Slept in a little bit and went to the 9am. I am still pretty sore, especially my calf muscles and my right knee. I was planning on scaling the WOD so I didn't do too much.
Here is the WOD:
"Breaking Ground" In celebration of construction beginning on the new facility.
For Time:
20 Pullups
30 BoxJumps
40 KB High Pulls
1000 m run
50 Jumping Slam Balls on the Sidewalk
1000 m run
40 KB High Pulls
30 Box Jumps
20 Pullups
Jerry recommended that I row instead of run and I am really glad I did. I substituted a 1200 m row and then headed outside for the slam balls. Also I used the 88lb Kettlebell. First time doing High Pulls that heavy.
The row was tough but the Box Jumps sucked! I knew they were going to hurt as soon as I jumped up there the first time and yelled "this Sucks!"
A great WOD, finished in a respectable 29:07.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Sunday October 12, 2008 - The Day After
I was having withdrawal of the Blue Room and had to go in. I know I am crazy but I was going to take it easy and was hoping that moving around a little bit would help me losen up a bit and feel better.
The first 30 minutes after a little warm up (a little pullup burpee ladder from 1-5)was skill work on our cleans, which I am glad I did not miss. Jerry broke it down into a few basic steps and exercises to work on these steps.
1) Wider Grip - sometimes I think I may have a narrow grip, which kind of prohibits or makes the rack delivery of opening my hands difficult.
2) Rack Delivery - Something I need to work on because of my flexibility in my wrists as well as finding that good rack position. My deltoids/shoulders tend to get in the way.
A- Frankenstein Squat - Stand upright with arms extended straight out like Frankenstein. Place the bar or PVC pipe in the Rack Position on top of your arms. Squat down and keep the bar in that rack position. This will get you used to keeping upright with a tight core as well as finding the right rack position.
B - Scarecrow - Simply start (while holding a bar or PVC) with arms bend at 90 degrees at the elbows so hands face the ground. This is the position where you need to get the bar or where the shrug will get the bar, some people say the bar is weightless here. The bar sits right below your chest. Quickly swing elbows under and open hands while keeping the bar close and ending in that rack position. The key is to keep the bar close so you don't end up reverse curling the bar up into the racked position.
C - Tall Muscle Clean - While standing straight with the bar or pvc pipe slowly complete the full motion without using your hips or legs. Focus on the violent shrug to start the motion but still go slow motion through the movement.
3) Get Under the Bar - Simple right?
A - Scarecrow Clean- from the scarecrow position dive under the bar or pull yourself under the bar. This pull is referred to as the third pull of the movement.
B- Tall Clean - Faster than the muscle clean but still not using the hips or legs, emphasizing the violent shrug to initiate the movement.
C- Hang Cleans - From a Hang position: knees slightly bent with bar right above knees. Basically where the bar would be if you had just deadlifted it from the ground in a full squat clean.
I really liked class and how this was broken down. I am planning on doing this sequence a little bit on my own to work on my squat cleans. Areas I know are my problem areas are: (1) Keeping the bar close - avoid reverse curling the bar (2) Shrugging the weight up and using my hips to create momentum (3) pulling myself under the bar.
I did not do the WOD which was 75 Hang Squat Clean Thrusters, I watched and coached others.
The first 30 minutes after a little warm up (a little pullup burpee ladder from 1-5)was skill work on our cleans, which I am glad I did not miss. Jerry broke it down into a few basic steps and exercises to work on these steps.
1) Wider Grip - sometimes I think I may have a narrow grip, which kind of prohibits or makes the rack delivery of opening my hands difficult.
2) Rack Delivery - Something I need to work on because of my flexibility in my wrists as well as finding that good rack position. My deltoids/shoulders tend to get in the way.
A- Frankenstein Squat - Stand upright with arms extended straight out like Frankenstein. Place the bar or PVC pipe in the Rack Position on top of your arms. Squat down and keep the bar in that rack position. This will get you used to keeping upright with a tight core as well as finding the right rack position.
B - Scarecrow - Simply start (while holding a bar or PVC) with arms bend at 90 degrees at the elbows so hands face the ground. This is the position where you need to get the bar or where the shrug will get the bar, some people say the bar is weightless here. The bar sits right below your chest. Quickly swing elbows under and open hands while keeping the bar close and ending in that rack position. The key is to keep the bar close so you don't end up reverse curling the bar up into the racked position.
C - Tall Muscle Clean - While standing straight with the bar or pvc pipe slowly complete the full motion without using your hips or legs. Focus on the violent shrug to start the motion but still go slow motion through the movement.
3) Get Under the Bar - Simple right?
A - Scarecrow Clean- from the scarecrow position dive under the bar or pull yourself under the bar. This pull is referred to as the third pull of the movement.
B- Tall Clean - Faster than the muscle clean but still not using the hips or legs, emphasizing the violent shrug to initiate the movement.
C- Hang Cleans - From a Hang position: knees slightly bent with bar right above knees. Basically where the bar would be if you had just deadlifted it from the ground in a full squat clean.
I really liked class and how this was broken down. I am planning on doing this sequence a little bit on my own to work on my squat cleans. Areas I know are my problem areas are: (1) Keeping the bar close - avoid reverse curling the bar (2) Shrugging the weight up and using my hips to create momentum (3) pulling myself under the bar.
I did not do the WOD which was 75 Hang Squat Clean Thrusters, I watched and coached others.
Baltimore Half Marathon Saturday October 11, 2008
I am not sure what was harder, taking two rest days (Thursday and Friday) or the Half Marathon on Saturday. Let me think about that......definitely the half.
I carbed up on Friday and got a good night sleep. It was great to eat carbs and use the race as an excuse (that trend continued throughout the weekend). Elise and I drove up and got there with plenty of prep time. I didn't really do any warm up running and barely even stretched. I was nervous and just wanted to get going.
I am usually one for details but I am not going to write every detail of the race because that would be as boring as running it. So I am going to do a lessons learned.
1) Run with someone next time. The ipod was going but I think the race would have been more enjoyable with someone to push me and for me to push too.
2) Strategize a race before running it. Whether it be talking to someone who has run that race or looking at the elevation chart or map. I never knew Baltimore had so many hills and I started out way to fast. I ended up running 4 miles in 31 minutes which may not have been the best idea. On top of that I never knew where the finish line was at and thought it was at Camden Yard with all the people to only find out it was about 500m on the other side.
3) Maybe run to train or prepare for a half marathon. I had never run over 7-8 miles before and sure enough my legs started bothering me around mile 8-9. The last time I ran was probably 4 weeks before the race. I have being doing Crossfit religiously and had no problem with my conditioning it was my legs that got tight, tired and heavy.
4) There is no "high" for finishing a race that long, there is only pain. If someone was to ask me if I would run another half or full marathon on Saturday I would have said HELL NO! Now after I have started my recovery I would be up for another race but will take these lessons to heart.
I set out with two goals 1) Not to stop running and 2) Run in 104 minutes or 1:44 minutes which is a 8 minute pace.
1) I did not stop running even to drink water and usually spilt more than I drank, which I think helped me not cramp up. That I am extremely proud of this considering I saw a lot of people walking the hills and stopping along the way.
2) I did not make my goal of 104 minutes but finished eight minutes behind that in 1:52.06 or at a 8:34 minute pace. I kept my splits and like I said before I started really well and maybe even too fast, I will leave that to inexperience and racing strategy. Needless to say I finished in under 2 hours which I am very happy with.
Not sure when the next race will be I am more focused on the short term of being able to walk right now.
I carbed up on Friday and got a good night sleep. It was great to eat carbs and use the race as an excuse (that trend continued throughout the weekend). Elise and I drove up and got there with plenty of prep time. I didn't really do any warm up running and barely even stretched. I was nervous and just wanted to get going.
I am usually one for details but I am not going to write every detail of the race because that would be as boring as running it. So I am going to do a lessons learned.
1) Run with someone next time. The ipod was going but I think the race would have been more enjoyable with someone to push me and for me to push too.
2) Strategize a race before running it. Whether it be talking to someone who has run that race or looking at the elevation chart or map. I never knew Baltimore had so many hills and I started out way to fast. I ended up running 4 miles in 31 minutes which may not have been the best idea. On top of that I never knew where the finish line was at and thought it was at Camden Yard with all the people to only find out it was about 500m on the other side.
3) Maybe run to train or prepare for a half marathon. I had never run over 7-8 miles before and sure enough my legs started bothering me around mile 8-9. The last time I ran was probably 4 weeks before the race. I have being doing Crossfit religiously and had no problem with my conditioning it was my legs that got tight, tired and heavy.
4) There is no "high" for finishing a race that long, there is only pain. If someone was to ask me if I would run another half or full marathon on Saturday I would have said HELL NO! Now after I have started my recovery I would be up for another race but will take these lessons to heart.
I set out with two goals 1) Not to stop running and 2) Run in 104 minutes or 1:44 minutes which is a 8 minute pace.
1) I did not stop running even to drink water and usually spilt more than I drank, which I think helped me not cramp up. That I am extremely proud of this considering I saw a lot of people walking the hills and stopping along the way.
2) I did not make my goal of 104 minutes but finished eight minutes behind that in 1:52.06 or at a 8:34 minute pace. I kept my splits and like I said before I started really well and maybe even too fast, I will leave that to inexperience and racing strategy. Needless to say I finished in under 2 hours which I am very happy with.
Not sure when the next race will be I am more focused on the short term of being able to walk right now.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Wednesday October 8, 2008
Today was a good WOD. Jerry designed it to be a intense interval, only one round. I walked in and saw it on the board and immediately thought of doing it twice with no rest. Jerry then challenged us to go as hard as possible for one round. Here is the WOD:
1,000 m run
40 AbMat Situps
30 Med Ball Squat Cleans
20 Pushups
10 Pullups
I really ran the 1,000m hard and led the 9:00am pack. The run felt really good, I felt I maintained a very hard running pace the entire time. The Med Ball Squat Cleans were tough even though it was only a 20# Dynamex Med Ball. I finished in a time of 8:07, at the time the best male score. Chriss later got a 7:41. I was spent but really wanted to see how I would peform a second time after a decent amount of rest. Would I be consistent and have enought recovery time or if I wasn't tired did I really push myself hard enough? I had a chance to time my run from the time I left the front door til I got back, 3:52 (approx a 6:12 pace!). The run did not feel as strong as the first time but I was pretty happy with my ability to maintain such a hard pace.
I am running the Baltimore Half Marathon on Saturday morning and was going to run today but feel that my 2-1,000 m runs were about all I should do. I was not going to do the Makimba WOD which is the WOD a man in Manassas VA is suing over. This is Makimba:
15-10-5
20# DB Thrusters
Air Squats
Burpees
Like I said I wasn't going to do it and then Iman challenged me. She had done it earlier in 2:59. As soon as I started to do those thrusters (I used a 25#) my legs felt it. Oh well, I started the WOD and had to keep pace with Iman. I got through the WOD in 3:06, about 10 seconds behind Iman. Maybe not the smartest idea because my legs were spent!
So taking a few days off from Crossfit to prepare myself for my race. It should be interesting since the extent of my running that last few weeks has been 800m & 1000m runs during Crossfit WODs. I would like to maintain a 8:30 pace, here goes!
1,000 m run
40 AbMat Situps
30 Med Ball Squat Cleans
20 Pushups
10 Pullups
I really ran the 1,000m hard and led the 9:00am pack. The run felt really good, I felt I maintained a very hard running pace the entire time. The Med Ball Squat Cleans were tough even though it was only a 20# Dynamex Med Ball. I finished in a time of 8:07, at the time the best male score. Chriss later got a 7:41. I was spent but really wanted to see how I would peform a second time after a decent amount of rest. Would I be consistent and have enought recovery time or if I wasn't tired did I really push myself hard enough? I had a chance to time my run from the time I left the front door til I got back, 3:52 (approx a 6:12 pace!). The run did not feel as strong as the first time but I was pretty happy with my ability to maintain such a hard pace.
I am running the Baltimore Half Marathon on Saturday morning and was going to run today but feel that my 2-1,000 m runs were about all I should do. I was not going to do the Makimba WOD which is the WOD a man in Manassas VA is suing over. This is Makimba:
15-10-5
20# DB Thrusters
Air Squats
Burpees
Like I said I wasn't going to do it and then Iman challenged me. She had done it earlier in 2:59. As soon as I started to do those thrusters (I used a 25#) my legs felt it. Oh well, I started the WOD and had to keep pace with Iman. I got through the WOD in 3:06, about 10 seconds behind Iman. Maybe not the smartest idea because my legs were spent!
So taking a few days off from Crossfit to prepare myself for my race. It should be interesting since the extent of my running that last few weeks has been 800m & 1000m runs during Crossfit WODs. I would like to maintain a 8:30 pace, here goes!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Tuesday October 7, 2008 - Max Day
Today was Max day on Strict Press and Deadlift. It reminded me of my powerlifting days because we only got 3 attempts. My deadlift is not ready for a max effort and I want to rest my legs for my race Saturday so I just did shoulder press.
I set my PR back on September 9, 2008 by pressing 175#. My goal today was 190#. I was working with Chriss and Harold and warmed up with five reps of 95# and 3-4 reps of 135#. I wasn't sure where to start my first attempt at so I talked with Jerry. Strategy is you want to go for a PR but you want to get a good attempt and usually you are not able to go down once you attempt a weight. Jerry didn't care but I did not want to drop weight anyway. I thought about doing 170 -180 and then 190 but Jerry said that was a big jump and you really only have one good rep. I decided to start with 170 and then go for 180 a new PR and then 185 if I got 180. I got 170 very smoothly. I put 180 on the bar and Jerry told us we could have our partners rack the weight up rather than cleaning it from the ground. I said sure why waste the effort and had Harold and Chriss rack it. I took the weight and could not get it past that point where I could use the momentum to lock it out. I thought maybe it was because I didn't clean it from the ground and the confidence I have from cleaning that weight. So for my third and final attempt stuck with 180 and attempted it from the ground. I sort of struggled for a second on the clean and caught it and then regained my focus and went for the final attempt. I failed. Chriss said I was so close. I was happy that I did not compromise my form and kept my feet anchored and my core tight. I am a little bit bummed but know I can get it next time. Just one of those days.
I set my PR back on September 9, 2008 by pressing 175#. My goal today was 190#. I was working with Chriss and Harold and warmed up with five reps of 95# and 3-4 reps of 135#. I wasn't sure where to start my first attempt at so I talked with Jerry. Strategy is you want to go for a PR but you want to get a good attempt and usually you are not able to go down once you attempt a weight. Jerry didn't care but I did not want to drop weight anyway. I thought about doing 170 -180 and then 190 but Jerry said that was a big jump and you really only have one good rep. I decided to start with 170 and then go for 180 a new PR and then 185 if I got 180. I got 170 very smoothly. I put 180 on the bar and Jerry told us we could have our partners rack the weight up rather than cleaning it from the ground. I said sure why waste the effort and had Harold and Chriss rack it. I took the weight and could not get it past that point where I could use the momentum to lock it out. I thought maybe it was because I didn't clean it from the ground and the confidence I have from cleaning that weight. So for my third and final attempt stuck with 180 and attempted it from the ground. I sort of struggled for a second on the clean and caught it and then regained my focus and went for the final attempt. I failed. Chriss said I was so close. I was happy that I did not compromise my form and kept my feet anchored and my core tight. I am a little bit bummed but know I can get it next time. Just one of those days.
Monday October 6, 2008 - A Little Blood on the Bar
Ladder workouts:
With a continuously running clock, do 1 XXX the first minute, two the next until you can no longer keep up with the clock.
We did (1) Pullups then (2) Jumping Squats** with 35# Dumbbell and finally I chose to do (3) a Burpee ladder.
**Started with 5 the first minute and progressed from there for the sake of time**
Pullups seemed really tough today. The rule is you have a minute to get your reps and can get off the bar if needed as long as you get the reps in the minute you are still in. I remembered this from last time and used it to my advantage and tried not to do all of them consecutively when I got up to 10 and higher. I finished 13 in a minute and just fell short by one pullup in the round of 14. I tore my hand during the round of 14 really bad. There was a lot of blood. It frustrated me because I have not torn in awhile and I knew I could have at least gotten through the round had I not torn. I went to the rest room and rinsed off and came back and cleaned up the bar. I was really frustrated and had a lot of negative energy built up for some reason. Everyone had started the jumping squats while I was cleaning the bar.
I remembered this Ladder WOD, we did back on July 7 and I remember because I tore my hand up pretty good and could barely walk after doing the jumping squats. Jerry said anyone that did Elizabeth Sunday did not have to do the jumping squats but I was in one of those moods. I picked up the dumbbell put it on my chest and started. I got through 18 rounds just in time and fell to the ground in the defeat then realized I was not going to stop until that next minute expired. I got back up and ended up getting 14 of 19 jumping squats. I felt like I was barely getting up but Jerry said I definitly was getting some good ups.
I was still a little frustrated and took it upon myself to do the burpee ladder. I really wanted to beat myself up for some reason not really sure but just did. Only a few people did all 3 ladders, none had done Elizabeth the day before. I ended up getting 13 minutes completed and got 12/14 in my last minute.
I was talking with Jack and Joel afterwards about my half marathon coming up on Saturday and they both told me that I probably should not have done jumping squats and burpees and definitely stay away from doing any leg work the remainder of the week. I think I am going to take Thursday and Friday off to rest up.
With a continuously running clock, do 1 XXX the first minute, two the next until you can no longer keep up with the clock.
We did (1) Pullups then (2) Jumping Squats** with 35# Dumbbell and finally I chose to do (3) a Burpee ladder.
**Started with 5 the first minute and progressed from there for the sake of time**
Pullups seemed really tough today. The rule is you have a minute to get your reps and can get off the bar if needed as long as you get the reps in the minute you are still in. I remembered this from last time and used it to my advantage and tried not to do all of them consecutively when I got up to 10 and higher. I finished 13 in a minute and just fell short by one pullup in the round of 14. I tore my hand during the round of 14 really bad. There was a lot of blood. It frustrated me because I have not torn in awhile and I knew I could have at least gotten through the round had I not torn. I went to the rest room and rinsed off and came back and cleaned up the bar. I was really frustrated and had a lot of negative energy built up for some reason. Everyone had started the jumping squats while I was cleaning the bar.
I remembered this Ladder WOD, we did back on July 7 and I remember because I tore my hand up pretty good and could barely walk after doing the jumping squats. Jerry said anyone that did Elizabeth Sunday did not have to do the jumping squats but I was in one of those moods. I picked up the dumbbell put it on my chest and started. I got through 18 rounds just in time and fell to the ground in the defeat then realized I was not going to stop until that next minute expired. I got back up and ended up getting 14 of 19 jumping squats. I felt like I was barely getting up but Jerry said I definitly was getting some good ups.
I was still a little frustrated and took it upon myself to do the burpee ladder. I really wanted to beat myself up for some reason not really sure but just did. Only a few people did all 3 ladders, none had done Elizabeth the day before. I ended up getting 13 minutes completed and got 12/14 in my last minute.
I was talking with Jack and Joel afterwards about my half marathon coming up on Saturday and they both told me that I probably should not have done jumping squats and burpees and definitely stay away from doing any leg work the remainder of the week. I think I am going to take Thursday and Friday off to rest up.
Sunday - October 5, 2008 - ELIZABETH
After Barbara kicked my ass yesterday I woke up to Elizabeth!
Here it the WOD:
21-15-9
Squat Clean - Rx'd 135#
Ring Dips
I have never done Elizabeth before and Jerry wanted us to do Squat Cleans from the floor. I guess they had done Power Cleans or Hang Squat Cleans and previous times. Full squat cleans from the ground are definitely the hardest. I remembered watching Jason Khalipa do the 30 - Squat Clean & Jerk 155# at the Games and he dropped the weight after every rep after locking out. I thought with 135# Squat Cleans I may want to do the same because the energy to lower the bar may be too much, plus may be rough on my body.
We did a quick Med Ball progression to warmup:
Deadlift 10
Deadlift Shrug 10
Front Squat 10
Squat Clean 10
Two Rounds
I was reverse curling the Med Ball on the Squat Cleans and Elise was nice enought to let me know of my poor form. I tried to correct it but was just wanted to start the WOD. So I had my strategy about dropping the weight each time and I was not really worried about the ring dips (almost like active rest for me).
I felt good doing the squat cleans and knew when I had a good rep and knew when I had a bad rep. Only once did I not count a rep because I didn't think I went low enough. I must say I got the bar to move a bit with my Deadlift shrug and on my best rep almost knocked myself out as the bar flew up and got in me in the chin. Jerry gave me some great coaching points:
(1) Keep the bar close and ride it up your shins
(2) Explode your hips and shrug the weight once the bar is above your knees
(3) Once Bar is at your nipples then drop and swing the elbows under the bar
He also told me I round-out on every rep but I do everytime. Still working on that.
I was the first to finish in the 8:30 class and got a 11:04. I was pumped! Only Chriss and Mike M had better times on the Record Board. Jerry actually wiped the board clean and put me on top since they never went from the floor last time and this is the new standard. My stay at the top was very short lived. Chriss came in at 9:30 and blew me away by getting a 8:23. Two and a half minutes faster than me! I and I thought I was flying. Chriss did not drop the weight and actually went touch and go on the floor which was a lot faster. Stacey also did this and I think she got her first 21 reps in 1:46 versus I think I got mine done in 4 minutes. I am curious to see how much quicker I could go if I did touch and go. This is going to bug me and I may do Elizabeth sometime soon just to see what I can do if I touch and go.
Here it the WOD:
21-15-9
Squat Clean - Rx'd 135#
Ring Dips
I have never done Elizabeth before and Jerry wanted us to do Squat Cleans from the floor. I guess they had done Power Cleans or Hang Squat Cleans and previous times. Full squat cleans from the ground are definitely the hardest. I remembered watching Jason Khalipa do the 30 - Squat Clean & Jerk 155# at the Games and he dropped the weight after every rep after locking out. I thought with 135# Squat Cleans I may want to do the same because the energy to lower the bar may be too much, plus may be rough on my body.
We did a quick Med Ball progression to warmup:
Deadlift 10
Deadlift Shrug 10
Front Squat 10
Squat Clean 10
Two Rounds
I was reverse curling the Med Ball on the Squat Cleans and Elise was nice enought to let me know of my poor form. I tried to correct it but was just wanted to start the WOD. So I had my strategy about dropping the weight each time and I was not really worried about the ring dips (almost like active rest for me).
I felt good doing the squat cleans and knew when I had a good rep and knew when I had a bad rep. Only once did I not count a rep because I didn't think I went low enough. I must say I got the bar to move a bit with my Deadlift shrug and on my best rep almost knocked myself out as the bar flew up and got in me in the chin. Jerry gave me some great coaching points:
(1) Keep the bar close and ride it up your shins
(2) Explode your hips and shrug the weight once the bar is above your knees
(3) Once Bar is at your nipples then drop and swing the elbows under the bar
He also told me I round-out on every rep but I do everytime. Still working on that.
I was the first to finish in the 8:30 class and got a 11:04. I was pumped! Only Chriss and Mike M had better times on the Record Board. Jerry actually wiped the board clean and put me on top since they never went from the floor last time and this is the new standard. My stay at the top was very short lived. Chriss came in at 9:30 and blew me away by getting a 8:23. Two and a half minutes faster than me! I and I thought I was flying. Chriss did not drop the weight and actually went touch and go on the floor which was a lot faster. Stacey also did this and I think she got her first 21 reps in 1:46 versus I think I got mine done in 4 minutes. I am curious to see how much quicker I could go if I did touch and go. This is going to bug me and I may do Elizabeth sometime soon just to see what I can do if I touch and go.
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