Fitness-8/15-"Linda Like"

Saturday WOD

We were planning on meeting up at the gym today and heading outside for some competitive ultimate frisbee but we showed up to low numbers and decided to get after a wod instead. We did the following for time. 

Do 10-1 (10 reps, then 9 reps, then 8, etc....) of:

-hang power snatch, 95#

-pullups, chest t0 bar

-kb press, 24kg

time=20ish

Ouch is all I have to say about this one. The pull-ups killed me. I couldn't seem to get a rhythm going and was constantly having to re-start my swing. This, in part, caused my hands to rip on about the 3rd to last round and finishing was ridiculous because I was having an awful time holding on. Last two rounds probably took me 3-4 minutes just to do about 9 reps of everything. I need to spend more time working on getting a rhythm going with the chest-to-bars. All said, it was still great to get some work in to start my Saturday. 

Fitness-8/13-deadlifts

Thursday WOD

We went after max effort deads again today. My body was hurting today after some brutal work thus far this week but I was still able to have a decent session. Today we were going for 5 x 1 hitting max effort on the last go. My sets looked as follows:

1 x 365

1 x 385

1 x 405

1 x 415

1 x 425

Even though I was in rough shape today, there was still progress. The rep at 425 went up pretty slow but I think I may have been able to pull 435#. Enough was enough though, and I didn't want to push my luck. Todays work puts me right about 40# behind my pr from May (462#). Three weeks ago when we started working deads I was 70-80# behind. So, I made up some pretty good ground. This marked the end of our current strength cycle but I still plan on trying to sneak in some max effort work on the squat and deadlift once a week.

After the ME deadlift work, I started to warm-up for a short met-con. But my body wasn't having it and every movement I tried, even just warming up, was causing a lot of pain. It was crazy. My body I was screaming. So I called it a day and decided it was time to rest. 

Nutrition-8/13

Thursday

SLEEP: 7.5 hours on the night

7:30am

-3 hardboiled eggs

-3 links isernio's extra lean chicken sausage

-1/4 cup pistachios

-large banana

-2 oz. dried apricots

-2g epa+dha

8:30am

-triple 16 oz. americano, black

11:30am

-7 oz. chicken breast

-1/4 cup walnuts

-8 oz. carrots

-8 oz. strawberries

-2g epa+dha

3:30pm

-4 oz. chicken breast

-1/4 cup walnuts

-large banana

8:30pm

-chicken breast/mixed vegetable stir fry (at a friends, not sure on portion or vegetables but I had one plate and it was pretty lean)

9:30-11pm (sweets binge)

-dots

-chocolate peanut butter cups

-large frosty 

-150 oz. water on the day

Fitness-8/12-"Fight Gone Bad Unbroken"

Wednesday WOD

Went after another FGB prep wod today. Our agenda today was to start challenging ourselves to push through more reps unbroken and slam through our comfort zones. To do so, we went through the workout a little bit differently than normal. And you could only score reps that were unbroken. In other words, if you did 15 reps in a row of wall ball and then dropped the ball, reps after that wouldn't score unless of course you were able to string together more than 15 unbroken before the time was up in which case you'd take that higher score. Not a likely scenario. So, basically, at the start of each exercise, you were trying to go for as long as possible without stopping to get the highest score possible. I made it my goal to make it throuh each interval/exercise without stopping. "Fight Gone Bad Unbroken" looked as follows:

3 rounds, 30 seconds on/30 seconds off of each exercise, with 1 minute between each round and no extra time between exercises. Score as many unbroken reps as possible, counting calories on the rower.

-wall ball, 20#/10ft
-sumo deadlift high pull, 75#
-box jump, 24"
-push press, 85#
-row

score=289

I'm pretty stoked with this effort. I pushed through some serious walls and was able to go unbroken on every exercise, every round except for one round of box jumps. The way I was feeling and performed today, I figure I could have scored 100-125 reps higher on a full/normal FGB. Especially considering normal Rx for FGB is only 20" box and 75# push-press. I have a 400 FGB in my sights, can't wait to pull the trigger.

Nutrition-8/12

Wednesday


SLEEP: 6.5 hours on the night


7:30am
-3 hardboiled eggs
-3 links isernio's extra lean chicken sausage
-large banana
-1/4 cup walnuts
-3 oz. dried apricots
-2g epa+dha


8:30am
-triple 16 oz. americano, black

12:30pm
-4 oz. lean beef steak
-1/3 cup walnuts
-8 oz. carrots
-8 oz. strawberries
-2g epa+dha


4pm
-4 oz. lean beef steak
-1/4 cup walnuts
-large banana

8pm
-handfull of mini peanut butter cups
-1 bon bon
-8 oz. chicken breast
-1/3 cup pistachios
-1.5 cups blueberries
-2 oz. dried apricots
-2g epa+dha

-150 oz. water on the day

Fitness-8/11-sdhp/box jump/run, nemesis work

Tuesday WOD

We went after a great one today. The triplet of sumo deadlift high-pulls, box jumps and running. And we went heavier and higher than wods usually call for. And as far as volume goes, it was right in my wheel house. Wods in that 10-12 minutes and under range are my strength. Today, the wod was 2 rounds of the following completed afap:

6 on down to 1 (6 of each, then 5, then 4, etc.)
-sdhp, 135#
-box jumps, 30"
-run 400m

time=9:05

I g0t after this one hard and fast and without ceasing. I never stopped for more than one breath (trust me, I count). This was the best I've felt going into a wod in months and it showed. I felt like the 30" box was easy and think it might be time to go to the 36." The 135# high-pull was heavy but at only 6 reps as the high set it was cake. You turn that into a 21-15-9 wod and even though you only add 3 more reps total, the dynamic completely changes, especially on that heavy high-pull. My run felt strong. Going into this one, fellow CrossFitter and gym stud Ben K. had posted an 8:21 on the board. I thought I could beat it and fought through accordingly. I don't think I could have moved much faster than I did through the two dynamic movements. But could have transitioned faster. And the run is where he got me. I think my first one was about 1:30 and the second closer to 1:50. I think he was in the door on both in well under 1:30. I'll get him next time, good stuff Ben!

After I recovered, I went to work on some nemesis skills. Our gym has recently adopted the skills chart Dave Werner of Level 4/Seattle CrossFit created in order to help with goal development and progress assessment. Dave is the man (you're in great hands down there Evan)! Check out the skills chart here if you aren't familiar. What I decided to do is go through the entire chart and circle the skills I'm not capable of, or not sure I'm capable of, in every level. And trust me, there're a lot. S0 I've started with the first two levels and will begin to check skills off the list as I attempt them and if I'm not capable now, I'll work on those skills until I can cross 'em out. There's only one skill I don't have under my belt in the first level, the l-sit. In the second level there're a few more, in the third level more yet and in the fourth level, there's only one I currently am capable of; the row. So I've some work to do. Today I did the following:

-modified L sits, 10 sec on/10 sec off x 6 rounds
-30 v ups unbroken in 44 seconds
-45 second handstand hold
-handstans holds, 10 sec on/10 sec off x 3 rounds

It doesn't look like much when you read it but this was a good bit of work for me. I was able to cross the 30 v-ups unbroken off the list. L-sits and handstands need more work. I'll look forward to it.

Nutrition-8/11

Tuesday

SLEEP: 8.25 hours on the night

8:15am
-3 hardboiled eggs
-3 links isernio's extra lean chicken sausage
-1/4 cup walnuts
-large banana
-3 oz. dried apricots
-2g epa+dha

9:15am
-double 12 oz. americano, black

12:20pm
-4 oz. lean beef steak
-1/3 cup walnuts
-8 oz. carrots
-8 oz. strawberries
-2g epa+dha

4pm
-4 oz. lean beef steak
-1/4 cup walnuts
-large banana

6:30pm
-4 oz. lean beef steak
-1/4 cup walnuts
-1/3 cup raisins
-2g epa+dha

8:45-11pm(Thai food and a movie...and ice cream)
-panang curry w/beef
-a small portion of white rice (1/2 t 1 cup)
-chicken pad thai
-1.5 oz. jose cuervo family reserva (best tequila I've ever had)
-mint chocolate chip ice cream w/peanut butter cups
-bon bons

-160 oz. water on the day

Fitness-8/10-back squats, "Triple 9"

Monday WOD

Today was another ME back squat day. The goal was to go 5 x 1 hitting a ME x 1 on the last set. My sets looked as follows:

1 x 295
1 x 315
1 x 325
1 x 335, miss
1 x 335, miss

Man, my back squat needs a lot of work. I had a rough go today but am fully aware you aren't gonna hit a homerun every time you step to the plate. The last time I maxed in the squat I did 345, that was in the winter. My form is much better now and I'm getting full depth which I wasn't before. My back is also a ton more stable/strong in the bottom compared to before. Just have to keep at it and get stronger. On the two misses, I finished them with a spot. So, even though I was frustrated, it was still a pretty productive session.

After the squats, we did "Triple 9," a 12 minute amrap of:

-9 x pullups, chest to bar
-9 x burpees
-9 x pushpress, 115#

score=5 rounds

Not a bad score here, the ctb pull-ups still slow me down. All the burpees were unbroken. I came out pretty hard and maintained a good pace throughout although I found myself resting too much transitioning from burpees to pushpress. I tell ya what, that burpee/push-press combo is way more brutal than you think it'll be. Having that weight on your chest when you're sucking wind after the burpees is painful. One of those things you have to get used to pushing through. I finished round 5 with about 20-30 seconds left and didn't end up getting any more pull-ups which was lame on my part, I just kind of hung there trying to power up. All said, I really enjoyed this one.

Nutrition-8/7 thru 8/9 (aka "The Weekend) and 8/10

Friday thru Sunday

On Friday, I took off with a group of fellow friends and coaches for Bend, Oregon to attend an Olympic Weightlifting Certification put on by Mike Burgener, an amazing coach, seriously, one of the best out there. So that's why I've been off the radar. It was  pretty full day of travel on Friday followed by one and a half days of intensive skill work in the gym with Coach B and another long road trip back on Sunday afternoon/evening. A fantastic weekend. I don't know that I've ever, in all my experience to this point, been as impressed/inspired/enthused with a coach. Coach Burgener is the best out there and it was a privilege to spend the weekend learning from him. My skill in the Olympic Lifts, although a life-long "work in progress," will never be the same. I'm stoked. 

My eating was pretty spotty over the weekend and I definitely did some splurging. Here's the dirty: 5 pints various deschutes microbrews over the course of the trip, elk burger, french fries, reeses pieces peanut butter cup ice cream, snickers ice cream bar. That was it, I guess the damage wasn't too bad.

I plan on making a serious effort to train under Coach B at some point in the future, even if just for a week or two. It was definitely a event I won't soon forget 

Monday

SLEEP: 6.5 hours on the night

8:30am

-triple 16 oz. americano, black

11:20am(fasted until this meal)

-~5 oz. lean beef steak w/onions

-~5 oz. cherry tomatos and cucumbers

-4 oz. carrots

-1/3 cup walnuts

-8 oz. strawberries

-1g epa+dha

3:15pm

-3 hardboiled eggs

-1/3 cup walnuts

-3 oz. dried apricots

-1g epa+dha

6:30pm

-1/3 cup raisins

-2g epa+dha

8:45pm

-5 oz. lean beef steak

-2 hardboiled eggs

-1 link isernio's extra lean chicken sausage

-8 tbsn guacamole

-10 tbsn all natural salsa

-6 oz. broccoli 

-8 oz. red grapes

-6 oz. strawberries

-2g epa+dha

125 oz. water on the day