Been missing in action, but I have good excuses this time.

Been a rough 7 days for me and my pal CrossFit.  Caught what I thought was a little bit of a bug, still not sure I haven't.  Same bacterial cultures that I had a few months back, might be the same thing as before, back on the anti-biotic treatment I go.  Felt ready for Monday, went in early with a lot of the college aged athletes at On Track... and man I felt slow.  Not going to go back and look at the workout, not what this post is going for today.  Did a lot of clean work (apparently they're on week 8 or a 12 week cycle).  Got some good coaching on it too, wish'ed I'd worn my lifters cause we did some tempo front squats after the cleans. 

METCON was a bit much... but it's modeled to be like something in the upcoming Open (I just signed up), and it was un-fun.  12 minute AMRAP of 10 bar over burpees followed by 30DUs.  Think I got into round 5, but I was doing step overs, and not much on double unders.... which is funny.  Funny because I didn't bring my lifters, which I could have used... AND I left my brand new unused rope at home.  SMH!!  *sigh*

Back to this Open thing, I'm scared to death.  I signed up, I didn't really want to, but I can't/won't blame it on peer pressure either.  I see it as a chance to grow and really measure myself vs "the standard".  I don't do box jumps... yet.  Don't do pullups... yet.  Haven't gotten a single DU... yet.  You see where I'm going?  I'm not there yet, but this should... will force me to push things bit harder, force me to push myself a bit harder.  It should be good, looking forward to see where I may stack up, might surprise myself and a few others. 

So I'm not sick right now.  On the anti biotics, but not sick feeling.  I've been busy though.  I know, I hear you, what is more important to you than CrossFit?  Great question, a few things, but chief among them is the fact I'm now a 2nd time daddy. 

Everyone is doing fine, and she's super healthy, life is good.  I'm hoping to get a chance to break away and get another WOD in before Friday, but if the Open is my first one back, it is what it is. 

Last thought, and something I haven't had a chance to put up yet, went to the docs, haven't lost anything in months.... which really sucks, but honestly, I expected it...well no, I expected to have slowed some loss, not no loss.  40 lbs is great, but it's a long way from where we are going, and it's my fault.  My diet sucks.  I'm going to check out Whole 30 that the doc mentioned (books to read!), and we'll see whats happening.  If it comes to it, I'll dive headfirst back into pure pure pure paleo, and get back on the right track.  Watching this Justin dude lose 122lbs in 5 months is highly irritating with the work I've put it.  I don't know what he did to get that off that fast, but there is no reason I can't eat better to get my own weight off.  Starts and ends with me. 

Alright, more visitors are here, time to let someone else have the limelight.  :)

New squat mechanics are on the way

What a night.  Not to give you the desert first, but after the WOD they had a little winter/sledding party at Unlocked.  Food, friends, fun.  I didn't partake in the snow festivities... A, I don't have any gear out here, B, I got enough of the snow as a delivery driver, C... I might be getting sick, so why give it more of a reason to hit?  Good times were had though.  Unlocked is like home, I've broke bread with these folks, they've treated me like family... life is good. 

I could have gone to CFDS tonight, the roads weren't bad, they'd all been cleaned, but I'd already decided that I was staying down here after seeing the WOD they were doing.  Why?  Squats!  Haven't done these for a heavy amount for a long while, so I was curious where I'd end up.  Got a PR (265), so that was fun.  On that PR squat though, I felt something strange in my right hip area... not sure what it was, didn't hurt, wasn't a pop, nothing got tight... it was a little different...  I did mess up tonight though.  I knew how much was on the bar, and I think that messed with me a bit.  Not knowing the weight, but going up a little at a time... it's always worked for me.  Tonight, I knew exactly how much was on each lift, and a year from now, I'm sure I'll have to know... but today, now, I don't need to, and I should probably stick with that since it works. 

The other thing I did different tonight... I was working with my man Dave P, and he thought I had the bar a bit high on my neck, wanted me to put it a little lower, on a meatier part of the shoulder.  I tried it once...  don't remember if it was on my old PR, or just before it... but I can tell you that it was different.  I mean everything about it... my stance, my grip, my core... all of it was just different... it was weird.  I think it forced me to stay more upright, and truthfully, I think it's the better way to do it, but I'm going to have to learn myself into it, one squat at a time. 

The METCON tonight was a little bit of Tabata, a little bit Fight Gone Bad... and a whole lot of sweat.  4 rounds of 4 movements, performed for 1 minute each, 30 seconds rest between each movement.  Wall balls, situps, hand release pushups, and calorie rows.  I was actually looking forward to this.  I thought I had those wall balls figured out after the last time down here... and I was wrong.  ROFL!  I can't even blame it on the squats, my legs weren't in that bad of shape.... I just struggled.  Situps weren't a killer... I think the last 2 or 3 times of doing 50+ in WODs has helped.  The HR pushups... I feel like I'm doing them wrong off the knees.... and no, not the picking my hands up.  My hand placement is a bit wider though... and I don't know if my form is all that good... I DO know, when I start to push, I make sure to try and tighten my core so the shoulders, chest, etc all rise as one.... but it still feels wrong... I need coaching.  Nothing special on the rower... I did better calorie wise as the WOD went on, and my form got better... shoulders didn't slump so much, sat up straighter, etc. 

Sigh.  It was still a good night though, good sweat, good workout, gotta PR, thats good too...  Heading home early, no WOD tomorrow... I've got a post I'm working on as I get time... not workout related.  Hopefully it's a good read.  Anyway, it's not super late, but I'm super tired.  Night night. 

The day my form failed me....

... Or rather the day I failed my form.  I'm not going to say I'm hurt... or that I pulled something, but I did get awfully tight exactly halfway into the WOD.  How did this happen?  Glad you asked.

00:04, slightly bleary eyed, I'm stepping off the plane this morning.  I thought if I got to the hotel before 3, I'd get more sleep than if I had to get up at 3 to fly here in the morning.  It made sense when I booked my travel.  Didn't get to the hotel before 3.  Got to bed before 4... but then I had to sleep to 8 just to get my 4 hours... this was a bad decision all around... end result, no more sleep than had I slept in my own bed, probably wont do this again any time soon.

Got my first, and possibly last order of food from FlexPro Meals this week on my way out the door this morning.  Food itself has been tasty, and it's really nice to have a wide variety of food in my future.  The downsides have been portion size, which, while probably being appropriately sized,  isn't a whole lot of food with only 3 meals and a snack.  I'm learning to become comfortable with being hungry, and that might just be a good thing.  My other issue is the price...it's a little higher than I can do on my limited per diem income I've been given... so maybe when I get another client, I'll give them another shot, but until then, I think I'm going to have to figure it out without them.  #toobad

Got to the box with a light snow falling, we've got dead lifts tonight.  9-15-21-15-9, dead lifts and box jump overs (more step overs here).  Did lots of stretching, some skill work, and then it was go time.  I went 20lbs under RX (so 205).  It was heavy, but not too heavy I didn't think.  In retrospect, maybe I should have gone with something like 180?  Having just did something like 45 of these at 165 on Thursday, you'd think I would be mentally ready for this.    

The first round was decent, but those step overs at 18" are sneaky bastids (gotta say it with a thick Bostonian accent).  I could do more at a lower height, but why?  I'm chasing bigger things than my comfort.  Second round was solid, dropped the bar a bit more, and Jeff kept telling me to have a big chest, clues that I'm not doing it right.  Steppin' up, steppin' over.  Trying not to stop the whole time, or stop very little, keep it moving...  Third round, the beast is here... get over this, and it's all down hill.  I wanted to do it in sets of 3-4... after two sets of 3, it got to sets of two.  Jeffs talking to me some more now.  Bend the knees more.  I did better on my last 3 singles... and now my back is tight.  I did 1 step up onto the box, and just stood there for a minute.  I could feel my back getting tighter.  Just past halfway into the WOD... and this.  Maybe had I used less weight?  Not sure.  Talking with Jeff afterwards... he said my lack of knee bending wasn't helping my back, and that is probably the best place to start... time to practice what I've told the coaches I am... and thats being teachable/coachable. 

With my fine stick figure art... which still isn't 100% accurate, you can see the "Goal" on the left is to have a "big chest" like Jeff was saying, and not be as bent over the bar as I was.  I guess I was doing more of a Romanian dead lift?  Maybe next time I'll equate big chest with keeping my but down and chest up? 


Spent the rest of the WOD doing situps, and the yoga pose upward dog.  Here we are 3ish hours later, and I feel ok.  We'll see what the damage is in the morning, but I think I'll be fine.  Getting tight is hopefully better than pulling something.  Got some good stretching advice from @Iamthehealer so I should be right as rain in the morning.  #fingerscrossed

*****  next day edit*****
I wouldn't say I'm sore... maybe a tad tender.  REALLY want to get in tonight, have to play it by ear though.  Squat PR's and a Tabataesque WOD for the evening, looks fun.  

Am I faster, or was it just easier?

I've given up believing what I see on the website for OT and their "beginners" class.  The main class seems to hit their mark all the time, but the beginners class isn't as consistent with whats online...  and maybe it's how I read and interpret the WODs?  Who knows.  Tonight seemed extra chilly outside, I actually wore a pair of sweats over my shorts....

Get to the box plenty early.  Warmup says 8 minutes of medium rowing.  I started well before most people were there... and I seem to have lost my love for the rower.  I only went 6 or 700m and decided that was good enough.  Did some of my usual pvc pass-throughs, good mornings, some russian baby makers (for some reason), and a few other things waiting for people, to come in tonight.  I'm going PR hunting...or at least I planned on it. 

We went back to the small gym, kept the bootcamp people out front.  Still a lot of fresh faced CrossFitters around... and thats cool, good to see new people sticking with it.  I hate line drills for warmups (so we're not rowing 8 minutes mmmm?).  Correction, I hate line drills in my lifters.  They're already looking beat up and I need them to last a while longer.  So we get all warmed up, then it's time to work on power cleans.  We did a hang clean progression, and a clean pull progression before we finally started doing power cleans.  Adding weight as we went, I think I only ended up with 115 while we were doing sets of 3.  Not quite the PR I was hoping to hit...

Moving on to the METCON.  We took the same weight already on the bar and started warming up our dead lifts, did a small sets, then I added the rest of the weight to make it RX.  165.  12 minutes, 15-12-9-6-3 of deadlifts, hand release pushups, and air squats, if you finish, walking lunges or more air squats.  I don't want to do air squats...my quads are still irritated with me mind you, my brother didn't make it out yesterday, so I got no massage relief.  He says he'll be here tomorrow... we'll see. 

The first set of everything went unbroken.  In my head I was breaking it up into sets of 5, but I never stopped... Second set is where I had some issues.  My back... like the outside parts of the lower back, and even some of the obliques (side abs) were protesting this gross negligence of their soft tissue state, broke this down into 3 sets of 4.  Did that for the each movement actually, taking micro breaks hoping to make it through this workout in time... Next set was 3's.  Every third dead lift I'm so happy to drop the bar.  The pushups seemed too easy (I must have done something wrong) and the squats were bearable...  Either the micro breaks helped, or I'm getting better.  I'm hoping, leaning towards the sentiment I'm getting better.  I blazed through the last round, apparently I'm last again, I hear Diana (Brandons wife... see, got her name, finally), and this other dude (need his name) pushing me.  Nice to have that again. 

I look up at the clock.  9 something.  That was easy... then it dawns on me (I can be a bit slow at times) that I get to do walking lunges and/or air squats.  I'll admit it.  I'm hurting now in the quad department, there was a sale on motivation, and now we're all out.  I would do sets of 2 or 3 for which ever movement I was going for.  That last 2 minutes and change took forever.  Finally, it's time.  I didn't keep track of the air squats... we'll just call them bonus. 

So  I'm panting... and I'm staring at the bar.  165 on it.  Thats a power clean PR waiting to happen.  In truth, I wanted to hit another squat clean PR as well as up my power clean... but with what feels like an impending quadpocolypse, I put the squat clean from my mind.  I stared at that bar for probably 3 minutes while other people were cleaning up.  Finally, said eff it, went over, grabbed it, pulled the shoulders back and heaved for all I was worth.  Got it.  Ugly, but I did it... and my back is bowed... so I dropped the bar.  Ok... I got one once, lets make this look better.  Second pull, no bowed back, but it wasn't much prettier.  Oh well, got my 15lbs PR. 

So, another PR, getting stronger... but I'm learning too.  Brandon happened to catch the second attempt, and when we were talking later, he said I had that bar HIGH, and he said it looked easy.  The pride part of me is happy it looked easy, I can't lie.  The "edify stupid" part of me wants to fix it.  Thats an oxymoron from my high school days that... well, never mind that.  The point is, I'm pulling the bar too high... and I know my elbows aren't near fast enough... and I could be catching the bar a little lower in the power clean approved squat zone area thingy (whats the name?).  In short, I can probably go 20-30 lbs heavier if I catch the bar a little lower, and use some elbow speed.  Always something to work on. 

Short post

Last night was something else.  I'm hella busy right now, but I wanted to keep the chronicle going. 

Warmup was some light jogging in a circle while doing some arm rotations and such.  Busy night at OT.  Had our class, a bootcamp, and a....I'll just call it Level 2 class going at the same time.  Tight quarters.  Jogging outside in my lifters though... these things are close to the end... at least the tongue on the right shoe is.  Might have to break out the duct tape!

Worked on dead lifts... on the form.  First time I think I've ever really worked on the form.  Felt good.  Think I only went to 200lbs (195?) for sets of 6.  It wasn't too taxing, we worked on the speed of it (train slow will make you slow right?).  Mike in the class did a PR of 325.  Would have been a nice PR to my last one posted.  I AAAAaaaaaaaaallllllmost went and grabbed his bar to do it too.  Going from 3 sets at 200 to 325 for a 1RM... I probably would have been fine, but reasoning and sense talked me out of it.  Next time dead lifts, next time. 

METCON was supposed to be a bit more than we did according to online...and on one hand, I feel a little cheated, on the other hand, I'm glad it wasn't.  We did 6 rounds of 3 front squat, 6 shoulder to overhead, and 9 dead lift.  95# RX, so 95lbs it was (strikes me now this is my 3rd or 4th RX WOD.  Yay).  I won't say I smoked folk, but I beat everyone through the first round, and got through the second unbroken.  Then my speed took a major nose dive.  I stopped too much, took too many breaks.  At one point, think it was round 4, I was straight legging the dead lifts.  Coach Brandon's wife (CBW for short, still don't have the name yet) was facing me at the other end of the box, told me to bend my knees a little.  I laughed and shook my head, think I told her something smart ass like I don't have time for that.  LOL.   I finished round 5 at 6:19, right when CBW finished...her 6th.  And I almost stopped there.  I gave it a good 5 seconds thought, then picked the bar up and got through the rest of it.  Don't think I set it down once, just wanted to be done.  Finished at 7:19... or 29.  can't remember the seconds.  I do remember being much happier that I didn't punk out.  #mentalstrength  Need to make sure I push like that more during workouts.  Looking forward to 95# not being as heavy as it's been the past few weeks....

Today is a rest day.  My massage therapist brother should be by soon, looking forward to that, my quads are on a rampage... and I should be seeing the chiropractor tonight... so today should be a great day.  It's nice being home during the week once in a while.  :)

Shout out to Jaimie Byerly.  I've mentioned here in a few of these before.  She's now an official coach at CrossFit Diamond State.  Big ups to her for getting that done and for all the hard work she's put in since I've met her.  

Last thought... I've read so many stories about doing the open...  I was dead set against it, but I might actually pull the trigger on it and officially put my name in.  Brian from OT encourages folks to go RX to get a truer sense of where you are, and that you'd surprise yourself... we'll see what happens. 

Missed my freaking flight.

I started off this post angry... I thought I'd hit a PR.  Again.  I can't seem to get the math right on those stupid squat cleans.  BRAWAHAHWWHWHAA

Ok, I'm better.... sorta. 

Missed my flight today.  Got to the Parking Spot, got out, immediately realized that I didn't have my wallet, and I knew right where it was sitting.  Crap.  The airlines, the travel folks... they all said the same thing.  Was going to cost an additional $700+ to get to DE this week.  Can't exactly make that happen without a great great great reason.  Didn't have one, so I sat it out this week.  Now, in truth, I might have been able to sweet talk the agents in KC to hook me up, but I didn't want to make another 40 mile trek to the airport on a maybe...

So I'm home this week, gives me a chance to spend some time at On Track.  There are a lot of people here, going to take me a while to get to know them all.  Tonight, went to the beginners class again... and truthfully, I was cherry picking.  Two reasons.  One, I didn't feel like 6 rounds of 20 wall balls and 10 pullups.  And two, the beginners class was doing some pull work.  I need that pull work... So I chose option 2. 

Brandon ran this class again.  He's got a real calm and friendly demeanor... not sure where he picked it up from to be honest.  I did a little FB stalking, and I see he spent some time in the Army.  Maybe he learned it there?  Anyway, he ran the class.  Myself and this other guy did our warmup a little early/on time... and then we both did the warmup again, with the rest of the class in the little gym.  My left quad was on fire.  No idea why. 

So the pull... I'm ready for this belly to be out of the way... time, patience, and a lot of hard work should help.  So we worked on the jump, the full extension, and then getting down fast.  I still, 9 months in, struggle with remember which things I can come up onto my toes for, and which I should stay in the heels for.  Lucky for me, squat cleans have both elements.  Still, it was good to practice the speed, and getting under the bar from the extension.  Now we add weight. 

And adding weight, in the squat clean... my math just goes dee dee dee.  I kept adding weight, and got to what I thought was 165, which I knew, I just knew was going to be a PR.  Lifted it, got under it.  Got up.  Then had Brandon watch.  Came forward a little (he suggested lifting first with the elbows, then stand up... sounds good to me).  And then I did the math... and I was wrong... again.  Effing again!  Why can't I add the bar right on squat cleans?  35x2=70+ 4x10=110+ a 45lb bar = 155.  not 165... dammit!!! 

Grrr.  I'm angry.  I've already taken 2 set of 10's off when I realize my math was wrong... again.  By now I'm mentally out of it, deflated, defeated... and pissed off.  I'll get it... next time... again....  I set the bar up for the AMRAP.  went with 95lbs.  It's been a good weight for me, and it's still pretty challenging, even if it is below my 1RM by almost half.  We're doing 3 rounds of 10 push press, 8 sumo high pulls, 6 pushups, 4 upright rows.  Then 2 rounds of 20 walking lunges with a plate (25) over your head, and 10 situps.  Rinse.  Repeat. 

The push press got heavy quick... I want, badly to get to the 115 level, but I'm just not there yet..  Until then I'll suffer my way to success.   The sumo deadlift highpulls... I don't think I get near as wide as I should.  Would probably make these easier not having to lift them as high off the ground.  Live and learn.  Pushups were pushups.  Rows were rows.  Took me 7 minutes and change to get through 3 rounds.  I grabbed my plate, and started.  Walking lunges are becoming the bane of my existence.  I know my butt..... or outside hip flexor thingy is going to be sore tomorrow, even though I stretched afterwards... anyway, got through the first 20, and holding that plate up was difficult.  Couldn't even lock out my elbows... so sad.  The situps were a nice touch to this... I've been struggling with these as well lately... like I'm just not very good at them... or more accurately, I'm just slow.  Train slow and you'll most likely be slow... I need NEED to work on that speed. 

So we stretched at the end.  I think I'll be really thankful for that in the morning.  Talked with Brandon some more, Amanda and Brian a little... I need to get more active at  On Track.... I got home, and opened the blog.  Guess what I see when I peeked at the Goals for 2015 page.  I DID GET  PR!!!!  HAhahahahahaaha.  My PR that is written down for the squat clean was 145.  I DID hit 155 today.  Yes Yes  YES!!!  Def a 180 from my anger at missing what I though it was a PR.  Whats better.  I think I could have done 165... guess we'll see next time.  Getting stronger... and I'm sure the warm up for getting under the bar helped. 

It's late... again.  LOL.  Going to bed.  More talk tomorrow.  :)

All hail the cherrypickers

I have NEVER seen it that dead at Unlocked.  There were maybe 6 cars when I pulled up, and I was early, so I knew it was mostly the earlier class.  Turned out to be the entire earlier class.  I told yall that Tyler's programming was something to be feared.... tonights attendance proves me right.  It was Kara and I, had the whole box to ourselves.  Almost like having a personal training session.  Heck, we were both their early enough that we were warmed up before 6. 

So, being there early has it's perks, got a chance to work on some stretches.  I know that I'm not as flexible as I could/should be, so I worked on my shoulder mobility, trying to get my elbows up for front squats, cleans, etc.  After last night, I really want to get those cleans better.  So much better!!  I want it bad enough to start working directly for it... I think I need that sort of direction, that sort of motivation, that sort of goal.

 Tonight was a two part AMRAP, 10 minutes each.  The first par was a ladder of floor presses and pistols.  The floor presses were ok...  Did them RX (95).  The weight wasn't that bad, but it was getting it into position, and then making sure my arms worked in proper conjuction.  Couldn't go too fast, my left elbow seemed to hit first every time.  The pistols...  were atrocious.  I did the drag your other leg behind the one doing the pistol...but I kept putting weight on the back leg too, and... well, lets just say it was ugly.  I collapsed all over myself, the balance was poor... I see why the cherry pickers were out in force this week.  All told, I got into the 8th round (so just past the set of 7 floor presses and 7 pistols on each leg).  Two minute rest time.

Two minutes goes quick.  Next 10 minute AMRAP.  Front rack lunges, and pushups.  I hate front rack lunges.  I think they might be worse than burpees.  It doesn't help that we just did pistols, which I didn't even comprehend till after the WOD.  I couldn't figure out why this stuff was burning that bad... guess that can be a good thing as well, I pushed through it as best I could.  Ended up with 8 rounds, plus 2.  I'm really proud of that plus 2.  I pushed through the last set of pushups, and popped tall to get 2 more of those stupid lunges.  I could have quit... a few months, maybe weeks ago, I probably would have been "good enough", but I wanted to get into that next set, for me. 

I think the reason I really wanted to get into that next set was because I found another big guy on Facebook, trying to get better, using CrossFit.  I don't know exactly when he started, but he's lost A LOT of weight already, he started just higher than me, and now he's below... and I feel like he's only been at this a few months... I want to know his secret!  The site shows as being started in October, and he's already lost 100 lbs.  AWESOME!!  But really, what is his secret?  I must reach out.  

So Kara and I got a reward for showing up tonight... my first Kill Cliff.  Even have a photo from Unlocked to commemorate it.  Have to tell you, need to work on my selfie/photo game.  I thought I the look I was putting out was a lot different than what the photo shows....  #ohwell. Should have gone Vanna White on it. 

As for the Kill Cliff, and it being my first one, I wasn't impressed.  Blackberry Lemonade or some such.  I think it was the purple color around the top and bottom.  I've never been a fan of purple drinks... I mean it was ok.. but now I need to try the other kinds... else I'll never know if Kill Cliff is any good.  People swear by it, so we'll see how I feel in the morning. 

Alright, I'm struggling to see... my contacts have decided it's time for bed.  Still working on the coach questions.  It's looking like I'll be back in DE the next two weeks, so I might have something good by then.  I want to work on the logo and some design stuff this weekend too... we'll see what gets done... likely not as much as I want... anyway, ciao. 

First time forgetting to put up everything...

I had so many good ideas come and go on the way home tonight, and I didn't write any of them down.  Idiot!  Ah well.  Today was better than yesterday overall... so I was in a great mood going to the Diamond State today.  Even better, my boy Simmons was there, so that was good to see.  Even better than that, Coach AP and LP are going to be welcoming a baby P.  Exciting times all around. 

Hoping right in, the WOD looked challenging but fun.  It was challenging.  Fun?  Not so sure on that one. 

Start of the night was a strict press of 5 reps at 65, 75, and 85%, with the 85 being as many as possible.  We did it with partners, and I went with Dustin's weight, which wasn't much less than my own.  5 reps for each we very doable.  The last set was pretty heavy, I got to 7.  That 7th one wasn't very pretty... basically I arched my back, and did everything I could to get it up, and I did... still, not sure that I should compromise on form like that if I can help it.  #notetoself

Second part was a 2 round AMRAP.  16 minutes total.  First 8 minutes is a 30-20-10 of KB swings and hang cleans.  2nd 8 minutes is 21-15-9 of toes to bar and push press.  I decided to go with 44lbs for the KB, and 95lb for the bar.  Having just done 75 KB's at that weight last night, I thought meh, this can't be that bad.  Boy...

I did the first 30 unbroken.  I was not going to be denied.  The last 7 or so really tested my grip.  I didn't think this would be THAT bad.  I'm only a little off the pace I see out of the corner of my eye.  Thats fine, grab that bar.  I got to 5 unbroken hang cleans before I stopped.  My forearms of all things were on fire.  I did the next 5, same result.  It only got worse.  I was breaking it into 4's, then 3's, sometimes 2's.  My forearms were toasted.  Finally done with the 30's.  The 20's with the KB... I only just managed to not break them up more than the 10's.  We're at 7 minutes 45 seconds when I sat down the KB.  Rather than take the 15 seconds to rest, I tried to get some more hang cleans in.  Ended up with 2 more.... 8 minutes, time to go to the toes to bar and push press. 

Worst toes to bar ever.  2.  Freaking 2 was all I got before I thought I was going to lose my grip completely.  It didn't get any better... and I struggled to reach the bar, so I went and got a plate so I could reach the bar a little easier.  I got to 10 in 2 minutes.  #frustrated  Talked to AP, deiced to scale it down to situps.  Finally got to the push press.  I wanted to do these in 5's from the start.  I did good with the first 2, but after that it dropped to 4, then to 3, and at last a final 3.  21 done.  I didn't even go back to the bar, busted out the 15 situps as fast as I could, and got back on the push press.  I don't remember how many I got, wasn't the full 15, might have been 6?  TIME

Segue, thanks to coach Gia.  I forgot to put that plate away later, didn't remember it till I was about 40 miles away.  My bad.  

My shoulders were smoked.... no, my shoulders are smoked.  It didn't look THAT bad on paper.  I think part of this was the 95lbs on the bar.  If I had done it at 75, I might have gotten quite a bit closer to the end.  Smoked shoulders, my grip is weak, my forearms feel like they should be the size of Popeyes... ug.  Good workout though, might have been faster with the lighter weight, hopefully this makes me stronger. 

Alright, I'm wasted.  It's late, and I need the sleep... I've seen tomorrows WOD... and rest is indeed needed.  Night night. 

Defeatist will be shot

Nothing like a picture of Stalin to get the point across. 

This is the sentiment for my day... It's been a rough one.  I was a defeatist today.  I was defeated today.  Sleep, as always, is an issue.  Had the worst turbulence of my life on the way to Delaware this week.  Didn't physically feel all that well.  Sure as hell didn't want to workout.  Got off work late.  Got checked into the hotel late.  Was late getting to the box.  Alls I wanted to do was sleep.  The WOD looked like a killer.  Did I mention I'm tired?  Yet I kept driving, kept moving forward. 

I got to the box... still didn't want to workout.  Talked to the coaches, shared my conditioning concerns, decided to do a half workout.  Today is a Hero WOD in reverse.  Morrison.  10-20-30-40-50 wallballs, box jumps, KB swings.  This is definitely more of a chipper than the last WOD I wrote about, even with just doing half of it. 

Nothing I did today was revolutionary, nothing really stood out as a defining moment.... well, no, one thing did.  On my last set of wallballs... I think I finally figured them out.  What I mean is that I think I've finally figured out a way to stay tall and keep decent form on the squat.  It's too bad it took me this long (the 9 months... not the workout time), but I think I really might have it.  We'll see come next time.  Ended up with a time of 23:13.  Got beat by coach Ali by like 5 seconds...and she did the WHOLE thing.  It was a little weird being "done" before everyone else.  I cheered on those who looked like they needed it, same as I needed it.  I still think this was the right call for me today, hopefully next time I'll be in a better place to do it all.  

Looking back, now, I have some regret in not doing more, but in that same breath, I did the best I could with the energy I had at the time.  Hindsight is always a funny thing like that I suppose.  What I can tell you though, is that after doing this workout, I felt better.  Endorphins, spending time with the Unlocked family, life is good.  I had this photo, it's worth sharing again. 

So many truths discovered with this.  So many.... Thankfully, no defeatist were shot today. 

Some things I wanted to toss out before I get to bed (EARLY!!!!).

Coach Gia shared this article, I found it to be poignant, and very blunt.  There is some adult language, but if you can get around that, this might server as a source of inspiration for you.  It has given me some new perspective... especially around the word "treat".    Which brings me to my next picture. 

Carla has been fantastic with these meals, and sometimes she adds the "treats" sometimes not.  I'm not in it for the treats, so when they don't happen, it's not a big deal.  When they do happen, it's really nice thought.  So Carla, if you're reading this, no worries.  You keep doing the great job with the meals, and if you don't have treats sometimes, it's all good, you're still a champ in my book.  :D

Two more things.  One, Amazon Prime came through with the Sunday delivery.  I've got my new rope.  I'll spare you the picture, I mean it's a jump rope... but still much like the Marine Corps rifleman's creed, "there are many like it, but this one is mine."  Excited to get something I can get comfortable with, and eventually good with. 

Last thing, I'm thinking off adding some different content.  No longer just things about me, and my sufferings, gains, and postulations on how to do this CrossFit "stuff" better... I think I want to start doing interviews with some of the coaches.  Let you see the fantastic people who are making my life a better one, one workout at a time.  More to come on that, possibly sooner than later.