Warning - Lame excuses follow

Work sucks.

My kids are driving me crazy.

Second job is cutting into my sleep.

My mother-in-law is coming to stay for a month.

Army wants me to come back to AD.

Waaaahhhh....

I need to get back to the gym.

That is all.

No cure yet

I'm back on virus patrol at work. Five and a half hours at one of my middle schools yesterday, re-imaging 60+ infested PCs. Finish up at 7 PM, only to be notified that it had cropped up in the elementary school across the street. So I shut down the elementary school's WAN link and went home. I'll deal with that one on Monday. Scary thing is, this virus popped up in our school system only 8 hours after Trend Micro had published it as a threat in the wild, so they had no definitions for it yet. Hopefully by Monday...

Needless to say, between contamination containment duty, Son's soccer and KAD's sleepover tonight, there has been no working out to speak of. Perhaps tomorrow.

A raging case of the Hungries

Oh, but folks lately I have been spotted
With a Big Mac on my breath
Stumbling into a Colonel Sanders
With a face as white as death
I'm afraid someday they'll find me
Just stretched out on my bed
With a handful of Pringles Potato Chips
And a Ding Dong by my head

--Larry Groce, Ballad of a Junk Food Junkie

I have no idea why, but lately I've felt like I just could not get enough to eat. My munchies have been so bad you'd think I was a pothead. Even my husband commented on it. I don't normally keep a food log, but here is a partial listing of my intake for the last couple of days:

Wednesday:
2 eggs, cereal, milk, coffee
Yogurt w/blueberries, coffee, water
Big bowl of Indian stew over brown rice (at least 2 cups, maybe more), spinach salad, apple, Propel
2 granola bars, water
4 slices of pizza, 10 hot wings, water
3 big scoops of ice cream

Thursday
2 eggs, cereal, milk, toast, coffee
Bagel w/cream cheese, coffee, water
Pork chop (4 oz or so), salad, water, cheese and triscuits, yogurt, milk
2 big handfuls of nuts, apple, water
Leftover Indian stew, peanut butter sandwich, ice cream, milk

I probably ate more than that, but that's what I can remember right now. The fact that my stomach was growling at 3AM makes me think that I may be just as hungry today.

Yesterday's workout:

Buy-in: 2 rounds
15 air squats
15 situps
20 walking lunges
10 pushups (only 1 round of these)
10 stair hops

WOD: 3 rounds for time
1/4 mile run (2:02/2:10/2:12)
25 KB swings (25#)
25 situps

Time - 11:58 (3:43/4:06/4:07)

When I measured my run (a loop around the parking lot at Wesleyan Academy), it turned out to be .26mi. So I'm pretty pleased with my run splits - kept them all under a 9:00/mile pace. All the situps were unbroken. The first set of KB swings was unbroken, then they were 20/5 and 15/10.

Cash out: goblet squats 2 x 10 @ 25#
15 minutes Coerver soccer drills and shooting

Dress for the weather, dummy

Another KAD soccer practice, another run in the beautiful BB&T Soccer Park



Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly this nice out. It was sunny when I started, but the temperature dropped 15 degrees between the time I started my run and the time I finished it. A sweatshirt and shorts with no hat and no gloves = poor preparation. The wind whistling past my iPod earbuds and drowning out my music did not do much for my mood. On the other hand, at least I was warm from my run and not shivering like the poor souls who just stand around to watch the kids practice.

Buy-in: 2 rounds
10 air squats
10 crunches (still have some mild DOMS from floor wipers)
10 pushups
5 box jumps
800m jog

WOD: CFE Running
5:00 on/5:00 off
4:00 on/4:00 off
3:00 on/3:00 off
2:00 on/2:00 off
1:00 on/1:00 off
(walked during RIs)

Total distance ~2.75 mi

Not bad, especially given the temperature and the 1/2 mile stretch where I was running into the wind. I'd like to be able to get the distance on the WOD up to three miles total.

Cash out: Stadium stair sprints
3 sets of 3 repeats max effort w/1:00 RI

My daughter kicks serious a$$

I took a rest day yesterday for two reasons. First, as I thought I would, I had a raging case of DOMS in my abs from all the flippin' floor wipers. Heck, I still have DOMS - I could hardly sit up in bed this morning.

Mainly though, I took a rest day so I could go to the Swim-a-Thon with KAD and count her laps for her. The Swim-a-Thon is sanctioned by USA Swimming as a fundraiser for local swimming clubs and as a way to build awareness of youth swimming programs. Some good positive awareness, especially following Michael Phelps' most recent escapade. Each swimmer gathers pledges from family, friends and neighbors to sponsor them for a certain amount per length swum. The swimmers have two hours to complete up to 200 lengths. KAD's goal was to swim 100 lengths in two hours.

She ended up swimming 200 lengths. That's 5000 meters. 5K. 3.1 miles. No matter how you measure it, that's pretty freakin' awesome. I'm so proud of her.

Buy-in: 2 rounds
10 air squats
10 goblet squats (20#)
10 DB deadlifts (20#)

WOD: Deadlift 3 x 5

• Warmup sets @ 95#, 100#, 115#
• 3 x 5 @ 135#

Deadlifts continue to be fine as long as I keep my right hand in the supinated position. This was the first time I have successfully used the hook grip with a weight heavier than 115#, so maybe my grip is getting better. I sat in the rack and read the deadlift section of Starting Strength before getting started, then approached the bar very deliberately. Set my feet under the bar, bend my knees until my shins to touch the bar, set my grip, drop my hips and flatten my back. Squeeze the weight up. Felt pretty strong - if it weren't for the damn elbow, I'd be ready to go up in weight.

Cash out: Stationary bike - 3 x .5 miles @ 1:30 RI
Times - 1:37/1:47/2:05

Dave, I love you but I hate you

I was in a metcon-type mood today. Not a short heavy metcon mood, but pining for the longer "this is really gonna suck" kind of metcon mood. So I went scrounging around some of my friends' logs on the CF boards and found this one posted by Dave Coughlin.

Buy-in: 3 rounds
10 air squats
10 situps
10 supermans
10 MB presses (12#)

Pistols - 2 x 5 each leg
Right leg is much stronger on these than my left leg.

WOD: 3 round for time
25 box jumps (18")
25 wallballs (20#) - did thrusters with the ball instead of throwing it
25 DB swings (25#)
25 floor wipers (20# MB)

Time - 24:37 (7:07/8:32/8:58)

I'm not sure there's an official name for this suckfest, but when I finished, I just lay the fuck down right where I was (right by the doorway to the spin class) and made people step over me. Man, it seems like I have lost a ton of endurance. Either that, or this particular combination of exercises just killed me. The floor wipers really took a lot out of me - I suspect it took me 10 - 12 minutes just to do those. BTW, DB swings =! KB swings. For whatever reason, DB swings seem harder - maybe it's just the way I grip the DB. I feel a major case of DOMS coming on....

Cash out: None. Too busy breathing.

I don't how the hell Dave did 5 rounds of this, but my hat's off to him.

Back squats and video...again

I wonder if I'm starting to get repetitive with this. At least this time I took my regular camera to the Y with me, and was actually able to get a pretty decent quality video. I can't speak to the quality of the squats, but the video looks good. :p

Buy-in: 2 rounds
5 dislocates
15 air squats
15 incline situps
15 back extensions
10 OHS w/dowel

Tried to pay particular attention to knee position and hip drive on the air squats, hoping to establish some good muscle memory for the movements.

WOD: Back squats 5 x 5

• Warmup sets @ 45#, 65#, 85#
• 5 @ 105#
• 4 x 5 @ 95#

Backed off the weight because I didn't feel like my form was good at 105#. When I look at the video, it looks like my back is rounded, although my loose t-shirt makes it hard to tell. The sets at 95# look better to me, but my confidence in judging my own form is not that great.

This is my last set of 5 @ 95#:



Presses (light weight, re-habby type) 3 x 5

• 2 x 5 @ 45#
• 5 @ 50#

These felt pretty good; no elbow twinges at all. I know I'm still capable of moving more weight than this, but I'm being good and not pushing it right now.

Cash out: Light stretching

I ran into my mom at the Y and talked instead of cashing out. I'm always happy to see her there and being active. She has some problems with arthritis in her knees, and she has a routine she does on the machines and cardio equipment. I'd love to introduce her to some free weights, but would be very nervous about her doing them without supervision.

Catching up and getting back to some basics

This is the first chance I've really gotten to compose a post in the last few days. One of our schools got hit with some nasty malware that infected their server, and subsequently spread to dozens of other schools as well as the central office. So we've been in decontamination mode for the last couple of days.

After reading Melissa's Wheel of Fitness post on Monday, I started thinking more about the CrossFit basics - variety, functional movements and intensity.

I don't generally have a lot of trouble with variety, other than the current limitations caused by my elbow injury. My schedule keeps me from settling into a comfortable routine, which is both a blessing and a curse. I may work out at 6AM at the pool, lunchtime at the Y or 8PM at the soccer park - it just depends on the day. I may have a couple of hours to do a really thorough WOD with buy-ins and cashouts, or I may be eking out 20 minutes for a quick heavy metcon while cooking dinner. Great for variety, but hell on structure.

Like Melissa, I have times when I lack intensity in my workouts. That doesn't happen very often, especially when pressed to get a WOD done in a tight time window. I think, though, that intensity is linked directly to the kind of movements you're doing in any given WOD. For example, I can't imagine thrusters or KB swings or burpees NOT being intense, as long as you're doing them correctly with the appropriate amount of weight.

No, where I'm falling short is on foundational movements. Air squat, front squat, OHS, press, push press, push jerk, DL, SDLHP and medicine ball cleans. Not that I don't do these movements (well, upper-body movements are limited right now) - on the contrary, there are a couple that I do almost every day. But I don't always do them right; that is, with attention to the proper form.

Take air squats, for example. I do these every time I work out, usually as part of my warmup. But I've been putting very little thought into my air squats - they were just something I used to get my muscles warm and ready to do something else. But after taking video of my back squats, I realized that I had issues with my form that could be traced directly back to the sloppy air squats that I do on an almost-daily basis. Stance, moving knees, no hip drive, etc.

So I've gone back to the videos on the main site to try and fix a problem of my own making. I now take time with my warmup movements to make sure that I'm doing them correctly and try to commit those corrections to muscle memory. I'm backing down on the weight and trying to get video each time (although my phone camera really sucks) so I can see where I need to improve.

Monday 9 February 09:

Buy-in: 2 rounds
5 dislocates
10 presses w/dowel
10 OHS w/dowel
10 lunges
10 goblet squats (20#)
10 hip/back extensions

WOD: Back squats 5x5

• Warmup sets @ 45#, 65#, 85#
• Work sets - 5 x 5 @ 95#

Obviously, I've dropped the weight back substantially from the last time I did this. Concentrated on hip drive using the "chain" visualization from SS. Also tried to "sit back" into the squat rather than just bending my knees. I only got one chance to shoot video because of the other folks working out, and it's crappy. But I can see from it that I need to get my chest up. I think my hip drive is better, but it's hard to tell from this because the bottom part of the vid got cut off by the bench I had the camera set up on. Oh, and it's sideways. :p



Cash out: Little bit of stretching, then had to leave to get back to work.


Tuesday 10 February 09:

Buy-in: 3 rounds
15 air squats
15 situps
15 supermans

800 m jog

WOD: 30:00 easy running with my friend Margaret

Okay, I went to the soccer park with the intent of doing a metcon involving 400m sprints and box jumps. But during my warmup jog, I ran into my friend Margaret, whom I had not seen in several months. So instead of doing my WOD, I ended up running around the complex with her for about 30 minutes while we caught up with each other. I have no idea of the distance, but we had fun. Call it active rest. :D

Cash out: stretching, juggling and passing with KAD.

I just had to run today

KAD had a soccer training session this morning at Tanglewood Park. I had intended to drop her off and go to the Y for a WOD, but it was 60 degrees and sunny and I just couldn't resist a run through the woods on the park trails.

Buy-in: 3 rounds
15 squats
20 situps
20 walking lunges

5 minutes easy jogging

WOD: Running - 6 rounds 2:00 on/1:00 off
Distance: ~2 miles

Boy, I can tell that I've lost some running endurance since I started doing more strength. Still, this wasn't bad. I tried to concentrate on keeping a fast foot pace, and I walked during the 1:00 off. Two miles is an approximation, but probably falls on the high side. Maybe more like 1.9 miles.

Cash out: 3 rounds
15 situps
15 supermans

Spent all afternoon yesterday and today at KAD's swim meet in Greensboro. I saw a 12 year old girl swim the 50 freestyle in 25.79 and the 100 freestyle in 56+. Man, I didn't swim that fast until I was in college.

FAIL

At restraint and common sense, that is. Right after Jay warned me about that, too.

The doc told me on Wednesday to lay off the arm for a while. I told him I would and I intended to, I really did. I even psyched myself up to run at Son's soccer practice last night (epic fail on that as well, but that's another story).

So what did I do today? Saw a WOD on the main site archive that I just had to try. "Just a little deadlifting" I told myself. "I'm not going to be lifting that heavy. It will be fine." And miracles of miracles, the fitness room at the Y was not crowded at all (maybe the NYR noobs are giving up earlier this year). The planets were aligned for me.

Buy-in: 3 rounds
10 lunges
15 situps
10 supermans
10 goblet squats (12# DB)

WOD: Deadlifts and Box jumps

21 - 15 - 9
Box jumps, 18"
Deadlifts, 115#

Time: 8:59

Despite the fact that I utterly blew off my doctor, this turned out all right. It was a gasser, though - I didn't even get through the first round on DLs without a break. I kept my right hand in a supinated grip, and the only elbow pain I had came from trying to load and unload the plates from the bar. Five hours later and the elbow doesn't hurt any more than it did at work today. However, I'm not sure I can keep doing this, so I have to discipline myself a little better.

Cash out: Stretching. KAD came in from swim practice and was ready to go home because she was "STARVING!!!"

Couple other notes:
It looks like the Y is starting to embrace CrossFit to some degree. I saw one of the trainers putting a woman through Fight Gone Bad, and things like boxes, rings and KBs have started showing up in the equipment room. Now if they could just get a real pullup bar...

I got a few looks at my squat video on th CF boards. Seems I'm lacking some hip drive. Gonna have to concentrate on pushing my butt up.

I don't even play that sport...

Lateral epicondylitis, AKA tennis elbow.

"Tennis elbow is caused by either abrupt or subtle injury of the muscle and tendon area around the outside of the elbow. Tennis elbow specifically involves the area where the muscles and tendons of the forearm attach to the outside bony area (called the epicondyle) of the elbow. Your doctor may call this condition lateral epicondylitis."




Fuck.

Well, I know what caused it - poor form on this WOD back in January. I remember sitting on the floor afterwards and being unable to hold my water bottle because my grip was so fried.

I declined the offer a cortisone shot in favor of the rest, ice and NSAID treatment. I get re-evaluated in 6 weeks and if it's still painful, I may take him up on the offer at that time.

The hardest part comes next - resting it long enough to let it heal. The doctor said I can continue to do the exercises that don't cause pain, but anything that requires me to hold my wrist in resisted extension is painful. This includes innocuous things such as extending my arm to put on a heavy coat. My job also requires a good bit of lifting and a lot of use of tools, so that's going to be interesting. I may come out of rehab as a lefty.

On the upside, he said I could resume deadlifting after about a week, as long as I use an alternating grip with my right hand in the supinated position. But not too heavy on the DLs (ie, no attempts at 1RM for a while). So I will experiment and see which movements I can do. I already know that cleans, snatches and high pulls are out of the question. Pullups, dips and pushups have also been problematic. Thrusters, presses and wallballs may be okay; I will have to try those out.

So in the wake of that news, I went to the Y to do some squatting.

Buy-in: 3 rounds
10 OHS w/dowel
10 lunges
10 back extensions
10 goblet squats

WOD: Back squat 5x5

• Warmup sets @ 45#, 65#, 85#; 100# x 3
• Work sets @ 115# x 5

Thoughts: I managed to video my first, third and fifth sets. Each video was taken at a different angle, some more useful than others. I thought my depth looked iffy in the first set. The video angle isn't that good in the third set. The fifth set looked best to me, but I'm sure there's things I can correct. I'm wondering if my stance is too wide.

Warmup set @ 100#:



First set @ 115#:



Third set @ 115#:



Fifth set @ 115#:



I apologize for the pixelated quality of the video - my cell phone's camera leaves something to be desired.

More Homemade Stuff

Starting to feel some frustration. Because of the @*&#)$ elbow, I am reduced to just one basic lift right now - the squat. And even that may need to change from low bar to high bar I'm not sure I can bend my fucking arm enough to get in proper low bar position. We'll see when I go to the gym tomorrow.

I guess the good news is that the frustration has overcome my dislike of doctor visits. (note - I'm not afraid of the doctor, just his bills) Once I realized I couldn't deadlift any more, I called the doc. I have an appointment with a sports medicine guy tomorrow afternoon and hopefully he can tell why I can't even open the damn door with my right hand. And then hopefully I can stop subjecting y'all to my constant bitching about it.

So I'm still doing my homemade WODs. I try to include KB swings in just about all of them, since that seems to be the only upper body movement I can do without pain.

Buy-in: 3 rounds of
15 air squats to box
10 GHD situps
10 back extensions
10 lunges

WOD: "Dirty 30 Modified"

30 box jumps (18")
30 KB swings (25#)
30 walking lunges
30 GHD situps
30 back extensions
30 front squats w/25# KB
30 wimpy burpees (no pushup)
30 tuck jumps

Time: 12:22

Obviously, this was heavily modified - no pullups, no push presses, front squats instead of thrusters, etc. With all the leg work, I may be jumping like LeBron before too long.

Cash out: 10 crunches, 20 four-count flutter kicks, 20 four-count Hello Dollys, 1:00 plank hold.

Kettlebell Kickers

I honestly don't know what I'd do if I didn't have the kettlebell that my sister-in-law gave me for Christmas. When I have time for a workout, but not enough time to get the gym, I can usually come up with something good and painful involving the KB.

Those of you with gutter minds can fill in your own blanks.

Anyway, that's the situation I found myself in Friday evening. Son went to Asheville, KAD was at a birthday party and as I readied myself for a trip to the Y, Hubby called and wanted to get Thai takeout and watch a movie. In order to do all this before KAD came home, I was going to have to forego a trip to the Y. So I grabbed the KB, engaged the brain for about 30 seconds and came up with a WOD.

Buy-in: 3 rounds of
15 air squats
15 situps
15 KB deadlifts
10 KB good mornings

WOD: 5 rounds for time of:
10 KB swings (25#)
10 KB thrusters (25#)
10 squat jumps

Time: 9:05

Thoughts: Definitely need another KB, probably a 1-pood. Swings with the 25# are getting to be pretty easy, although the thrusters and squat jumps gassed me pretty well. Also need a better jump rope - my original intent was to do double-unders, but I can't swing my cheap rope fast enough. I threw it aside for squat jumps about 15 seconds in.

Cash out: Gasp for air, eat Thai takeout and watch Animal House.

Saturday's WOD was three hours of walking around the local soccer complex, doing trash pickup duty at KAD's tournament. According to MapMyRun, I covered about 4 miles.