Fitness-4/4-snatch, clean and jerk, run/burpee

Saturday WOD

Started the workout today with snatch and clean and jerk. Gotta love some oly work. The snatch is, for whatever reason, probably my favorite lift. Something about lifting a lot of weight from the ground to overhead in one powerfully explosive movement that gets my motor running. I've only been performing full squat snatch for the last few months now. It's a very technical lift and one that demands practice in order to improve. I haven't been practicing as much as I'd like the last few weeks. So today was exciting. I'm looking forward to spending a day or two a week focusing on these lifts. 

Snatch-5 x 3 x 3 x 2 x 1 x 1

-5 x 95#

-3 x 135#

-2 x 155#

-2 x 175#

-1 x 185#

-1 x 195#(new pr)

Clean and Jerk-3 x 1 x 1 x 1

-3 x 185

-1 x 205

-1 x 225

-1 x 235 

Hit a new pr on the snatch which was great. Still have a long ways to go to get to bw but am hoping to make a lot of progress in the coming months. My clean and jerk felt weak. My max clean is 275 and my max jerk is 275 but combine them as one lift and the numbers seem to fall. It's a very challenging skill. I've haven't worked heavy clean or jerk in over a month. It showed today. I think I could have hit another set at 250 but easy to say, much harder to do. I was wiped. Gonna have to really work hard this month on improving my front squat. It's my achilles heal in this movement. 

After the oly work, got after a quick met-con courtesy of the guys at CrossFit Football (these guys just launched this site and programming, it's radical).

You have 1 minute to complete each round. Once the clock starts it does not stop. 

1-run 10 yards and back, 1 burpee

2-run 20 yards and back, 2 burpees

3-run 40 yards and back, 4 burpees

4-run 80 yards and back, 8 burpees

5-run 40 yards and back, 4 burpees

6-run 20 yards and back, 2 burpees

7-run 10 yard and back, 1 burpee

This was an intense little wod. Definitely finished that middle round with only about 10 seconds to spare. Next time I do this one, I need to push it a little harder in the shorter rounds. 

Fitness-4/3-"The Kaci"

Friday WOD-"The Kaci"

A little running wod today. Much needed for me. We got after it and really ran ourselves into the ground. We did this with partners. Our group had odd numbers so Em, Art and I went together. Art would go, them Em and I would go. It was a good push all the way around. Your rest between runs was only as long as it took your teammate to complete their interval. Art was moving pretty fast. So, this one was a burner.

The Kaci:

-2 x 400m run

-4 x 800m run

-6 x 100m run 

team time=16:13 

Nutrition-4/3

Friday

8am

-medium apple

-1/3 cup almonds

-1.5 cups marion berries

2pm

-5 oz. chicken breast

-8 oz. strawberries

-medium apple

-large banana

-1/4 cup almonds 

6pm

-3 shot 16 oz. americano, black

-baker's cookie 

7:3opm-12:30am (poker with the fellas)

-3 1554 dark ales

-2 two oz. glasses scotch (glen rothes 22 year, wow)

-3 small pieces supreme pizza

-90 oz. water on the day

Fitness-4/2-"Australasia Qualifier"

Thursday WOD-burpees/pull-ups and run

For those who read this and don't know, I've been training to compete in a CrossFit comp this spring that will determine, in our opinion, the fittest person in the world. The competition, known as the CrossFit Games, starts with regional qualifiers all over the world where people come together and compete to determine who from that region will go to the final competition taking place in California in July. A day or two ago, the workouts for the qualifier being held for the regions including all of Asia and Australia were announced. We decided to do the first workout announced at the gym today as a motivator for what's to come. We won't find out what the workouts will be for our region's qualifier until 5/9/09, exactly one week before our event in Seattle on 5/16/09. Our region includes all of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska and from those states, only the top 4 males and top 4 females will go. I don't know exactly how much of a long shot I am, but I am training hard to be as competitive as I can. We're less than six weeks away and with the first qualifiers starting to take place world-wide, things are heating up. This is some exciting stuff. Stay tuned. Learn about and follow the CrossFit Games here.

Today's WOD for time:

21 burpees

21 pull-ups

run 400m

15 burps

15 pulls

run 400m

9...

9...

run 400m

time=11:50

I was rocking this workout. Out the door for the last 400 at 9:15 and about 30 seconds ahead of the next guy in my group. And then I died. I tried to run and couldn't. Don't know if that's ever happened to me before. Ended up taking 2:35 seconds to get around. It was rough. But I was proud of myself for really pushing my pace. I hit the wall, but the wall continues to get further away. 

Before the WOD, we did a little light, high-rep, back squat technique work. I performed sets as follows (they felt great):

20 x 135

20 x 155

12 x 185 (should have hit 20, but racked it to save the legs a bit for the WOD)

Nutrition-4/2

Thursday

7:15am
-5 oz. chicken breast
-1 hardboiled egg
-large banana
-medium apple
-1 cup blueberries
-1/8 cup almonds

8:30am
-2 shot 12 oz. americano

11:15am
-6 oz. chicken breast
-2 small apples
-2 cups shredded brocoli and carrots
-1 cup blackberries
-1 cup marion berries
-1/4 cup almonds

3:15am

-4 oz. chicken breast

-1 heaping cup marion berries

-small apple

-1/8 cup almonds

8:30pm(el gitano's with the roommates)

-few chips and salsa

-chicken en mole with corn tortillas, rice and beans

-no cheese, sour cream or guac

-still a major splurge, and worth every bite

-128 oz. water on the day

Nutrition-4/1

Wednesday

7:30pm
-4 oz. chicken breast
-2 hardboiled eggs
-1 cup blueberries
-8 oz. strawberries
-small apple
-large banana
-1/8 cup almonds

8am
-2 shot 12 oz. americano

11:30am
-4 oz. chicken breast
-1/4 cup almonds
-1 cup blackberries
-medium apple
-1.5 cups shredded brocoli and carrots

3:15pm
-4 oz. chicken breast
-large banana
-small apple
-1/8 cup almonds

7:30pm
-4 oz. chicken breast
-2 hardboiled eggs
-8 oz. strawberries
-1 cup marion berries
-2+ cups shredded brocoli and carrots
-1/8 cup almonds

9pm
-lot's of popcorn (the 3 flavor kind that comes in the Christmas tin, crap)

-120 oz. water on the day

Fitness-3/31-max effort deadlift/box jump

Tuesday WOD

On Tuesday at the gym, we wrapped up our month long focus on the deadlift with a 1 repetition max effort day. We also used the time to attempt max effort box jumps.

deadlift: 1 x 405, 1 x 425, 1 x 435-new pr
box jump: 1 x 41", 1 x 43", 1 x 46"-new pr

It was a decent day for me at the gym. My deadlift is really coming along. I hate the deadlift, it's my least favorite lift I think. My height seems to work against me. But, over the past month, I've improved my technique and my back has certainly gotten stronger, helping me to overcome my height disadvantage. I left wishing I had attempted 455 but after 3 pretty heavy, and successful, attempts, I thought I should leave well enough alone. And thank God I did. The next morning and day, my body was devastated. We'll give 455 a go in the next couple of weeks.

As for the box jump, not bad for 265#.

Nutrition-3/31

Tuesday

7:30am

-4 oz. chicken breast

-2 hardboiled eggs

-1 cup blueberries

-large banana

-medium apple

-8 oz. strawberries

-1/4 cup almonds

8:30am

-3 shot 16 oz. americano, black

12:30pm

-5 oz. chicken breast

-1 hardboiled egg

-1 cup blackberries

-8 oz. carrots

-large banana

-small apple

-1/4 cup almonds

4:30pm

-4 oz. chicken breast

-1/4 cup almonds

-small apple

-large banana

8pm

-4 oz. chicken breast

-2 hardboiled eggs

-8 oz. carrots

-3/4 cup blueberries

-1 cup marion berries 

-small apple

400 IU vit D3, 1000mg Ca

-100 oz. water on the day

Fitness-3/30-"Badger"

Monday WOD-"Badger"

The "Badger" is 3 rounds for time of:

-3o full squat cleans, 95#

-30 pull-ups

-800m run

time=34:27

Not much for me to say about this one. Another "Hero" workout that lives up to it's character. It certainly is a brute. I haven't felt this poorly about an exercise performance in a long time, maybe ever. Going into this one, I seriously thought I could complete it in 25 minutes, I really did. It chewed me up and spit me out. I just couldn't manage to break through those pull-ups in a timely manner. Have got to get lighter. Just disappointed with my resolve on this one. As of late, I've been trying to reinforce a worthwhile mindset at our gym: be relentless. Today I relented. 

Nutrition-3/30

Monday

7am
-4 oz. chicken breast
-2 hardboiled eggs
-1 cup blueberries
-1/2 cup blackberries
-small apple
-large banana
-1/8 cup almonds

8am
-2 shot 12 oz. americano, black

11:15am
-4 oz. chicken breast
-2 hardboiled eggs
-1 cup black berries
-9 oz. carrots
-medium apple
-1/8 cup almonds

3:30pm

-4 oz. chicken breast

-1/8 cup almonds

-large banana

-small apple

6:45pm

-4 oz. chicken breast

-2 hardboiled eggs

-8 oz. carrots

-2 small apples

-large banana

-1/4 cup almonds

-114 oz. water on the day

Fitness-3/29-"Heartbreaker's Revenge"

Sunday WOD-"Heartbreaker's Revenge"

A few weeks back, we did a wod affectionately titled "Heartbreaker." It was 7 rounds for time of:

-200m run
-13 x kb swing, 24kg
-13 x burpees

It was a brute and I loved every minute of it. Burpees, once my nemesis, have now become one of my favorite exercises. Don't ask me why, I love 'em. So, this weekend, "Heartbreaker's Revenge" was born. It played out as follows:

200m run
-21 kb swings, 24kg
-21 burpees
400m run
-15 kb swings, 24kg
-15 burpees
800m run
-9 kb swings, 24kg
-9 burpees

time=11:16

Not bad, but not good enough. After this one, I thought back to the few times I rested and realized I could have knocked a good 30 seconds off my time just by tracking my rests (giving myself a 5 count). A lot of times we rest and we think it's only been 5 seconds but really it's been 10 or even 15. Add a few together and it's no problem to waste a minute not doing anything. I've found, if I need a break, it's best to give a 5 count and take a good hard breath with each count and then right back on it. Our bodies are way more capable than we give them credit for. I would like a do-over on this one. Ben K slammed this one out in 9:57. I'll be referring to him a lot as he's often the one setting the standard in our gym, the guy just doesn't quit. And that's what it's about. Being relentless.