I Wish I Had Greek Blood...

Do you ever walk into the gym knowing that the workout is going to crush you? It's that slight mental tick that gets in the back of your mind, nagging and reminding you that you will probably regret the next five to ten minutes of your life and making you wish that it was your rest day. Today was one of those days.

I was (un)fortunate to know what I was in for when I arrived at the Fort. The boyfriend had informed me earlier what the WOD was and so I was (somewhat) mentally prepared for the Suck Fest that I had bought front row tickets to. I was also (un)fortunate enough to have arrived just before the second heat of 5pm-ers. As soon as I walked in I said "hello" to Steph (Rasmussen) who was getting drink. She responded with a "hey" and then quickly answered Bill who had just asked her what weight she was using for the workout.

"I'm going RX'd," she said as she ventured back over to her bar under the loft.

"Damn," I thought (okay, I said it aloud) as I took off my jacket and put on my other shoes. "That's a lot of weight."

And it was. The workout was (after completing 5-5-5-3-3-3 of back squats) was the following:

12 - 9 - 6

• Deadlifts (140/95 kg)
• Thrusters (60/40 kg)

Goal: 3-7:00
DNF: 10:00

I waited in the lobby as Bill called the 3-2-1-Go! and watched this whole thing go down. It looked tough, and as I watched everyone crumple to the ground at the end of the WOD, I really wished that I had taken today as a rest day. Heavy weights are not really my thing. Despite this, I took a deep breathe and headed upstairs to warm up.

I went through one of our old school warm ups: I rowed for a little bit, did a couple sets of ten pull ups, push ups, sit ups and back extensions. The group then did some mobility drills and then set up for the back squat.

In regards to my back squat, I felt pretty good. I'm not exactly sure what my one rep max is but I was able to do three reps at 65 kg. Moreover, it was only on my very last rep that I felt like the weight was about to crush me.

Then came the workout. Since my single rep max deadlift is 102 kg, I decided against trying to do the WOD RX'd. It wasn't going to happen. I did, however, decide on 80 kgs and to do the thrusters at the prescribed weight. Here's how this debacle went down:

Round One: I repped through my deadlifts and then went to do my thrusters. The result? Not so much.

Round Two: I did three sets of three on my deadlifts and then went to do my thrusters. Again... not so much; however, I did manage to catch Pete (the other Rasmussen) out of the corner of my eye going RX'd and yelling "time" just as I was about to drop the bar on my head. (So jealous).

Round Three: I did three and then three sets of one and then moved onto my thrusters. This time, WOW. I practically did drop the bar on my head, twice, and then followed suit, crumpling to the floor when I finally reached "six".

Overall: 10:08 = D.N.F.

Needless to say, I was not able to go RX'd like either Rasmussen. Heck, I wasn't even able to finish. I'd be embarrassed but I was (and am) still tired. I wish that I had Greek blood.

So Much for The Show

I arrived at the Fort today and was greeted by the strength workout of hang power cleans and a metcon consisting of burpee box jumps and sit ups. Had it not been for the fact that I finished school today, I probably would have been bothered by the hang power cleans and burpee box jumps, especially after last week's debacle (my shoulders hurt for days); however, today I was ready to take on the WOD.

The class started by doing some mobility drills and then moved onto the strength portion of the workout. I retreated into my little corner and began working on the following:

Hang Power Cleans
3-3-3-1-1-1

30-35-45-47-49.6-51.6

To be honest, my first couple of sets were pretty easy. It was when I moved up to the 45 kg that it began to feel heavy; however, this did not deter me. I've been struggling with breaking the 50 kg barrier for some time, and I wanted to push my way through. I figured that working my way up slowly was the way to go. So after cleaning three reps at 45, I went to 47, then to 49.6 and then completed 51.6. Both subsequent reps felt fairly strong and I was very pleased with the fact that I was able to break 50.

After basking in my (I think PR glow) accomplishment, I began setting up for the metcon, which was an AMRAP in 15:00 of ten burpee box jumps and twenty sit ups. Again, I grabbed a box, ab mat, my book and then found my way back to my corner. I set up everything, including opening my book to a blank page so that I could keep track of my rounds. My goal was simply to try and keep a good pace so that I could continue to rep through both movements (that and try to not let Stacy crush me).

When Bill finally gave the 3-2-1-Go!, I was ready to go. I was able to maintain a good pace throughout the workout and was even able to hold my own when Season accidently kicked me in the head. (Just for the record, it didn't hurt). Anyhow, in the end I was able to complete eight full rounds plus ten burpee box jumps and eight sit ups. Stacy still crushed me (she completed nine full rounds) but there was a silver lining. I beat The Show by one rep. Heck. Yes.

Taking the Crazy Train to So. Dak.*

Although it has been awhile since this past weekend, I think it is still necessary for me to comment on my little field trip to CrossFit Sioux Falls. Last Wednesday, my brother, sister-in-law and I hit I-90 for about seven fun-filled hours to make it home for the holiday weekend. Thanksgiving went well and on Friday I headed out to participate in the Black Friday activities; however, before then, I made my way over to CrossFit Sioux Falls for a quick WOD.

When I arrived, I was greeted by one of the owners, Chris. He let me in on what we were doing that day, told me that one of their CrossFitters was actually visiting the Fort (awesome - exchange program), and then let me be to complete the warm up, which consisted of three rounds of box jumps, kettlebell swings, and walking lunges.

After completing the warm up, all of us congregated around the white board to conquer the following beast:

Trevor

In teams of four complete the following, for time:

• 300 pull ups
• 400 push ups
• 500 sit ups
• 600 squats

*Only two people may work at a time.

I was lucky enough to be paired up with three awesome ladies (Jeri, Becky and Sarah). Jeri and Sarah set themselves up on a band on one side of the jungle-gym contraption (seriously... it was kind of weird as I could feel the entire thing moving beneath me as I was kipping) that was in the middle of the floor and Becky and I set up on other. We were given the 3-2-1-Go! and away we went.

I was particularly pleased with my pull up portion of the WOD. I cranked out twenty pull ups my first time out (heck yeah!) and then Becky and I proceeded to switch back and forth after completing ten reps each. Granted, I wasn't always able complete ten at a time, but I did feel rather accomplished that Becky and I completed more than half of the pull ups.

In regards to the rest of the workout, I was relatively pleased with myself. As someone just coming in, I wanted to make sure that I carried my weight and didn't let my team down. I felt that I sufficiently did so, with maybe the exception of push ups. I felt as if I struggled a bit. At the moment, I tried to remind myself that I was doing chest to deck push ups in sets of ten, but I hated feeling like the deadweight. This was probably why I was determined to fly through the sit ups, completing fifty my first time out and then finishing subsequent rounds in reps of thirty, and then continuing cranking out squats, doing sets of thirty until we were all confident that we had gone over on our reps. I guess that counting problems aren't limited to the Fort.

Anyhow, overall it was a great experience. The ladies on my team were awesome and I thoroughly enjoyed the WOD. What I did not enjoy was that I was sore for three days afterwards. Guess that's what you get for taking the crazy train to So. Dak.

*So. Dak. was the old post office abbreviation for South Dakota. According to my South Dakota friends it's much cooler to say So. Dak. than South Dakota. Who am I to disagree? It's more fun to say...

You Never Forget Your First

It was about 12:30 pm when I found out that we were doing "Fran" that day. I was sitting at my desk, checking my email and resting my brain before my afternoon class when my boyfriend text me: "We're doing Fran today. Graveyard Gang [GYG] just confirmed it." Thanks GYG... seriously.

I had been debating whether or not I even wanted to go to the Fort considering that I had gotten up at about three am; however, the text quickly changed my plans for the evening. It wasn't everyday that Fran came around, and despite how scary she is, I was sure that today would be my first time Rx'd. As a result, instead of heading home to my warm, comfortable bed, I went to the Fort to meet Fran (21-15-9 - Thrusters (30kg) and pull ups).

The five o'clock class was just finishing up when I arrived. Fran's presence was undeniable; everyone seemed to adequately hate their life. Even when the five pm-ers left, there was a nervousness permeating throughout the Fort, and with good reason: Like I said before, Fran's main goal in life is to make you hate yours in less than ten minutes.

We were going to complete the WOD in two heats. Kelli and I decided to pair up and paper-rock-scissored who was going to go first. I won (*sigh of relief*) and Kelli tackled Fran first. I counted; I cheered (and I became even more nervous) as I watched Kelli duke it out with Fran and then fall to the floor in a small heap.

Finally it was my turn. I grabbed my bar, telling myself that I was going to have to make up time on my thrusters to make up for my pull ups and trying to control my nerves. All I wanted was to finish in 10:00. Needless to say, I crushed that dream and did better than I ever expected.

Throughout my thrusters felt strong. In regards to pull ups, even though I wasn't always able to string them together, I do feel that I am able to get back on the bar relatively quick and crank out one at time. In the end, I only hung out with Fran for 7:12, which is close to what I did last time with the blue band. Needless to say, I was very happy even if I did suffer from the "Fran cough" for the rest of the evening. Totally worth it.

I'm not a player; I just crush alot... (Part 2)

Us with the Chamber and the big scissors before the WOD. Congrats guys!

If you read my previous post, you know that I did two named WOD's this past week: Nancy and Helen. While my Nancy experience was not as exciting as I hoped, my time with Helen proved to be well spent.

I went to the Fort Wednesday morning to attend a special moment in CrossFit Fire history: The Chamber of Commerce was coming to the Fort to officially welcome Bill and Jennie's business to the community. It was a celebration of sorts, for all of us (We love you guys!) and to celebrate (and impress the hell out of the Chamber members), a group of us were going to do a workout.

Originally, we were going to do a WOD that included seven rounds of body rows, push presses and something else (I don't know what it was - I didn't do it); however, after seeing the turnout (there were about ten or so of us), Bill decided that we were going to do Helen instead.

Helen

3 rounds for time:

• 400 meter run


• 21 kettlebell swings (16 kg)


• 12 pull ups

Immediately, I was nervous and excited. I held the Fort record with a time of 11:18 and was now put in the position to defend my spot. Regardless, I kept my nerves in check, promised myself that I would beat my old PR, and then focused on channeling those nerves into the workout.

Once everyone and everything was set up, we lined up at the edge of the building to begin the first run. Bill called the 3-2-1-Go! and I was off.

My first run felt exceptionally strong. I was the second one back into the Fort right behind Pete and cranked out my kettlebell swings. I finished them unbroken and then moved onto my pull ups. Surprisingly, I was able to complete eight in a row before I needed to drop off the bar. I then quickly did the remaining four and turned to my second run.

Although my second run wasn't as strong as my first, I still felt okay with it. I knew I was making good time and as I re-entered the Fort for my second set of kettlebell swings, I felt even more confident about beating my old PR. When I got to my pull ups, I had to break them up more than the previous round, which slowed me down a bit; however, I still able to complete them and then set off on my third round.

Overall, my third round was continuation of the second. I completed my run, did all my kettlebell swings unbroken and then broke up my pull ups, finishing my last three one at a time. But when I dropped off the bar my final pull up and fell to the floor, sucking air, I felt great. Really freakin' tired but great, and when Bill called out 10:29, I was both amazed and elated. I beat my old PR by almost a minute. I crushed Helen like I didn't crush Nancy.

After everyone completed the WOD, I was sitting there writing in my book, still excited about my time and particularly about my pull ups. For those of you who know me and my struggle with pull ups, then you know its been a long and trying war (and unfortunately, the pull ups have won more battles than I have); however, that seems to be changing. Who's the bitch now, pull ups?

I'm not a player; I just crush a lot... (Part 1)

I was quite the player this week. I did two of the Nasty Girl WOD's: On Tuesday, I did "Nancy"; on Wednesday, "Helen."

Nancy

5 rounds for time:

• 400 meter run


• 15 OH squats (30kg)

16:17 (at 25 kg)

When I arrived at the Fort on Tuesday, I had every intention of doing Nancy prescribed. Sure, my OH squats are not my strongest lift, but I figured I could make up time on the 400 meter run. I practiced a few with just the fifteen kilo bar and then then brought out two five kilo plates to test it out at 25 before moving up to thirty. As I practiced my OH squats, Bill wandered over to my lifting space under the loft. He watched me intently, taking note of my form, as I held the weight overhead and then squatted beneath it. After completing a few reps, I set the bar down and anxiously waited for the assessment. Bill would determine whether or not I was ready to move up to the prescribed weight.

"Your OH squats are getting better," he told me.

Heck yes! I thought, trying to contain my excitement. I was going to be able to do this WOD prescribed my second time ever doing it and at forty pounds heavier.

" But -"

Dammit, the voice in my head grumbled. There had to be a "but."

"... your knees are still shaky sometimes. I wouldn't do more weight than that."

"Okay," I responded dutifully as I watched my prescribed Nancy dream shift itself back into the "undone" column on my mental Nasty Girl Rx'd checklist. Bill knew better than I did.

Who was I to argue? So I set myself up, promising that even if I didn't get to do the WOD prescribed, I was at least going to crush it.

And (kind of (okay, not really)) crush it, I did. I say "kind of" and then "not really" because obviously I would have liked to do better and I can admit that my time was not that impressive. I am slow at OH squats because I'm preoccupied with my stupid knees and I wasn't able to make up that much extra time on my runs.

What was good was that I was almost able to do all of my OH squats unbroken. I crushed that dream too when I dropped the bar with two reps left on my last round. (Two stinkin' reps). Luckily though I was able to get back on the bar quickly and crank out the last two before my time crept any further.

Overall though, I was able to practice some good OH squats without dropping the bar on my head (yay) and was able to keep Stacy on pace, who did do the WOD prescribed and now holds the women's record at the Fort (atta baby!). So all was not lost - and unbeknownst to me, I would be able to prove myself on Wednesday and to a group of spectators, nonetheless.

My Magic Shoes(?)

After a long day trapped under an avalanche of papers, I managed to crawl myself out of the rubble. Yes, my eyes were tired, my brain felt mushy but I persevered, and I was now off to exercise my body instead of my mind. I wanted to get in a rowing WOD before the actual workout so I quickly put on my shorts, tall socks, tshirt and began shuffling through my closet, searching for my running shoes when I saw them, sitting there like a ghost from my long forgotten basketball past: My Air Jordans.

I loved these shoes. Correction: I love these shoes. They are Jordans (by far my favorite basketball player ever); they are retro, and they are pink. I bought them over four years ago for my sophomore year of college basketball and was never able to get rid of them, despite the negative effects of that season. That is, however, a whole other story; the story here is that I couldn't resist. I pulled on my Jordans, smiling the whole time, and headed out the door.

When I arrived at the Fort, I ran upstairs to complete the rowing WOD, feeling confident that my pink sneakers (yes, they are retro shoes; a retro term is necessary here) would help me crush the workout:

Five rounds of 1000 meters with 3:00 intervals:

• Round 1: 4:15.5
  
• Round 2: 4:14
  
• Round 3: 4:20.5

As you can see I did not complete all five rounds. My failure to complete the WOD, however, was not my Jordans' fault, although I think subconsciously I did blame them a little (cute shoes but bad memories). It was rather that I am slow and did not allow enough time to complete the WOD. Regardless, I think my subconscious took over because I changed my shoes to complete the following strength workout and metcon:

Strength

Four rounds of max rep ring dips:

7-7-5-6 (All unassisted)

Metcon

AMRAP in 12:00 of:

• 5 Hang Power Cleans [HPC] (55 kg)
  
• 7 Box Jumps (24")
  
• 10 Clapping Push Ups
  

6 rounds + 5 HPCs + 7 box jumps + 2 push ups

In regards to both the strength WOD and the metcon, I felt pretty good. I managed to stay fairly consistent with my ring dips and was simply pretty excited about the fact that I didn't have to use the band. As for the metcon, I was pleased with the fact that my cleans are getting stronger and faster. I didn't do the prescribed weight (I only did 40) but was happy regardless. There were several times during the WOD that I felt myself dropping under the bar more quickly, which is really exciting for me considering that, that is my biggest problems with my cleans.

Unfortunately, I also scaled my clapping push ups. I substituted with chest to deck push ups; I can do clapping push ups but I can't do them consistently, hence the scaling. Besides, I figure once I get more consistent I can work my way up, and my push ups are getting stronger, which is all I can ask.

As for the box jumps - oh the box jumps - I nearly killed myself on my first rep of the first round. I rammed my knee into the edge of the box leaving an ugly, odd-shaped bruise and then damn near did it again on my second rep. Luckily though I managed to pull myself away before I felt flat on my face and/or tore open my leg/knee/shin.

Now you're probably wondering what the heck my super awesome Jordans have to do with this. Well, on my drive home, while I was contemplating my box jump failure, I decided that had I wore my Air Jordans that I probably would have not failed miserably. I mean, they're Air Jordans, right? They're supposed to make you jump higher. As a result, I have decided that I will need to break out the Jordans for the next time we do box jumps. They're a little overdue for some air time anyway.

Magic powers? We'll see.

If not, they still look cool...

And I'm Back...

For those of you who used to read my blog (I use past tense because I've been absent for awhile), I'm going to attempt to get back to your regularly scheduled blogging. As I mentioned before in passing that school has a tendency to take over my life. To be frank, not much has changed; however, with the semester winding down and my brain continually on the fritz, I am planning (and hoping) that getting back to my blog will help me maintain a sense of balance in my hectic life.

OK. So enough with the blah blah blah about school and back to what really matters: CrossFit. This week so far I have deadlifted, power cleaned, front squated, push pressed, and done more ring dips than a person cares to do in single day. Add tall box jumps, sit ups, running and body rows to the mix and you've got an amalgam of three days worth of WOD's.

Strength-wise, my power cleans and push presses are coming along nicely, especially my power cleans. I'm feeling much better about my cleaning ability, and I am determined to make myself love (and crush) them. Front squats - eh, not so much. I have trouble driving up with my elbows. On the other end of the spectrum, in the metcon area, my box jumps, runs, body rows and sit ups are still relatively strong and feel that, in many ways, they are improving, which is all I can ask.

Everything aside, I'm excited about where I'm going CrossFit-wise and hope that I am able to frequent my lovely blogger space more often. Also, the next time I get some time off, I promise to post something more witty.

Consider the Ta Ta's Saved

Yesterday, I ran in the Care 4 Breast Cancer 5K Run/Walk. Overall, I felt pretty good about the race, even though I did not beat my previous time. I came in about 24:00, give or take a few seconds based on the lack of clear timing (there were no chips to measure the exact time). Regardless, my run went much smoother than my 10k debacle. My legs felt loose, despite the 30 minute delay and cold weather, and I managed to maintain a decent pace throughout. I also apparently placed second in my division, 25-29 year olds, as well as placed 12th overall. So that's cool.

I realize that I sound rather nonchalant about my second place win; I do think that it's pretty cool. I've never won anything like that before, and there were over 1000 runners present. I think though that I was more disappointed that I didn't beat my previous 23:12 PR. Regardless, win or lose, consider the ta ta's saved.

The Coolest Thing I Did Yesterday...

No, it wasn't the deadlift/burpee workout from the Games, although that was pretty sweet. I did the WOD (5 rounds for time of 5 deadlifts (70 kg) and 10 burpees) in 4:57. It was a creeper. Those burpees are killer after round two of deadlifts, and based on my wanting to lay down after only 5:00 minutes, I'd say it was fairly successful in kicking my ass. However, this was not the coolest thing I did yesterday. The coolest thing I did yesterday was teach my Aunt's five year old grandson how to do burpees.

I was downstairs cleaning up my living space (I actually taught him how to vaccum as well - whole other story though), when Connor came downstairs to pay me a visit. He was showing me how he could do jumping jacks when I asked him if he had ever done a burpee. He shook his head "no" and then I took my teaching opportunity. Here's the final result (I apologize for the sideways video... Not sure what happened...):

Although he didn't always jump up on his burpees, I'd say Connor did a pretty good job. He is five. Now all I need to get him to do is eat broccoli.

An "Ark" Sandwich

I headed to the Fort for this past weekend for another Team Saturday. Mark R., Clark and I teamed up for the following WOD:

"Team Ladders"

400 meter run
3 rounds:

• burpee ladder
• box jump ladder
• wall ball ladder

400 meter buddy run

The ladders worked like this: Clark did one burpee, Mark did one burpee and then I did one burpee. Then Clark did two burpees, Mark did two burpees and then I did two burpees. This went on until we reached six burpees. We then moved onto box jumps and wall balls and completed them in the same fashion.

Overall this WOD was great because it allowed for just enough rest to really crank out the reps. Clark and Mark definitely kept me moving. So much so that the "Ark" Sandwich (Clark and Mark rhyme, my name doesn't, you get the picture...) was right behind The Garth Show, Stacy and Super Dave the whole time. In fact, we were going head to head going into third round before The Show pulled ahead into buddy run.

Then - it was over. Even though Clark and Mark were able to carry my fat butt all the way and that we were able to finish in 24:00, we did not prevail. At least we have a cool name.

At Least it Wasn't Kalsu

This morning I woke up to complete the following evilness:

1000 meter row

5 rounds for time:

• 10 pull ups
• 15 OH squats (40/30 kg)
• 20 kettlebell swings (20/16 kg)

1000 meter row

I finished this WOD in about 29:00. I don't recall the exact time because I started 5:13 later than the first group and I couldn't remember how many seconds followed my 34 minutes. Regardless, I did finish under 30, which is good, but we can both agree that my time is far from impressive, especially with scaled OH squats.

All in all, I kind of hated (and was absolutely terrified of) this WOD. I saw Bill put it on the board last night before I left and then spent the night dreading the next morning. It was kind of a mind f*&%. It also didn't help that I was tired from all my busy-ness yesterday. I will admit, that even though I did kind of hate this workout, I was glad that I didn't have to do Kalsu.

Thirsty Thursday*

Yesterday, I was a busy day at CrossFit for me. I rowed, worked on my presses, did a makeover of "Cindy" and set a new handstand record. The entire thing made me a little thirsty, although not in the traditional way that one would think of "Thirsty Thursday." Anyhow, I digress. Here's how my Thursday at CrossFit went down:

To start off I was late getting to Fort. I arrived just as the Ladies' Class was beginning, and instead of changing quickly and jumping in, I decided to catch up on my rowing. There were three rowing WOD'S posted on the board: Tabata Rowing, 15:00 minute row at 90%, and another interval row. Since I did Tabata Rowing earlier in the week after finishing the burpees on the minute WOD (which I did terrible in by the way (rowing, not necessarily the burpees), I decided to go for the 15:00 minutes at 90%.

I grabbed my book, iPod and headed upstairs to spend some quality time with the rower. Once my feet were all strapped in and I put on my jam (a song not the sugary goodness that is jam), I was out for the long haul. I tried to focus on keeping a steady pace, particularly since I feel like my rowing ability has been less than spectacular lately, and to maintain good form. The bulk of the row went fairly well, although I did not get as many meters as I would have liked. My initial goal was 3500 meters and I tapped out at 3303.

After my rowing extravaganza, I went downstairs, wrote my meters on the board and then waited for the seven o'clock class to start. I practiced my handstands a little bit before Bill corralled all of us in for mobility drills and then the strength workout: Presses (6-6-6).

Since the rep scheme was high and I still have troubles with my press, the weights I used looked something like this: 25-30-34.6. I was going to try to go for 37.2 (my arch nemesis in the press world), when Bill reminded me that 34.6 was close enough to 37.2 at that rep scheme and that if I added just a little bit of weight to my presses that eventually I'd break through my 37.2 roadblock. I conceded. I'm typically not one to argue, and we still had to do the metcon. As a result, I decided that it would probably be better if I saved my energy rather than ruin myself on the strength WOD.

Needless to say, I was glad with my decision. The metcon was like "Cindy" but it wasn't. Instead of being AMRAP in 20:00, it was 15:00, and instead of doing fifteen squats, we did fifteen box jumps. Since it was Cindy-like, I figured that maybe I could get through seven or eight rounds, since I was able to complete ten or so with true-Cindy.

When Bill gave us the 3-2-1-Go!, I think I was either A) Really excited or B) Really stupid. I quickly went through my first two rounds. I did my pull ups and my push ups unbroken. I was feeling good: My pull ups felt fairly strong, even if they weren't chest to bar like specified, and my push ups had good depth (Bill told me; I asked). My box jumps are once again improving (for some reason I went through this stage where I felt like I kind of sucked at box jumps), and I was just trying to continue to maintain my frenzied pace.

Then round three came. I did my pull ups and went on to my push ups. I did seven and then the true suck fest set in. I began breaking up my reps more frequently for the rest of the third round and the subsequent rounds, doing reps of three, two and even one. As a result, I was only able to complete seven full rounds, plus five pull ups and seven push ups. I was able to reach my seven-eight round goal but for some reason or another I was upset that I wasn't able to reach eight. It was those dang push ups... I tell you...

After completing the WOD, I meandered about for a little bit and then decided to work on my handstands yet again. The Show was there and asked me if I wanted him to time me. I shrugged: "Why not?" And then began my attempt to beat my previous record board time of 20.94 seconds. My first attempt was not pretty, and my second attempt was even uglier. My third attempt, however, lead to my 24 second even handstand. I guess, three times is a charm.

All in all, it was a pretty successful (and busy) Thursday, and just reading over this, I feel like I did a lot. Okay, I did kind of do a lot. Regardless, it was a decent day CrossFit-wise.

*There were no liquid carbs (beers) or paleo margaritas consumed after the completion of these WODS. Okay, I had a couple sips of a margarita. That was all though.

Long Stories, Short

CrossFit-wise, here's what has happened to me this week:

On Monday we worked on our clean and jerks before moving onto burpees on the minute. My clean and jerks my reps looked a little something like this: 45-47.2-49.6-52.4 (EPIC FAIL). I'm still having (weird... who would have thought?) trouble dropping under the bar. Trying to work the split jerk helped a little, but I was still having issues with my knees and such. As for improvement - I think I'll just have to keep practicing because I'm not really willing to eat a whole chocolate cake like Boyd did (this apparently helped him).

As soon as we finished the clean and jerks we moved on to burpees. Now, I was not one to be deceived by this workout. I remembered all too well when we did pull ups on the minute (that WOD was like the bane of my existence) and how quickly the "suck factor" entered into the picture. Oh no. I was not one to be deceived and so, my game plan was just to do as many burpees as possible. Oh, and try to beat Garth by one rep because he apparently quit during the morning class (this obviously did not work - but you can give Jennie and I credit for trying). In the end, I did fourteen rounds plus seven burpees. During round fifteen, my ankle went all haywire on me and this prevented me from cranking out a few more at the end, that and the fact that I wanted to be done.

On Tuesday, we did some deadlifts (yay!) and "Helen." For the strength portion we were to complete four, three rep sets leading up to 75% of our one rep max (100 kg for me). Well, after completing my 70, and Jennie informing me that it looked too light, I decided to complete another set at 80. It felt good and I smiled.

As for "Helen," I really wanted to beat my previous time of 11:18; however, I was not able to do so. I would like to attribute my lack of PR to the deadlifts and the 45 mile per hour wind that we had to run in. My "Helen" time was 11:34. As we can both see that is not better than 11:18, and as much as I would like to blame deadlifting and the wind, I begrudgingly admit that I just didn't get it done. Oh well, maybe next time...

Saving Ta Ta's for Time

Hey, I thought I would give a shout out to all of us CrossForters (or anyone else who may possibly read this) out there. A few of us (i.e. Garth, Audra, Matt L., Brian, Tommy Mo (maybe), I, and hopefully more) are planning on running a "Care for Breast Cancer 5k Run/Walk" in Crystal Lake on Sunday Oct 25th at Lippold Park 8:30am.

Please visit the following link to register: Care for Breast Cancer 5k Run/Walk. The registration fee is $25, I believe. Also, we may be getting some tshirts (yay for tshirts!) See the side panel for the actual design. In addition, please shoot me an email if you would like one at bjansen8@gmail.com (let me know the size if you are contacting me - they are men's American Apparel shirts) or you could order one from the widget as well. I'm assuming that the more we order the less expensive they will be. However, my guess is that they will probably amount to $20.

The Safe Word is "Banana"

This past Saturday I encountered a new spin on an old favorite: Red Rover. When I was a kid, I used to love playing Red Rover. As a result, you can image my excitement (or fear) when I saw the following posted on the board:

In teams of 3, AMRAP in 20:00:

Person A does 10 burpees

Person B does 10 kettle bell swings

Person C sprints 50 meters

One point is awarded for every successful sprint. The sprinter cannot run until both the burpees and the KB swings have been completed. Person C can only switch tasks with A or B when standing next to them. (KB swings and Burpees were set up at either end of the parking lot.)

Bill divided up the teams. I was placed with Brian and Matt (L.). As Matt went to set up some kettlebells, Brian and I were discussing strategy. I suggested that we come up with a code word for when we were either done with our reps or when we wanted to switch movements. Brian immediately came back with a scene from Family Guy and suggested the word "banana." Although I do not watch Family Guy, I figured I could work with that. It was much more original than holding up your arm to indicate that you were done with your reps, which is actually what we ended up doing... Which is fine, really it is... Boring... But it worked... Anyway....

The WOD went relatively quick. I started out at the kettlebells and stayed there for nine rounds before sprinting to the other end to start burpees. After that my poor counting skills came back to haunt me, so I simply focused on finishing my ten burpees as soon as possible until the boys wanted me to sprint back to complete more kettlebell swings. I would tell you how many burpees and how many kettlebell swings I did but I wasn't paying that close attention (remember the lack of counting skills?). I did, however, only complete four sprints in those twenty minutes.

In the end, Team Safe Word "Banana" completed 27 rounds. Unfortunately, two other teams also completed 27 rounds. As a result, Bill called for sudden death. One, ten kettlebell/burpee/sprint to the end of the driveway.

Once again, I was sent to complete kettlebell swings, while Matt did burpees (he is a burpee machine) and Brian ran (hello Señor Lightening). I did the kettlebell swings fairly quickly and then Brian and I waited for Matt to complete the burpees. We looked on as Tommy Mo cranked out his burpees just a little ahead of Matt and waited for the signal (the raised hand... ugh). Regardless, Matt's hand shot up within due time and Brian darted to the other end of the driveway, leaving everyone else trailing behind him.

As soon as he reached the other end of the drive, I threw up my hands, victorious, and yelled: "Banana!" I'm not sure if either of my teammates heard me, but it just felt right.

A Brian Pyramid: Congrats on your first win, Brian.

Another One Bites the Dust

For some reason or another I had an aching for some Queen this morning. I think my longing stemmed from the fact that it is the end of the week (finally) and I did crank out a WOD early this morning. As a result, here is "Another One Bite's the Dust" for your viewing and listening pleasure.

Today, I somehow managed to get my butt out of bed early enough to make it to the 5:30 am class. While I do enjoy working out in the morning (the GYG is always interesting and Zach always offers great advice), I often feel bad because I seem to be incapable of making it to the Fort on time. I would like to blame my parents but that is another story entirely in itself and not really fair either. I digress though. Regardless of my tardiness, I was able to join in the morning festivities.

I started with a brief 300 meter row to warm up before moving on to the morning's strength workout:

Presses

3-3-3-3

25-30-35-39.6 (Epic Fail)

For some reason or another, I continue to have trouble with my presses. I've been stuck at 37 forever and can't seem to get past it. Now, I realize since I am still feeling the side effects of "Angie" (b&^%h) and haven't been getting a whole lot of sleep may have something to do with it, but it's still frustrating and I feel like those are excuses rather than the real reason. In any case, after my epic fail, Zach had me do a max rep of presses at 25 kg. I did 20, halfway got to 21 and then put the bar down. I felt cashed, as I should have, and as Zach reminded me after I waited a minute and tried to rep more out only to fail.

It was successful though in that I was given another way to try and improve my presses so that I can finally break that 37 barrier. And as I went to set up for the metcon, I felt more confident and aware of what I needed to do in order to improve.

The metcon we did today consisted of the following:

• 10 Cleans (60 kg/40 kg)
• 50 Sit ups
• 8 Cleans
• 40 Sit ups
• 6 Cleans
• 30 Sit ups
• 4 Cleans
• 20 Sit ups
• 2 Cleans
• 10 Sit ups

I did the workout at the prescribed women's weight (40 kg) and finished in a little over eleven minutes. I was shooting for sub-eleven; however, seeing how cleans and I are not BFF's, I was incapable of doing so. My quads were wrecked after doing the first five (The first five! I'm blaming Angie...) and then I kept worrying about my form.

I want to be better at cleans (like really, really want to be better at cleans). However, I think I'm just going to have to practice them before and/or after class in order to really get that form down, so that I can (hopefully) crush WODs like this in the future.

Anyhow, it's another week down, another WOD down, and it's on to Team Saturday tomorrow.

An Ode to Angie

To my dear friend, Angie,
whom I saw earlier today.
Your presence was unnerving
and made me want to run away.

Pull ups by the dozens? And
a hundred push ups to follow?
Before forcing me to do sit ups
that make my core feel far from hollow?

And to top it off with squats,
when my body already feels like jelly.
It'd be okay if it weren't for time,
and if you weren't a b*&^# about me being smelly.

I can't help it that I sweat a lot and
that my hands started to bleed.
It was my first time RX'd tonight;
this isn't the support I need.

I know that my pull ups and push ups
could be much stronger,
and that I should have repped through my squats faster
instead of sandbagging and taking longer.

But everyone was watching me
and I felt a bit self-conscious.
Not to mention, a little aggravated I was the last one standing
and feeling a bit nauseous.

Nonetheless, I persevered
and finished in just over thirty,
falling to the floor,
feeling sweaty, bloody and dirty.

You are one nasty girl, Angie;
I think you scare me more than Fran.
Now please leave me alone for awhile,
so that I can take care of my torn hands.

A Short CrossFit Fairy Tale

Once upon a time (today), we did the following WODS; this is how I did:

Overhead Squats
3-2-1-1-1

30-35(1)-35(2)-37.2-40

"Isabel"
30 snatches for time

5:22 at 35 kg

To be brief I still need to work on my form. In regards to the OH Squats, I need to focus on locking out elbows and my core rather than worrying about my squat form so much. As for the snatches, I need to really focus on my pulls, jumping the bar overhead and dropping underneath it (weird I would have that problem with dropping underneath it *screws face up into fake confusion*). However, I was practicing my snatch form a little bit after the WOD and, strangely enough, they felt stronger than when I was actually doing the workout. Apparently my fairy godmother was helping me out after the fact, which I suppose is okay.

The End.

Brittany World in Five Minutes or Less

Remember awhile back when I mentioned that school was taking over my life? Well, it has not really gotten any better and may not for at least another week. As a result, I figured I would give you all a crash course in what's happening in "Brittany World" since I haven't been as diligent as I would like to be with my blog lately. So here has what has happened to me this past week in five minutes or less.

Saturday: I ran a 10k. My goal was to run the race in somewhere between 45 and 50 minutes; I finished in 55 minutes exactly. Needless to say, I was less than pleased. Throughout the entire race, my feet and legs were heavy. I was never able to find a good (and/or comfortable) pace; instead, I felt drudged down and tired. Lucky for me, my mom's apple pie made me feel better.

Sunday: I took a rest day and spent the majority of it driving seven plus hours back home from my parents' house in Minnesota. I also ate like crap. I'll chalk it up to emotional eating from my less than stellar performance in the 10k and my lackluster "I'm on vacation" claim.

Monday: I went to the Fort. We completed push presses; my highest was 50, which I'm not sure if it was a PR or not. We also did seven rounds of 10 box jumps (30") and 10 SDHP (30kg). I finished the WOD in 5:48 and thought I was pretty bad ass because I thought I had beat Stacy. Then I realized that she had done 35 instead of 30 and I was immediately humbled. I also did not recognize that I had, in fact, made it back from vacation because I did eat some cake. Whoops.

Tuesday: We worked on our snatches. Like last time, Stephanie and I shared a bar (even though she can lift far more than me). I did reps of 3-2-1-1-1. I completed 30-35-40-40-and then failed at 42.2 before moving onto the WOD, which as three 6:00 AMRAP rounds of 25 double unders, 10 sprawls and a 100 meter sprint. I was able to complete three full rounds each time as well as about fifteen double unders (give or take a few). I was also able to get my puffy butt back on my diet. Hello - better eating.

Wednesday: I had every intention of going to the early morning class but then decided it would be more to my benefit to go to school early. The result? A rest day. It was also a good food day too.

Thursday: I went to the state park across the way since I wouldn't be able to make it into the Fort. I turned on Phil (my iPod + Nike guy who talks to me and records my time). According to Phil, I ran 6 miles in 50 minutes. Now why didn't I do that last week? Ugh.

Oh. I ate well yesterday too. It feels good to be back on the perimeter and out of sugary, puffiness Hades.

Friday aka Today: I'm currently grading papers and deciding what WOD I will do on my own if I have time before going to my other job. I'll let you know what happens.

Okay... so that's all I got for you. I would have made an exciting video for all of you to watch regarding my week but that would have taken more than ten minutes and I unfortunately have to go back to grading papers. See you all later.

America Runs on Dunkin'...

Wanted: The "Hunger" Monster (and donuts)

...and I run on beef and eggs, more or less. (I apologize; I bought a black coffee at Dunkin' Donuts this morning and the label is almost literally staring me in the face). Although I have been continually keeping track of my calories this past week on the DailyPlate. I'll just let you in on how I've been feeling lately.

Honestly, I feel pretty dang fantastic. Although I've been having some major cravings lately (let's just say it's a woman's issue), I have managed to stay relatively far away from that furry orange creature they've labeled as "hunger" on the Weight Watchers commercials (see above) and limited my indulgences to almond butter and 85% dark chocolate (both of which I might add are delicious). I've also somehow managed to stay on a regular eating schedule. I've fasted every day this week so far for at least twelve hours in between eating times.

Personally, I like fasting. I get to eat a lot and then I don't have to worry about food for awhile. My random teaching/working schedule sort of works well with this method. I think this is because when I'm at school, I would rather focus on school and catching up on my work (Because let's be honest: No one actually likes to grade papers when they have the opportunity to do, well, anything else beside grade papers). Regardless, I think things are working out pretty well and that I am seeing some difference (albeit very little) even though I refuse to weigh myself.

Now you're probably wondering: Why would she refuse to weigh herself? Isn't that part of the challenge? Well, yes it is, but I would rather wait to weigh myself until absolutely necessary. I have a tendency to obsess over my weight (like really obsess) whenever I weigh myself because it is never low enough for my liking. As a result, I try to go by how I feel rather than what the number says on the scale. It's my way of keeping my sanity.

Anyhow, that is how my eating habits have been lately. I should also mention that I did the burpee/running WOD yesterday morning in my front yard. It was horrible, and by horrible, I mean kind of awesome.

The Rundown

It's official: School is taking over my life. As a result, I have not had a lot of time to write my blog. So... here's the rundown on this past week:

Friday, I did "Helen" prescribed for the first time. I completed the WOD in 11:18. Needless to say, I was very excited.

Team Saturday, we did 200 meter partner carry and then three rounds of 2:00 of muscle-ups, power cleans (bw), and air squats and then another 200 meter buddy carry. Lisa and I teamed up for this and she was nice enough to carry me for about 300 meters. In the end though, we did not come out on top but we did get 200 reps. Yay for us.

Sunday, I played with my new toy I received for my birthday. My toy, the iPod+Nike chip, fits within my new kicks and measures my pace, calories, distance, etc. It even lets me play a power song to get me going (bet you can't guess what it is...) Anyhow, I decided to jog a 3K, which I completed in a little less than 15 minutes. After running my 3K, I decided that it wasn't enough and then jogged for an extra 20 minutes. According to Phil (the voice on my iPod), I ran 2.5 miles. I'm not going to argue with him.

Monday, we did two rounds of 500 meter row and AMRAP pull-ups. Essentially, we were paired with someone and competed against them. While one person rowed, the other did pull-ups and vice versa. Jennie and I were partnered up (guess, who won?) My rows were far from impressive (around 2:00 each) and I was able to crank out 20 pull-ups both rounds (which I was fairly happy with considering pull-ups are my arch nemesis).

Tuesday, we first did overhead squats [OH squats] (3-3-3) before moving onto "Karen." True to form, while OH squatting, I nearly dropped the bar on my head and fell on my ass. However, I did OH squat 25-30-35 kg. I'm not even sure if 35 kg is a PR or not. Personally, I was just glad that I was able to practice my snatch form.

Onto "Karen." Also true to form, I lost count, got confused, and I'm almost positive that I did at least 10 extra reps. Regardless of my counting ability, I did manage to crank out the workout (however many reps I did) in 10:00, which was 1:46 better than my previous time.

Finally on Tuesday (Tuesday was a big day for me), I did a rowing WOD. I completed three rounds of 1:00 on, 1:00 off, 1:00 on, 1:00 off, 1:00 on, and 1:00 off. All in all I rowed 2252 meters (or something like that).

Today (Wednesday), I took a rest day. I wanted to workout in the morning but, like I said in the beginning, school has taken over my life. Instead, I decided to read student papers rather than CrossFitting. Of course, I would have preferred to do the latter but you can't always get what you want.

Food Update

Friday Foods
Here's the low down on what I ate yesterday. These are all approximate values.

• 21 whole almonds
• burrito bowl (extra chicken, guacamole, hot salsa, iceberg lettuce)
• 1/2 cup veggies (yellow squash, green/red pepper, zucchini)
• 1/2 lb burger w/blue cheese
• 2 slices of bacon
• 2 paleo margaritas
• 2 regular margaritas

Saturday Foods
Again, all of these are estimates:

• 1/4 cup whole almonds
• 3 eggs
• 2 tbsp of guacamole
• 3 oz of sausage
• 1 oz hamburger
• 1/4 cup strawberries
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1/4 cup chili
• mixed nuts w/raisins
• 2 paleo margaritas
• 1 Irish car bomb (thanks, guys)

Fell Down Seven Times, Got Up Eight

Today was not a good day for me CrossFit-wise. For some reason or another I was just exhausted when I arrived at the Fort, and it didn't help that I wasn't exactly mentally prepared for the tasks laid out in front of me: 2000 meter row time trial (9:03.2 = absolutely terrible for me), three sets of five weighted ring dips (2.5kg - 5kg - 10kg (PR)) and nine rounds of nine body rows and nine push ups (10:02). It actually wasn't until I was done with the WOD that I actually felt a little more energetic and felt up for more strength and skill work; however, since it was getting late and I didn't want to interrupt the Ramp-Up class going on, I decided to go home.

On my drive home I contemplated my performance, going back and forth between scolding myself and reassuring myself that I was trying to change my diet and that everyone has their (in my case, really) bad days. However, my mule streak kicked in (thanks Grandma) and I decided that I would have to do an additional rowing WOD to take back my title as well as put myself up there on board for weighted ring dips. I know it doesn't seem like much but it makes me feel better about the whole situation.

"Now stick out your butt like: 'Haaaay!'"

When I arrived at the Fort yesterday for the ladies class, my eyes were immediately drawn to the strength workout: Snatches. All perverted humor aside, I was actually excited to try this. I had never done the movement before, so when Jennie began going over the form, I was paying close attention.

She broke down the movement, starting with the high pulls and then overhead squat position before putting it all together. Jennie really emphasized sticking out your butt when starting, in a position I would now like to deem as the "Haaay! Position." I digress though.

We did 3-2-1-1-1 reps of Power Snatches. I completed three reps at 25, two at 30, failed twice at 35 (the first time because my grip was too wide and the second because I fell backward when I was dropping underneath) and then completed my last single rep at 35 (about time!). Needless to say, I was determined to get that 35, especially since the weight didn't seem all that heavy. Once again, it was my form holding me back. As it seems I may have the same problem with my snatch (seriously, get your mind out of the gutter) as I do with my clean and push jerks: I still need to drop under the dang bar. Regardless though, I liked the movement and am excited to keep working on it.

As for the actual WOD, we did the following:

Five rounds for time:

15 deadlifts (50% of your single rep max = 50kg)

30 double unders

My time? Nine minutes, which I was relatively pleased with. It helped tremendously that I repped entirely through both movements my first round and was able to crank out at ten deadlifts each subsequent round (except for the last one where all I did was nine) and primarily sets of 10-20 on my double unders. Of course, there were moments where I didn't get 10-20 reps and was only able to complete sets of five or so, but those moments were few and far between. I actually felt good about my jumping rope ability yesterday.

Anyhow, in the end it was a good quick metcon, and just for the record (*cough* Tommy Mo *cough*), there was no sandbagging involved.

All of us lovely ladies posing for the camera.

All us lovely ladies ready to dead lift

On another note: Mariah just came back for her first CrossFit WOD since she had her baby. Welcome back!

The Better Body Challenge

I've decided to take on CrossFit Fire's 60-Day Better Body Challenge. So... as a result, I've decided to let you all know what I am eating, which I would rather not do but whatever. It's part of the rules, so I guess I will follow suit on this one.

I've give you just a general overview of what I'm trying to accomplish. Essentially, I'm working on leaning out rather than losing weight. As a result, I am trying to follow the fat/carb/protein/calorie ratios that Bill laid out for me this past spring, with one exception: I'm trying to limit my carb intake to about 20 or so. I will probably end up asking Bill for more advice on this or to reconfigure my ratios, but for the time being, my ratios look something like this: 113 grams of fat; 45 net carbs; 81 grams of protein; 1521 calories total.

If you want to check out what it is I'm eating, feel free to look at my profile on The Daily Plate. It's got all my dirty details up there. Also, if you have any good recipe suggestions, feel free to send them my way. I like to try new things when I get the chance. Also, any advice as to how to incorporate more fat into my diet would be helpful as well. Wow... I never thought I would ever say that...

One last thing: One of my co-workers brought homemade zucchini bread to work today. It looks delicious, don't get me wrong, and when she offered me some, I felt bad telling her that I don't eat bread. Her response? "That's not good." My response? Nothing. I didn't feel like getting in a nutritional debate with a PhD.

Food Update

I have been SO good all week and then today I crumbled: I had a piece of key lime pie.

Dangit.

Back to the drawing board.

Monday Funday

For Labor Day, we did a special team challenge for Monday's WOD:

1 mile run
Seven rounds for time:

• 10 weighted walking lunges (20 kg/15 kg)
• 5 burpees

1 mile run

Well, I was excited when I saw this workout. There's no reason to explain why. To prepare for Monday Funday, I warmed up by rowing 500 meters, cut the sleeves off my tshirt, slipped on my new kicks (thanks boyfriend) and teamed up with Tommy Mo. Our strategy? Go as fast as you can and try to keep up with The Show.

When Bill gave us the 3-2-1-Go!, Tom and I were off. I started out ahead of Tom but he quickly made his way past me. I then spent the rest of first mile trying to catch and then pass Sparky, which I managed to do both. I'm not sure how fast our first mile was and I'm kind of sad about that because I would have liked to know whether or not it was sub-seven.

In regards to the walking lungs and burpees, well, they were just what they were. The burpees allowed for a little bit of rest and the walking lunges took a dueling on my legs. Fortunately Tom was counting and we finished them sooner rather than later. All we had left then was catch up with The Garth Show and Matty-Lo.

The first 200 meters or so of that second mile run sucked. My quads were tight and I was having difficulty keeping form on my run. I could actually feel myself heel striking. However, soon enough my legs started to loosen up and I was on the move again. Tom quickly moved out ahead of me, which left me trying to keep him in my sights throughout the rest of the run.

I'm not sure how long the second mile took either but unfortunately Tom and I were not able to catch Garth and Matt. I pulled into the Fort at 22:07, almost two minutes after the speed demons, and then fell to the floor in order to celebrate second place and the fact that we were done.

Personally, I think my new shoes helped my run with the big boys; I felt that fast.

Team Barbara

Saturday was "Team Barbara":

In teams of two, complete seven rounds of the following:

20 pull ups
30 push ups
40 sit ups
50 squats

*Only one person may be working at a time.
*Reps may be distributed however the team sees fit.

Bill put Super Dave and I on the same team. Our strategy? Go until we need to stop, and then switch. While we kept to this throughout the WOD, we both tended to stick with our strengths. Dave did more pull ups and push ups while I did more squats and sit ups.

In the beginning, it seemed that we had a pretty fair lead on all the other teams but then out of nowhere Tom and Jamie caught up and passed us. I'm blaming round three or four when Dave and I had some minor counting problems. It just goes to show you that every second counts. Regardless, it was a good WOD and Super Dave and I were able to finish second.

Friday Goods

Thursday was Kilo's birthday and, as a result, he was able to pick the WOD for the following day. I'm not sure if he saw this WOD somewhere or if it was of his own creation, but it was awesome. We started out with some deadlifting, three sets of five (65-75-85), before moving onto the following:

Kilo's BDay WOD

With a 400 meter run in between each three rounds:

3 rounds for time:
7 deadlifts
7 box jumps

3 rounds for time:
5 deadlifts
5 box jumps

3 rounds for time:
3 deadlifts
3 box jumps

Like I said, "awesome," right? Well, I thought it was. Deadlifting, box jumps and runs are all good in my book; however, I was a bit hesitant to go too heavy during the WOD because I didn't have a whole lot of energy (It had been awhile since I had eaten, let's just say that). As a result, I did not go at the 85% of my five rep max that day (72 kg). Instead, I went with 60 kg so I wouldn't be completely gassed round four and so that I would be done in the 15-20 minute cut off period.

During the WOD, I'm not sure if it was actually the lack of food, if it was completely mental, if it was just the workout itself, or if it was all of the above, but the weight started to get to me more than I would have liked. In the end, I finished the WOD in a little over twelve minutes, and then I went home and ate. I had a good breakfast (some eggs and sausage... yummy); I had had a good workout. Friday was a good day.

Bawl Baby

I went to the Fort Wednesday for the routine WOD, and I have to admit that my performance was not nearly as exciting as our visitor Jar_n 's (insert your vowel here; I don't want to spell his name incorrectly). I can't deadlift so much weight that the bar is bending. Jennie and I even tried to pick it up together and it was a no go; however, I digress.

On Wednesday, started with the push jerk (3-2-1-1-1) before we did this little number:

AMRAP in 12:00:

5 handstand push ups [HSPU]
10 body rows
15 heavy kettlebell swings (32 kg/24 kg)

As far as the push jerks go, I did 35-40 - 45 - 50 - 52.2 kg, which was a PR for me. I'm not sure if I could have done 55 or not, my form is not the best on my push jerks. I have the same problem with them thatI do with my cleans: I need to quit being such a baby and drop under the bar more.

In regards to the WOD, I was able to complete five rounds plus five HSPUs, ten body rows and ten kettlebell swings. I did my first round of HSPU with just the 25 kilo plate below my head. I repped through them but knew I would be struggling (and I was afraid that I would face plant into the plate: I have issues with looking through my handstands) if I tried to maintain that depth, so after a rep or two my first round I put the ab mat on top of my plate. Unfortunately, it was then too easy. I should have gone back to using just the plate at that point but the fear of crushing my face took over and I stuck with the ab mat.

As far as kettlebell swings go, I also have some form issues, which were easily remedied. I wasn't bending over far enough, and I appreciated Bill correcting my form during the WOD because it helped with that 20 kg bell.

In regards to the body rows - well, they were body rows. I did them. I got through them and really don't have much to say about that. Overall though, it was a good workout. I just wish I hadn't sandbagged on the HSPUs. I'm such a baby.

Row, Thrust & Jump

Yesterday I went into the Fort after my afternoon class to complete my first rowing WOD for the week. Essentially it was "Tabata Rowing," where you complete a number of rounds (I did eight), twenty seconds on and ten seconds off.

My score looked something like this: 98-96-92-89-88-87-87-88. Let me tell you, I was struggling with the rows after the fourth round. When I hit 92, I promised myself that I wouldn't go below 90. Well... as we can see that did not happen; however, I was glad that I at least kept my numbers in the high 80's. Overall though, I'm not going to lie: It kind of sucked and I wish that I had had someone there rowing beside me. Perhaps, if I someone else had been there beside me, then I wouldn't have dropped below 90.

After I finished my little rowing excursion, I set out to complete some heavy thrusters (35 - 40 - 45) before moving on to the following metcon:

• 10 Thrusters (60 kg/40 kg)
• 50 Double Unders
• 8 Thrusters
• 40 Double Unders
• 6 Thrusters
• 30 Double Unders
• 4 Thrusters
• 20 Double Unders
• 2 Thrusters
• 10 Double Unders

Well, I did the prescribed women's weight (40 kg). I'm not sure if I was overzealous or what, but it was heavy. It is weight... Anyhow, I kind of struggled with my thrusters, particularly after my first round. I'll be honest, I did a lot of one, two and three rep sets. After the first ten, I was simply unable to string together more than that.

On the other end of the spectrum, my double unders felt okay. They are improving, which is all I can really hope for. I've been focusing more on using my wrists rather than my shoulders and have seen quite a bit of improvement, although the most I am able to string together is about twenty, give or take a few. Regardless, improvement is improvement.

At the end of the day, I finished this metcon in 12:03, which I'll live with because I have too. I suppose I'll just have to keep working on my superhero status.

Day 2: No Sugar Challenge

I ate a dried cranberry and some berries. Does that mean I lost? Please say "no..."

Dammit! I'm so weak.

Cleaning with Frustration

When I walked into the Fort last night, I knew exactly what to expect. The boyfriend (Matt: Look at that Tom. I gave him a name. *Smiles*) gave me the heads up on the WOD, most likely to help me wrap my head around it. As most of you know, I put my cleaning ability right up there with my pull ups; however, when I walked into the Fort that day, I was determined to clean 50 kg, a weight that has been alluding me for some time now.

The strength workout was 3-2-1-1-1 of power cleans. I did three reps of 35 kg; two reps of 40; one rep at 45; one rep at 47.2 and then moved onto 50. I stepped up, took a deep breath, told myself that I was going clean 50 kg, and then set up for a new PR. Then my lack of form stepped in. My problem this time wasn't dropping under the bar or my elbows but rather I didn't jump high enough and pulled my arms into the scarecrow position too soon. In the end, my new PR was actually an EPIC FAIL. It was frustrating and so I decided to channel that frustration into the metcon.

The metcon also included cleans, this time hang power cleans. The metcon consisted of:

7 rounds for time:

• 3 cleans (85% of PR = 40kg)
• 6 box jumps (mid-thigh = 26")
• 200 meter sprints

Essentially, I wanted this workout over and done with. I was annoyed with my lack of results during the strength WOD; I had a headache and was just generally not in the best of the moods. It didn't help that I felt like I had someone screaming in my ear throughout the duration of the workout. It also didn't help that after I finished I realized that my box was only 22" instead of 24" like I had thought, and so my box jumps were not as tall as I wanted. Regardless, I finished the WOD in due time, in a little over fifteen minutes, 15:11 to be exact. It was a tough one and I was glad when it was over.

On a side note, I will get that 50 kg clean if it kills me. Seriously.

Day 1: No Sugar Challenge

Day 1 has a checkmark beside it. Woo hoo. Onto Day 2...

Team Bug Zappers

I am a sales person's dream. Just imagine the following scenario:

I am walking around Woodfield, minding my own business, trying to decide if I should purchase those new pink Pumas or buy some new black pants for work. I think to myself: Black pants are necessary; however, Pumas are so much more fun and they're better for pose running. I pause, exactly two seconds too long, one foot inching towards the Puma store and the other towards Express, when a sweet, confident voice calls out to me: "Why hello there. Would you like to purchase this new iPhone?

I shake my head: "No. No thank you."

Mr. Confident is fully dressed in his AT&T polo and smiling. My 'no' has had little effect on him: "But it is fully featured - with a large touch screen; it holds up to 10,000 different applications, includes full Internet service, plays music and can practically wash your hair for you."

I remain semi-tough. "No thanks," as I turn to head back towards Puma.

Mr. Confident interrupts my departure, again: "But it comes in a variety of colors, including blue, lime green, orange, purple and pink."

Wait. What?

I stop, turn and head over to the counter, which Mr. Confident has littered with colorful iPhones. My eyes widen and both my Pumas and black pants are forgotten as is my two year contract with TMobile: "You say it comes in pink?"

While this situation did not actually happen (and is a bit exaggerated), there is some truth to it. I can often be easily talked into purchasing and/or doing things. (Apparently, Dare did not do a very good job with me in the whole "peer pressure" department.) Take for example this past Saturday.

I went into the Fort early Saturday to get in my final rowing WOD. I finished the WOD right before Team Saturday was about to start; I headed downstairs to grab my things so that I could go shower and get ready for the Cubs game that afternoon, when Bill asked me if I was going to stay for the workout. I looked over at my boyfriend, who was standing in the doorway, his bag over his shoulder, ready to go.

I shake my head. "No," I tell him and then walk towards the entryway to grab my purse and sweatshirt.

Jennie then stops me: "Are you working out?"

I peer back up at the whiteboard. It's the OPD Team WOD we did several months ago: 400 meter run - 80 deadlifts, 80 box jumps, 80 push press - 400 meter run. Me likey.

Begrudgingly, I tell her "no" and inch towards the doorway before Bill chimes in much like Mr. Confident from above and says that I have to stay to help even out the numbers. Once again, I look over at my boyfriend, who is still standing in the doorway.

"Do you care if I stay and workout?" I ask over the growing noise in the Fort. He shakes his head; I smile, and just like that I am a part of another Team Saturday.

Jennie and I partnered up. We scaled a little more than perhaps we should have, but we were both tired from the row we had completed earlier that morning; we also designated ourselves "Team Bug Zappers" because of all Jennie's mosquito bites. Regardless, when Bill gave us the 3-2-1-Go!, we were both ready to gut out the workout.

Long story short, we kind of flew through this. We completed the WOD in under fifteen minutes and we won the team challenge. Personally, I always enjoy pairing up with Jennie because she makes me work harder. (A little motivation and competition never hurt anyone if you ask me.) As a result, my primary focus (beyond winning) was to try and match Jennie in reps. I think I succeeded for the most part, and lucky for both of us, our pretty Team Bug Zapper picture will soon grace CrossFit Fire's mainpage for last Saturday's post.

For the record though, I should probably still work on that "peer pressure" thing.

Let Them Not Eat Cake.

I ate some cake today for my birthday, and then I decided I needed to give up sugar again. (I'm an addict.) So... anyone up for a two-week challenge?

No?

Come on.

It'll be fun.

No?

Fine. I'll do it by myself.

This time I'll let you know what I'm doing on a daily basis. It'll probably keep me in check. Damn puffiness...

Friday's Episode: "Caleb"

It was my birthday Friday, and while I usually hate my birthday (for reasons I do not care to get into here), one good thing did come out of it: I was able to pick the workout of the day.

Originally, I had wanted to do the rowing, burpee, running workout from the tryouts; however, Bill suggested that we stay away from rowing because a lot of people had been completing the extra rowing workouts for the team (Again, we'll talk about this later.) Not wanting to be difficult, I emptied out the corners of my brain for a good WOD. I quickly narrowed it down to three:

• Harco: Four rounds for time of: 200 meter sprint, 20 jumping pull ups, 30 push ups, 40 sit ups and 50 squats


• Michael: Three rounds for time of: 800 meter run, 50 back extensions, 50 sit ups


• Caleb: Eight rounds for time of: 400 meter run, 8 walking lunges and 8 box jumps (24")

Well, I eliminated "Harco" because I just kind of didn't feel like it; I eliminated "Michael" because I didn't feel like substituting supermans for back extensions; and so I settled on "Caleb." I had done this workout during my second week of CrossFit and wanted to see how I had improved.

In a nutshell, of course, I had improved tremendously. Not only did I beat my old time but I also did the box jumps prescribed; whereas the first time I completed the WOD, I did not. In addition, to improving my time; I was able to spend some time with the Graveyard Gang, which is like living in a sitcom itself. Here's some of the highlights from Friday's episode:

• Garth, shirtless of course, hauled ass and crushed this workout. Yes, it is worth both italicizing and bolding this word; he did that well.
• Tom reminded me mid-third or fourth round that I had no one to blame except myself if I was hating my life at that moment or if my legs were tired or sore tomorrow.
• Both of the gentlemen mentioned above were talking some major booty chatter (aka talking trash).
• Matt went outside to run beside my brother Nate on his last 400 meters, and when Nate reached the 200 meter point or so, he took off like someone stuck a hot poker on his butt, leaving Matt behind him. It was something to see.

All in all, it was an eventful morning, a good workout and a great start to my birthday. I loved the WOD, although I can't say the same for anyone else except for maybe Brian. Everyone was nice enough to wish me "Happy Birthday" throughout the day (I went in to the Fort later for rowing practice) but they also were not shy about telling me they hated my workout (e.g. Mark, Jennie, Season, Zach, Bender, etc.). I'm sure they will have their revenge though someday and our positions will be reversed.

On a side note: Thank you all for the birthday wishes and to those of you who were able to make it out on Friday night. I had an absolute blast and it was by far the best birthday I have had in a very, very long time (not exaggerating here either). So thank all of you. It meant a lot to me. *Tear*

Some Solid Advice

If you don't follow Coach Rip's quote of the day, then you should. Yes, I'm just going to be that pushy about it. Here's a good one from yesterday that I felt was worth repeating:

On resting in between reps:
It varies with the length of the set. Five's or fewer get a breath to reset. Longer sets might take two breaths. During the last few reps of a true 20RM squat, just do what Jesus tells you.

There you have it. Some solid advice from a very quotable and knowledgeable man on resting between reps.

Cindy & Mr. Tuesday

During my first official week back at the Fort, we've been having fun with AMRAP workouts. Monday, we did "Cindy" and Tuesday, we did... well I don't know what his/her name was but s/he sucked. Anyhow, back to Cindy.

For those of you who have forgotten dear Cindy let me re-introduce you:

"Cindy"

In 20:00 AMRAP of:

• 5 pull-ups
• 10 push ups
• 15 squats

Now, I hung out with Cindy not too long ago and was able to complete, ten rounds - five pull-ups and eight push ups. When I realized that Cindy and I would be hanging out again so soon, I was adamant about matching my previous number of rounds, if not beating it. Lucky for me, this time I wasn't pressed with the task of counting my rounds (I have number issues, if you couldn't tell) and was able to simply mark my rounds on the whiteboard. While this wouldn't seem like a big deal, it was for me in the respect that I was able to just zone out and focus on pushing through all the suck and getting as far as possible. In the end it paid off: I completed twelve rounds plus five pull ups. I matched and exceeded my goal. Yay for me.

Now onto Mr. Tuesday (that's this WOD's new name; I just made it up). Mr. Tuesday looked something like the following:

In 20:00 AMRAP of:

• 5 thrusters (40 kg/30 kg)
• 7 hang power cleans
• 10 sumo deadlift high pulls

This workout was hard. I had made the mistake of coming in early for rowing practice (joined the CrossFit Fire rowing team; we'll talk about this later) and then had to watch the women's class go through this workout prior to my own. The whole scenario was a combination of flushed cheeks, sweaty faces and angry "I-f*^&in'-hate-this-workout" looks in everyone's eyes. Needless to say, this did not instill me with much confidence. So when Stacy asked me whether or not I was planning to do the WOD prescribed, my answer was more or less: "Do I have to?"

Well, I sucked it up and did the prescribed women's weight. I set my bar up between Zach "The Mayor" Mitchell and Clark (I don't have a fancy name for him. Sorry.) and across from Brian (No fancy name for him either), and then waited for the "3-2-1-Go!" Again, I was nervous but I was set on gutting out as many rounds as possible and drawing on all the man power surrounding me.

You know what? It worked. Wild Bill was yelling at The Mayor throughout the majority of the WOD, letting him know when he could and could not rest; Clark was beside me being his bad ass self (In the end they both completed over eleven rounds. Can we say "impressive"?), and Brian was across from me, zoning out and pulling out round after round. Not wanting to be completely outdone, I drew on their energy and focused on getting as close to ten rounds as possible (Bill constituted this as the number we should shoot for).

In the end, I completed seven rounds plus five thrusters and six hang power cleans, which I was fairly content with. Eight definitely would have been better but I was on my way. Next time though.

Holly's Honor and Bill's Brainchild

Everyone after the WOD. Don't we look like we had fun?

I went to the Fort this past Saturday for some "Team Challenge" fun. It was Holly's last day at the Fort before she returned to school, and to commemorate the event, Bill came up with the following workout:

In Teams of 5 or 6 you must complete the following:

• 1 lap around the building tire flips (400lb tire)
  
• 250 wall ball shots (20/14lb) - no scaling
  
• 250 double unders
  
• 250 burpees
  
• 250 calories on the rower
  
• Sled drags - each team has 230kg of plates. All plates must be dragged 50 meters to the end of the parking lot, stacked, and then drug back.

You could complete the movements in any order, and everyone could be working at the same time. Each team only had one wall ball target, two jump ropes, and one rower.

Bill assigned the teams and I was fortunate enough to be placed with The Garth Show, Matt (Weltzer), Jessica and Jeanne. While we were strategizing, it was decided that The Show and Matt would complete the tire flips as well as begin moving the heavy weight on the sled drags while Jessica and Jeanne rowed and completed burpees. I was designated the jump-roper of the group (Is that even a word?) and was assigned the task of 250 doubles unders. After that, we would complete the other exercises as needed.

I'm going to overexert my influence/power here and speak for the rest of my team: Bill's brainchild did not disappoint. This was an epic WOD (and my legs still hurt). Here's how this went down for yours truly.

I completed all of the double unders by primarily doing sets of 10-15. For some reason or another I had trouble stringing more than that together after awhile. Once I was finished with the double unders, I moved on to the wall balls, simply because Jessica and Jeanne were still upstairs rowing and doing burpees and I didn't know what else to do. During the wall balls, I attempted to keep time with Jennie as much as possible (which did not work, let's be serious) as well as realized my deep love for powerful fans (Jennie was smart enough to turn on the fan in between sets). Jessica soon left Jeanne on the rower and came downstairs to to help me out with the wall balls. We decided that we would switch back and forth for a couple of rounds before heading outside to help Garth and Matt with the sled drags.

In the end, we were able to finish in second place with a time just over 39 minutes. All around though, everyone did a phenomenal job, and did I mention that my legs still hurt?

Here are some more pictures from Saturday:

Me completing a sled drag while the rest of my team follows to help, and The Garth Show showing his support for his team as only he could mid-workout: Shirtless and throwing love signs.

Jennie and I not hiding our sadness about Holly's leaving at her going away party. It was very sad. People shouldn't leave us. Look what it does.

PS: Good luck, Holly! Come visit us soon!

Stick a Fork in Me. I'm Done.

Usually, I refrain from using cliches in my writing but today I was at such a loss for words that I resorted to taking the easy way out. I did a little experiment today. I worked out like I used to before I started CrossFit. I did this for a number of reasons:

1. It was cold, windy and it looked like rain, and I did not feel like being outside or potentially getting caught in a rainstorm.
2. As a result of number one, I did want to go to the park, run outside, etc.
3. I did not feel like scouring the Internet for WOD's or making up my own. It was early and my brain has been feeling mushy from all the critical/analytical thinking I've been doing lately.
4. I wanted to see if this could be something I could go back to on occasion until I go back to the Fort full time, which I was thinking would not be as soon as I would like.

So today I completed 45 minutes of step aerobics and 35 minutes of yoga. Let me tell you - it was an experience.

In regards to the step aerobics, I was mid V-Step when I realized that I was completely and utterly bored. My awesome playlist didn't even help, and I kept getting thrown off because the aerobics instructor kept doing a Native American war cry. It didn't make sense to me, particularly since the instructor was clearly not Native American; it also made me miss my Indian friends from college. I digress though. Regardless, the combination of pasted smiles and war cries just seemed superfluous.

The yoga... well, I didn't mind the yoga so much. My muscles have been feeling kind of stiff lately and all the stretching helped. I also was incorporating the full push-up while transitioning from up dog to down dog (What's up dog? Yes, up dog is an actual movement. I appreciate the set up but I'm kind of busy at the moment.) as well as was able to pull off the Warrior 3 and Half Moon Pose without falling, which I have never done before. So there was progress in terms of flexibility and balance there, which I will take.

What I will not take is another moment of stepping up and down on a stair while some peppy aerobics instructor tells me to "Smile" because I'm burning inches. I'm sorry but I am not burning inches. Yes, I am sweating; yes, my heart rate is up, but I am not burning inches. I'm probably not even burning centimeters. As a result of this experience though, I have made an executive decision: I'm going back to the Fort full time next week. No more globo; no more videos; no more kicking my own ass. Stick a fork in me; I'm done.














PS: I'm pretty excited about it too.

Keep on Keepin' On

I haven't blogged for the past couple of days because unfortunately I haven't worked out in the past couple of days. I've kind of been engrossed in my preparations for the upcoming semester and allowed myself a couple of unnecessary rest days. As a result, when I made my list of "things to do today" this morning, I was adamant about getting a WOD in before my afternoon meetings. Well, when I realized I had unfortunately left my book and list of travel workouts in my car (and I didn't want to go get them because then my book would be forever on my desk opposed to taking its needed steps back to the shelf at the Fort), I began scouring the web for potential workouts. Lucky for me I didn't have to look too far, as this is what the coaches at CrossFit Twin Cities provided me with:

• 50 push-ups
• 100 meter row
• 40 push-ups
• 200 meter row
• 30 push-ups
• 300 meter row
• 20 push-ups
• 400 meter row
• 10 push-ups
• 500 meter row

Since I do not have a rower stashed in my basement (I have a canoe in my garage but that's not the same thing), I decided to go with, you guessed it, running. Admittedly, I did not want to make the exchange as it was a bit blustery this afternoon and I dislike running when it's windy; however, I sucked it up and altered the workout in that respect.

After measuring all my distances out beforehand (I learned my lesson), I ventured out onto my front lawn to start doing push-ups. I was particularly pleased with my first round of push-us because I cranked out twenty, which is a lot for me. Unfortunately, thereafter the most I was ever able to string together was six or seven. Also, I actually did a lot of one rep push-ups because, well, I suck at push-ups and because I wanted to continue doing chest to floor or at the very least, nose to ground.

In regards to my running ability, I was a bit off. I'm not sure if it's because my legs have been in a permanent sitting position the past two days or maybe it was just the dang wind, but I was kind of dogging it. In fact, it wasn't until I reached my 400 and 500 meter runs that I actually felt like I was even beginning to hit my stride.

In the end, the whole ordeal took me 23:44, which I guess I have to live with even though I don't particularly want to. Life isn't fair though, as we all know, because it it was, I'd be amazing at pull-ups, cleans, have a sub-5:00 Fran time and be able to keep myself from eating too much almond butter. Guess I'll just have to keep working on it, and I guess I'll just have to keep on keeping on.