

Yesterday ran the park and also did yoga.

Saturday 090822

1111111 Hang Cleans. 42.5KG.

Also did the O'neill test: 975 meters.

Also 60 sec recovery from 149 BPM was 35 BPM.

A great workout day after a day off.

Paleo Day 6: feeling groovy

Yes, it's day 6 of Paleo and I am feeling gooooood. I have devised a concoction to have for breakfast when I eat my 3 oz of nonfat turkey. This leaves me with having to double the fat, so I have 6 blocks worth of coconut milk (approximately 2.7 oz). I mix this with 1 cup of strawberries (1 block) and 1 cup of blueberries (2 blocks). BAM. 3 block meal.

I've noticed that blocking things out is making me eat more fruit though. My favorite vegetables happen to be spinach and broccoli, which both take a crazy amount of mass to make up one block (think: 10 cups of spinach), so I've been having trouble getting my green leaves in. I'm not yet comfortable with calculating partial blocks and whatnot, so I guess I'll push for more kale on the menu (1.5 cups = 1 block = more doable). I'm just not happy with eating so much fruit.

Today's workout was 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 hang power cleans. I had a 1 rep max of 37 kg. I am pretty happy with it, but if my elbows weren't so darn slow I may have been able to do more. Weights are something I have fun with. The other lady workout out with us was fresh out of the beginner class and was really impressed that I was lifting so much already. I have a long way to go, though, so I'm going to have to befriend some of the coaches at Williams or something so that I'll have someone to watch my form and reminds me to get my elbows up. Otherwise I don't see myself progressing super fast.

1/2 Michael

Today we graduated from Crossfit Atl beginner's class.  Did a 1/2 Michael - 400 m run, 25 GHD's, 25 sit ups.  Time was 14:32.  Got a massage to loosen the shoulders, which have been tight all week.  

Paleo Day 4: Blockheads

Okay, so I'm blocking things out today.  I'm going for three 3-block meals and two 1-block snacks.  Seems like a lot of food, but high volume eating isn't always bad.

So far, my breakfast is:

3 oz turkey breast

9 almonds

.5 c blackberries

.5 small cantaloupe

I have to investigate into whether that turkey breast was nonfat or not so that I can compensate for the assumed 1.5 oz fat included in the protein block if I have to.

Also, holy carbs, Batman!  I realized that I have been correctly eyeballing the amounts of protein that I get, but I tend to eat too many nuts at a time, and I tend to not get my full carb amount.  So some tinkering is needed.  Hence me measuring out zone blocks.

WOD was 1/2 Michael: 3x (400m run, 25 back extensions, 25 situps)

My time was 14:00.  The first time I did Michael (full) my time was 30:48.  The full and half Michaels aren't really comparable, but today's runs felt easier than yesterday's, and the only thing I can attribute that to is Paleo eating.  Hooray.

EDIT: Okay, am adding in the fat because I don't think there was any in the turkey.  I think I am going to drink some olive oil.  For some reason that idea is strangely appealing to me.

SECOND EDIT: Whoah, just drank a teaspoon of olive oil.  That was oddly satisfying.  Next I would like to experiment in cooking with coconut oil.

090819 - Helen

Tough workout. It was either 14:15 or 14:51 - have a call in to Dan to ask him to get it off the board for me since I forgot the exact time. It was extra hard today given that my shoulders were tight from sitting in a chair for 7 hours yesterday at Fulco Sup Ct doing jury duty, and legs were tight from jumping rope last week.

Paleo Day 3

Dad finally learned the SDPHs!

Today's workout was Helen again.  I finished in 16:22, which is more than two whole minutes slower than my last time, but this is because

*cue trumpets*

I did all 36 pull ups on a green band only!  !!!  Dan even commented that I was getting some kip in there without realizing it.  I know it doesn't sound like much, but today was a huge step for me in my quest to unassisted kipping pull ups--time be damned.

Dad did a great job.  He can't remember his time, but I'm pretty sure it was 20 or so seconds less than the last time we did it.  This was my second time with Helen and dad's third.

Paleo going well.  I am eating whatever is on the list and avoiding whatever isn't.  Need to fine tune my intake into the block system, though, as when I go into the kitchen these days I feel like I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

Paleo day 2

Today while dad was at jury duty I went back to the second week of the beginners' class, which seems very much like the first week--we did med ball cleans and sumo deadlift high pulls again.  Plus some nutrition.  I made Dan add some push presses to the workout since today was a max rep push press day.  I am a little annoyed that I was stuck doing the same damn workout again, when I really wanted to do the Rx WOD.

I have been consciously upping my fats intake today, eating nuts and so forth.  Somehow I am still very tired after my nap today, in the way that makes me feel like I haven't been eating enough.  HOW CAN THAT BE?  I feel like I've been stuffing my face.  Almost every time I go into the kitchen I eat something.  Wow.

Paleo is going well.  So far:

smoked turkey

lamb chop

roast beef chunks (yummm)

brussels sprouts

and a random assortment of pine nuts, walnuts, marcona almonds, and cashews

I should start measuring my food by Zone blocks so that I can keep track of what is working for me and what isn't.  Still need to figure out how one does that though.

Ouch / Day 1

Today's WOD did not end well.  I was doing the last 30 seconds of situps and I guess I kept sliding back further and further until, during the last 15 seconds, I cracked my head on the base of the GHD.  Aaargh.  Made me lose count of my situps.  (I also lost count of some jumproping here and there too.)

Day 1 of Paleo and Paleo only.  Going well so far.  Have had:

roast beef

more roast beef

broccoli

gazpacho

Day Off

Did a run around the park and a yoga session to loosen up. Felt good.

Ad Hoc WOD: my take

As dad said, yesterday's was a made-up WOD.  The WODs proposed for Saturday are usually leftovers from the week that maybe you didn't get around to doing...  Well, we hadn't done met-con in quite a while, and when Heidi asked us is we wanted to do strength or if we wanted to sweat, dad immediately said, "We want to sweat."  

Which was more or less true.  But I knew it meant running, and boy do I hate running.

I finished in 13:32.  Used an empty women's bar for the thrusters.  I could definitely tell that Dad had worked on his running, as he was steadily fast right out of the gate, and I took a long damn time to adjust to the fact that, yes, I had to run 1200m.  I couldn't help envying the people doing Linda right on the other side of the rack from me.

Thrusters are fun but killer.  I like them.

In a twist on our normal CF routine, I brought Jennifer, my bestest friend in the world, with us.  She'd been hearing me babble about CF for weeks now, and she wanted to give it a try.  Well, she went from: "Well it sounds cool but I don't really have the funding to do that so I guess I'll keep going to the UVa gym" to: "So if I join CF Charlottesville..."  It's old and cliched, but where there's a will, there's a way.

She trained with Vas, who I met for the first time yesterday, and did a workout consisting of 3 rounds of: 

10 DL (30 kg)

15 wall balls (unknown med ball...?)

5 pull ups (green band)

She finished it in about 15:30.  I am so proud of her.

LASTLY.  I have been reading Byers Gets Diesel, which is now (and for a limited time only) called Byers Goes Paleo.  Love this girl.  Anyway, I think that I am going to try staying straight-up paleo for 30 days, as she recommends.  I have a lot of non-Paleo crutches that I've had a hard time giving up (dairy, chocolate, CHEESE).  Even with these, I am noticing a great and positive change in my energy levels (high amount and no dips), not to mention weight loss, so I can only imagine how great I am going to feel during/after those 30 days.

Ad Hoc Workout

Today Heidi made one up for us, this being a make up day officially. It was 3 rounds of 400m run and 20 thrusters (unweighted bar). I did 13:59. Yanked something in my neck. I had woken up late and for some reason with what Churchill called the "black dog", a negative malaise / attitude which shows up for no reason at all. It first dawned on me, though I should have noted it before, doing pullups warmups when this inner voice was telling me to stop and rest after 6 or 7 pullups. I persisted till 10. It came back on the first run in the WOD, and I just kept pushing, trying to blow through the negative fog. It finally dissipated, like morning fog, in the third round on the run when sustained effort and persistence, thinking about positive things like finishing, made it evaporate.

Hallelujah, hallelujah

It's rest day, and I am getting a massage!  Good days!

Last night I got the house salad, but it had mushrooms and mozzarella on it.  You win some, you lose some, right?  I'm not too concerned.  Yesterday I bought some Spirutein protein yesterday on our run to the vitamin store, as well as some Zone bars.  Neither of those are particularly Paleo, but (1) the bars are good in a pinch and (2) protein powder is good to put into a shake right after CF, as roast beef gets kind of tiresome sometimes.

Stairway to pull up heaven

Today was a pull up ladder...I used the usual green + purple bands and got to minute 11.  Minute 10 was my goal, so this was excellent.  My next step is to cut out the purple band and eventually wean myself off of bands completely.  All in good time.  I can't wait to do unassisted kipping pull ups!

Yesterday's Linda was good.  I finished in 17:22.  The weights were too light for me, and there wasn't much I could do about it...there was a shortage of women's bars, and there were three women, so we kind of had to share.  This made my time a few minutes longer than it should have been, too.

Paleo is going pretty well.  It makes me so much more clear-headed and keeps my energy up.  Last night, I have to admit, I did have some pasta.  I had made it for my parents, and it was delicious, so no regrets there.  Tonight I'm meeting up with friends at Fellini's, which mainly serves pizza.  I am going to try and avoid that, since I don't have a pressing need for pizza, and since I can get pizza any old day of my life if I want to.  The benefits Paleo are really worth being kind of awkward at social gatherings that revolve around eating (most of them do), so I'll survive.

Linda

Today's WOD was Linda, which is dead lift, power clean and bench press cycles, 10 . . . 1 reps for time. The actual WOD calls for benching body weight and other currently impracticable requirment, but I used 50kg for dead lift, 20kg for clean and 20kg for bench press. This was too low, since my time was low - 16:18. Brent said I should add weight next time, 5kg for each, and after several Lindas I will begin to know where the right weight is. Anyway, it was a great workout and I sweated like a pig, and am now stiffening up which means some muscles got worked. Lifting is very satisfying.

Wall Ball

Today was Wall Ball Ladder...I upped my weight from a 4 med ball to an 8 and ended up making it to minute 10. My goal was minute 8, so I am more or less satisfied. It's good to be back!

Armageddon is coming

After a few days sans workout for health reasons, I am going back to Crossfit tomorrow morning--assuming I can wake up on time.  I WILL DIE.  I need that again after my pansy week...  I think dad gets home tomorrow, so I can't wait to get back in the ol' wing of things again.

PS - Just heard (or sensed, really) some really loud bass coming from the Howell Mill area.  It's around dinner time, so it was almost like dad was going to drive up just in time for dinner...  DAD COME BACK!

Made it up

Today I made one up because I felt like running. So I did 3 x 1/2 mile, 25 pushups, 25 situps, 3 rounds for 21.26. It was a beautiful morning here in fabulous Guerneville. Last night we had a fabulous time at the monthly bingo game they conduct at the local oddfellows hall; it ended it at 10, so I had plenty of sleep to get me ready for this workout. The harder part was that at the concession stand I got a chili dog, a bowl of firehouse chili and a thing of nachos, so had to carry that all along on the road. Not exactly Crossfit type food either. The Younger Next Year book really has impressed on me the benefit of getting in some exercise every day, making it a matter of habit.

5 push ups, 5 squats, 5 sit ups

For time. This was a great workout. For some reason it felt really good and pushed me hard. Time was 14:47.

Tabata Friday

Squats and Push ups. What can be said other than that 4 minutes can be a long time. My hams and quads felt like someone had applied jet fuel to them and set it off with a match. But that was nothing compared to the pain in the pecs after the pushups. No pain no gain, so I figured I gained a hell of a lot today. Squats - min 9, total 97; Pushups - min 6; total 68 (showing once again how much upper body needs work).

Today rest day. Feels good. I am listening, however, to this book called "Younger Next Year," excellent book Ken Canfield gave me which has interesting things to say about the need to exercise 6 days a week, eat right and stay engaged in order to grow instead of decay. This doesn't start being real important until about age 50, (though according to the book the metabolic tide starts turning in the 20's) so everyone can rest easy. So I have to sort that through with Dan the Godfather when I get back to the A.

At a table right next to mine here in this good old coffee shop, the Coffee Bazaar, is this nosy old BIOTCH who is scrutinzing what my screen is showing. Is she reading this now? Ta!

Psych!

So today is actually the rest day for me.  Yesterday I ended up doing some SDHPs and more push presses and med ball cleans...does is sound like all play and no work?  I hope not...med ball cleans are my mortal enemy--they tire me out almost as fast as running--so I am trying to build up a resistance to them.

CrossFit Improv

Today Eva T prescribed 10 handstand pushups and 200 m run x 3. Cannot do handstands yet. So I made up a workout to try to go in that direction; 25 pushups, 25 situps, 1/2 mile run x 3. Did it in 21.56. The morning air felt great on the face. Did not see the raven this morning; I must not have been interesting to him / her.

LSAT makes for an angry Jen

Just finished taking a practice LSAT, and now I have a headache.  My legs are pretty much nonfunctional, so I am more likely than not taking today as a rest day.

EDIT: make that an active rest day, at least.  Am heading to gym to walk on treadmill, may do some SDHPs if I muster up the energy/find a women's bar.

Tuesday / 200m runs, 25 pushups

Today was 200 m sprints and 25 pushups, 3 rounds. I used to have to do 45 pushups in 1 min for the annual Navy fitness test. No more. I started with 20 pushups the first round, then 10 at a time by the second round, then 5 on the third round, all this on my *knees*. But I can tell that I am gaining ground quickly, because I was just doing 5's at time on my knees 2 weeks ago. Today I did this workout in 9:16.

One of the cool things is being out in the air at 6 am when things are pretty quiet. There was a raven sitting on the roof of my motel unit, and I just started staring at him. He was staring back, turning left and right so he could check me out with both eyes. He was making these talky like noises, sort of like Kate does, but more agitated. He then took off, flew a lap around me at about 10 feet altitude, then headed out across the road. Incredible animal.

Yesterday

I didn't know what to do yesterday, so I just kind of winged it.  I did, in no certain order:

push press (men's Olympic bar w/o bar)

front squats (same bar)

DL 5 rep max of 50 kg

a few med ball cleans with 10lb

tabata rowing--4 minutes total

Susan

Today Eva T prescribed Susan, which is 200m run, 10 squats, 10 push ups, 5 rounds. It felt really good to get out and stretch my legs in the morning mist blowing off the coastal range, smell of the redwoods. Especially after all day yesterday squatting and applying muscle to the Cuturi pneumatic hammer to work the face and undersides of the piece. I did it in 12:31.

200 squats...

...sound easy but are really killer.  Ack.

My time was 8:41, and now my legs are jelly.

"Rest" Day

Today is ostensibly the rest day. In actuality, if I am using the point chisel with 2.5 lb hammer, like I was using all day yesterday, then it's a different type of workout altogether. If I can get the old wrist working today; it's pretty stiff. So maybe today it will be Cuturi Pneumatic Hammer - as many rounds as possible in 8 hours. Seriously the rest feels good, and with the pint of Superfood I pour into my body every a.m. at the fabulous Coffee Bazaar, I can feel the muscles massing up.

Unintentional rest day

Yesterday I was super exhausted from the travel--didn't end up working out.  Today I am planning on doing the 200 squats for time once we get to Williams.

All there is at Gustavo's house is carbs, carbs, and more carbs...I feel really disgusting/headachey/tired.  Today when we get to Williams we are going straight to the grocery store, where I will buy 1.5lb turkey.

Air Squats for Time

Today Eva T prescribed 200 air squats for time. Sounds easier than it is. I had bought another wooden shower bar down at the Dada Ace Hardware store and used it over my head. This makes air squats harder. I was doing groups of 10 by the time it was over. 13:40 time. Plus a lot of stretching my shoulder.

10 rounds of 10 push ups/10sit ups/10 squats

Aka Eva T # 2. 13:43. It did not sound hard. But turned out to impress upon me the inestimable potential my shoulders have to get stronger. How do you post photos to this thing? At the coffee shop there's a bookstore next door, and the owner has a minature Aussie named Kota. Blue merle with lots of brown too. A sweet dog, and a little crazy like they all are.

More runs? AAAAAAAGH

Today I came in and Nicole was on the board (AMRAP 20 min 400m run and max pull ups), and I was not so thrilled.  Dan asked if I wanted to do another workout, and I said sure, thinking I would be getting away from those 400m runs.  Again, not so!  

I did:

AMRAP 20 min

400m run

25 squats

I managed 5 rounds.

It's the runs that kill me.  I had to walk a part of each one of them, I think.  But I think I am slowly getting better at sticking it out.  Afterwards, Dan gave me some pointers on form which I think will help a lot once I can do them without (1) thinking too much about them and (2) looking ridiculous.

Seriously though

I have reflected on CF a lot these past few weeks, and I've come to realize that it's the best thing I've ever done for myself.  Screw vegetarian, screw the elliptical machine, CrossFit and paleo are where it's at.  I look so good and feel so level-headed...plus, I know all about Tabata and metabolic pathways, and there's pretty much no way anyone will catch me ever again on any machine except the Concept 2 or in the upstairs fitness center at Williams.  It's kind of liberating.

Sumo?

As I said, I took a rest day yesterday because my mom and I visited The Tortefeasor in Birmingham.  Today was back to CrossFit Atlanta...  It's considerably harder to wake up at 6:30 and CF when you don't have someone else who is doing it with you, making you get out of bed and such.

Dan has started a new beginner class after using us as guinea pigs for a week or so.  I joined in their class today and learned some new moves.  (I have a feeling I won't quit learning CF moves for a long, long time...!)  Today was deadlifts, sumo deadlift high pulls (SDHP), and med ball cleans.

3 rounds of:

10 deadlifts (10 kg + 15 lb bar = ???)

10 SDHP (same bar weight)

10 med ball cleans (#6 med ball)

Time: 9:25

It was the med ball cleans that really tired me out.  I'm still not sure if I have the SDHPs down...I don't think I do.  Practice, I guess.  It also helps to have Heidi, Brent, or Dan doing it right in front of me while I'm doing it...ha.  I had a mental goal of being the first one in the group to finish, and that helped me to power through without taking too many unnecessary breaks (and thinking about those med ball cleans too much).  The others started out pretty fast and tired out, again, pretty fast.

It turns out that the beginner class continues into next week, which means that dad and I unfortunately miss it.  We'll be missing the nutrition, GHD work, and Olympic lifts.  I really wish I weren't missing the nutrition and the lifts, and the GHD actually...okay, I wish I weren't going to be away from CF at all, but personal life calls.

Linda, the lady who cleans our house, is threatening to drag me out and teach me to ride my bicycle now.  I guess it wouldn't be useful to use an argument such as: "But riding a bicycle doesn't help me train my phosphogen and glycolytic pathways, and I don't need to train my oxidative because I've been doing that by training the other two!  GOOOOSH!"

Guerneville Eva T WOD

So after an uneventful flight to Sacramento and threading the back roads through Napa valley slavishly following my GSP over to Sonoma, I check into the motel in Guerneville and decide to check what Eva T says I shd do for a workout. The first one on her list is 3 rounds of 1/2 mile run and 50 air squats. I head down the road and turn right up a mountain road I know in the redwoods, and with Tiesto on the iPod I instantly forget where I am and what I am doing, and already have gone a half mile up the hill. So turn around and head back down, into my room where I am using a trash can as substitute for medicine ball depth gauge. The cool air and the smell of the redwoods gives me lots of energy, and it's over before I know it. Even with the clock running on myself, this seems a lot less stressful than working out with a trainer timing me, and is a great workout in a more focused, kind of less panic/manic way, more ability to be aware of my muscles pulling my body through the workout. Also more fun running around in the redwood trees than under constant view of the high fructose corn syrup tank. My time is 25:47 with the extra 1/2 mile thrown in.

Dinner with Ante at a Thai restaurant last night, high protein load, and discussing what I have in mind with the gargoyle idea, including my plan to hang it off the house. Ante raises the idea that one reason people put gargoyles on buildings back in the ages was to ward off evil spirits. The conversation gets around to the case I am working on that involves the 3G/UMTS/GSM cell phone telephony, and the things I have learned from talking with the European inventors who were involved building this technology back in the 90's, how it's kind of like archaeology trying to dig up the past as a way to understand the technology and ultimately have to explain it to the judge and jury. I explained that it seemed to me to be the case that this technology, which is too complex for one company to produce, came about in part as a function of the social practice in Europe of having standards institutes where the participants from various competitors meet every three months in nice places in Spain, Italy, sometimes Switzerland, coast of Ireland to report, and work on their part of the complex project underway in a spirit of cooperation and goodwill. Same way the airbus got started. The conversation gets around to paying attention to the social and aesthetic aspects of doing complex technology, gratuitous beauty in architecture, how that contributes to progresss, to St. Pancras station, and back around to the gargoyle there with the fierce body and wings of a dragon but the face of a middle age businessman. Then the idea comes out of a gargoyle with a cellphone stuck on its ear. That is where it's at right now; not sure whether the gargoyle is going to be yacking mindlessly or looking off into the distance with a perplexed expression. More thought about what kind of spirits I am trying to ward off, and other things, I guess.

Today is rest day.

The WOD that sank a thousand ships

Today's WOD was Helen, 3 rounds of: run 400 m, 21 kettlebell swings, 12 pull ups.

As we drove up to the gym this morning, I said, "Good!  There's nobody running around the parking lot.  Means we won't be running."  The board had everyone doing a clean and jerk progression, so I figured they'd have us do something strength-related as well (when can we do deadlifts again?!).  Nope.  Instead we did Helen.  The real kicker here is that I thought, "well, they won't have us doing pull ups in a WOD two days in a row, so sure, I'll do all 20 in the warmup."

Dad and I definitely have different strengths when it comes to this workout.  Dad can just run along without any apparent problems, but I usually have to walk part of the run.  I actually kind of wonder what my strength was in this workout; I can't run fast or far (yet), I can't do unassisted pull ups...  I guess the KB swings were okay, but that's because I was only using .5 pood (8 kg).  Not my favorite WOD, but it helps me know what I need to work on (namely, pull ups and running, ha).

Dad just did Helen last Saturday, and he's already shaved 2:00 off of his time.  GO DAD!

My time was 14:08.  My back muscles are sore.  Time to eat some red meat and maybe make myself a kale/almond butter/frozen berry/coconut milk smoothie.

Hello there

I guess I should introduce myself.  I'm Jen, Jenni, Jennifer, and I'm a CrossFit addict.  As my dad mentioned, we started up two weeks ago today, and neither of us have looked back since.

I am a former "cardio monkey," as they say, but I always found myself hopping off the machines before the standard 30 minutes were up in favor of manhandling free weights.  I was always kind of bored, and I never felt like I was doing anything significant to my body.  Well, Crossfit has changed this: I am bored no longer, and I am sore after every workout.  Something must be going right.

I will be talking about eating Paleo more than my dad will, as I have adopted caveman-style eating with open arms, whereas he likes his bread for breakfast and ice cream for dessert.  In fact, after a huge cheat dinner at the OK Cafe last night (milkshake, fried cheese grits, fried chicken breast, assorted onion rings and french fries), I still feel fuzzy and, well, hungover.  And my performance was affected this morning (sure, that's my excuse for having to use two resistance bands for pull ups...)  So back to Paleo it is because I know that Paleo has been making me feel great.

This morning was Cindy.  I managed 10 rounds and an additional 3 pull ups.  For the longest time (probably 2 minutes or more), I tried to do my pull ups with just a green band, but I couldn't get that last one before I moved on to pushups.  I was standing there fuming, and Dan told me to add another band.  There went my pride, but I managed to catch up to Jim and the other girl, so I'd say I did okay.

Well, it's already past my bedtime.  I cherish sleeping in, so waking up at 6:30 as a college student is more or less repulsive to my being; the more sleep I get, the better!  Plus, gotta get those 9 hours for adequate muscle recovery...

Today we did the so-called "cindy" which is AMRAP, as many rounds as possible (practicable?) of this cycle, in 20 minutes: 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats. I have to use the biggest elastic band there is for pullups. I have to do pushups on my knees. That said, I was able to get 10 rounds in 20 minutes. Jen and I have been at this for 2 weeks, as of today. There is less pain in the quads, relatively speaking. We go to CrossFit Atlanta which is a great place to work out. It is across the street from a sizeable soft drinks factory where stands a tall silo labelled "high fructose corn syrup."