Barbara...or "Babs," really

I think "Babs" is a more appropriate name for this WOD, which is the Pack scale or "Barbara Lite."

Buy-in: Hip and shoulder mobility exercises

WOD: "Babs"

Five rounds for time of:
10 pullups
20 pushups
30 situps
40 squats

Rest precisely 3 minutes between rounds.

Times: 3:19 - 2:30 - 2:30 - 2:37 - 2:38

Total work time - 13:34

I know, I know - I need to do this WOD Rx'd. Other than the pullups (which I tried to do all kips instead deadhang), I did all of the movements unbroken until the last set of pushups. I have a litany of excuses for why I didn't do this Rx'd, mainly revolving around my sucky kip, but I will not enumerate them here. Suffice it to say that the kip (and grip) will be getting more work.

Cash out: Handstand practice

Well, I thought it was a 5K...

...turns out it wasn't even close.

I didn't run my normal 5K route today, because my son bailed on driving his sister to swim practice. I picked out a route near the pool that I thought might be around 3 miles. According to MapMyRun.com, it was only 2.67 miles. A very hilly 2.67 miles, but shorter than a 5K nonetheless.

Time - 24:40

Wow. That was not impressive. At all.

CFT...Good and Bad

Trying to stay somewhat on track with the main site - I'm running about 4 days behind - I did the CFT today. I wasn't really up for it, and thought about skipping ahead to the 5K run or to Barbara, but the lousy weather precluded any outdoor WODs. Usually I try to lift at lunch, which is when the crowd at the Y is the lightest, but I had to go out on a call and missed my chance. So I found myself in the middle of the after-work crush in the fitness room. The sheer number of people in there, along with the cruddy weather, did absolutely nothing for my mood. At least I managed to grab a rack; otherwise this WOD wouldn't have happened at all.

Buy-in: Easy 5:00 row (D=4)

WOD: CrossFit Total (body weight = 125#)

Back squat - 135#
Press - 75#
Deadlift - 195#

CrossFit Total = 405


The good news: My last CFT was 400. The better news: I PR'd the deadlift (by 10#). My press was also better than my last CFT, matching my PR for a 1RM.

The bad news: I regressed 10# on the back squat. I had two failed attempts at 145#, but could not get out of the hole either time. Being pissed off about this probably contributed to my deadlift PR. HUGE shout-out to Jason Struck, whose tips on my deadlift set-up were probably the biggest reason for my improvement.

Progressions looked like this:

Back squat
Warmup sets:

• 5x45#
• 5x65#
• 3x95#
• 1 x 115#

Work sets:

• 1 x 125#
• 1 x 135#
• 1 x 145# (f)
  
• 1 x 145# (f)

Presses
Warmup sets:

• 3 x 45#
• 2 x 55#

Work sets:

• 1 x 65#
• 1 x 75#
• 1 x 78# (f)

Deadlifts
Warmup sets:

• 3 x 115#
• 2 x 135#
• 1 x 155#

Work sets:

• 1 x 175#
• 1 x 195# (PR)
• 1 x 205# (f) Got it to break, but couldn't finish it.
  

More City Meet Prep

Back in the pool today.

Warm-up: 400 easy swim, changing up strokes

Skill/drill: 8 x 75 @ :20 RI; 25 kick/25 drill/ 25 swim
4 freestyle, 2 backstroke, 2 breaststroke

Main set: 16 x 25 sprint on 1:00, IM order
Lots of rest, so sprints are all-out

Cool-down: 200 easy freestyle

Total - 1600 yds

Held all the sprints between :15 and :20 (stroke dependent), which isn't too bad. My goal times for the meet are 1:15 for the 100 IM, sub-:28 for the 50 free and sub-:36 for the 50 breaststroke. The IM will be the toughest from the conditioning aspect. Making my sprint goals will be largely dependent on the quality of my starts and turns, so I have to get back on the blocks, and soon.

Twins

Picking up where I left off on the main site...

Buy-in: 10 x MB cleans (15#)

WOD: "Twins"
Two rounds of each couplet for time

750m row (3:28/3:21)
20 HSPUs (with heels against the wall)
Time - 11:21

20 thrusters (45#)
20 L-pullups (did tuck pullups)
Time - 11:40

Total time - 23:01

This is the first time I've done any rowing since my elbow injury. Felt pretty good - damper setting was 4, and I didn't push the pace hard. My HSPUs were pretty bad - did them from a full handstand with my heels against the wall, and my ROM was about 4 - 5 inches.

The 11:40 split for the second couplet includes the roughly 2 minutes I spent finding an Oly bar for the thrusters. I had set everything up in a rack with my towel and bag as my claim markers, but when I got back to the rack, some asshole had moved all my stuff so he could do bicep curls in the fucking rack. I was so pissed. The thrusters ended up being 45# because I didn't want to waste any more time setting the bar up for 65#. I ended up doing the second couplet next to a Smith machine, which I used to do the pullups.

Cash out: 20 x 3-5 sec ab crunches (for my back)
20 x air squats on a Bosu ball (harder than it looks)

Jenn the Slug

No workout since Thursday (and I gorged myself on pizza that night too). Went to Maryland with Number One Son on Friday for the Potomac Memorial Tournament, and the closest I got to exercise was walking from the metro station to RFK Stadium for the DC United-Real Salt Lake match. I also loaded up on all kinds of bad stuff - a Mushroom Swiss burger from Red Robin (with steak fries!), strawberry pancakes from IHOP, hot dogs at the stadium...I'm actually surprised I was still able to walk without waddling.

It was a nice way to finish up Son's club soccer career, even if his team didn't do as well as they'd hoped. They won one and lost two, but had a good time. Son has decided not to try out for the team next year so that he can focus more on his schoolwork. The coach was disappointed but understanding about the decision. Son will still be playing high school soccer, so he's not completely retiring from the sport. I will miss seeing him play with his club - the club teams play at a much higher level than the HS teams - but won't miss the travel and expenses that come with it. There will still be plenty of travel and expenses for KAD's soccer team. :p

Thursday 21 May 09:

Buy-in: 3 rounds
25 yd bear crawl
25 situps
25 yd crab walk

WOD: 4 rounds for time
400m run (1:55/2:00/2:11/2:17)
50 squats

Time - 15:05

This one was painful because despite taking Wednesday off, my butt and hamstrings were still sore from Diane and the walking lunge/box jumps/weighted pull-up WOD. I didn't manage any unbroken sets of squats, and the last two runs were more like shuffles than runs. I was hoping to get under 15:00, but the last run was just too slow.

Cash out: Stretching, stuffing my face with pizza.

All right, now this one sucked...

Stole off to the Y at lunch today to get this one in.

Buy-in: 3 rounds
10 air squats
10 situps
10 pushups
5 MB clean (20#)

WOD: 4 rounds for time:
100 walking lunge w/20# DBs
20 box jumps (20")
20 weighted pullups (15#)

Time - 23:26

The weighted pullups lasted only 6 repetitions into the first round, after which I just did deadhangs. This was the better part of valor on my part, for two reasons: one, it was lunchtime and I needed to finish the WOD, shower, and get back to work within an hour; and two, I think this was intended to be a metcon. While I certainly could have completed the WOD with the weighted pullups, it would have taken forever and been less metcon than just slog-thru. Coming on the heels of the DL/HSPU WOD from yesterday, my ass and hamstrings are going to be very unhappy tomorrow.

Cash out: 20 x crunches on swiss ball

Went to watch the state playoff game for the girls' soccer team from my son's HS. This is the best team they've had in a number of years. After 80 minutes of scoreless regulation play and two scoreless 10-minute OT periods, they lost in the "golden goal" OT period on a free kick. Heartbreaking.

First try at Diane

My Crossfit 1st anniversary was on Friday. Of course, I forgot about it and I took a rest day yesterday, but it seems appropriate to celebrate the anniversary with a WOD that I've never done before. Coincidentally, such a WOD came up on the main site yesterday and since the weather is really crappy today, it seemed like a great alternative to what I had originally planned (a 5K run).

Buy-in: 1 round CFWU (without dips)
Deadlifts 5 x 95#, 5 x 115#, 3 x 135#

WOD: "Diane"
21-15-9
Deadlift 135# (Pack scale)
Handstand pushups (bridged on Smith machine)

Time - 10:50

Note to self: put retaining rings on the bar next time, so you won't keep having to stop to push the plates back into position. I have to wonder if I'm picking up the bar unevenly, because the plate on the left slides out more than the plate on the right. Otherwise, I guess that's not too bad for the first time. Gives a starting point, anyway.

Cash out:
3 x handstand holds (5 - 6 seconds kinda-sorta freestanding)
2 x hollow holds (:35/:32)
10 x MB cleans (20#)

Video from my warmup set at 135#:

Back in the pool

The Greater Winston-Salem Swimming Championships (also known around here as the City Meet) is coming up on June 21st. I usually swim in the meet, taking my yearly dose of humiliation at the hands of a bunch of 16 and 17 year olds. But it's all good - it's great fun, and my kids' summer league team usually has a Moms Relay that attempts to race against the teenage girls. We never place, but we've never been last, either!

Anyway, I've going to try to get back in the pool a few times a week to get ready for the meet. I'm interested to see what impact my strength training has had on my swimming.

Warmup: Easy 300 swim, 200 kick

Skill/drill: 4 x 100 IM stroke drill @ 2:30
Butterfly: 3-3-3 (3 left arm, 3 right arm, 3 regular strokes)
Backstroke: 1- arm backstroke, alternate 3 left, 3 right
Breaststroke: Double-kick
Freestyle: 6-beat switch

Main set:
2 x 100 free, RI = time (1:20/1:20)
4 x 50 free, RI = time (:39/:38/:40:/39)
8 x 25 free, RI = time (:19/:19/:20/:19/:18/:19/:19/:19)

Cool down: easy 100 swim

Total: 1600

Not too bad. Need to get the 100s closer to 1:15, the 50s all under :40, and the 25s all under :20. Made a couple of adjustments to my freestyle that I think will help take advantage of being stronger, but will take a little getting used to.

Cindy = FAIL

I quit today. I have never done that before. I have had times when I've cut a WOD short or scaled back because of time limitations, but I have never quit in the middle of one. But I did today. Shit.

Buy-in: 3 rounds
10 lunges
10 bench dips
25 rope skips

WOD: "Cindy"
AMRAP in 20 minutes
5 pullups
10 pushups
15 squats

Rounds - 11 rounds + 5 pullups + 10 pushups in 15:00

I don't what to say. I was sucking wind from the first pullup and could never seem to develop any kind of rhythm. Pukie kept sneaking up around the edges, threatening to make an appearance. I was going to just keep slogging through it, but I happened to look at my watch as I passed the 15:00 mark and just said "Fuck it, I quit." Then I just sat on the ground for about 10 minutes without moving before I started to feel guilty.

Cash out: Attempted to run around the track to make up for quitting on Cindy. No dice. I just had no gas in the tank today. Could have something to do with staying home sick. Guess I should have just passed on the WOD completely today.

Does kicking a cold count as a workout?

Been battling a nasty cold for most of the past week. Usually these bugs pop in - KAD is a carrier - and I get sniffly and sneezy for a couple of days, then they go away. This bug brought baggage and camped out for a while. I think I'm going to give in and stay home tomorrow.

After a week of tracking my food intake on FitDay (attempting no major changes to my diet), here are the things I've noticed:

1) I don't take in as many calories as I thought. I always estimated that I consumed 2000+ calories per day. Turns out it's more like 1700 - 1800, which is probably all right this week since I haven't worked out much.

2) My macronutrient proportions are 36% carbs, 35% fat, 26% protein and 4% alcohol. The alcohol was all beer, so I could probably count that toward my carbs as well.

3) Upping the protein without upping the fat will be challenging. Getting enough carbs while ditching stuff like cereal, potatoes and rice will be tough as well. Low-fat milk and yogurt may help.

I'm reading Enter the Zone. I guess my next step is to determine my lean body mass and calculate my protein requirements.

In other news, KAD has started doing CrossFit Kids workouts for her summer S & C program. We intersperse soccer-specific skill training into the daily CF Kids WOD. So far, she's having a blast and looking forward to when she can do more pull-ups than me. That time may not be far off...


Despite my cold, I got in both a swimming workout and the main site WOD today:

Swimming:

Warmup - 200 swim, 200 kick

Skill/Drill - 4 x 100 on 2:30 (all freestyle)
25 6-beat switch
25 catch-up drill
25 fist swim
25 swim

Main set: Freestyle
2 x 50 on 1:00 25 easy, 25 sprint
2 x 50 on 1:00 25 sprint, 25 easy
2 x 50 on 1:00 Sprint flags, easy walls
2 x 50 on 1:00 Sprint walls, easy flags

Cool down - easy 200

CF Workout:

Buy-in: 1 x CFWU, 10 MB cleans (20#)

WOD: Power cleans, 7 x 1

Warmup sets:

• 5 x 45#
• 5 x 55#

Work sets:

• 1 x 60#
• 1 x 65#
• 1 x 65#
• 1 x 70#
• 1 x 75#
• 1 x 85#
• 1 x 95# (matches previous PR)

I built these up slowly because I haven't done power cleans since I injured my elbow back in January. No problem getting the weights up, but my elbow was aching by the last rep. Not an "oh shit, injury" ache, but a "I haven't been used lately" ache. I suspect I could go heavier, but I need a form check first. I tried to get KAD to take video, but she was cranky and tired and hungry and wanted to go home. It wasn't a battle worth fighting at that point. I'll get some video for you soon, Jason.

Cash out: None. Took the kid home to feed her.

More Diet Decisions and Mr. Joshua

After an email discussion with Ev, I've decided to really try to do something about my diet. Most of the time, I don't pay attention to what I eat, so I figured that the best way to start would be to figure what my current diet looks like. I've created an account on Fitday and for two weeks, I'm going to track what I eat without making any major changes. Once I figure out what exactly I'm putting into my body, hopefully it will be easier to make adjustments.

I've never been a big sugar person, so battling sugar cravings won't be a problem. Salt cravings are a completely different matter. Those are mostly dealt with by forbidding things like Lay's Classic Potato Chips to take up residence in my pantry. I'll cry when it becomes clear that I have to give my morning Cheerios. The biggest challenge may be trying to maintain a sensible diet while also trying to feed three other people, including a 6-foot, 135-pound teenager who moves through my kitchen like a locust.

Thursday 7 May 09:

Buy-in: 3 rounds
10 air squats
10 situps
10 pushups
10 supermans

Deadlift warmup: 5 x 95#; 5 x 115#

WOD: "Mr. Joshua" (Pack scale)

3 rounds for time:
400m run
15 GHD situps (subbed incline situps)
15 DLs (115#)

Time - 14:26 (4:14/5:00/5:12)

That's 45 seconds faster than last time, and I went 10# heavier on the DLs this time. Did the runs on the treadmill set at a 7:40 pace. The last 400m run was a real killer. I caved and slowed the pace. That's one thing about the treadmill - it keeps you honest. You have to make a conscious decision to slow down. My splits this time were also more even. Last time they were 4:13/4:52/6:06. Overall, I'm pleased with the effort.

Cash out: Pigeon pose (1:00 each side); Iguana stretch

Tabatas and Strength Work

Friday 1 May 09:

Buy-in: 3 rounds
10 OHS with broomstick
10 ab-ball crunches
5 pushups
10 supermans

WOD: "Tabata Something Else"

For twenty seconds do as many reps of the assigned exercise as you can - then rest 10 seconds. Repeat this seven more times for a total of 8 intervals, 4 minutes total exercise. The score is the least number of reps for any of the eight intervals.

KB swings (25#): 13-14-13-13-13-13-13-12 = 104
Pushups: 20-13-9-9-9-7-6-7 = 80
Situps: 16-17-17-17-17-16-16-16 = 132
Squats: 16-17-15-14-14-15-12-14 = 117

Lows = 46
Total reps = 433

Wow. This sucks. I haven't done this particular combination of exercises before, but the last time I did these exercises in a tabata format, my numbers were better. I did more KB swings this time (104 vs 82), but I did fewer pushups (80 vs 92), situps (132 vs 154) and squats (117 vs 146). Granted, I went out like gangbusters on the first set of pushups, but still... No excuse for the situps and squats.

Cash out: 10 DH pullups when I went to the Y to pick up KAD.


Monday 4 May 09:

Buy-in: 1 round CFWU (subbed iguana stretch for Samson stretch)

WOD: Back squats and bench presses

Back squats 5 x 3

Warmup sets:

• 5 x 45#
• 5 x 65#
• 5 x 95#
• 3 x 105#

Work sets:

• 3 x 115#
• 3 x 115#
• 3 x 120#
• 3 x 120#
• 3 x 120#

Squats felt pretty good, but I'm feeling the need for another form check. Also wondering if I should go ahead and increase the weight, or wait until I lift 120# for sets across.

Bench presses 3 x 5

Warmup sets:

• 5 x 45#
• 5 x 65#
• 3 x 80#

Work sets:

• 3 x 5 @ 90#

Struggled to get 5 reps on all three sets. Too much warmup? This still matches my 5RM, but I thought I might be a little farther along on weight.

Cash out: 3:00 plank hold (boring....)