Tuesday, 11.29.11

Power Clean 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
Today I worked on Power Cleans.  My white board record of 125 lbs was dropped by Brooke's 140 lb lift, so I was feeling the pressure to at least PR.

I started at 85, 105, 115, 125

I hit 125 and tried for 135 from there and failed.  Dropped the weight to 130 - fail!  Went back down to 125 and couldn't even hit that again.  I made several attempts and failed them all.  At this point I was extremely frustrated and knew it was time to call it a day.

However, I tried something new today - I videoed all of my attempts and have been watching them to try and pinpoint what I was doing wrong.  It was pretty obvious that I was too slow on the pull to get under the bar and my elbows were super slow.  I think that if I can get over the pain of watching myself on video, this could serve as a very effective training tool.  The video enables me to to go back, break my lift down frame by frame, and see where I broke form and try to correct it next time.

METCON:
7 minutes
800 m run
Max deadlifts at 75-85% of Power Clean 1RM for remaining time

Run: 3:55 (I picked up the cone marking the turn around point on the way back, so running with that slowed me down a bit)
Max deadlifts: 54@110#

Monday, 11.28.11

SWOD: Front Squat 65% x 3, 75% x 3, 85% x Max Reps


110x3, 115x3, 135x2
Metcon: Three rounds for time of:
- 400 meters Run
- 21 Hang Squat Clean (95#/ 65#)
- 12 Ring Dips


18:55 @ 65# with orange banded ring dips

Friday, 11.25.11

SWOD: Push Press 5-4-3-2-1

65x5, 70x4, 75x3, 80x2, 85x3

Metcon: 21, 15, 9, 3

Jumping Pull-ups

Air Squats

Sit-ups

Weighted OH walking lunges

8:55

Thursday, 11.24.11

SWOD:  Turkish Get Up practice

Metcon:  For time:
- Row 500 meters
- 50 Box Jump (20")
- 50 Push Ups
- 50 Sit Ups
- 50 Jumping Pull Ups
- 50 Back Extension
- 50 Dips
- 20 Turkish Get Up, alternating arms (53/35#)



This was a tough one!  The push-ups and dips reminded me how weak my upper body is and the Turkish get ups got me! The first 5 TGUs I did Rx'd but then had to drop to 26 pounds.  

Monday, 11.21.11

SWOD:  Back Squats: 65% x5, 75% x5, 85% x max reps
                                  135 x5, 155x5, 170 x5




Metcon:  For time: 
- 250m Row 
- 20 Thrusters @ Fran weight (95#) or higher 
- 250m Row 
- 15 Thrusters 
- 250m Row 
- 10 Thrusters 
- 250m Row 
- 5 Thrusters 



22:something @ 75#
800 M "cool down" run


After doing 150 wall balls last Thursday, my quads have been insanely, to-the-touch sore!  My son plopped his legs onto my lap while we were watching TV last night and I about threw him across the room. Any type of squat movement is pure torture and I've been walking like a...uh...I'm not sure exactly what but I'm sure I look pretty weird.  


So when I saw back squats and thrusters for today, I cringed but forced myself to do it.  And thanks to Jenna who was my partner, I did the metcon @75# instead of Fran weight of 65#.  My fastest 250m row was :54 and my longest (the last one) was :59. I finished at around 22 minutes, but that included a lot of waiting around time for an open rower.  

Friday, 11.18.11

Today was supposed to be a run day, but I just couldn't bring myself to run in the rain at 6am (wimpy, I know!) so I did the WOD:

SWOD:
2-2-2-2-2 Hang Power Snatch
55, 65, 75, 80, 85

METCON:
On the minute for 15 minutes:
2 Power Snatches @ 75-85% of today's top weight
2 Box Jumps

70# Power Snatches, 30" Box Jump

Thursday, 11.17.11

I was feeling a little bit under the weather today so I did what all normal people do when they aren't feeling well - I decided to workout! Did I say normal?

Since yesterday's 930 class made the WOD look so easy and fun, I decided to spend the precious 20 minutes of free time I had today to try it out:

2 Rounds of:
100 Double Unders
75 Wall Balls

I finished in just under the 20 minute cap (18:40).  I really struggled with the wall ball shots.  They made me feel sick(er).  Fun stuff.

Tuesday, 11.15.11

Today I only had time for the Strength WOD:

Deadlift
3-3-3-3-3

175x3, 185x3, 195x3, 205x2, 205x3

Big thanks to Erica for sticking around and lifting with me.  I tried a different weight belt which seemed to help.

On my failed set, there were a couple of things going on.  First, I wasn't thinking when I set up and forgot to use a mixed grip which threw me off because I could barely hold the bar.  Second, I had just put on a leather lifting belt for the lift and it was cutting into my stomach and I was unable to breathe!  By the time I got to the 3rd rep, I was so unfocused that I wasn't able to even lift the weight off the ground and had to just walk away and reset.

Saturday 11.12.11

It was a beautiful day for a run!                          

Run: 5.5 Miles, 57:00  Highlight of the run: beating the guy riding a bike up to the end of Vaca Valley Pkwy

Fall is my absolute favorite running season.  I just love it when the sun is shinning but the air is cool and crisp.  Saturday's weather was actually a little on the warm side so I'm glad I left my sweatshirt at home. 

There's a steep hill by my house that is perfect to run when I'm in the mood for a little trail running.  My kids have named it "Mount Vaca-suvius" after the infamous Mount Vesuvius that destroyed the city of Pompeii.  I think it's actually a pretty cool name.  

I haven't run the hill in ages and it's much steeper and longer than Wykoff.  It was quite challenging and I had to take several rest breaks on the way up.  There are some large rocks up there that people like to visit to rock climb and do "other things"  I passed a large group of climbers that were carrying mattresses on their backs.  

Pleasants Valley

I made it to the top!

At the top the views are of course, amazing.  On the back side is a panoramic view of Pleasants Valley, 

and the other side are sweeping views of our "Browns Valley bubble".

Wednesday 11.09.11

Accumulate 3:00 of Hollow Rocks

Metcon:
1 mile run
50 Floor Wipers @ 85#
1 mile run
23:20

11.8.11

SWOD:Power Cleans: 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 65, 85, 105, 115, 125

Metcon:5 Rounds of:
6 Hang Power Cleans @ 100# (80% of today's top 2 rm)
12 Toes to Bar
250m Row:57, :57, :58, :57, :57

11.7.11

Help! I need an intervention!

I wasn't able to make it to The Compound today but was able to break away to hit an 8pm Zumba class at Gold's Gym.  After class I decided to hit the treadmill to do a tabata run.  (20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest, repeated 8 times)

I set the incline to 12 and my speed to 8.  By round 6, I was having flashbacks of past Biggest Loser episodes with Jillian hovering over the treadmill, yelling in the contestants's face.  I was sure I was going to be the one to go flying off the treadmill, straight into the wall.  So...I lowered my speed to 7.5 round 6, then 7 and then 6.5 for the last round.   Sure, I probably would have held my 8 mph pace if Jillian had shown up, but Pukie would be following right behind!

I don't think I have ever set the treadmill incline to 12.  I can see why the treadmill is more effective for hill tabata sprints, vs a real hill.  The treadmill forces you to hold your pace, whereas running a real hill enables you to self-adjust your speed without even realizing it.  It was really tough and it took me the whole drive home to recover and shake that puking feeling.  

11.4.11

It was a chilly early run this morning!!

Distance run: 4.01 miles

I'm trying to increase my distance so my goal was 4 miles, which I did in 33:10, 8:16 avg per mile.

11.3.11

SWOD: 3-3-3-3-3 Split Jerks

65-85-95-105-120

Metcon: 1 Power Clean, 2 Jerks on the minute for 15 minutes @ 60-70% of 3RM

1 minute was plenty of time for each round in the met con, so I really concentrated on my form.  Craig and Brad helped me beforehand with hand placement on the jerk.

Normally I use a hook grip to clean the weight, switching to an open hand grip on the bar at the end of the clean.  I then jerk the weight with an open hand (thumb NOT around the bar).

Brad and Craig suggested that I try cleaning with the hook grip and then adjusting at the end of my clean by placing my thumb around the bar.  Not necessarily gripping the bar with my thumb wrapped around the bar, but just placing my thumb around it.  This gives me a better arm position (forearm perpendicular to the floor) for optimum power on my jerk.

I tried it and it definitely felt different - not necessarily better, but different.  I plan to use this method in the future to see if it will help improve my jerk.

Post-Halloween.  This is the most dangerous time of the year for me, figuratively speaking. Figuratively - as in my figure.  Cooler weather sets in, comfort food cravings hit, and my vow to eat healthy during the holidays doesn't even come close to lasting as long as Kim Kardashian's wedding vows. 

So to counteract my inevitable diet sabotage, I am going to do something drastic.  Something that has never been attempted on this oh so popular, widely read, exercise log of mine.  I am going to start....a food log!  There, I said it, I am now committed.  I am going to document what I eat so I am accountable to all, uh, 3 of my followers out there.   

Seriously though, the cleanest I have ever eaten was when I kept a food log with a friend of mine.  Each day we would report to each other what we had eaten, how much, and our total caloric and fat intake for the day.  What a difference it made to have to reveal what eating choices I had made in a day.  It definitely made me think twice when I reached for that doughnut or that 3rd or 4th slice of pizza!

I make no pretense that with this food log I am going to be the perfect eater. In fact, you'll probably cringe and be as disgusted as I will be with some of my daily journals.  I will, however, be honest to the best of my ability.  My goal is to first, get an idea of exactly what I am eating and next, look at how I can change and improve.  

Here are some great reasons to start a food journal:

• Encourages you to focus on your food choices, and hopefully make good ones
• Helps you to control the urge to binge
• Allows you to track your progress
• Creates a means of evaluating the connection of what you eat with how you feel (or how your CrossFit progress or performance is affected) 
• Helps you to make sure you are eating enough of the nutrients you need
• Helps you acknowledge the reality of how much you eat

I will post my food log on a separate tab from my exercise log.