ok! There's been some ups and downs around here these days, as far as training and such.. We just finished up a cycle of training that was more weightlifting focused.. And I feel like it went pretty well and I made some strong improvements..but yet.. On the fun stuff.. The numbers that you reallyreallyreally want to see go up.. Nothin. I was under the 160# snatch, which would have been a 5# PR, but I got stuck in the bottom, for some reason, and lost it standing up. Darn it.. I did manage to ugly squat myself to a 10# improvement on the back squat. I have GOT to improve my form and strength there, but I was hell bent on lifting more weight, form be damned, so that's what I did.. Lucky for me, I think my coach may have foreseen this need for improved form and strength in the squat, because so far, the new cycle has included 1 1/4 squats, which are great for working that trouble spot! Day 2 of the 'max out week' brought me a new power clean PR of 180 and I think a push press of 170, so that day was going well.. Then I knew I was going to miss my day 6 because of a competition that weekend (more on that in a minute!), so I went back into the gym later that morning and maxed my overhead squat at 195 and hit a snatch balance at 160# (should be ready for that 160 snatch now!).. So I was feeling good! That all came to a screeching halt on Wednesday..my birthday! I wanted so badly to have a PR day..but it just wasn't meant to be. No PR for my clean and jerk and front squats felt awful, too. It was a mobility day on Thursday, so I think I stretched for almost 2 hrs.. Felt pretty good, but Friday wasn't exactly great, either.. I just went in for a couple easier lifts that day, though, because I was leaving that afternoon to head down to Tennessee for a competition! It was time for Battle of the Barbells!
A little while back, after Granite Games, I was trying to figure out my next move and what my next goal would be.. I set my sights on Wodapalooza, which is an individual comp I did another online qualifier for and will compete at in January, but I needed something else to prepare me.. In walks Battle of the Barbells! This comp was run/programmed by a gal I met and competed with at Granite Games, so I knew it would be worth the 5hr drive. The comp was 2 days worth of fun and as the first couple workouts were released, I knew I was in for a challenge! I won't go into all the details of all the workouts.. I'm sure, if you're curious, they're probably posted on the comp website or Facebook page.. Or the gym, Murfreesboro CrossFit, page.. It's out there somewhere.. But when I saw that the pre-announced events included defecit HSPU, 53# single arm kb snatch.. I knew it was going to be a good weekend. Honestly, I really enjoyed the workouts. I was sore and tired from them, but nothing a day of rest couldn't fix.. I was back to normal and back to training by Tuesday. I thought the workouts offered a good variety of movements in challenging ways.. Some classic stuff (Isabel), some endurance-ish stuff, some 'pick up heavy things' stuff.. And even some random challenges, like the broad jump, which I am now specifically training for daily (it was my worst event, despite my feeling fairly confident in my jumping abilities.. Oops! Dang it). All in all, it was a well programmed event and I highly recommend the event to anyone within a 5hr drive! Coming away from the event, I had some things I was pleased with.. Like handling the clean+2 front squat+ jerk ladder relatively well (made it through 185).. I hadn't done Isabel in a very long time, so I was pretty happy with my 2:13, even though it could have been a little faster if I hadn't dropped that darn rep.. But, anyway.. I was happy with how I moved through the kb snatches, which have long been a nemesis of mine.. I was pleased with my ability to push to a true place of pain, especially in the chest to bar/front squat/burpee workout, where I had to push hard to finally win an event.. Oh, man, it hurt, though! But it felt good to compete. And I was happy with the first part of the final, where I did 26 unbroken push jerks at 105#, which also happened to be my second event win of the weekend.. What was I disappointed in? Well. I mentioned the jumps.. I think that was partly just a lack of focus, but also, clearly a weakness.. My biggest disappointment was my darn muscle ups, again. The final event had sets of 5 MU in each of the 5 rounds, and after just a couple sets of connecting 2 or 3, I lost my rhythm and was relegated to singles. I think part of this problem is fatigue.. I can definitely say my arms were tired by this point in the weekend, but I need to figure out a way to still make it work.. Some of the problem, I think, is mental, and that part I have to overcome.. I let it get in my head as soon as things aren't perfect and I just don't fight hard enough. I fight hard for so many other things, I need to find a way to just grind through those less-than-perfect looking muscle ups. Sometimes I think I expect it to feel easy, and then I psych myself out when it feels hard. I'm definitely going to continue to work to figure this thing out, because it's going to come up in every comp that I do. I only had 1 day of MU training this week.. It went alright.. Sets of 2/3/4.. I was going to do more work on them, but other days I was too sore from dips or whatever else we had going on.. Anyway, though, it was a really fun weekend and I enjoyed working out with all the athletes out there! It was a tight race for the podium and, despite not outright winning many individual events, my consistency paid off and I wound up on top of the podium. Everyone there, from the event directors, judges, ALL the other athletes..everyone was so nice and supportive and just made for an excellent environment, which, to me, ranks up there with the programming, as far as reasons I would return and recommend this comp to others. Huge thank you to Murfreesboro CrossFit and everyone involved in putting on the Battle of the Barbells!
GLI comp 1/'14
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
JoCo CrossFit Fall Brawl!
So our Fall Brawl finally came and went.. And it went pretty well! Of coarse, I might be a little biased, so I suppose this, here, review can be taken with a grain of salt.. But I like to think I'm a pretty honest gal. So, anyway.. JoCo started hosting a competition called 'Fall Brawl' last year, where I had the opportunity to pair up with my now buddy, Kacie, for the first time.. Obviously, this year we would have to return and see what we're made of! We both follow Mike's competition training, so have made a lot of improvements over the year..so let's just get in to it, shall we?
The fun started early with one workout to do on Friday night.. This was a 2 part workout..the first being a 100 cal row, which counted as a separate event, but was the first part of the rest of the workout.. So the row kind of counted twice.. Perfect for this non-rowing champ! But, actually..we were able to do pretty darn well.. Almost won the row?! Kacie is a little better on the rower than myself, so that certainly helped.. Plus, I think we broke it up well between us to maximize what both of us could offer.. We started off with me doing 30 cal, quick switch and Kacie took us up to 70 cal.. We hadn't really discussed it, other than to say 'go hard and switch when you feel yourself slowing down'.. I wasn't quite sure, but didn't think I had 30 good calories left in me without totally blowing the rest of the workout..so I gave Kacie the last 10 cal and I think that was a good move. It came down to less than a second..but we wound up in second..just barely..off that rower and into the rest of the work. I'll take it! As frustrating as it was to learn how close we were to first, I still can't be mad at second on a row and I know we went as hard as we could..so moving on! The rest was a chipper.. 75 GTO w 30#, 50 walking lunges (30#), 25 thrusters (you guessed it.. 30# Dumbbells) and we quickly worked our way through that and came out in first for that part. Not a bad start to the weekend!
Day 2 kicked off with hang cleans and toes to bar.. It was 21/15/9 with a 200m shuttle run after each round and each partner did a whole round, passed it to the next partner, then started the next round, etc.. That one went well, too, and we took first there. Next was kind of a 'just keep moving/stay warm' EMOTM with even minutes being 12 wallballs each and odds being 60 double unders split however you wanted.. Kacie and I split each round 30/30 on the du and it was not a problem to make it through all 20 rounds.. The fun part, though, was the last minute, where we did max effort du and the winner not only got the winning points, but also $100! We managed to squeak a couple more du out in the minute and made some extra cash! Our last planned workout (before the final) was a 2 rep max front squat right into a short, quick little burner workout. We both quickly made our way up to our maxes of 205# on that front squat.. Kacie gave 215# a valiant effort, but otherwise, we just called it good there and got ready for 3 minutes of burpees and box jumps. Of all the workouts, this one probably had me the most nervous because sprints are not my thing and I knew this would be quick! We each would have 15 burpees (jumping up on a plate after each one), alternating each rep, and 15 box jumps each.. Again, alternating back and forth.. And do as many rounds of that as you can in the short 3 minutes of work time. I just kept my head down and kept moving..so much, so, I even hit Kacie in the face at one point in the box jumps! (Oops..) But we worked well together, kept moving, and wound up on top in that one! I hadn't looked at the standings, or anything, all day, but in looking afterwards, we wound up tying for first in the front squat workout, which, kind of like the row, we weren't sure how that one would go for us, so a tie is ok with us.
And finally..the final.. I liked it! I always enjoy workouts with a variety of movements and some of the more technical stuff, so this one had it all! It was:
12 min time cap
30 snatch (95#)
30 pistols (26#)
30 cleans (115#)
20 strict handstand push-ups
30 shoulder to overhead (125#)
10 muscle ups
We split everything up fairly evenly.. I may have done a couple more snatches, but I think Kacie did a couple more of the STO.. All in all, we got it done.. I think around 9 min, someone told me? I honestly wasn't really looking at the time.. But it was a fun one and I felt good through all of it. In fact, I felt pretty darn good through all of the events of the weekend, so we will call it a success, for sure. Overall, the weekend was fun. The competition ran smoothly and I didn't see any major issues with judging, which is always a tough thing with any competition. Judging is a really tough position to be in and it can truly make or break an event. I thought our judges were clear in their speaking with the athletes and were able to communicate any no-reps or issues that needed to be discussed. The competition floor was clearly marked with plenty of space for each team to move and do what they needed to do. There was even a separate space for warming up or just relaxing, which is a huge bonus for an event like this. Some times you can feel very cramped during a competition at a gym, so having a separate space to spread out is quite the luxury! All said, of coarse I will participate again! My only 'down side' for the event was that our division (female/female partner) didn't get as many entrants as the others (male/male partner and male/female partner). I don't know why this was, but it's always fun to compete against lots of other gals.. But you can only compete against those that show up! And we certainly had a good push from our fellow competitors out there. I hope they had fun, too!
We did end up first, overall, which meant we got some prizes.. Cash, which is always nice.. Wrist wraps and head bands from the Pink Dino.. Some Cliff Bars, which I actually love and have in my rotation of bars that I eat all the time.. Before/after workouts and, during comps, it's pretty much all I eat.. But we also got some supplements and a pre-workout mix from Proanox, which I had not tried before.. I'm testing out the products now and will let ya know what I think when the stuff is all gone. Normally I just take whey protein with some creatine (both Dymatize products) during/after my workouts, so this stuff is all new to me. The Biogenesis are capsule supplements that contain 'performance and health enhancing plant compounds', mostly claiming to aid in recovery..which this old gal can certainly use some help in that area from time to time! The other is the Biocomplete, which can be used as a pre-workout supplement, and that is how I am using it. It contains no stimulants, but does have BCAAs, which we all know can't hurt.. Anyway, we will see if I feel any positive effects and feel the need to purchase more when these are gone.. So far, I must warn.. Do NOT mix that Biocomplete with water!!?! It gives this as an option for suggested uses, but in my opinion, this is only suitable for consumption when mixed with juice. So far orange juice has been working alright for me, though I still wouldn't call it delicious. Again.. I will give it a chance before I really say whether or not I like it.
So far this week is going pretty well. Nothing too exciting, but I've felt pretty good during the workouts, so that's always good. I did manage to match my push press max this week, hitting 165. Then yesterday we did sets of 10 on bench press and I managed to get all 10 at 135#. Today I eeked out a tiny split jerk PR, up 5# to 195.. Max out week is coming soon, so I'm just trying to get myself ready! And I think that about covers it! Next up for me, as far as competitions go, is a solo comp out in Murfreesboro in a couple of weeks! I'm excited for that one.. It should be fun. A couple of the workouts have been released, and they look good. I plan to start practicing next week and hopefully tune up a bit to be ready for the main event!
The fun started early with one workout to do on Friday night.. This was a 2 part workout..the first being a 100 cal row, which counted as a separate event, but was the first part of the rest of the workout.. So the row kind of counted twice.. Perfect for this non-rowing champ! But, actually..we were able to do pretty darn well.. Almost won the row?! Kacie is a little better on the rower than myself, so that certainly helped.. Plus, I think we broke it up well between us to maximize what both of us could offer.. We started off with me doing 30 cal, quick switch and Kacie took us up to 70 cal.. We hadn't really discussed it, other than to say 'go hard and switch when you feel yourself slowing down'.. I wasn't quite sure, but didn't think I had 30 good calories left in me without totally blowing the rest of the workout..so I gave Kacie the last 10 cal and I think that was a good move. It came down to less than a second..but we wound up in second..just barely..off that rower and into the rest of the work. I'll take it! As frustrating as it was to learn how close we were to first, I still can't be mad at second on a row and I know we went as hard as we could..so moving on! The rest was a chipper.. 75 GTO w 30#, 50 walking lunges (30#), 25 thrusters (you guessed it.. 30# Dumbbells) and we quickly worked our way through that and came out in first for that part. Not a bad start to the weekend!
Day 2 kicked off with hang cleans and toes to bar.. It was 21/15/9 with a 200m shuttle run after each round and each partner did a whole round, passed it to the next partner, then started the next round, etc.. That one went well, too, and we took first there. Next was kind of a 'just keep moving/stay warm' EMOTM with even minutes being 12 wallballs each and odds being 60 double unders split however you wanted.. Kacie and I split each round 30/30 on the du and it was not a problem to make it through all 20 rounds.. The fun part, though, was the last minute, where we did max effort du and the winner not only got the winning points, but also $100! We managed to squeak a couple more du out in the minute and made some extra cash! Our last planned workout (before the final) was a 2 rep max front squat right into a short, quick little burner workout. We both quickly made our way up to our maxes of 205# on that front squat.. Kacie gave 215# a valiant effort, but otherwise, we just called it good there and got ready for 3 minutes of burpees and box jumps. Of all the workouts, this one probably had me the most nervous because sprints are not my thing and I knew this would be quick! We each would have 15 burpees (jumping up on a plate after each one), alternating each rep, and 15 box jumps each.. Again, alternating back and forth.. And do as many rounds of that as you can in the short 3 minutes of work time. I just kept my head down and kept moving..so much, so, I even hit Kacie in the face at one point in the box jumps! (Oops..) But we worked well together, kept moving, and wound up on top in that one! I hadn't looked at the standings, or anything, all day, but in looking afterwards, we wound up tying for first in the front squat workout, which, kind of like the row, we weren't sure how that one would go for us, so a tie is ok with us.
And finally..the final.. I liked it! I always enjoy workouts with a variety of movements and some of the more technical stuff, so this one had it all! It was:
12 min time cap
30 snatch (95#)
30 pistols (26#)
30 cleans (115#)
20 strict handstand push-ups
30 shoulder to overhead (125#)
10 muscle ups
We split everything up fairly evenly.. I may have done a couple more snatches, but I think Kacie did a couple more of the STO.. All in all, we got it done.. I think around 9 min, someone told me? I honestly wasn't really looking at the time.. But it was a fun one and I felt good through all of it. In fact, I felt pretty darn good through all of the events of the weekend, so we will call it a success, for sure. Overall, the weekend was fun. The competition ran smoothly and I didn't see any major issues with judging, which is always a tough thing with any competition. Judging is a really tough position to be in and it can truly make or break an event. I thought our judges were clear in their speaking with the athletes and were able to communicate any no-reps or issues that needed to be discussed. The competition floor was clearly marked with plenty of space for each team to move and do what they needed to do. There was even a separate space for warming up or just relaxing, which is a huge bonus for an event like this. Some times you can feel very cramped during a competition at a gym, so having a separate space to spread out is quite the luxury! All said, of coarse I will participate again! My only 'down side' for the event was that our division (female/female partner) didn't get as many entrants as the others (male/male partner and male/female partner). I don't know why this was, but it's always fun to compete against lots of other gals.. But you can only compete against those that show up! And we certainly had a good push from our fellow competitors out there. I hope they had fun, too!
We did end up first, overall, which meant we got some prizes.. Cash, which is always nice.. Wrist wraps and head bands from the Pink Dino.. Some Cliff Bars, which I actually love and have in my rotation of bars that I eat all the time.. Before/after workouts and, during comps, it's pretty much all I eat.. But we also got some supplements and a pre-workout mix from Proanox, which I had not tried before.. I'm testing out the products now and will let ya know what I think when the stuff is all gone. Normally I just take whey protein with some creatine (both Dymatize products) during/after my workouts, so this stuff is all new to me. The Biogenesis are capsule supplements that contain 'performance and health enhancing plant compounds', mostly claiming to aid in recovery..which this old gal can certainly use some help in that area from time to time! The other is the Biocomplete, which can be used as a pre-workout supplement, and that is how I am using it. It contains no stimulants, but does have BCAAs, which we all know can't hurt.. Anyway, we will see if I feel any positive effects and feel the need to purchase more when these are gone.. So far, I must warn.. Do NOT mix that Biocomplete with water!!?! It gives this as an option for suggested uses, but in my opinion, this is only suitable for consumption when mixed with juice. So far orange juice has been working alright for me, though I still wouldn't call it delicious. Again.. I will give it a chance before I really say whether or not I like it.
So far this week is going pretty well. Nothing too exciting, but I've felt pretty good during the workouts, so that's always good. I did manage to match my push press max this week, hitting 165. Then yesterday we did sets of 10 on bench press and I managed to get all 10 at 135#. Today I eeked out a tiny split jerk PR, up 5# to 195.. Max out week is coming soon, so I'm just trying to get myself ready! And I think that about covers it! Next up for me, as far as competitions go, is a solo comp out in Murfreesboro in a couple of weeks! I'm excited for that one.. It should be fun. A couple of the workouts have been released, and they look good. I plan to start practicing next week and hopefully tune up a bit to be ready for the main event!
Monday, October 20, 2014
The sled and I are in a fight
Speaking of (were we?), I was just discussing this with Mason this morning as he was yelling at his shoes for their insubordinate behavior..perhaps yelling at inanimate objects is hereditary? I know for a fact that my mom has had her share of choice words with computers..so.. Science! Anyway. We had my favorite piece of sh.. I mean..workout equipment in today's workout and..spoiler alert..it did not go well. I'm not sure why the sled and I don't get along. I WANT to love the sled, but I just don't think it loves me back. I always seem to have some issue..today it was a combo platter of inexplicably sticky pavement, a sloped track that seemed to have some magnetic pull that would guide my sled directly down to the mud (can we get a meteorologist on the case? Someone check the gravitational pull of that spot.. It's all out of whack), and then..it started raining.. Oh. My. God. 'For real?!', I asked it.. I think it was, indeed, for real. So that was fun. But the sled and I are no longer talking.. Not until it apologizes..and means it..
Otherwise, though..today's workout stuff went pretty well. Started off with
Sets of 2 snatches at 95/110/125/135#
Sets of 2 squats at 200/210/225#
12 front rack walking lunges w 105# EMOTM (every minute on the minute) for 5 minutes.. Time flies when you're..lunging!
3 sets of 25 GHDs
Then I forgot about the snatch EMOTM stuff, so went back later with the boys.. Instead I tried to get the workout in before I needed to get home..that went well..
20/16/12/8/4
Snatches (95#)
Strict handstand push-ups (HSPU)
200' sled push (180# added to the sled) after each round
Well.. The snatches went well. I was able to do pretty big sets of those and felt like I was moving well. HSPU were alright, too..mostly sets of 5/6.. But the sled. I honestly don't know how it took me as much time as it did.. I guess conversations with metal sleds take time.. But the whole dang thing took me..wait for it.. 28:18. Oops!
I channeled my inner zen and moved on..
Went back to the gym a bit later with my two little fellas.. It's fall break, you know, so we get to hang for another week! The boys were on and off, as far as behaving at the gym today, but luckily John was there to distract Mason with lots of talk about his favorite subject..sports! So I got to work on my aforementioned forgotten snatch-fest. We had:
1 snatch at 70% (110#):
Every :30 x 3 min
Every :15 x 2 min
Every :10 x 1 min
1 minute rest between each set
That went well! No issues there..
Next I decided to do a little prepping for our competition this weekend.. It was also the gyms workout of the day, so we did:
EMOTM x 12 min
Evens: 15 wallballs
Odds: 30 double unders
Then rest 1 min, then
3 min AMRAP
15 burpees to a plate
15 box jumps
That was fine, as well.. I think I only missed one DU, so I'm getting a little more used to my 'Jump N Rope' rope, which I purchased at Granite Games and sometimes don't do great with it.. It's just a little different than my other one.. The speed, maybe? It's un-coated, so I guess it moves a little differently.. It also leaves quite a sting when ya miss! Guess I better quit missing..
I would like to also mention my Lululemon Fit Session from last evening, since they said they wanted feedback.. Not sure if this is what they had in mind? Anyway.. It was fun! I had only been in their store once before and it was a while ago.. They truly do have beautiful clothes. We were introduced to the employees that would be there to help us and they explained that we could try things on and pick out a favorite shirt/bra/or shorts to take home! That's pretty cool.. These prizes from Bracket Buster are working out pretty well! I actually got to wear my new Reebok long sleeve shirt in my workout this morning.. Oh, did I forget to mention that it was also chilly as I wrangled that sled? So. Much. Fun. It actually wasn't bad..the cold part.. But it let me try out my new gear! But I digress.. So at Lululemon (is that all one word? Should all the L's be in caps? Can I just call it Lulu? Or are we close enough for just Lu?.. Fair enough.. Didn't think so), I immediately gravitated toward their running shorts.. I believe it was the 'Run Times Short'? A couple of their shorts had the wide, flat waistband that I enjoy (I almost exclusively wear Under Armor 'get going' shorts, which have that wide waist band..is waistband one word? Auto correct does not think so, but it looks odd as 2 words.. Maybe I should just stop saying 'waistband'), but the 'speed shorts' were a little too short for my personal preference. I believe there are rules for the 'over thirty' crowd in that regard.. Anyway, so I got to work on finding just the right pair..which was tougher than I thought it would be! Usually I go with Medium shorts without giving it much, if any, thought. Occasionally a pair looks really big and I have to go with small, but not often.. Well, here at the Lulu, they use the number sizing system.. So the guy says that size 6 would be small and size 8 is medium.. But this confuses my little brain because I wear a size 4 in clothes.. But I KNOW I'm not an XS.. Mama didn't raise no fool.. Anyway. Long story short, I went with the 6's, which would technically be a small.. The 8's just felt too loose and nobody needs to lose their drawers mid double under.. The struggles, y'all! When I got home, I compared them to the shorts I normally wear and it looks about right. I tried on some of their shirts and sports bras.. They are beautiful, nice fabric and well made..but a little complicated for this simple gal. Maybe I'm crazy, but I work out at 5:30 in the morning and the last thing I need is to get stuck in the intricate straps of a bra or shirt.. Lovely, yes..but just not something I felt that I would wear.. That's just me. Maybe if I were a 'wear just my sports bra while I work out' kind of person, it would make more sense.. But since I can count the number of times that I have felt so hindered by my light weight tank top that I just HAD to remove it on..zero fingers.. Again. Just not the product for me. So that was my fun times at the Lu..Lu..lemon..
Otherwise, though..today's workout stuff went pretty well. Started off with
Sets of 2 snatches at 95/110/125/135#
Sets of 2 squats at 200/210/225#
12 front rack walking lunges w 105# EMOTM (every minute on the minute) for 5 minutes.. Time flies when you're..lunging!
3 sets of 25 GHDs
Then I forgot about the snatch EMOTM stuff, so went back later with the boys.. Instead I tried to get the workout in before I needed to get home..that went well..
20/16/12/8/4
Snatches (95#)
Strict handstand push-ups (HSPU)
200' sled push (180# added to the sled) after each round
Well.. The snatches went well. I was able to do pretty big sets of those and felt like I was moving well. HSPU were alright, too..mostly sets of 5/6.. But the sled. I honestly don't know how it took me as much time as it did.. I guess conversations with metal sleds take time.. But the whole dang thing took me..wait for it.. 28:18. Oops!
I channeled my inner zen and moved on..
Went back to the gym a bit later with my two little fellas.. It's fall break, you know, so we get to hang for another week! The boys were on and off, as far as behaving at the gym today, but luckily John was there to distract Mason with lots of talk about his favorite subject..sports! So I got to work on my aforementioned forgotten snatch-fest. We had:
1 snatch at 70% (110#):
Every :30 x 3 min
Every :15 x 2 min
Every :10 x 1 min
1 minute rest between each set
That went well! No issues there..
Next I decided to do a little prepping for our competition this weekend.. It was also the gyms workout of the day, so we did:
EMOTM x 12 min
Evens: 15 wallballs
Odds: 30 double unders
Then rest 1 min, then
3 min AMRAP
15 burpees to a plate
15 box jumps
That was fine, as well.. I think I only missed one DU, so I'm getting a little more used to my 'Jump N Rope' rope, which I purchased at Granite Games and sometimes don't do great with it.. It's just a little different than my other one.. The speed, maybe? It's un-coated, so I guess it moves a little differently.. It also leaves quite a sting when ya miss! Guess I better quit missing..
I would like to also mention my Lululemon Fit Session from last evening, since they said they wanted feedback.. Not sure if this is what they had in mind? Anyway.. It was fun! I had only been in their store once before and it was a while ago.. They truly do have beautiful clothes. We were introduced to the employees that would be there to help us and they explained that we could try things on and pick out a favorite shirt/bra/or shorts to take home! That's pretty cool.. These prizes from Bracket Buster are working out pretty well! I actually got to wear my new Reebok long sleeve shirt in my workout this morning.. Oh, did I forget to mention that it was also chilly as I wrangled that sled? So. Much. Fun. It actually wasn't bad..the cold part.. But it let me try out my new gear! But I digress.. So at Lululemon (is that all one word? Should all the L's be in caps? Can I just call it Lulu? Or are we close enough for just Lu?.. Fair enough.. Didn't think so), I immediately gravitated toward their running shorts.. I believe it was the 'Run Times Short'? A couple of their shorts had the wide, flat waistband that I enjoy (I almost exclusively wear Under Armor 'get going' shorts, which have that wide waist band..is waistband one word? Auto correct does not think so, but it looks odd as 2 words.. Maybe I should just stop saying 'waistband'), but the 'speed shorts' were a little too short for my personal preference. I believe there are rules for the 'over thirty' crowd in that regard.. Anyway, so I got to work on finding just the right pair..which was tougher than I thought it would be! Usually I go with Medium shorts without giving it much, if any, thought. Occasionally a pair looks really big and I have to go with small, but not often.. Well, here at the Lulu, they use the number sizing system.. So the guy says that size 6 would be small and size 8 is medium.. But this confuses my little brain because I wear a size 4 in clothes.. But I KNOW I'm not an XS.. Mama didn't raise no fool.. Anyway. Long story short, I went with the 6's, which would technically be a small.. The 8's just felt too loose and nobody needs to lose their drawers mid double under.. The struggles, y'all! When I got home, I compared them to the shorts I normally wear and it looks about right. I tried on some of their shirts and sports bras.. They are beautiful, nice fabric and well made..but a little complicated for this simple gal. Maybe I'm crazy, but I work out at 5:30 in the morning and the last thing I need is to get stuck in the intricate straps of a bra or shirt.. Lovely, yes..but just not something I felt that I would wear.. That's just me. Maybe if I were a 'wear just my sports bra while I work out' kind of person, it would make more sense.. But since I can count the number of times that I have felt so hindered by my light weight tank top that I just HAD to remove it on..zero fingers.. Again. Just not the product for me. So that was my fun times at the Lu..Lu..lemon..
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Ketchup?
Oh, sorry.. I meant 'catch up'.. It seems I lost my writing mojo there for a bit.. Not sure if it's actually back, but I thought I'd test it out.. So, briefly..since my last competition, I had the remaining weeks of the Wodapalooza qualifiers. Most of the week day stuff would be pretty normal, then qualifier workouts would somewhat consume my weekend. For the second week of workouts, I planned to meet up with Nicci Saturday morning and get them done.. This week had one good one for me..and one that I knew I would struggle with.. First up was an AMRAP of snatches and toes to bar.. Looked a lil something like this..
21 snatch (65#)
21 TTB's
15 snatch (85#)
15 TTB's
9 snatch (105#)
9 TTB's
6 snatch (115#)
6 TTB's
3 snatch (125#)
Max effort TTB's until the time cap.. I can't remember what the time cap was..10 min-ish?
Then as soon as you finish that, immediately start the second part, which was an ascending ladder with calorie row and burpees over the rower.. So
3 cal row
3 burpees over the rower
6 cal row
6 burpees
9
9
15...
Until the time cap, which, again, eludes me.. But I do remember the pain! As usual.. I did alright on part of the workout (the snatches and TTB's), but didn't like the results of the second part.. Guess what!? I'd have to redo on Sunday.. I didn't want to, but I knew I hadn't put it all out there for that second part..mi always fall into a trap of trying to go too hard on the rower, which ruins me for any other part of the workout.. So for the second attempt, I planned to do the row as more of the 'just hang on/slightly recover' part and then go all out on the burpees. I improved quite a bit by taking that approach, so I guess it was worth it! So that was that.. I think I moved up to 11th or 12th place after those workouts? So things were looking better! For the final weekend of qualifying workouts, they blacked out the leaderboard, so all you could do was give it your best and hope it would be enough.. I was leaving for family vacation on Saturday, so after discussing a bit with Mike, we decided to do the Wodapalooza workouts on Friday in place of our regular workouts. I never like to miss a workout, but agreed that after a Wednesday workout that took a lot out of me ( heavy-ish cleans, front squats and an EMOTM w 145# cleans, then a workout with 165# front squats.. It was rough for these chicken legs!), it made more sense to just do the active recovery on Thursday instead of trying to cram everything in.. So I came in feeling pretty good on Friday.. Did my strength stuff, which Fridays are relatively easier.. The workouts were:
8 min AMRAP
60 pull-ups
40 CTB pull-ups
20 bar muscle ups
Well. I thought this would go fine.. But I vastly underestimated how all of this would break me down. Pull-ups felt pretty good, but wore me down, so when I went in to the CTB pull-ups, I was on the struggle bus.. It was a mess.. I felt like a mess.. I wanted to do the second workout, too, that am and be done with it, but I felt so awful after that first one.. Pukey, dizzy.. Didn't have enough time to gather myself for the next thing, so I had to go home and come back with Miles a few hours later for the second part.. Oops!
The second workout was another AMRAP..the time escapes my memory, though.. But it was
Deadlifts
Overhead squats
Box jumps
Pistols
Reps increase by 5 each round..so 5/5/5/5, then 10/10/10/10.. Etc..
That one went alright. The DL wt was 135# and OHS was 95#, so not too tough, but it definitely burned.. I kept moving and, though if I'd had the time I probably would have done it again, but I didn't, so just the one go of it for this one.. But overall, even after watching the video, which is normally what causes me to want to redo the workout, I was happy with how I tackled the workout and don't know if or what I could have done differently..other than just be stronger..next time? But. There was the matter of that crappy pull-up workout to deal with.. Our flight out wasn't until 9:55 Saturday morning, or something, so clearly I had the time.. I went to the gym early and got it done. I didn't have much of a strategy change, other than to stick with sets of 10 on the pull-ups (last time I started with sets of 15), sets of 5 on the CTB (first attempt was a mess..3's, 4's..whatever I could get) and then whatever I had left for bar MU. I also wanted to control my rests better.. All in all, I did much better and was happy with my redo. Biggest accomplishment?? My hands held up through all of that?! Hands of steel, I tell ya. I do occasionally rip, but for the most part, these calloused hands are pretty tough.
So from Saturday morning, I'd have to wait until Sunday night to see if my workouts were good enough to keep me in the top 20.. Luckily I had my vacation to help keep my mind off of it! We went to Hilton Head and stayed in a really nice home with a pool on one of the many golf courses.. We met up with my parents, Matt's parents and his sister to stay for the week. Lots of fun! But finally.. Sunday night came and I checked the standings.. I was in 6th! Not bad.. So we will be off to Miami in January and I'm pretty excited about it. We haven't worked out the specifics and logistics yet.. Will my husband come.. Where will my kids be.. But we will figure it out! So.. Wodapalooza, here I come! Let the training begin..
I must give a shout out to the gym that I trained at for the week that I was in Hilton Head. It was Conviction Training Facility (formerly Hilton Head CrossFit, I think) and they have a really nice program! I enjoyed all of the coaches, the clients, the classes.. They do a great job of mobilizing, doing some warm ups, a strength piece and then a workout. I felt like the workouts were well done and thoughtfully planned out and offered a variety of skills to work on through the week. I had originally planned to mostly just follow my programming by using their open gym times, but I enjoyed the classes so much that I would just go in to do my strength part and then join in with their class. They also deal with a LOT of visitors and they always handled every visitor with respect and care and always made sure each one of us felt welcomed and at home. I would absolutely send any other Hilton Head crossfit travelers their way!
Today was a catch-up day, just doing those workouts from our programming that I had missed suring the week. I won't go over them all here, but in all, I did 4 workouts.. Got to work snatches, muscle ups, bar muscle ups, double unders, box jumps, pistols, rowing, HSPU.. I think that about covers it.. Oh, and how could I forget the squat clean thrusters? Those are a treat.. And now I'm off to go collect on a prize from the Naptown Bracket Buster at Lululemon! I don't currently own any of their fine apparel..but I think that's about to change! We also won a prize from Reebok that was waiting for me when I got home from vacation..a nice (and very soft and comfy!) long sleeved, hooded shirt! I'm so fancy.. Pimpin ain't easy!
21 snatch (65#)
21 TTB's
15 snatch (85#)
15 TTB's
9 snatch (105#)
9 TTB's
6 snatch (115#)
6 TTB's
3 snatch (125#)
Max effort TTB's until the time cap.. I can't remember what the time cap was..10 min-ish?
Then as soon as you finish that, immediately start the second part, which was an ascending ladder with calorie row and burpees over the rower.. So
3 cal row
3 burpees over the rower
6 cal row
6 burpees
9
9
15...
Until the time cap, which, again, eludes me.. But I do remember the pain! As usual.. I did alright on part of the workout (the snatches and TTB's), but didn't like the results of the second part.. Guess what!? I'd have to redo on Sunday.. I didn't want to, but I knew I hadn't put it all out there for that second part..mi always fall into a trap of trying to go too hard on the rower, which ruins me for any other part of the workout.. So for the second attempt, I planned to do the row as more of the 'just hang on/slightly recover' part and then go all out on the burpees. I improved quite a bit by taking that approach, so I guess it was worth it! So that was that.. I think I moved up to 11th or 12th place after those workouts? So things were looking better! For the final weekend of qualifying workouts, they blacked out the leaderboard, so all you could do was give it your best and hope it would be enough.. I was leaving for family vacation on Saturday, so after discussing a bit with Mike, we decided to do the Wodapalooza workouts on Friday in place of our regular workouts. I never like to miss a workout, but agreed that after a Wednesday workout that took a lot out of me ( heavy-ish cleans, front squats and an EMOTM w 145# cleans, then a workout with 165# front squats.. It was rough for these chicken legs!), it made more sense to just do the active recovery on Thursday instead of trying to cram everything in.. So I came in feeling pretty good on Friday.. Did my strength stuff, which Fridays are relatively easier.. The workouts were:
8 min AMRAP
60 pull-ups
40 CTB pull-ups
20 bar muscle ups
Well. I thought this would go fine.. But I vastly underestimated how all of this would break me down. Pull-ups felt pretty good, but wore me down, so when I went in to the CTB pull-ups, I was on the struggle bus.. It was a mess.. I felt like a mess.. I wanted to do the second workout, too, that am and be done with it, but I felt so awful after that first one.. Pukey, dizzy.. Didn't have enough time to gather myself for the next thing, so I had to go home and come back with Miles a few hours later for the second part.. Oops!
The second workout was another AMRAP..the time escapes my memory, though.. But it was
Deadlifts
Overhead squats
Box jumps
Pistols
Reps increase by 5 each round..so 5/5/5/5, then 10/10/10/10.. Etc..
That one went alright. The DL wt was 135# and OHS was 95#, so not too tough, but it definitely burned.. I kept moving and, though if I'd had the time I probably would have done it again, but I didn't, so just the one go of it for this one.. But overall, even after watching the video, which is normally what causes me to want to redo the workout, I was happy with how I tackled the workout and don't know if or what I could have done differently..other than just be stronger..next time? But. There was the matter of that crappy pull-up workout to deal with.. Our flight out wasn't until 9:55 Saturday morning, or something, so clearly I had the time.. I went to the gym early and got it done. I didn't have much of a strategy change, other than to stick with sets of 10 on the pull-ups (last time I started with sets of 15), sets of 5 on the CTB (first attempt was a mess..3's, 4's..whatever I could get) and then whatever I had left for bar MU. I also wanted to control my rests better.. All in all, I did much better and was happy with my redo. Biggest accomplishment?? My hands held up through all of that?! Hands of steel, I tell ya. I do occasionally rip, but for the most part, these calloused hands are pretty tough.
So from Saturday morning, I'd have to wait until Sunday night to see if my workouts were good enough to keep me in the top 20.. Luckily I had my vacation to help keep my mind off of it! We went to Hilton Head and stayed in a really nice home with a pool on one of the many golf courses.. We met up with my parents, Matt's parents and his sister to stay for the week. Lots of fun! But finally.. Sunday night came and I checked the standings.. I was in 6th! Not bad.. So we will be off to Miami in January and I'm pretty excited about it. We haven't worked out the specifics and logistics yet.. Will my husband come.. Where will my kids be.. But we will figure it out! So.. Wodapalooza, here I come! Let the training begin..
I must give a shout out to the gym that I trained at for the week that I was in Hilton Head. It was Conviction Training Facility (formerly Hilton Head CrossFit, I think) and they have a really nice program! I enjoyed all of the coaches, the clients, the classes.. They do a great job of mobilizing, doing some warm ups, a strength piece and then a workout. I felt like the workouts were well done and thoughtfully planned out and offered a variety of skills to work on through the week. I had originally planned to mostly just follow my programming by using their open gym times, but I enjoyed the classes so much that I would just go in to do my strength part and then join in with their class. They also deal with a LOT of visitors and they always handled every visitor with respect and care and always made sure each one of us felt welcomed and at home. I would absolutely send any other Hilton Head crossfit travelers their way!
Today was a catch-up day, just doing those workouts from our programming that I had missed suring the week. I won't go over them all here, but in all, I did 4 workouts.. Got to work snatches, muscle ups, bar muscle ups, double unders, box jumps, pistols, rowing, HSPU.. I think that about covers it.. Oh, and how could I forget the squat clean thrusters? Those are a treat.. And now I'm off to go collect on a prize from the Naptown Bracket Buster at Lululemon! I don't currently own any of their fine apparel..but I think that's about to change! We also won a prize from Reebok that was waiting for me when I got home from vacation..a nice (and very soft and comfy!) long sleeved, hooded shirt! I'm so fancy.. Pimpin ain't easy!
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Mostly back to normal.. I think
So after a couple of lack-luster training days last week, I finally decided to do something different to get off of that train I had myself on.. It was a cycle of..sore and tired, but think I'm ok to workout.. Try working out, but feel awful, so take a day off.. Feel better, so do ALL THE THINGS!..workout too hard nd find myself in the hole again.. So I finally told myself I would not go back to the gym until I could honestly say I felt good for a whole day.. No wincing while walking. No sniffles. No falling asleep at the drop if a hat.. You know, like a normal functioning adult? So that meant I took all of wed and Thursday off. Maybe that doesn't sound like a lot, or enough, but in assure you, it was both of those things. I felt 100x better on Friday, so I decided to go in early, practice a snatch EMOTM for the competition I was doing that weekend, and then bang out the Wodapalooza workout for the qualifier this week! Snatches went well, so we were off to a good start.. The qualifier workout was:
Find a 4 rep max shoulder to overhead in 2 min, then:
9 min AMRAP
3 cleans (95#)
3 hang squat cleans
3 thrusters
30 double unders
*barbell work must be unbroken unless you want to take a 3 burpee penalty
I wasn't exactly sure of what my 4 rep max was for jerks.. I knew I had done 175# for 3 before, and it remember that being pretty tough.. So I figured I would shoot for that! I warmed up to 165 and then got ready for the workout. I did my 4 reps at 175 and it actually felt pretty easy! Then I went for the workout.. No plan, just figured I'd go fast and.. That's all I got! That worked for about 3 or 4 minutes.. Some day I'll learn.. After finishing that up, I went home and got to thinking about how the workout was done..and I knew I could do better.. I would have to do it again.. Problem was that I had a competition all weekend and the workout is due by Sunday evening.. And I most likely wouldn't feel as fresh then as I still did Friday.. You see where this is going, yes? So I went in that afternoon, armed with a plan.. In my early rounds on my first attempt, I was trying to stick to a round per minute plan, then when that fell apart, I wasn't in control..rest was too long.. Double unders were kind of a mess.. So this time I planned to shoot for somewhere around 1:10-1:15 per round.. Especially in the early sets, so that I didn't lose control of the workout and have to go into survival mode.. I also felt that I had a little more in me for the jerks, since 175 had felt so do-able.. Not much, but some.. So I shot for 180 on those, and I got them! It felt heavy and not pretty, but after watching it in the video (I have to record the stuff and send it in as proof), I kind of wish I had tried for more.. Especially after the scores came out and I see I could have jumped about 10 places if I had done 185#.. But.. That's part of all of this.. You never know what everyone else will do. I didn't want to overshoot and start failing my jerks in warm ups and then not get the 180.. I felt like 180# for 4 unbroken jerks is pretty solid, so regardless of the ranking, I'm actually pretty proud of that! Then the workout.. I stuck to my plan.. 1:10 per round felt like plenty of rest at first and I was able to hold that.. I think all the way through? It started to feel hard in my last round or 2, and I thought about backing off, but told myself that it was supposed to feel hard and just to keep pushing and finish it up. I finished with just under 8 rounds.. My first attempt was only 1 clean into that 8th round, so I improved by 36 reps and felt pretty good about it! Again.. Scores came out and I started thinking 'why didn't you go for 1:05 or 1:08 per round', or something like that.. But I know how it had felt and I know I gave it my all.. So, again.. I'm pleased with that second attempt! Sunday night I got to see the rankings.. I'm currently in 29th place, out of around 300, I think.. Only the top 20 will get an invite for the elite division, so I have to work hard these next couple of weeks, if I want to make it! But I know it can be done.. Just stay consistent and push hard. I think with having more time to do it this weekend, I can test things more and practice, etc.. Hopefully work my way up!
I also competed on a team in the Naptown Bracket Buster here in town this weekend.. It was fun.. A well run comp with good programming, good athletes, and from what I saw, fairly consistent judging, so it was good! We had our ups and downs.. Things we excelled in and had a lot of fun with.. We literally ran away with the relay run.. We had 2 pairs that ran about 1 1/2 miles each and we were about a minute ahead of second place.. That was fun.. Then there was a 'strategy heavy' workout with barbells, holds and burpees.. We communicated well and executed..dare I say perfectly?.. So that one was fun.. We had a few falters where 1 or more maybe struggled a bit with a weight or a movement, which set us back a touch on the workout, but overall, there were a lot of varied challenges thrown at us and we were amongst the top in all of them, so I'm proud of our team! Personally, I enjoyed the comp quite a bit. I liked all of the challenges thrown our way and didn't find myself really tripped up at any certain time, so I guess we are doing something right? The only judging glitch that we experienced was being given a bunch of no-reps at the end of a workout that was a tight race, and meant the difference between 3rd and fourth overall.. The first no-rep was a right call..but then it seemed like they were more focused on reassuring themselves on that call (which, I know, is a tough one to make, especially in that environment!) and not on counting the 3 or 4 reps she correctly made during that time.. So they wound up taking about 4 or 5 squats from her, instead of just the 1.. And then we lost the race.. Oh, well.. We certainly had some other mistakes that cost us in that workout, so I guess it all adds up in the end.. Like I said, though, I was proud of our team and the work we put together in a tough competition, so it was a good weekend. I would definitely do that competition again!.. Coming back to seek revenge next year!
So given my inability to recover over the previous 2 weeks.. And the fact that I did that qualifier 2 times before the weekend long competition!.. I told myself that if I felt super tired and sore when I tried to wake up for the gym Monday morning, I would take a rest day.. Well, I woke up super tired and sore, so went back to bed and rested up.. I tell you what, it worked! I felt great today and definitely had a better workout today than I would have had yesterday, so maybe I'm learning..
So today was my 'day 1' for this week and it was:
Snatch with a 2-3 second pause above the knee: sets of 3 @ 95/105/110/120#. These went ok until I started rushing things at 120#.. Some went ok, but I think I lost my focus a bit, or something.. Decided to move along..
Squats: sets of 4 at 200/210#.. Ouch!
Weighted front rack step ups (20" box): 3 sets of 8/leg w 85#
GHDs with a 14# med ball: 3 sets of 20.. Sweatin hard by this point!
EMOTM x4 min 1 snatch @ 120#, then every :30s x 3 min 1 snatch @ 110#, then every :15s x 2 min 1 snatch @ 110#
Workout:
15 ring MU ( did 5/3/3/2/2 and it took 3 min)
20 HSPU (12/8)
25 cal row
30 pistols
25 cal row
20 HSPU (15/5)
15 bar MU (9/6)
Overall, it took me 11:50 to finish. Not too bad.. Calorie row always takes me a bit.. And pistols felt hard because my legs were feeling the squats and step ups..and all the snatches, too, probably.. But I felt like I moved as quickly as I could, so I will take it. Pretty good start to the week! We have some heavy hang snatches up for tomorrow, so I better be ready for that! Should be fun..
Find a 4 rep max shoulder to overhead in 2 min, then:
9 min AMRAP
3 cleans (95#)
3 hang squat cleans
3 thrusters
30 double unders
*barbell work must be unbroken unless you want to take a 3 burpee penalty
I wasn't exactly sure of what my 4 rep max was for jerks.. I knew I had done 175# for 3 before, and it remember that being pretty tough.. So I figured I would shoot for that! I warmed up to 165 and then got ready for the workout. I did my 4 reps at 175 and it actually felt pretty easy! Then I went for the workout.. No plan, just figured I'd go fast and.. That's all I got! That worked for about 3 or 4 minutes.. Some day I'll learn.. After finishing that up, I went home and got to thinking about how the workout was done..and I knew I could do better.. I would have to do it again.. Problem was that I had a competition all weekend and the workout is due by Sunday evening.. And I most likely wouldn't feel as fresh then as I still did Friday.. You see where this is going, yes? So I went in that afternoon, armed with a plan.. In my early rounds on my first attempt, I was trying to stick to a round per minute plan, then when that fell apart, I wasn't in control..rest was too long.. Double unders were kind of a mess.. So this time I planned to shoot for somewhere around 1:10-1:15 per round.. Especially in the early sets, so that I didn't lose control of the workout and have to go into survival mode.. I also felt that I had a little more in me for the jerks, since 175 had felt so do-able.. Not much, but some.. So I shot for 180 on those, and I got them! It felt heavy and not pretty, but after watching it in the video (I have to record the stuff and send it in as proof), I kind of wish I had tried for more.. Especially after the scores came out and I see I could have jumped about 10 places if I had done 185#.. But.. That's part of all of this.. You never know what everyone else will do. I didn't want to overshoot and start failing my jerks in warm ups and then not get the 180.. I felt like 180# for 4 unbroken jerks is pretty solid, so regardless of the ranking, I'm actually pretty proud of that! Then the workout.. I stuck to my plan.. 1:10 per round felt like plenty of rest at first and I was able to hold that.. I think all the way through? It started to feel hard in my last round or 2, and I thought about backing off, but told myself that it was supposed to feel hard and just to keep pushing and finish it up. I finished with just under 8 rounds.. My first attempt was only 1 clean into that 8th round, so I improved by 36 reps and felt pretty good about it! Again.. Scores came out and I started thinking 'why didn't you go for 1:05 or 1:08 per round', or something like that.. But I know how it had felt and I know I gave it my all.. So, again.. I'm pleased with that second attempt! Sunday night I got to see the rankings.. I'm currently in 29th place, out of around 300, I think.. Only the top 20 will get an invite for the elite division, so I have to work hard these next couple of weeks, if I want to make it! But I know it can be done.. Just stay consistent and push hard. I think with having more time to do it this weekend, I can test things more and practice, etc.. Hopefully work my way up!
I also competed on a team in the Naptown Bracket Buster here in town this weekend.. It was fun.. A well run comp with good programming, good athletes, and from what I saw, fairly consistent judging, so it was good! We had our ups and downs.. Things we excelled in and had a lot of fun with.. We literally ran away with the relay run.. We had 2 pairs that ran about 1 1/2 miles each and we were about a minute ahead of second place.. That was fun.. Then there was a 'strategy heavy' workout with barbells, holds and burpees.. We communicated well and executed..dare I say perfectly?.. So that one was fun.. We had a few falters where 1 or more maybe struggled a bit with a weight or a movement, which set us back a touch on the workout, but overall, there were a lot of varied challenges thrown at us and we were amongst the top in all of them, so I'm proud of our team! Personally, I enjoyed the comp quite a bit. I liked all of the challenges thrown our way and didn't find myself really tripped up at any certain time, so I guess we are doing something right? The only judging glitch that we experienced was being given a bunch of no-reps at the end of a workout that was a tight race, and meant the difference between 3rd and fourth overall.. The first no-rep was a right call..but then it seemed like they were more focused on reassuring themselves on that call (which, I know, is a tough one to make, especially in that environment!) and not on counting the 3 or 4 reps she correctly made during that time.. So they wound up taking about 4 or 5 squats from her, instead of just the 1.. And then we lost the race.. Oh, well.. We certainly had some other mistakes that cost us in that workout, so I guess it all adds up in the end.. Like I said, though, I was proud of our team and the work we put together in a tough competition, so it was a good weekend. I would definitely do that competition again!.. Coming back to seek revenge next year!
So given my inability to recover over the previous 2 weeks.. And the fact that I did that qualifier 2 times before the weekend long competition!.. I told myself that if I felt super tired and sore when I tried to wake up for the gym Monday morning, I would take a rest day.. Well, I woke up super tired and sore, so went back to bed and rested up.. I tell you what, it worked! I felt great today and definitely had a better workout today than I would have had yesterday, so maybe I'm learning..
So today was my 'day 1' for this week and it was:
Snatch with a 2-3 second pause above the knee: sets of 3 @ 95/105/110/120#. These went ok until I started rushing things at 120#.. Some went ok, but I think I lost my focus a bit, or something.. Decided to move along..
Squats: sets of 4 at 200/210#.. Ouch!
Weighted front rack step ups (20" box): 3 sets of 8/leg w 85#
GHDs with a 14# med ball: 3 sets of 20.. Sweatin hard by this point!
EMOTM x4 min 1 snatch @ 120#, then every :30s x 3 min 1 snatch @ 110#, then every :15s x 2 min 1 snatch @ 110#
Workout:
15 ring MU ( did 5/3/3/2/2 and it took 3 min)
20 HSPU (12/8)
25 cal row
30 pistols
25 cal row
20 HSPU (15/5)
15 bar MU (9/6)
Overall, it took me 11:50 to finish. Not too bad.. Calorie row always takes me a bit.. And pistols felt hard because my legs were feeling the squats and step ups..and all the snatches, too, probably.. But I felt like I moved as quickly as I could, so I will take it. Pretty good start to the week! We have some heavy hang snatches up for tomorrow, so I better be ready for that! Should be fun..
Monday, September 22, 2014
Another fun team series day
After my lazy day off, I had another slow start to my day on Saturday.. Sleeping in as long as the kids let me..which, since Miles is free to come on out of his room as soon as he's ready, it's been more like 6:30 these days.. But that still beats 4! So it felt leisurely to me.. Especially since I didn't need to leave for the gym until 10:30-ish.. We had another day of getting our group together to do the second team series workouts and the traveling folks wouldn't arrive until 11:30, so no need to rush! Once we all got there, though.. It was time to get moving. Started off with a 2 rep max bench press. I was feeling good and started with what felt like an easy 165#. My max is only 175, so I guess trying it for a 2 rep max wasn't going to be easy. The first one felt fine, but that second one got tricky..and then stuck..and then stopped moving upwards.. Dang it! After the rest took their turns, I tried again at 170.. And then again.. Same thing! I think I learned that once the ol bench press starts to fail.. It's down hill from there.. Oh, well. Not bad. I had hoped for a bit more, but it wasn't for lack of trying! We ran through the rest of the 3 workouts and things went well! We had cleans at 105#, and those felt fine.. No collar bone/neck issues! It's actually feeling a lot better. I think it just needed me to stop hitting it long enough for it to heal a bit.. Go figure! We also had muscle ups in that workout and those felt good, too. Sets of 4, holding strong! I guess if I was following my plan, I'd have sets of 6 by now? But I think I need to back off of those just a bit.. Maybe just 2 or 3 days a week?
Next up was a relay where we each did 21/15/9 OHS and TTB's.. I underestimated that one a bit..as usual.. But I managed to squeak out my last few TTB's to make it through all unbroken! I usually don't feel my core/hips much in TTB's (even though that's what it is technically working, I usually feel it more in my grip), but those last few were feeling it for sure! But that one went well. Last, but not least, was partners doing 50 Deadlifts (155# for females) and 50 HSPU. Kicker here was that while one partner worked, the other had to hold, either the bar or a handstand.. Not too bad, though. I partnered with Nick and we were able to go back and forth with little or no rest through almost 3 rounds before the 15 min was up.. And then we were done! Not bad for a days work. We hung out a bit and chatted. There is a lot of discussion going on about upcoming competitions and such.. First up is my attempt to get a group on board to go out to Boston in January for the East Coast Championships. Just like Granite Games, this is a big comp that pulls a lot of top athletes out and the cool thing about this one is that you can do the individual competition on Saturday and then get a team of 4 together for the team comp on Sunday! Could be fun, right? Well.. We would have to do the on-line qualifier stuff first, so I need to get them on board quick! So anyway, that was that.
Sunday started off with an ill-advised attempt at fast mile repeats! I was shooting for the low 6 minute range and..that did not go well.. I had to settle for 6:43 and 6:49.. Ouch! Next time I will shoot for 6:30-6:40.. My last mile repeats, which I did a couple weeks ago, were all around 7 min, so I'm not sure what I was thinking? Aim high, I say! As soon as I finished that, I went over to the gym. My plan was to do the strength work from day 6 of this week.. Which was:
Sets of 2 on OHS: 125/135/145/165/175
Sets of 3 snatch balance: 115/125/135/145
Snatch balance presses at 55-65#/weighted GH raises with 20#
JD had mentioned pulling a weighted sled for a mile, and what could be more fun than that?! So I joined him.. It wasn't too bad! I added 70# to the sled and each lap took right around 2 min, finishing at 15:51. Good times! I hung around and worked, then when I got home, it was time for the apple orchard! We are usually terrible with this.. We always plan to get there at a good time, but usually don't make it til almost November when the pickins are slim, at best.. So this year was a huge success! Apples everywhere! Apples that taste good! We filled an $18 bag to the brim and then Matt immediately made apple crisp! Apples! We did it.. Finally.. 5 years of trying and finally a success. AND. As if that isn't exciting enough.. All that apple tasting wiggled Mason's loose tooth right out of his mouth! Our first lost tooth.. Big stuff!
And now Monday.. Pretty good day, though not my best workout ever..
Snatch with a 2-3 sec pause at power position: 2 sets of 3 @ 95/105# and 1 set of 3 @ 110#
3 sets of 5 squats at 200#.. Yeouch! Reps 4 and 5 of each set were tough!
Overhead walking lunges: 3 sets of 8 @ 120#/ 3 sets of 25 GHDs
High hang snatch EMOTM x 10 min: stuck at 115#. Most reps flew up and felt great, but I had some misses, so didn't increase the weight.. I was feeling pretty tired by this point, since I have to race through things on days like this. And snatches right after GHDs are always a little rough for me.. But, anyway.. Not bad, but not great. I had planned to increase to 120 and 125..
The workout was kind of rough, too..
15 min AMRAP
12 single arm snatch (55#)
16 CTB pull-ups
20 HSPU
As usual, the snatches were my sticking point. CTB and HSPU felt fine.. But those snatches slow me down! Any time I try to speed up, I have a near miss or not great rep that makes me slow back down.. So I only got through 3 rounds + 9 snatches.
After I got Mason on the bus and Miles ready to go, we went back in for more! The gym's workout for today was Helen and I hadn't done that one in a long time! I figured it would be a good 'second workout' option for me. I'm still pretty sore.. Probably some new soreness and just not being fully recovered.. My bench pressing muscles are sore! Shoulders.. My butt and hammies are sore.. Probably from DL and my sled pull, but I woke up with those sore legs on Sunday, so it must be mostly from Saturdays stuff.. So I couldn't come up with any lifts that sounded like a good idea, given my soreness and another comp to try to feel a little bit fresh for this weekend.. So I just stuck with some stretching, the Helen workout, core work with hollow/arch rocks, and some handstand/free-standing HSPU work! That was fun.. Sort of.. I hadn't worked on them since that weekend clinic this summer, so I wanted to get some more practice.. I got a couple sets of 4-5, so we will call it pretty good.. Helen is:
3 rounds
400m run
21 kettle bell swings (35#)
12 pull-ups
I'm not sure what a 'good' time is, but I tried to push the run as much as I could and didn't stop on the KBs or pull-ups.. It took me 7:38 to finish and it felt like a good burn! I spoke with Mike a bit about where my focus should be for the next few months.. Leading up to GG, I had that comp in mind for training and once the workouts were released, my 'extra stuff' training got even more specific.. Now that the comp is all done, I'm a little unsure of what to do? I know there is still a TON of things to work on..get better at.. Stronger..faster.. I know Mikes programming obviously works to improve all those things, but I always feel like I need to do more.. Just little things to continue to push me to be better. I think Mike agrees, somewhat, but he also wants to make sure I don't injure myself or get overworked..which I get..rationally.. But the irrational part of me just wants to do it all and conquer all the things and enter all the comps..and maybe win?! Some?? I think I need a balance of the two.. Push hard and work on weaknesses, but listen to my body and slow down and/or rest when I need it.. Sounds good, right? Fool proof! So for now.. I take it kind of/sort of easy-ish this week to be ready for the team comp this weekend.. I think I'm going to do the online qualifiers for Wodapalooza in Miami and ECC in Boston and just see what happens.. If I qualify for both, but can get some interest in the team stuff in ECC, I'll go for that.. But if I'm solo, I'll probably opt for Miami.. That's provided I even qualify.. But I figure it can't hurt to try. The workouts for those are typically more 'open-ish', so 'light wt/move fast' workouts that are always good to do, so it should fit in fine with my 'take it easier the next few weeks and then gear things up again for which ever comp you go for in Jan' (it's a working title) plan.. We shall see! I should probably just focus on getting un-sore, but I like to have a goal. I'm sure I'm super fun to coach!
Next up was a relay where we each did 21/15/9 OHS and TTB's.. I underestimated that one a bit..as usual.. But I managed to squeak out my last few TTB's to make it through all unbroken! I usually don't feel my core/hips much in TTB's (even though that's what it is technically working, I usually feel it more in my grip), but those last few were feeling it for sure! But that one went well. Last, but not least, was partners doing 50 Deadlifts (155# for females) and 50 HSPU. Kicker here was that while one partner worked, the other had to hold, either the bar or a handstand.. Not too bad, though. I partnered with Nick and we were able to go back and forth with little or no rest through almost 3 rounds before the 15 min was up.. And then we were done! Not bad for a days work. We hung out a bit and chatted. There is a lot of discussion going on about upcoming competitions and such.. First up is my attempt to get a group on board to go out to Boston in January for the East Coast Championships. Just like Granite Games, this is a big comp that pulls a lot of top athletes out and the cool thing about this one is that you can do the individual competition on Saturday and then get a team of 4 together for the team comp on Sunday! Could be fun, right? Well.. We would have to do the on-line qualifier stuff first, so I need to get them on board quick! So anyway, that was that.
Sunday started off with an ill-advised attempt at fast mile repeats! I was shooting for the low 6 minute range and..that did not go well.. I had to settle for 6:43 and 6:49.. Ouch! Next time I will shoot for 6:30-6:40.. My last mile repeats, which I did a couple weeks ago, were all around 7 min, so I'm not sure what I was thinking? Aim high, I say! As soon as I finished that, I went over to the gym. My plan was to do the strength work from day 6 of this week.. Which was:
Sets of 2 on OHS: 125/135/145/165/175
Sets of 3 snatch balance: 115/125/135/145
Snatch balance presses at 55-65#/weighted GH raises with 20#
JD had mentioned pulling a weighted sled for a mile, and what could be more fun than that?! So I joined him.. It wasn't too bad! I added 70# to the sled and each lap took right around 2 min, finishing at 15:51. Good times! I hung around and worked, then when I got home, it was time for the apple orchard! We are usually terrible with this.. We always plan to get there at a good time, but usually don't make it til almost November when the pickins are slim, at best.. So this year was a huge success! Apples everywhere! Apples that taste good! We filled an $18 bag to the brim and then Matt immediately made apple crisp! Apples! We did it.. Finally.. 5 years of trying and finally a success. AND. As if that isn't exciting enough.. All that apple tasting wiggled Mason's loose tooth right out of his mouth! Our first lost tooth.. Big stuff!
And now Monday.. Pretty good day, though not my best workout ever..
Snatch with a 2-3 sec pause at power position: 2 sets of 3 @ 95/105# and 1 set of 3 @ 110#
3 sets of 5 squats at 200#.. Yeouch! Reps 4 and 5 of each set were tough!
Overhead walking lunges: 3 sets of 8 @ 120#/ 3 sets of 25 GHDs
High hang snatch EMOTM x 10 min: stuck at 115#. Most reps flew up and felt great, but I had some misses, so didn't increase the weight.. I was feeling pretty tired by this point, since I have to race through things on days like this. And snatches right after GHDs are always a little rough for me.. But, anyway.. Not bad, but not great. I had planned to increase to 120 and 125..
The workout was kind of rough, too..
15 min AMRAP
12 single arm snatch (55#)
16 CTB pull-ups
20 HSPU
As usual, the snatches were my sticking point. CTB and HSPU felt fine.. But those snatches slow me down! Any time I try to speed up, I have a near miss or not great rep that makes me slow back down.. So I only got through 3 rounds + 9 snatches.
After I got Mason on the bus and Miles ready to go, we went back in for more! The gym's workout for today was Helen and I hadn't done that one in a long time! I figured it would be a good 'second workout' option for me. I'm still pretty sore.. Probably some new soreness and just not being fully recovered.. My bench pressing muscles are sore! Shoulders.. My butt and hammies are sore.. Probably from DL and my sled pull, but I woke up with those sore legs on Sunday, so it must be mostly from Saturdays stuff.. So I couldn't come up with any lifts that sounded like a good idea, given my soreness and another comp to try to feel a little bit fresh for this weekend.. So I just stuck with some stretching, the Helen workout, core work with hollow/arch rocks, and some handstand/free-standing HSPU work! That was fun.. Sort of.. I hadn't worked on them since that weekend clinic this summer, so I wanted to get some more practice.. I got a couple sets of 4-5, so we will call it pretty good.. Helen is:
3 rounds
400m run
21 kettle bell swings (35#)
12 pull-ups
I'm not sure what a 'good' time is, but I tried to push the run as much as I could and didn't stop on the KBs or pull-ups.. It took me 7:38 to finish and it felt like a good burn! I spoke with Mike a bit about where my focus should be for the next few months.. Leading up to GG, I had that comp in mind for training and once the workouts were released, my 'extra stuff' training got even more specific.. Now that the comp is all done, I'm a little unsure of what to do? I know there is still a TON of things to work on..get better at.. Stronger..faster.. I know Mikes programming obviously works to improve all those things, but I always feel like I need to do more.. Just little things to continue to push me to be better. I think Mike agrees, somewhat, but he also wants to make sure I don't injure myself or get overworked..which I get..rationally.. But the irrational part of me just wants to do it all and conquer all the things and enter all the comps..and maybe win?! Some?? I think I need a balance of the two.. Push hard and work on weaknesses, but listen to my body and slow down and/or rest when I need it.. Sounds good, right? Fool proof! So for now.. I take it kind of/sort of easy-ish this week to be ready for the team comp this weekend.. I think I'm going to do the online qualifiers for Wodapalooza in Miami and ECC in Boston and just see what happens.. If I qualify for both, but can get some interest in the team stuff in ECC, I'll go for that.. But if I'm solo, I'll probably opt for Miami.. That's provided I even qualify.. But I figure it can't hurt to try. The workouts for those are typically more 'open-ish', so 'light wt/move fast' workouts that are always good to do, so it should fit in fine with my 'take it easier the next few weeks and then gear things up again for which ever comp you go for in Jan' (it's a working title) plan.. We shall see! I should probably just focus on getting un-sore, but I like to have a goal. I'm sure I'm super fun to coach!
Friday, September 19, 2014
Eventually, everyone needs a rest..
So after a couple days of decent..not great, but not terrible.. Workouts, I thought things were back on track as far as recovering from the weekend and moving on to regular training.. Well.. Not quite.. I'd be lying if I said I had felt great in Tuesdays or Wednesdays workouts, but I was moving alright.. I'd also be lying if I couldn't tell things weren't quite right with my body this week.. Every morning felt really hard to get going. I didn't have my usual 'ready to go' feeling heading in to the gym. I had that cold that just didn't seem to be getting better. I also had a collar bone/neck bruise that was flaring up any time I did cleans or anything front rack..which is pretty much daily.. This had been going on for about 2 weeks. I was pretty sure it wasn't a huge deal, like a fracture or anything that was a big problem.. But I was also pretty sure that my daily re-bruising of it with banging barbells of various weights right on that same spot wasn't helping it heal. I didn't have too much of a choice in this, though I probably could have skipped a practice or 2 that included cleans or shoulder-to-overhead, but 2 of the granite games workouts included those and, well.. I wanted to practice them! Plus, then we had the actual competition, where I would be repeating those moves.. So here I was on Thursday, after completing Wednesdays work, which included power cleans in the strength portion and then a bunch of hang cleans in the workout.. Now it's Thursday and heavy cleans and front squats AND shoulder to overhead are all in the plan.. I really thought I would be ok with the full cleans and front squats and was only concerned with the STO, but I quickly found out that if I tried to catch my cleans properly.. In the right spot.. Right where that bruise is.. I was in trouble. Even the front squats I found myself trying to avoid that proper front rack spot, which put me in a less than ideal position and made the squat that much harder.. It wasn't going so well for me! Add all that to my continued soreness and my cold, which had meandered on down to my stomach and had me feeling queasy.. Things were not looking good for me at all. I spoke with my coach about the collar bone bruise issue.. He could see the bruise and swelling, so immediately agreed that I should avoid anything that caused more pain and try to let it heal a bit.. A gal from the gym who assesses athletes injuries for a living overheard this discussion and came over to add her two cents. She agreed that it appears to be a bruise right where the muscle attaches to the bone, given that most of my soreness is not on the bone, but more above and increasing tightness in my neck and shoulder. She suggested light stretching, ice, anti-inflammatory meds, just to reduce that swelling a bit.. And, of coarse, stop banging a barbell against it for a bit so it can heal! Ok, ok.. I was seeing where this was going.. I continued my strength stuff, but did my jerks from behind the neck.. Adapt and overcome, amIright? I was starting to set myself up for the workout, which I was going to adjust to dumbbell STO to avoid my poor, delicate collar bone, but as I continued to stall, I got into a discussion with Mike and he mentioned that maybe I'm going about this whole recovery thing wrong.. As in.. I'm not letting myself recover and I should stop trying to muddle through things and just take a break, already! This did not take much convincing, as I was feeling pretty crappy and could tell my body was just yelling at me to STOP. He also suggested that since I have a big-ish day ahead on Saturday with the next team series workouts to do.. And then a team comp the following weekend.. I should take a Whole. Day. Off. On Friday.. Again, kind of surprisingly, I agreed to this and was actually feeling good about taking a bit of a rest. I always hate missing workouts, but for once, I can tell I needed it. This whole thing of being this worn down is pretty new to me. I typically recover well and bounce right back after a competition.. Maybe this means I worked harder in this one? Maybe it means I need to up my intensity on a regular basis so that I don't get so wiped from a comp? I'm not sure it's possible to fully train like its a competition every day, or that it's even a good idea? I'm literally spit-balling, here, because I'm kind of clueless.. I'm sure I could up the intensity some in my training, but I think mostly I just need to better anticipate a need for recovery and not try to jump back in so quick. Probably wait til I have that 'eager to get to the gym' feeling before I move on.. I'll learn some day. The only other time I remember taking days off to recover from an event was the ironman.. It took me til Wednesday to feel ready for even light activity, but I was anticipating it that time.. As far as crossfit goes, this is a first. Duly noted! 3 days of topping each workout by minutes from what I had done in practice.. It can knock a gal down a bit! Alright.. So I took today off. I've iced my neck and it's feeling better.. I do have cleans in one of the workouts tomorrow, so we will see how that goes. It's a lighter weight, so I can probably get away with a lower catch to avoid that spot.. Otherwise, definitely feeling better and I absolutely have that 'let me at it' feeling about getting in to the gym tomorrow, so that's a good sign!
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