Fitness-3/12/10-clean pr, press, "The Great North"

Friday

I was pretty good and wrecked after Tuesday's first big effort back in the gym after my post-competition lay-off. So, I took Wednesday and Thursday off in order to rest up. I wanted to finish the week with some new 1-rep PR attempts in the olympic and power lifts before we start our next round of programming next week as we begin gearing up for regionals. So I went in this morning with plans to determine new 1-rep scores for the clean, front squat, press, snatch and deadlift. I started with the squat clean.

Clean
-1 x 225
-1 x 245
-1 x 260
-1 x 270
-1 x 275, failed

I was pretty happy with this effort. 270 was a pr by 25#. The attempt at 275 was close, but couldn't get out of the hole. I have a good enough pull to clean MUCH more than this but my front squat continues to be the limiting factor. It's improving steadily though and I'll look forward to retesting after a few more months of work.

After the clean, I planned to move to the front squat. I put 275 in the rack for my first attempt and ended up failing the rep. I'd done 275 fairly easily a couple weeks ago but my head wasn't in the game and it seemed I spent my energy on the clean. I decided to scrap the front squat and move to the press.

Press
-1 x 155
-1 x 170
-1 x 175, failed

My press is weaaaakkkkk. I think this was the same 1 rep I made last time I tested over 3 months ago. So, seemingly, it didn't improve at all. But, as evidenced by the front squat, I think I was zapped, probably mentally as much as anything else. Just couldn't get fired up. Feeling good, I'm sure I could get at least a 5-10# improvement. Still a long ways to go in the press but I already knew that.

After that, I decided my 1 rep day was done. My mind wasn't right and I didn't want to frustrate myself. I moved on to the "Great North," a wod from one of the sectional qualifiers.

4 rounds for time of:
-6 pullups, chest to bar
-6 ring dips
-500m row
-6 thrusters, 135#

time: 2 rounds in app 10 minutes

I went at this one un-timed and was just planning on pacing myself through. I know I still made it through the first round fairly quick, about 3 minutes. On the rower in round 2, I went tachycardic. Finished the row, laid down for a bit, finished the thrusters and decided to cut myself off. It's proving harder than I thought to get back in the gym and back to training with good intensity after the competition and the rest. My mind and body need a little more acclimatization. I plan to head into the gym tomorrow morning, after a good nights rest, and test my 1 rep snatch and deadlift. That's if I'm feeling good. And if I'm feeling really good, I'll make a purposeful go at my front squat and maybe even re-test my press. Stay tuned.

Recovered and Back in the Gym-3/9/10

Tuesday

Well, I'm back and I think I'm recovered. Sectionals was quite the experience. I started off the weekend pretty poorly placing low in the first two events. But I finished strong, finishing in the top 25 in events 3 and 4 and finishing workout 5 under the time-cap which was a good accomplishment for me considering it consisted of 20 muscle-ups. It was an amazing weekend and such a blessing to compete with so many amazing athletes and witness so many inspirational performances. The energy was great and the support from fellow competitors was unbelievable. It's pretty phenomenal to watch someone complete a workout only to have them turn around and cheer for you to better their performance. Quite the sport. Much like last year, the weekend renewed my motivation to keep on training. I didn't qualify but gave it my best and significantly improved my performance/fitness from the 2009 Regional Comp less than 1 year ago. Next up: The 2010 CrossFit Games Affiliate Competition! Our gym is putting together a coed team to compete and the middle of May marks the first qualification competition. The top 6 teams from our Northwest region will be invited to compete down in Aromas come July and we think, the way we're going, we've a strong chance to be one of those 6! We'll officially start our next round of training next week.

This week, I'm back in the gym after taking all of last week off. I did a light workout yesterday but today marked my first "intense" effort since the competition and it didn't disappoint. I started the session off with an impromptu clean and jerk wod in celebration of a teammates birthday. John turned 20 today and decided he wanted to do 20 body weight clean and jerks at for time. I couldn't let him go it alone and decided to join. But I used his body weight. If I'd used my own, I think I'd still be there.

20 clean and jerks, 175#

time=3:46

I didn't go for broke on this one. Took 'em one at a time and split jerked all of them. Finished feeling shaky but on my feet and with more in the tank. Wanted to save a little something for the wod to follow. One of these days I'll give Grace a go at 185. But think I'll wait a bit for that effort. 5 minutes later, went after the wod.

"Kettle Bell Hell" was the big effort on the docket today. It's a gnarly wod and is 10 rounds of the following performed AFAP:

-20 Russian kb swings (eye level), 24kg

-5 burpees

-20 Russian kb swings, 24kg

-5 TGU sit-ups each arm, 24kg

time=26:47

This was a pretty good effort. I never broke on any of the exercises. Took a few too many rest breaths between them but for the first day back and 400 kb swings, I'll take it.