Today's Horse Race

Today was the first training day with a partner, and it turned into quite the horse race.

Today's WOD:
Row 1150m
95 situps
75 squat
55 pushups
35 pullups
15 burpees
13:19

At 7am this morning Russ and I strapped in to the rowers, got the 3...2..1..GO and off we went. I held a steady pace of 2:03-2:05 for the first 800m and picked it up to 1:58 for the last 350m. As I was closing in on 1050 Russ unstraped and was on to situps. I finish my last 100m and quickly head into the situps. I slam through 95 situps straight making up time, and heading into the squats second ahead of Russ.

We're neck and neck like mad squating fools, but being 5'3" I have a clear advantage over his 6'+ frame. I head into pushups knowing they're my goat. I break them into 10s and do my best to maintain my pace. Russ heads into pushups like speedy gonzalez and finishes while I'm completing my last 10. I start into pullups a good 10 seconds behind, but pullups are a strong suite for me. I quickly get through my pullups and head into burpees seconds ahead of Russ. I knew I had it at this point. I love burpees and again...I'm 5'3". I yell time finishing with a 13:19 with Russ right on my heals at 13:21

There's something about going head to head that makes you push that much harder than a group wod. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Everyone's got a goat

My goat...pushups. Over the last year I have worked on pushups, and while they still remain my 'goat' I have improved GREATLY! When I started crossfit almost 3 years ago now a pushup was out of the question, pretty much laughable. Over the years I have gone through the scaled versions to reach my ability to tackle high volumes of pushups with proper form. In fact, I do a mimimum of 30 reps a day in the cf warmup.

The key to a pushup is proper form. It's not the sagging center that you see high school football players, or the mt. peak you see so often. It's a hollow plank, leading to chest to the deck and full extension at the top.

I do what is known as 'thumping' at our box. I want there to be no mistake that I'm using proper pushup form, so when I reach the bottom you can literally hear my chest hit the deck. There's nothing worse in a competition than hearing 'no' from your judge. My goal in competition is to have perfect reps. It may take a few more seconds, but not nearly as many as you'll lose both physically and mentally from missed reps that you have to redo.

Yesturday's WOD #1: Chris's 29th BDay WOD
Row 29 calories
then....
29 Pushups (CTD)
29 DB Squat Cleans (25lbs)
29 Calories on the Row
3 rounds
19:11

Yesturday's WOD #2:
50m walking lunges
100m broad jump
200m sprint
3 rounds
10:19

Filthy Fifty.....ish....

So today I did the make up for missing the Filthy Fifty being that if fell on a rest day for me. I quickly wrote the list on the white board, gathered equipment and dove into the WOD. My goal, sub 25. Well I hit that and then some...Finished in 17:28. I was stoked! I barely took any breaks, and never did less than 25 of any exercise before taking a rest, except for wallballs, because they SUCK!!!

As I sat down to write today's entry I realized I missed the KTE's OPPS! So I guess I really did a filthy fifty..ish today. I would hope that I'd still be able to hit that sub 20 mark with the 50 KTE's, but I guess we wont know until I do it again....CORRECTLY.

The funny part....I thought about NEVER letting anyone know, but then I got a feeling in the pit of my stomach that said to me "how can you feel stoked about a wod that you didn't even do right?" So I decided against keeping my mistake in the closet.

Today's WOD: Filthy Fifty..ish
50 box jumps 20"
50 jumping pullups
50 KB Swings (36lb)
50 walking lunges
(missed 50 KTE's)
50 push press (45lb)
50 back extension (ghd)
50 wallball (14lb to a 8' target)
50 burpees
50 double unders
17:28

Sometimes even coffee can't fix it...

Today is my first day of post school no sleepingness. Getting out of class at 10:10 I hit my bed about 10:45pm, and that alarm still went off at 4am. I knew I might drag today, and boy was I right. I'm functioning just fine as long as I keep moving, but I'll tell you, when I stop tonight I will be out for the count.

I think there's a part of 'constantly varied functional movements' that is missed. It's more than changing the wod everyday. Have you ever worked out on 5 hours of sleep, like I did today, or no sleep. Worked out on an empty stomach? Worked out in the morning instead of night? Play around with it and see what happens. You'll never know what really works for you if you don't experiment. What's the worst that happens, you try something and fail miserably? You'll learn more from failing then you ever will succeeding.

Today's WOD:
15 deadlifts 1x body weight (135lb)
15 toes to bar
AMRP in 20min
8rounds +15 deadlifts

Next Rest Area 00 Miles

I do a little happy dance inside, and sometimes out, when a rest day comes around. But I try not to completely abuse them. I am on a 3-on-1 off schedule, and have been for sometime, so my body is used to pushing hard. I don't want to lose that momentum or lose my focus, so I do something, anything on my off day so that I keep my body and mind focused on the prize.

Things I've done on a 'rest day'
CrossFit Warm up x3
Run a mile or two
Row 1000-2000meters at a moderate pace
Skill work (muscleup/handstand pu/double unders)
Play soccer of volleyball

Today's WOD:
REST DAY
so I rowed 1000m at a 2:15 pace and stretched out

What do you find at the end of a 'rainbow'....

Today's leson: What do you find at the end of a 'rainbow'? An ugly and sometimes painful Clean & Jerk.

Today's WOD:
3 Clean and Jerks (105lb) on the minute for 15 minutes

I did this last week at 95lbs and found it quite simple, not so much with 105lbs. I'm amazed how quickly adding 10lbs pulled out my form breakdown. The breakdown, what I like to call "The rainbow" When your pull leaves your body making a nice little arch forcing a nice little hop forward like a "bunny hop"

Not only did my form seem to breakdown, so did my mental state. All I could think about was form....form....form....and how badly I was f*cking it up! At round 7 I wanted to throw in the towel and walk away. By round 8 I wanted to cry, and by round 11 I was determined to finish.

Coach Russell was able to capture a few of the rounds on video that I reviewed afterwards, and realized how prevalent the rainbow into the bunny hop was. It doesn't feel that dramatic when you're in the heat of the moment, but boy was it noticeable on the video. Unfortunately video doesn't lie.

I try to tell all our newbies....you'll NEVER master it all. Today's wod is the perfect example. Even after 3 years of crossfitting, I'm still perfecting and learning everyday. It's the sticking with it for 3 years that can make it seem sometimes effortless.

My new favorite quote: "Don't wish it was easier, wish you were better" -Jim Rohn

Perparation is key to success

There are 1000 reasons why you can't eat healthy, and in my opinion non of them are valid. I open the gym at 5am, head to work at 8-5, and then go to school til 10pm, and yet I still eat a perfect paleo zone amongst the chaos. How? Preparation!

Every Sunday I schedule 2 hours to cook and pack all my meals and snacks for the week. This removes any excuse you have about not having time during the week.

This weeks menu:
Salmon lunches: 4.5 oz salmon, 2 cups peppers, 3tbsp avocado
Chicken lunches: 3 oz chicken, 2 cups peppers, 12 almonds
Salmon dinners: 6 oz salmon, 2 cups broccoli, 18 almonds
Chicken dinners: 4 oz chicken, 2 cups broccoli, 18 almonds
Snacks: 5 slices dried apple, 9 almonds, 1 pepperoni stick or 5 dried apricots, 9almonds, 1 oz beef jerky,

Today's Wod:
Dirty Dozen- Partner wod
12 pushups
12 squats
12 pulls on the rower
12 rounds
(1 person works at a time, each partner completes 12 rounds)
16:27 with Coach Russell