More smiles tonight. Really, I'm in some pain, my arms/shoulders are done for the week...or so they tell me. I suspect they'll be ready again come Friday. I posed the question on Facebook, does my full clean (think they just call it a clean) with the squat...if that beats my previous front squat weight, can I claim it?
Maybe? C'mon, it's close to the same thing right?
Tonight I pulled a double. 5pm WOD, 7pm barbell club. Wanted that hour break, take a little time to try and recover a little. The WOD tonight sauteed my shoulders. Did what was supposed to be a heavy strict press 2-3 reps, somewhere about 80% of the 1RM. Don't know what that 1RM is, so I worked up to 115, and did that. It was hard, a few times I felt like I had to will the weight up, because my arms weren't getting it done... an you know that "will the weight up" stance, where you kinda contort your body a bit, all without losing the strict part of press...just to get the weight overhead. Either way, got it done in the end, and I'll call it my 1RM from now on. I think I can do more, but I didn't have one written down, and if you don't write it down, it didn't happen.... or so I've heard.
The METCON was a two parter. 5 rounds for time of 10 push presses (115/75) and 30 DUs. Second part being a 400m run. After having done the strict presses for 115, the pushes at the same weight should have been easier... or so I thought. My form was awful, kept pushing off my toes instead of my heels. #thestruggleisreal The DU's for me are still singles, and by the end of the 5 rounds they were close to cramping. 9:24. Slowest yet again, but I beat the time cap we set for 10 minutes, so it's not all bad.
400m was special today. EVERYONE was after Ariels 1:17 from earlier in the day. Heck I chased it on a rower. Got close...ish with 1:26. Two of the guys beat it. Still, 1:17 was the mark to hit, and it was fun chasing it. One day I'll run a 1:30 400...sooner than later I hope.
Ok, so WOD was done, now I had to stay loose during the next class. Did some rowing, stretching, lots of lax ball usage. In the end, mission accomplished, stayed warm, stayed loose.
Establish Barbell Club, lets go. Didn't do the warmup, didn't need to, was already loose, stretched out, ready. We went through the progression for cleans, both power and full. I had one thing on my mind. Finally do a legit clean.
The goal was to do 2 heavy lifts. I stopped short of what I could have done, in light of the fact I'd PR'd with the power clean just yesterday, and the fact that I'd gone to WOD So Hard University the hour before. I wont bore you with the progression. I got my 2 heavy's in at 135. I'll take that for my first time really getting cleans, front squat and all.
After that there were two moves you could do. 5x5 push-press, or pullups (if you'd done push press in the WOD previous). Ring rows it was. Felt easier after everything else... I mean not easier, but easier... if you get my drift.
Last thing we did. Barbell lunges, and then this weighted hip thrust. Basically some old school super sets. It's 1 am right now, so I'm not going to go into what it was like other than telling you that the lunges sucked, and the thrusts we're weird...
Closing thoughts.... I'm sore, but it's that "I just killed it" sore.
Rest day tomorrow....well, today.
More PR's, more 1RM's... it's great, getting stronger, getting results. #HWPO
Ciao
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Accidental surprise
I did a big no no today, or last night...stayed up waaay too late and only got 5 hours of sleep. Took 2 (count'em, TWO) 5 hour energy's to get me through an 8 hour day today....still went and WOD'deded. To be fair though, I thought it was going to be easier than it was, not because of what it was, but because of how I thought it was going to be... Lemmie 'splain.
Actually, lemmie take a step back. I'M BACK! That whole "owwwy, I'm sore from lack of doing WODs" is gone. My body is back in the rhythm of getting my butt handed to me. It's good to be back, that achy stuff is for noobs and hero WODs. Sorry, had to share my big smile, I'm not totally decrepit as I write this, it's a good day.
Ok, so the warmup today, little involved. My KB OHS... was gawd awful. It's like I couldn't bend my knees holding on to the KB over my head like that... put that in my growing pile of things to work on.... Anyway, the point of me bringing up the warmup was because when we were done, I was tightening the Olys, and from one shoe to the next, there was this nice, neat line of 10-15 sweat drops in a row...
So todays WOD was a 2 part EMOM, and a final piece of rowing for time. The first part was a Clean or Power Clean x2 reps, for 12 minutes, adding weight each time. I'm glad I grabbed the 5lbs, and that Jordan had the sense to toss the 2.5lbs down near me too. I kept adding weight until I caught J's eye, and then with him there, I worked on getting under the bar a bit more. I need to get better on my 1/4 squat anyway...but the last couple, I worked on getting "under" the bar quicker. Not perfect but better, I'll take it.
Second EMOM, also for 12 minutes, is 10KB swings, and 5 burpees. Now, my confusion was that it was 1 minute for the KB swings, and 1 minute for 5 burpees, and then back to the swings... I can hear you laughing...I'm laughing myself. Not exactly how it's supposed to work. So the first EMOM starts, and I get the KB's done...oh, and I've finally gone up to the 1 pood (36lbs right?). So I'm done with my 10, and everyone drops down and doing burpees....and I'm like no no no, thats the second minute... and they're like no no no, it's all in the same minute.
!@#!$!@#
!@#$ #$%$ @#$%@#$ @#$%@#$%
2nd minute starts, KB's a swinging, and then I drop for the burpees. I got 3 in before the top of the minute, back to KB swings. Get the 10 done in around 20 seconds, respectable. The burpees.... I get two done this time. Beep, another minute. KB swings. One burpee is all I managed. My shoulders...and really my arms, are pushing all this weight up to a position to either hop up, or get up one leg at a time. The struggle continues with burpees. I staggered to my feet, and Jordan and I shared a look, it's instant, and took the next round off. The rest of the time I do the full thing, but it takes me a minute 20 roughly to bang out all 5 burpees.
It still irritates me...no, frustrates me that I struggle so mightily with these. I know they're going to get better with time, but still. Chris is seemingly always around for burpees...cause he pumps me up a little, saying things like "I can't imagine how much harder it is for you than me. I know you're probably putting in 3, maybe 4 times the work I am. Keep it up"....he says stuff like that to me all the time... Helps me get out of my funk quickly, and he's probably right.
I know I talked about intensity yesterday...it's hard for me to be intense when it comes to burpees. I do them as fast as I'm able, but dat gum they...ug! Moving on, the 500m row... I beat 2 minutes, 155.9 to be exact. If I hadn't stopped for a pull or two, I'd probably have gotten into the 140's. Maybe.
Need to make longer pulls rowing. I'm pulling 30 times a minute, and others are doing 20, and going as fast or faster. Something to improve on.
Now, I did something on accident today, and it was quite wonderful. You see, all those power cleans, I just kept adding weight and doing them. I could have gone higher, but ran out of time.... ended up with a 15 pound PR. Didn't find out it was a PR till I got home. Pleasant surprise. I'm all smiles, I can't lie.
Positive enough thought to leave you with. :D
Actually, lemmie take a step back. I'M BACK! That whole "owwwy, I'm sore from lack of doing WODs" is gone. My body is back in the rhythm of getting my butt handed to me. It's good to be back, that achy stuff is for noobs and hero WODs. Sorry, had to share my big smile, I'm not totally decrepit as I write this, it's a good day.
Ok, so the warmup today, little involved. My KB OHS... was gawd awful. It's like I couldn't bend my knees holding on to the KB over my head like that... put that in my growing pile of things to work on.... Anyway, the point of me bringing up the warmup was because when we were done, I was tightening the Olys, and from one shoe to the next, there was this nice, neat line of 10-15 sweat drops in a row...
So todays WOD was a 2 part EMOM, and a final piece of rowing for time. The first part was a Clean or Power Clean x2 reps, for 12 minutes, adding weight each time. I'm glad I grabbed the 5lbs, and that Jordan had the sense to toss the 2.5lbs down near me too. I kept adding weight until I caught J's eye, and then with him there, I worked on getting under the bar a bit more. I need to get better on my 1/4 squat anyway...but the last couple, I worked on getting "under" the bar quicker. Not perfect but better, I'll take it.
Second EMOM, also for 12 minutes, is 10KB swings, and 5 burpees. Now, my confusion was that it was 1 minute for the KB swings, and 1 minute for 5 burpees, and then back to the swings... I can hear you laughing...I'm laughing myself. Not exactly how it's supposed to work. So the first EMOM starts, and I get the KB's done...oh, and I've finally gone up to the 1 pood (36lbs right?). So I'm done with my 10, and everyone drops down and doing burpees....and I'm like no no no, thats the second minute... and they're like no no no, it's all in the same minute.
!@#!$!@#
!@#$ #$%$ @#$%@#$ @#$%@#$%
2nd minute starts, KB's a swinging, and then I drop for the burpees. I got 3 in before the top of the minute, back to KB swings. Get the 10 done in around 20 seconds, respectable. The burpees.... I get two done this time. Beep, another minute. KB swings. One burpee is all I managed. My shoulders...and really my arms, are pushing all this weight up to a position to either hop up, or get up one leg at a time. The struggle continues with burpees. I staggered to my feet, and Jordan and I shared a look, it's instant, and took the next round off. The rest of the time I do the full thing, but it takes me a minute 20 roughly to bang out all 5 burpees.
It still irritates me...no, frustrates me that I struggle so mightily with these. I know they're going to get better with time, but still. Chris is seemingly always around for burpees...cause he pumps me up a little, saying things like "I can't imagine how much harder it is for you than me. I know you're probably putting in 3, maybe 4 times the work I am. Keep it up"....he says stuff like that to me all the time... Helps me get out of my funk quickly, and he's probably right.
I know I talked about intensity yesterday...it's hard for me to be intense when it comes to burpees. I do them as fast as I'm able, but dat gum they...ug! Moving on, the 500m row... I beat 2 minutes, 155.9 to be exact. If I hadn't stopped for a pull or two, I'd probably have gotten into the 140's. Maybe.
Need to make longer pulls rowing. I'm pulling 30 times a minute, and others are doing 20, and going as fast or faster. Something to improve on.
Now, I did something on accident today, and it was quite wonderful. You see, all those power cleans, I just kept adding weight and doing them. I could have gone higher, but ran out of time.... ended up with a 15 pound PR. Didn't find out it was a PR till I got home. Pleasant surprise. I'm all smiles, I can't lie.
Positive enough thought to leave you with. :D
Monday, July 28, 2014
Show me moar intsensity!
Oh man. 7 days is much too long indeed. I was sore all weekend, particularly the hammys, a bit in the obliques, and the pecks were tender as well. Moving along and getting right to the post title, I need help with my intensity...I think. Let me explain, first with todays WOD:
Rounds for time:
10 Single-Arm DB Snatch 45/35
-2 Lunge Steps w/DB Overhead
-15 Pull-Ups
-Run 400 Meters
Pretty simple really. For some reason, I read the two lunges w/db overhead, and thought plate... anyway. DB Snatchs I can do. Lunges I can do. DB snatch, then 2 lunges, snatch, 2 lunges, etc...thats another story. I know I can snatch 45, but can I do it while doing lunges? I have my doubts, my balance still isn't great, and thats just lunges without weight overhead. I settled on 30# for my weight.
Now what I put up above for the WOD, was what was on the website. "Rounds for time". Turns out that means 5 rounds. 50 snatches (25 each arm), 100 lunges, 75 pullups, and 2000m or running, or for me, rowing. For time. LOL.
I'm not going to go into my struggles today, I'll just tell you they felt pretty substantial. About halfway in, I noticed everyones lunges touching the ground...didn't know if this was the way it was supposed to be, I'd been trying to stop myself short, I asked. Coach J said yeah, if you have the mobility for it. I did. The first one I did.... the extra stretch on my quads was amazing, and a bit scary at the same time, decided to keep doing them as I had, next time I'll try to get them like that, need a bit more stretching.
The other experience I had was one of shame...to me. Well, maybe not shame, but of another eye opening experience. I'm used to being near the last, but I went to the 5pm class today, with some of the supermen. These rock stars tend to be around the hours that start with 5. AM/PM doesn't matter, there are monsters in both classes. Today I got lapped. Having folks finish round 5 before I'm done with round 4... Humbling, but also a great goal to chase.
I finish the workout with the rowing, and I'm rowing harder than I had the whole time, left me gassed. Chest heaving up and down, think I took a minute on the rower, then went over to some boxes and sat on them for another minute or so. Feel like I need to throw up...but I haven't eaten anything in hours. Probably a good thing. I walk around a little, roll out a little. Getting better at doing that, but I need to spend more time rolling out than I do I suspect.
Chilled out for a bit longer, and with the 6pm class getting started on the WOD, I politely excuse myself, say my goodbyes, and roll out (the leaving kind, not foam roll kind). The whole ride home, I'm having this mental conversation about going faster, and pushing harder. My dilemma is that I feel like I've got a lot of juice once I leave, like I didn't leave everything on the floor in the box. I don't know if this is my recovery talking, or if I have more gas in the tank.
Anyone else experience this?
Going to take you back to my first days working for QT (Quik Trip) in KC. I was recently out of training...or maybe at the tail end, and this replacement/stand in assistant manager was making comments about me. She was like "can't you go faster?" and "Dan's got one speed, on, or off, nothing in between". I guess I took it to heart, in 60 days I was promoted to a travel position like her, and 3 months later I was running stores at the ripe age of 19. Part of the reason was I got a lot faster at getting stuff done.
Maybe I need this kind of motivation? I'm not sure, but having had that experience once in my life leads me to believe that I may have another gear or two that I'm just not hitting. I'm sure some of this still revolves around my breathing, but that can't be all of it, I mean when I'm rowing, it's in and out at a rate of 31 strokes per min....
Any feedback, links, or other comments, as always, are appreciated.
**Next day edit/addition**
What I forgot to add to my story, the drive home, I'm feeling good, like I could have done more, and then I get home, and I'm suddenly very "ug". Ug being fatigued, tired, pooped, etc. It's a challenge to get upstairs to the shower and I'm all wimpy... I don't know if thats normal...maybe the car ride is a "runners high" sort of time for me? Anyway, just thought that was useful info for anyone thinking of offering a suggestion.
Cheers!
Rounds for time:
10 Single-Arm DB Snatch 45/35
-2 Lunge Steps w/DB Overhead
-15 Pull-Ups
-Run 400 Meters
Pretty simple really. For some reason, I read the two lunges w/db overhead, and thought plate... anyway. DB Snatchs I can do. Lunges I can do. DB snatch, then 2 lunges, snatch, 2 lunges, etc...thats another story. I know I can snatch 45, but can I do it while doing lunges? I have my doubts, my balance still isn't great, and thats just lunges without weight overhead. I settled on 30# for my weight.
Now what I put up above for the WOD, was what was on the website. "Rounds for time". Turns out that means 5 rounds. 50 snatches (25 each arm), 100 lunges, 75 pullups, and 2000m or running, or for me, rowing. For time. LOL.
I'm not going to go into my struggles today, I'll just tell you they felt pretty substantial. About halfway in, I noticed everyones lunges touching the ground...didn't know if this was the way it was supposed to be, I'd been trying to stop myself short, I asked. Coach J said yeah, if you have the mobility for it. I did. The first one I did.... the extra stretch on my quads was amazing, and a bit scary at the same time, decided to keep doing them as I had, next time I'll try to get them like that, need a bit more stretching.
The other experience I had was one of shame...to me. Well, maybe not shame, but of another eye opening experience. I'm used to being near the last, but I went to the 5pm class today, with some of the supermen. These rock stars tend to be around the hours that start with 5. AM/PM doesn't matter, there are monsters in both classes. Today I got lapped. Having folks finish round 5 before I'm done with round 4... Humbling, but also a great goal to chase.
I finish the workout with the rowing, and I'm rowing harder than I had the whole time, left me gassed. Chest heaving up and down, think I took a minute on the rower, then went over to some boxes and sat on them for another minute or so. Feel like I need to throw up...but I haven't eaten anything in hours. Probably a good thing. I walk around a little, roll out a little. Getting better at doing that, but I need to spend more time rolling out than I do I suspect.
Chilled out for a bit longer, and with the 6pm class getting started on the WOD, I politely excuse myself, say my goodbyes, and roll out (the leaving kind, not foam roll kind). The whole ride home, I'm having this mental conversation about going faster, and pushing harder. My dilemma is that I feel like I've got a lot of juice once I leave, like I didn't leave everything on the floor in the box. I don't know if this is my recovery talking, or if I have more gas in the tank.
Anyone else experience this?
Going to take you back to my first days working for QT (Quik Trip) in KC. I was recently out of training...or maybe at the tail end, and this replacement/stand in assistant manager was making comments about me. She was like "can't you go faster?" and "Dan's got one speed, on, or off, nothing in between". I guess I took it to heart, in 60 days I was promoted to a travel position like her, and 3 months later I was running stores at the ripe age of 19. Part of the reason was I got a lot faster at getting stuff done.
Maybe I need this kind of motivation? I'm not sure, but having had that experience once in my life leads me to believe that I may have another gear or two that I'm just not hitting. I'm sure some of this still revolves around my breathing, but that can't be all of it, I mean when I'm rowing, it's in and out at a rate of 31 strokes per min....
Any feedback, links, or other comments, as always, are appreciated.
**Next day edit/addition**
What I forgot to add to my story, the drive home, I'm feeling good, like I could have done more, and then I get home, and I'm suddenly very "ug". Ug being fatigued, tired, pooped, etc. It's a challenge to get upstairs to the shower and I'm all wimpy... I don't know if thats normal...maybe the car ride is a "runners high" sort of time for me? Anyway, just thought that was useful info for anyone thinking of offering a suggestion.
Cheers!
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Back in action
Well hey there. It's been a while since I've sat down at written anything, pretty sure thats dust on the keyboard... Anywho, it's been a crazy couple of days since I last said anything, got a couple of firsts under my belt. First time I haven't done a WOD in 7 days, first time I lifted that much weight 3x in a row, and the first time I've ever been stuck at an airport overnight.
Wednesday was a travel day for me this week, was supposed to depart DCA (otherwise known as Regan or National if your not up on the airport scene) at 730, be home by 9 something. Flight got delayed. Flight got delayed several times, changed terminals twice, got delayed some more.... A real fun time. Then, at something approaching 11pm, flight got canceled. :(
There were those special people...frontrunners, who are more important than you or I. They ran...and I mean booked it to the ticket counter. I walked briskly, but I was wearing flip flops...not going top speed in those. Anyway, long story shorter, got re-booked on a 10am to Charlotte, then home to KC. Now what? I happened to be in line with some Gov auditors, and they were frantically calling every hotel around. Nothing in DC, closest open was in Maryland, no idea how long of a drive that was going to be, said meh, I'll stay up.
Had I not been in flip flops, I may have gone and walked the capital....had there been showers, I may have just worked out right there. What else was I going to do?
So I stayed up like a champ, talked to some folks, played on the laptop, wrote some emails, all sorts of stuff. 0430 comes around and I get to go back through security. There was a 0530 flight to Charlotte that I tried to get on...there was also a 6, 7, and 9 am, tried to get on those too. No dice. At some point, I was sitting by the gate for my 10am flight, I passed out. Can't tell you how long I was out, not very is my guess....another first.
Fast forward through the flights, where I tried to sleep as much as possible, got home at 4pm or so... looking at 35 hours of being mostly awake. Get home, get unpacked, and then I went to EST. I just wanted to stretch, roll, and otherwise loosen up. My back was a mess, my body weary, but I hadn't been in a box in days... had to get there. The WOD on the board was one I was looking forward to doing since the night before when it got posted. No sleep, and being sore, no chance. As much as I wanted to do the workout, it wasn't worth the risk of injury, and I know I wouldn't have been giving it 100%.
Now I should have been rocked, and useless, and I was for the most part, then the download for this beta was finished, and amazingly, I got involved...found a 3rd...or maybe 4th wind. Was up till 0230. That made it something like 45 hours, with two little airplane naps of less than an hour as my only sleep. Crazy, and stupid. LOL. Spent the next day and a half recovering.
It's now Saturday, I'm not 100%, but I feel miles better, and it's time to get that Thursday WOD in during open gym. What am I so excited about? Glad you asked.
Wednesday was a travel day for me this week, was supposed to depart DCA (otherwise known as Regan or National if your not up on the airport scene) at 730, be home by 9 something. Flight got delayed. Flight got delayed several times, changed terminals twice, got delayed some more.... A real fun time. Then, at something approaching 11pm, flight got canceled. :(
There were those special people...frontrunners, who are more important than you or I. They ran...and I mean booked it to the ticket counter. I walked briskly, but I was wearing flip flops...not going top speed in those. Anyway, long story shorter, got re-booked on a 10am to Charlotte, then home to KC. Now what? I happened to be in line with some Gov auditors, and they were frantically calling every hotel around. Nothing in DC, closest open was in Maryland, no idea how long of a drive that was going to be, said meh, I'll stay up.
Had I not been in flip flops, I may have gone and walked the capital....had there been showers, I may have just worked out right there. What else was I going to do?
So I stayed up like a champ, talked to some folks, played on the laptop, wrote some emails, all sorts of stuff. 0430 comes around and I get to go back through security. There was a 0530 flight to Charlotte that I tried to get on...there was also a 6, 7, and 9 am, tried to get on those too. No dice. At some point, I was sitting by the gate for my 10am flight, I passed out. Can't tell you how long I was out, not very is my guess....another first.
Fast forward through the flights, where I tried to sleep as much as possible, got home at 4pm or so... looking at 35 hours of being mostly awake. Get home, get unpacked, and then I went to EST. I just wanted to stretch, roll, and otherwise loosen up. My back was a mess, my body weary, but I hadn't been in a box in days... had to get there. The WOD on the board was one I was looking forward to doing since the night before when it got posted. No sleep, and being sore, no chance. As much as I wanted to do the workout, it wasn't worth the risk of injury, and I know I wouldn't have been giving it 100%.
Now I should have been rocked, and useless, and I was for the most part, then the download for this beta was finished, and amazingly, I got involved...found a 3rd...or maybe 4th wind. Was up till 0230. That made it something like 45 hours, with two little airplane naps of less than an hour as my only sleep. Crazy, and stupid. LOL. Spent the next day and a half recovering.
It's now Saturday, I'm not 100%, but I feel miles better, and it's time to get that Thursday WOD in during open gym. What am I so excited about? Glad you asked.
Skill/Strength:
Deadlifts, Find Heavy Triple
WOD:
For time-
-Deadlift x 15 reps (using 75% of today’s heavy triple)
-Hand-Release Push-Ups x 30 reps
-Run 800 Meters
-Deadlift x 10 reps
-Hand-Release Push-Ups x 20 reps
-Run 400 Meters
-Deadlift x 5 reps
-Hand-Release Push-Ups x 10 reps
-Run 200 Meters
I found my heavy triple...happened to be a PR too :D from 275 to 295. Makes me wonder what my 1RM is going to be next time I chase it. Getting stronger. Another thing I'm going to change is my grip. I've been using what I think of as a traditional grip, and I'm going to try out the... idk what it's called.... just looked it up. I've been using a double overhand, but want to try out the mixed grip...kept reading that article, maybe I'll stick with... idk. Coaches?
The rest of the workout is as monstrous as it looks. I had to break the lifts up more than I wanted to. Sets of 5, my hands weren't having it any other way, I was using the touch n go technique...if it's a technique...thats how I was doing it, wasn't dropping from the top.
I was beat up when it was done, did some barbell pushups instead of hand release, those hurt. 7 days feels like 7 weeks. Can't wait that long again, ever.
Parting thought, saw just one event of the CrossFit games, and it set the bar for me mentally. I caught the...power clean ladder? I think that was it. 345 was the max weight, Froning didn't make the final heat by .9 seconds or something like that... anyway, some of those guys made that weight look light, the bar is set. This coming 2015 Open is a stretch, but if I'm doing well, we'll see. 6 months, anything can happen.
Deadlifts, Find Heavy Triple
WOD:
For time-
-Deadlift x 15 reps (using 75% of today’s heavy triple)
-Hand-Release Push-Ups x 30 reps
-Run 800 Meters
-Deadlift x 10 reps
-Hand-Release Push-Ups x 20 reps
-Run 400 Meters
-Deadlift x 5 reps
-Hand-Release Push-Ups x 10 reps
-Run 200 Meters
I found my heavy triple...happened to be a PR too :D from 275 to 295. Makes me wonder what my 1RM is going to be next time I chase it. Getting stronger. Another thing I'm going to change is my grip. I've been using what I think of as a traditional grip, and I'm going to try out the... idk what it's called.... just looked it up. I've been using a double overhand, but want to try out the mixed grip...kept reading that article, maybe I'll stick with... idk. Coaches?
The rest of the workout is as monstrous as it looks. I had to break the lifts up more than I wanted to. Sets of 5, my hands weren't having it any other way, I was using the touch n go technique...if it's a technique...thats how I was doing it, wasn't dropping from the top.
I was beat up when it was done, did some barbell pushups instead of hand release, those hurt. 7 days feels like 7 weeks. Can't wait that long again, ever.
Parting thought, saw just one event of the CrossFit games, and it set the bar for me mentally. I caught the...power clean ladder? I think that was it. 345 was the max weight, Froning didn't make the final heat by .9 seconds or something like that... anyway, some of those guys made that weight look light, the bar is set. This coming 2015 Open is a stretch, but if I'm doing well, we'll see. 6 months, anything can happen.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
My Family
I've heard a lot of sayings about family. Things like "you've only got the family you're born into", "there is the family you're related to, and the family you choose", and "Having a place to go — is a home. Having someone to love — is a family. Having both — is a blessing." among many many others. I spent an hour driving with the windows down, music off, just thinking, enjoying the drive, thinking about family, and what it means to me. For me there is a lot of truth in these three statements, and indeed many of the other ones that are easily available to you on the Internet.
I can't really tell you what family should be, or what/who I think you should consider family, but I can tell you who I consider family, and how awesome they are.
I'm a lucky guy, I've got 3 families. I have my traditional family, the one I was born into, the ones I share my name with, the ones who I can never deny. I dearly love my immediate family. Wife, daughter, kid 2 (we don't know the gender yet... but #becausefutbol :D), my mother, my father, and usually my brother. For me, as they are for most, these people are irreplaceable, and I'm lucky to have them.
My second family found me when I was going into 4th grade. Robert and Donna Perez moved next door and brought their 3 boys, Robert, James, and Jesse. I've been friends with these guys from day 1, they took me into their family, took me to meet the rest of the family, and our parents still live next to each other 20 some years later. Hardly a day goes by where I don't talk to at least one of them. I've had heated fights/battles with the two younger ones, James and Jesses, as we were the closest in ages, but just like brothers, we've always worked things out. Lots of that through thick and thin stuff. Love them like they were my blood, and I treat them like they are. I'm lucky to have them in my life.
My third family is my CrossFit family, and tonight I was able to come home to CFDS, and be with some of them. I wanted to tell you about my other two families, so you could hopefully see exactly how highly I regard my peoples at CFDS. I think I'll always have an "instant on" connection with anyone who has ever CrossFitted. It's just one of those things that once you've been exposed to it, and done it, it's a bond with the people who do it...or at least it is to me.
Let me tell you about today. I've known I was going back to Delaware for a few weeks. Super geeked. Then I found out it was going to be in Seaford, DE... about 1.5 hours from CrossFit Diamond State to be exact. This was a bit of a bummer, but I grew up in a town called Tonganoxie, and it was 30-45 minutes from ANYTHING cool I wanted to do growing up, so I got real used to driving. So, knowing I was going to be in Delaware, I kept it a big secret, up until last night, then I told my man Dustin Simmons, since I knew I wouldn't see him today, he's out of town for work as well...
So a few weeks of holding on to the fact I was going to be close...or a lot closer than KC. I had big plans for today, I was going to come through the front door, and loundly ask who had some scissors... I needed to cut the tags off my new kicks...reminds me, the Minimus 00's (I think) I picked up @ Rehoboth New Balance yesterday...
So my plan was to go in with these and loudly ask "who's got some scissors", ya know, like I owned the place. Well, thats not how it happened.
If it had been a perfect day, I'd have been able to leave slightly before 5, or even right at 5. Today, and granted I'm still new to the site, we didn't leave until 5:45. I can't be too mad, the big bossman is here, and I'm still trying to get my feet under me. Last thing I want to do is leave early and get one of those demerits or some other such internal judgement from my peers. I sucked it up... well kinda. I was fidgety from about 505 all the way till 545.
I finally got on the road, and started driving...and I've got to tell you Delaware, you need another North-South highway...one that isn't burdened by a 55mph speed limit, and lots of stoplights and small town speed limits... people have places to be.
The drive got better once I got onto highway 1. No more stoplights, and a bump in speed to 65. #flying now. Exactly one hour and thirty minutes from the time I left, I made it to CFDS. I'm kinda mad Google was right on the money. I was happier when Mapquest would tell me the same route and say it would take 2+ hours. Feel like I made up some time that way, but Google...no Google has to be accurate.... not that that is a bad thing most days, I was just wanting to make up some time.
7:21...right in time for the 6:30 class to be over. I take off my flipflops, and put on some old black socks... they matched the shoes...minus the fact they were faded, and by having the shoes in hand, I could still maybe get my chosen line off.
I walked in the front door. Through the kitchen, and in the box proper, I see my man Andy. He kinda leans his head to the side, I think he's trying to figure out who's at the door. I leaned my head to the side, I'm smiling... I start walking in, and then I see it, that moment of recognition. It's a beautiful thing. I don't remember fully hugging, I think it was more of that sportsman bro hug handshake thing... but either way, it was good to see him. Then Laura came up, big hug. Then some of the rest of my peoples see me. Jessica Simmons, Theresa Driggers, Mike Li, the list goes on. Hugs, handshakes, fistbumps. It's great to be back.
Oh, and the smell... that box smell. Can't tell you I'd want it in a bottle, but it's still a smell I miss, we don't have it at EST, and I'm kinda glad, makes CFDS special.
I look around, don't see some of the other staples, I know coach Eli is gone (he's being an official at the CF games, lucky dude), and coach Chris usually isn't an evenings kind of guy, so I wasn't expecting him, but I didn't see Pete, coach Randi, coach Gia, or the PR dancing sensation Jaimie.
Quickly find out, they're outside...doing some crazy wod...something I'd have a time of 2 hours on... 3000m row, 300 DU's, 3 mile run. First one back is Jaimie. She's out of it, sees me, but doesn't make it 20 ft in the door before she's on her back, sucking air from yet another monster effort. Next in was Pete, good to see him, then it's Randi, and finally Gia. I get smiles and nods, while everyone catches their breath, then hugs, fist bumps, etc. I can't wait to be able to do this sort of thing in the time they did it.
This is the first time I've seen everyone since I left. I can't stop smiling, I'm telling the latest deets of my world, my scandalous secret about being back in DE but waaaay down south, and we catch up. I won't bore you with all the conversations, but my family reunion has kicked off quite nicely, I didn't get to see everyone, but I got to see enough people that I'm happy I came. 3 hours of driving for a little over an hours worth of visiting. Easily worth the trade for me. Easily.
I wish I'd taken some pictures with my people so I could share them with you. I told you I have 3 families, it's really 4. Diamond State gets their own spot, no offense to my other boxes. They're the family I was born with in CrossFit. CFDS and the people that make it up have a very special place in my heart. A drive 3 hours to spend 1 with them kind of place. Who would you do that for? Most peoples answer is probably not for very many people, if anyone.
Saying bye was a lot easier this time, I know when I'll be back in DE, and I know it will be soon. It's well past my bedtime, but I wanted to share my day with you, and tell you about my family and how happy I am to have seen them today, makes the fact I'm getting 5 hours sleep bearable. Hopefully you can smile and nod with a fuller understanding of what these folks mean to me.
Parting thoughts:
No one said anything about the beard I was sporting. Thanks anyway to Dustin and Chris for their inspiration. :P
EST, I didn't get a single WOD in, it will be 5 days come Thursday, make me sweat.
CFDS, next time can't come soon enough.
Momma, I love you
I'm out.
Oh, and sorry for another mushy post, I can't help it, they bring it out of me.
And sorry for misspelling, typos, and other grammatical errors. It's 1am again...
I can't really tell you what family should be, or what/who I think you should consider family, but I can tell you who I consider family, and how awesome they are.
I'm a lucky guy, I've got 3 families. I have my traditional family, the one I was born into, the ones I share my name with, the ones who I can never deny. I dearly love my immediate family. Wife, daughter, kid 2 (we don't know the gender yet... but #becausefutbol :D), my mother, my father, and usually my brother. For me, as they are for most, these people are irreplaceable, and I'm lucky to have them.
My second family found me when I was going into 4th grade. Robert and Donna Perez moved next door and brought their 3 boys, Robert, James, and Jesse. I've been friends with these guys from day 1, they took me into their family, took me to meet the rest of the family, and our parents still live next to each other 20 some years later. Hardly a day goes by where I don't talk to at least one of them. I've had heated fights/battles with the two younger ones, James and Jesses, as we were the closest in ages, but just like brothers, we've always worked things out. Lots of that through thick and thin stuff. Love them like they were my blood, and I treat them like they are. I'm lucky to have them in my life.
My third family is my CrossFit family, and tonight I was able to come home to CFDS, and be with some of them. I wanted to tell you about my other two families, so you could hopefully see exactly how highly I regard my peoples at CFDS. I think I'll always have an "instant on" connection with anyone who has ever CrossFitted. It's just one of those things that once you've been exposed to it, and done it, it's a bond with the people who do it...or at least it is to me.
Let me tell you about today. I've known I was going back to Delaware for a few weeks. Super geeked. Then I found out it was going to be in Seaford, DE... about 1.5 hours from CrossFit Diamond State to be exact. This was a bit of a bummer, but I grew up in a town called Tonganoxie, and it was 30-45 minutes from ANYTHING cool I wanted to do growing up, so I got real used to driving. So, knowing I was going to be in Delaware, I kept it a big secret, up until last night, then I told my man Dustin Simmons, since I knew I wouldn't see him today, he's out of town for work as well...
So a few weeks of holding on to the fact I was going to be close...or a lot closer than KC. I had big plans for today, I was going to come through the front door, and loundly ask who had some scissors... I needed to cut the tags off my new kicks...reminds me, the Minimus 00's (I think) I picked up @ Rehoboth New Balance yesterday...
If it had been a perfect day, I'd have been able to leave slightly before 5, or even right at 5. Today, and granted I'm still new to the site, we didn't leave until 5:45. I can't be too mad, the big bossman is here, and I'm still trying to get my feet under me. Last thing I want to do is leave early and get one of those demerits or some other such internal judgement from my peers. I sucked it up... well kinda. I was fidgety from about 505 all the way till 545.
I finally got on the road, and started driving...and I've got to tell you Delaware, you need another North-South highway...one that isn't burdened by a 55mph speed limit, and lots of stoplights and small town speed limits... people have places to be.
The drive got better once I got onto highway 1. No more stoplights, and a bump in speed to 65. #flying now. Exactly one hour and thirty minutes from the time I left, I made it to CFDS. I'm kinda mad Google was right on the money. I was happier when Mapquest would tell me the same route and say it would take 2+ hours. Feel like I made up some time that way, but Google...no Google has to be accurate.... not that that is a bad thing most days, I was just wanting to make up some time.
7:21...right in time for the 6:30 class to be over. I take off my flipflops, and put on some old black socks... they matched the shoes...minus the fact they were faded, and by having the shoes in hand, I could still maybe get my chosen line off.
I walked in the front door. Through the kitchen, and in the box proper, I see my man Andy. He kinda leans his head to the side, I think he's trying to figure out who's at the door. I leaned my head to the side, I'm smiling... I start walking in, and then I see it, that moment of recognition. It's a beautiful thing. I don't remember fully hugging, I think it was more of that sportsman bro hug handshake thing... but either way, it was good to see him. Then Laura came up, big hug. Then some of the rest of my peoples see me. Jessica Simmons, Theresa Driggers, Mike Li, the list goes on. Hugs, handshakes, fistbumps. It's great to be back.
Oh, and the smell... that box smell. Can't tell you I'd want it in a bottle, but it's still a smell I miss, we don't have it at EST, and I'm kinda glad, makes CFDS special.
I look around, don't see some of the other staples, I know coach Eli is gone (he's being an official at the CF games, lucky dude), and coach Chris usually isn't an evenings kind of guy, so I wasn't expecting him, but I didn't see Pete, coach Randi, coach Gia, or the PR dancing sensation Jaimie.
Quickly find out, they're outside...doing some crazy wod...something I'd have a time of 2 hours on... 3000m row, 300 DU's, 3 mile run. First one back is Jaimie. She's out of it, sees me, but doesn't make it 20 ft in the door before she's on her back, sucking air from yet another monster effort. Next in was Pete, good to see him, then it's Randi, and finally Gia. I get smiles and nods, while everyone catches their breath, then hugs, fist bumps, etc. I can't wait to be able to do this sort of thing in the time they did it.
This is the first time I've seen everyone since I left. I can't stop smiling, I'm telling the latest deets of my world, my scandalous secret about being back in DE but waaaay down south, and we catch up. I won't bore you with all the conversations, but my family reunion has kicked off quite nicely, I didn't get to see everyone, but I got to see enough people that I'm happy I came. 3 hours of driving for a little over an hours worth of visiting. Easily worth the trade for me. Easily.
I wish I'd taken some pictures with my people so I could share them with you. I told you I have 3 families, it's really 4. Diamond State gets their own spot, no offense to my other boxes. They're the family I was born with in CrossFit. CFDS and the people that make it up have a very special place in my heart. A drive 3 hours to spend 1 with them kind of place. Who would you do that for? Most peoples answer is probably not for very many people, if anyone.
Saying bye was a lot easier this time, I know when I'll be back in DE, and I know it will be soon. It's well past my bedtime, but I wanted to share my day with you, and tell you about my family and how happy I am to have seen them today, makes the fact I'm getting 5 hours sleep bearable. Hopefully you can smile and nod with a fuller understanding of what these folks mean to me.
Parting thoughts:
No one said anything about the beard I was sporting. Thanks anyway to Dustin and Chris for their inspiration. :P
EST, I didn't get a single WOD in, it will be 5 days come Thursday, make me sweat.
CFDS, next time can't come soon enough.
Momma, I love you
I'm out.
Oh, and sorry for another mushy post, I can't help it, they bring it out of me.
And sorry for misspelling, typos, and other grammatical errors. It's 1am again...
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Aba-ka-Tabada
Tabada workouts are something else. Today was Tabada DU's. 20seconds of activity, 10 seconds rest, 8 rounds. Half way through, Adrian, whom I haven't really worked with much lately (been going to the morning classes), stopped and asked if step ups would be better, he's checking on me, checking on that knee. Much appreciated, but we're good here, I'm using a different rope than previous times, the rope is thinner, lighter. Struggling to get more than 5 or 10 jumps in a row. I think it's merely adjusting to a new rope. By the end of the Tabada DU's, my feet hurt, like cramped up hurt. I blame it on tightening the shoes too tightly. I had to sit down and take my shoes off for a few minutes, just to get it to go away. These Asics are toast. I REALLY hope these New Balance shoes are the ticket. Might have a blog post about them all by themselves on Monday.
Alright, so this Tabada stuff, 20 seconds on, 10 off... I can imagine this gets pretty intense with some of the other workouts. DU's we're a challenge, but I think air squats, burpees, or something else would be worse. Another vocab word in the books.
The rest of the WOD was about as CrossFit as it gets. No weights, no bands, no nonsense. 5 rounds of a 3 minute AMRAP with a 3 minute rest between rounds. 3 Toes to Bar, 6 burpees, 9 KB swings. I though that the 3 minutes of rest would be sweet... and it was...but those burpees...just like every other movement that has me going ground to standing, wipes me out, and no amount of rest between sets fixes that.
I had what I thought was a good pace going, about 2 sets per 3 min. Not an Open speed, but what seemed like a good speed for me. By the end of the third round, I was beat, and out of water. The whole time I'm walking over to the fountain to refill my bottle I'm muttering crazy things like I regret the past 9 years (read, the time it took me to gain this weight). Someone was like don't worry about the past, focus on now and tomorrow. I hope they didn't see my eye roll. LOL. I'm here today to fix tomorrow, but once in a while, I crack jokes about how I got to the place I started at. The sentiment is still appreciated.
So my 2 sets per 3 minutes is morning right along....and then we got to the third round. That finally broke my 2 sets per 3 minutes. I got through everything but the 9 KB swings. After rest 3, I get the privileged of picking up where I left off. I tried to make up some time with the t2b and KB swings. Didn't quite make it. I'll save you from reading about my struggles with the burpees, these are well documented. I did tell Chris that in two years, I'd be able to do box over burpees in faster time than what I was doing today. We both got a good chuckle. Ended the WOD with 9 complete sets and 4 additional movements. Gassed, but happy to be done.
I didn't capitulate. Everyone around me is on their backs, sucking air after the workout, but thats just not how I recover... I'm sure it feels great, but I can't bring myself to do it. Sit down, bend over in front of the fan, lean against the rig...anything but lie down. Maybe thats just me.
I'm ready for next week. New client, new town, and hopefully some new WOD shoes. The Asics are shot. I'll let you know. :)
Alright, so this Tabada stuff, 20 seconds on, 10 off... I can imagine this gets pretty intense with some of the other workouts. DU's we're a challenge, but I think air squats, burpees, or something else would be worse. Another vocab word in the books.
The rest of the WOD was about as CrossFit as it gets. No weights, no bands, no nonsense. 5 rounds of a 3 minute AMRAP with a 3 minute rest between rounds. 3 Toes to Bar, 6 burpees, 9 KB swings. I though that the 3 minutes of rest would be sweet... and it was...but those burpees...just like every other movement that has me going ground to standing, wipes me out, and no amount of rest between sets fixes that.
I had what I thought was a good pace going, about 2 sets per 3 min. Not an Open speed, but what seemed like a good speed for me. By the end of the third round, I was beat, and out of water. The whole time I'm walking over to the fountain to refill my bottle I'm muttering crazy things like I regret the past 9 years (read, the time it took me to gain this weight). Someone was like don't worry about the past, focus on now and tomorrow. I hope they didn't see my eye roll. LOL. I'm here today to fix tomorrow, but once in a while, I crack jokes about how I got to the place I started at. The sentiment is still appreciated.
So my 2 sets per 3 minutes is morning right along....and then we got to the third round. That finally broke my 2 sets per 3 minutes. I got through everything but the 9 KB swings. After rest 3, I get the privileged of picking up where I left off. I tried to make up some time with the t2b and KB swings. Didn't quite make it. I'll save you from reading about my struggles with the burpees, these are well documented. I did tell Chris that in two years, I'd be able to do box over burpees in faster time than what I was doing today. We both got a good chuckle. Ended the WOD with 9 complete sets and 4 additional movements. Gassed, but happy to be done.
I didn't capitulate. Everyone around me is on their backs, sucking air after the workout, but thats just not how I recover... I'm sure it feels great, but I can't bring myself to do it. Sit down, bend over in front of the fan, lean against the rig...anything but lie down. Maybe thats just me.
I'm ready for next week. New client, new town, and hopefully some new WOD shoes. The Asics are shot. I'll let you know. :)
Thursday, July 17, 2014
My other knee...
Yesterdays workout could have been brutal. It was bad enough for what it was, but thankfully I had the sense to not grab some weight that would have crushed my soul. I'll get into that here in a sec. I wanted to go ahead and point out that I've got a new knee issue. I think it's because of the oly's I've been wearing this week. Pain on my left knee now, on the outside...right about where the calf and whatever muscle is on the front of the leg meet. I think it's the perneus longus muscle that works to "evert and plantar flex the ankle". And with new shoes, my foot might be sitting differently, so it would make sense that the ankle may be in a different position, and thus this thing is aggravated when I'm in the olys... time to see a professional about that.
Back to the WOD. Seemingly a fairly short one if you don't rest too much.
5 Rounds:
-10 Back Squat (70% 1RM)
Rest 30 seconds
-10 Single Arm Dumbbell Rows (45/35)
Rest 30 seconds
-10 Russian Kettlebell Swings (70/53)
Rest 30 seconds
-10 Dumbbell Shoulder Press (45/35)
Rest 2 minutes
50 reps of each. The back squat I ended up going lighter on for sets 2-5. I probably could have done them at the 115, but opted for the 95 after the first set. I'd rather finish it sooner than later, and I had a feeling re-racks would have been in my future, and that's not what this was going for... I don't think anyway.
I was under the impression that the dumbbell rows and shoulder press should be done with the same dumbells. In retrospect, I probably should have asked for clarification. I can row double what I can press, probably more than double. I opted for a lighter row weight, but something that was a solid challenge for the press. 20# seems to be that magic number for the press (did I mention it was strict).
KB swings... I know I said I was going to go up in weight, but I didn't... and I think that was a mistake now. My swings have gotten ugly. They don't feel right, I don't feel like I'm moving right...it's just all wrong, and I think a good portion of that is that the weight is just too light...I've gotten too strong. Good problems to have, but at the same time, it's annoying. Either way, I'm grabbing the bigger KB for the next swings.
25:20. That was my time with some decent rest in there. I mean it's got close to 15 minutes rest time built in, IF you follow it the way it was written. I'm pretty sure most people didn't as There were some times of 16 minutes on the board. Not that I'm judging, I'd like to get to the point I can bang this out at that speed..... dreams, goals, and desires.
The rest of the WOD was pretty simple. 5 100m sprints on the rower, with a minute rest between each attempt. My stated goal last post was 18 seconds. To be honest, I thought I'd beat it easily. Not the case. Didn't even hit 18. Sniffed it once. My times as I remember them. 19.8, 19.8, 19.9, 19.3, 19.8. I know the numbers are right, the order might be off in the middle. Gives me something to shoot for. I know I held back a little, and it was mainly I size thing. I didn't want to break the rower trying to pull like Hercules and have the seat slide off one side or another.
The rest of today is going to be straight rest. Not even active rest, just going to ice a little, and elevate. I need to mow soon... guess we'll see about that rest. Cheers!
Back to the WOD. Seemingly a fairly short one if you don't rest too much.
5 Rounds:
-10 Back Squat (70% 1RM)
Rest 30 seconds
-10 Single Arm Dumbbell Rows (45/35)
Rest 30 seconds
-10 Russian Kettlebell Swings (70/53)
Rest 30 seconds
-10 Dumbbell Shoulder Press (45/35)
Rest 2 minutes
50 reps of each. The back squat I ended up going lighter on for sets 2-5. I probably could have done them at the 115, but opted for the 95 after the first set. I'd rather finish it sooner than later, and I had a feeling re-racks would have been in my future, and that's not what this was going for... I don't think anyway.
I was under the impression that the dumbbell rows and shoulder press should be done with the same dumbells. In retrospect, I probably should have asked for clarification. I can row double what I can press, probably more than double. I opted for a lighter row weight, but something that was a solid challenge for the press. 20# seems to be that magic number for the press (did I mention it was strict).
KB swings... I know I said I was going to go up in weight, but I didn't... and I think that was a mistake now. My swings have gotten ugly. They don't feel right, I don't feel like I'm moving right...it's just all wrong, and I think a good portion of that is that the weight is just too light...I've gotten too strong. Good problems to have, but at the same time, it's annoying. Either way, I'm grabbing the bigger KB for the next swings.
25:20. That was my time with some decent rest in there. I mean it's got close to 15 minutes rest time built in, IF you follow it the way it was written. I'm pretty sure most people didn't as There were some times of 16 minutes on the board. Not that I'm judging, I'd like to get to the point I can bang this out at that speed..... dreams, goals, and desires.
The rest of the WOD was pretty simple. 5 100m sprints on the rower, with a minute rest between each attempt. My stated goal last post was 18 seconds. To be honest, I thought I'd beat it easily. Not the case. Didn't even hit 18. Sniffed it once. My times as I remember them. 19.8, 19.8, 19.9, 19.3, 19.8. I know the numbers are right, the order might be off in the middle. Gives me something to shoot for. I know I held back a little, and it was mainly I size thing. I didn't want to break the rower trying to pull like Hercules and have the seat slide off one side or another.
The rest of today is going to be straight rest. Not even active rest, just going to ice a little, and elevate. I need to mow soon... guess we'll see about that rest. Cheers!
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