Final WOD 2010

After a physically draining week, thanks to a nice stomach flu on Monday night, I was able to feel good enough to sneak in a WOD today as my last one for 2010. Since I am off work all week, it would be a simple basement WOD. Turned out to be quite the grip WOD as well!

200 KB swings for overall time, with about 60 sec rest between sets...

32KG

30-30-30-30-30-30-20

Ended up to be about 10 minutes, pretty tough typing this up right now!!

Later 2010...it wasn't a bad year, but there's plenty to improve on in 2011.

Happy New Year to all my friends and followers, you all rock, 150%!!

12 Days

Today's WOD was our version of:

The 12 Days of Christmas

25 pullups
25 box jumps (20" is all we have)
25 back extensions, 25lb plate
.25 mile run
25 db swings, 50lbs
25 double unders
25 flat sits (like a GHD, except, laying flat on the floor, backs of knees pressed to the floor
.25 mile run
25 pushups, 25lb plate on back
25 walking lunges, 25lb dbs in each hand
25 burpees
.25 mile run

24:54

Lil' Chipper

30:01:02 minutes of pure CrossFit bliss (making puking gesture)

My man Rich joined the party, so we had to alternate rower and treadmill.

1000m Row (Rich ran)
50 reps push press, 45lb bar
800m Row (Dwayne ran)
40 kb swings, 55lb db
40 dips
600m Row (Rich ran)
30 kb swings, 55lb db
30 dips
400m Row (Dwayne ran)
20 kb swings, 55lb db
20 dips
200m Row (Rich ran)
10 kb swings, 55lb db
10 dips

C&J Plus Cindy

Love the oly lifts added to a CF classic bodyweight WOD.

10 Rounds:
1 clean and jerk
5 pullups
10 pushups
15 squats

185 on the clean and jerk...came in around 15 min

Deadlift Volume

Did the WOD from CrossFit mainsite today:

Deadlift, 60 sec rest between sets
2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2

405-405-405-405-405-415-415-415-420-420

Good stuff.

Bats in the Belfry

Another WOD from The Savage Society.

'Bats in the Belfry'

100 Double Unders
50 knees to elbows
40 ring dips (did 80 regular dips)
30 box jumps (24/20)
20 KB swings (32/24)
10 C2B pullups
5 pistols left leg
5 pistols right leg

Brutality I say, brutality....27 min and change...

Viking Franlette

Another fab WOD from the crew at CrossFit New Hampshire.

"Viking Franlette"
Row 250m
15 Thrusters x (115/85lbs)
15 C2B Pullups x (20/10lbs)
Row 250m
12 Thrusters x (115/85lbs)
12 C2B Pullups x (20/10lbs)
Row 250m
9 Thrusters x (115/85lbs)
9 C2B Pullups x (20/10lbs)
Row 250
6 Thrusters x (115/85lbs)
6 C2B Pullups x (20/10lbs)

As RX'd (well, most pullups were only chin over bar, just a few all the way to the chest)... 24:35

Props

As most of you know, I do my training at a corporate GLOBO, about to celebrate 3 years of Crossfitting!! One of the group (3 of us) is Level 1 certified, but, for the most part, our programming comes from various boxes across the US. I wanna give a shout out to those boxes that regularly show up on our daily WODs.

My 2 all time favorites: (they just have the most appeal to me)

CrossFit Football
CrossFit New Hampshire (The Savage Society)

Others:

CrossFit Mainsite
CrossFit Cleveland
CrossFit CLE
CrossFit Legacy
CrossFit Unbroken
CrossFit Regina
CrossFit Santa Cruz Central
CrossFit 440

You all rock.

400s and Deads

We finally had the group (3 of us) together today to knock out a WOD. We decided to do the WOD from the CrossFit mainsite from Sunday. I am not really a runner, but I have been trying to sneak in some WODs with 200s or 400s, and am never one to shy away from a deadlift WOD.

AMRAP in 12 minutes of:
400m run
5 deadlifts

Again, I was a victim a pre WOD weight miscalculations* and ended up using more weight than what I thought, I think it's my mind playing tricks on me.

Deadlift weight - 390lbs

Rounds - about 3.5 rounds, finished the 400m that I had already started when the timer went off

This was a solid WOD, ripped my shin up on the first pull, and to think, I had clean shins for almost 3 weeks!!

*during a WOD a few weeks back, I had 255lbs on the bar when it was supposed to be bodyweight, and I weigh 240lbs...I just grab weights and throw them on without really adding it up correctly!!

11.15.2010 WOD

Hey all...Haven't posted in a couple weeks, been doing some short WODs and had a nice week off in there as well (in Vegas for work for a week...tough stuff, ha). Anyway, I did the WOD from CrossFit Cleveland today, I don't know Mr. Kip Marlow, but happy 65th my man! Keep rockin!

65 hang clean and press, 65lbs

Do 6, then 5 burpees every time you have to put the bar down. I used 95lbs and pulled in around 7:30...Did 20 burpees.

WOD 10.28

Did a WOD from CrossFit Cleveland today. It was their WOD yesterday. Check it out....CLICK ME.

Basically, deadlift 100 times your bodyweight. You can use any amount of weight to meet the goal. One minute off, one minute rest. It's all for time.

I chose to use my bodyweight so I had to do 240 x 100.

8:53 was my time. Below were my one minute rep counts:

25-25-20-14-16

That was killa killa.

100 Day Burpee Challenge

This thing is just about done!! Today was actually Day 98, but the 3 of us remaining have some schedule issues for Wednesday, so we did the 100 for time today.

My time was 10:28.

I decided to do another 100 to work ahead and bit, so I have to do 97 more before the end of Wednesday and I can stick a fork in this challenge. It's been a long effort, and at times, a mental battle to continue doing these things.

Am I better? Yep.

The Self Fulfilling Prophecy II

Well, I don't really know what the Self Fulfilling Prophecy I was, but II was a real butt kicker. Yet another WOD supplied by the Savage Society at CrossFit New Hampshire.

I've been on a metcon rage this week, it's the part of CrossFit that just gets in your blood, it drives you, it makes you annihilate yourself. There's nothing more fulfilling than taking down a WOD and surviving it, knowing that you put some effort into it, you created energy and dropped quantities of sweat wherever you were standing (lying down maybe). I don't think I have been slacking off, or anything like that, just realizing that I can push myself a bit further than maybe what I thought. I seem to be recovering well, which is driving force behind my ability to push it.

Freakin a.

Anywho, today's WOD, as the blog post is titled was called Self Fulfilling Prophecy II. Here's the deal:

4 rounds for time:
Broad Jump 50m, record the number of reps and use that number to complete the following movements (hence the self fulfilling part...):
Lunges - alternating legs
Deadlift - Bodyweight
Box Jumps - 20"
Air Squats

We ended up doing about 100ft of broad jumps. And as we were coordinating the deadlift bar, it turns out I was doing 15lbs more than I should have because I can't seem to do math and setup for a WOD at the same time...and those 15lbs were felt....ack.

I managed 14 jumps in 100ft (got me a little hops), my man Rich did 17. We ended up using that number to complete all rounds. I supposed you could use the broad jump count as a variable for all rounds, but we just committed to the reps from the first round to use in all rounds, making it a little simpler. I pulled in at 21:20, Rich was 19 min and something or other.

Booyah.

Dogsmack

I've had a craving for a metcon. With all these burpees, and commuting to work, I've been avoiding them. But, I've had a renewed sense of ability lately and since it's been raining, and I've not been riding, and even though we are on day 85 of the burpee challenge, I want to do some metcons. We did a run/thruster one yesterday, and today I found another killer WOD from CrossFit New Hampshire. Those guys rock out, 150%.

"DOGSMACK"

3 rounds
400m run
7 x Power Cleans 155lbs
21 pullups

I love oly lifts in metcons, I am all over it. I don't run fast, and that's a lot of pullups for me, but it was good fun.

22:24

Over and out.

9.29 WOD

Got an idea for a WOD from the CrossFit Football site (from the Mon 9/27 WOD) and knocked it out early this morning.

5 Rounds
Deadlift 225lbs, 10 reps
8 box overs w/ 4 20" boxes

Box overs - Using some aerobic steps that I stole from the aerobic room (like anyone is using them for anything worthwhile), I setup 4 stacks of 4 steps that were about 20" high. I went up and back, jumping over them and immediately bounding over the next as I landed in between them. Fun. i did some extra box overs at the end, good stuff...

Late.

Another Dead WOD

Here's another deadlift WOD today. I am taking a few days off starting, for the most part, tomorrow (after 80 more burpees). So, why not go out with a bang!!

Normal warmup: PLUS 30 burpees

10 rounds:
3 Deadlifts - 365lbs
10 GHD situps
10 burpees

Took a long time as I kept a pretty even/steady pace, 4 reps on the last round of deads, and an extra burpee...for a total of 131.

I did work.

Good Morning Deadlift!

Had to do an earlier WOD today, and since it was a driving day for me, I decided it was deadlift time. My man Rich and I did the WOD from CrossFit Cleveland from yesterday....

Deadlift
10-10-10-10-10

In between the deads were burpees of course, I did a total of 104 today. I got them done before the last 2 rounds of deads so I could have a little more rest for those rounds.

Weights for deads:

275-295-315-335-350

After the 315 set, I was feeling tired, but for some reason knew I could and should go up. So, I moved to 335 and crushed that set, so it was on up to 350. I knocked those out and did an extra rep for good measure.

Damn, I love deadlifting.

Slow Crawl...

It was a pretty slow crawl today. Doing a 24 hr intermittent fast. Seems like it effects me a little differently each time I do it. I haven't done one in a couple weeks, just seem to be dragging a bit today.

Here's what I 'crawled' through today...

5 rounds
250m row
135lb front squat - 10 reps
GHD situps - 15 reps
Burpees - 10 reps

25:28

Outdoor WOD

As most of you know that read my blog, I train with a couple other guys at a corporate GLOBO, we do a pretty good job at making things work. We can go outside to run as needed, and, there's a big field outside that's used for all kinds of things, mostly soccor. Since we train over our lunch hour, we do most things inside. Well, schedules all aligned to do an early WOD, and since I was driving today, I loaded up all my kettlebells, and Rich loaded up his 24" box and a his kettlebell and we planned a WOD outside in the field!!

My brain started running through various WODs using the stuff we had. Finally this morning, I got it!!

5 rounds
7 KB swings with 2 pood
Farmer's Walk 2 KB's 100ft to a 24" box
Over the 24" box and back 5 times (10 jumps)
10 burpees
Farmer's Walk the 2 KB's 100ft back to start line

I used a 2pood and a 1.5pood for the farmers, Rich used a 1.5pood and a 44lb, Brad used 2 1poods. My time was the slowest at 16:37, the other guys came in a little faster. We overlapped a bit here and there but were easily able to adjust on the fly and no one was held up.

What a great way to start the day, and one heck of a WOD that goes to the heart of what CrossFit is all about.

To quote my man Joe Petrusky.... GET SOME!!!

A Commuter's Ride...

So, not much really happens on the commute, which is totally fine. But, today was just a little out of the ordinary. I ended up being a little late as Wednesday's are trash day and I gotta get that all out and ready for pickup. I got about a mile away from the house and was at a 4-way intersection, waited for a car to go, then started, but a car behind the first car didn't even look my way (I totally saw her and was ready to react) and came right out at me, I stopped and yelled, "HEY!!" loudly, by that time I was right by her window, she was very surprised and apologized. Just goes to show, I have a REALLY bright light, and people still look past you. I continued on and then watched a skunk come about 3/4 across the road, then turn back when it sees cars coming and narrowly missed its' demise. Shortly after that, another commuter came up behind me and we had a nice chat about some random cycling topics and whatnot for a couple miles before he peeled off towards his destination.

I continued on for a bit, then get passed by a roadie, wearing black and had no lighting on of any kind. Never said anything, no hello, no "coming around" ...nothing. I wanted to yell, hey jackass, put on a light. But, I didn't.

Things were pretty normal for the next few miles, then, I see 2 high school girls walking on the sidewalk, they look at me, raise their hands and wave in unison, nerver skipping a beat in their active discussion, like they've seen me a hundred times before! It was a bit surreal, and felt like I was in slow motion, hard to describe. I wave back, and continue on to work....

Hang Cleans, Weight Pullups

Today's WOD:

Heavy Hang Cleans: 3-3-3-3-3

Dead hang Weighted Pullups: 3-3-3-3-3
Getting a good solid pause at the bottom, chin way over bar, 25lbs

Between rounds:
Burpees: 5-5-5-5-5

I did a few burpees in my warmup and then did 5 between rounds, did the last few sets with a CrossFit games style pushup at the bottom. I'd already done pullups, but wanted to do more, slow pull with a good pause at the bottom, total dead hang, lower body as limp as possible.

Hang cleans were pretty solid:

155-156-175-195-205

Very pleased with that.

Grilled Chicken & Grilled Peaches with Blackberry Sauce

Found this recipe recently, modified it a bit. We eat very little sugar, so I don't have a problem with it being in the sauce. I used canola instead of vegetable oil, and I would recommend cutting back on the salt, it was too much (in my opinion).

I used my regular grill, not charcoal, and I did not do kabobs. I made the sauce as instructed, and applied the seasoning mix to the chicken, and cooked on the grill. I mixed up a second batch of the seasoning and brushed on the sliced peaches, grilling them for a few minutes when I new the chicken was almost done. The combination was outstanding. We've been doing a lot of meat/fruit combinations or meat with some kinds of fruity salsa, great stuff for summer grilling.

My kids, well, my daughter ate nearly a whole chicken breast, and my son (the fruit man) ate 3-4 slices of peach, all of the sauce we gave him...but no chicken..the dude will keep eating fruit if we keep giving it to him!

Happy cooking!

Deads and Broads

Been a little quiet on the blog here, I've been getting some miles in on the bike, got about 1100 miles in, shooting for 2000.

In any case, I did not ride the bike today as I am giving the legs a rest after a pretty nice trail ride last night. So, you know what that means:

DEADLIFT.

I almost always do a deadlift based WOD of some sort every week, at least that's my goal. Today was the deadlift day!!

7 Rounds
7 Deadlifts, 275lbs
7 toes to bar
7 broad jumps, max effort (at least 6 ft)

19:08 was my time. I didn't have the lungs to push much faster, it's definitely one that I could improve.

Out.

Bench and Jump

Did a variation off the CrossFit Football WOD for today. Instead of the squat (my legs are already pretty toasted from this weeks activities), I did incline bench...so....

8 rounds:
7 reps incline bench - used 185lbs (was a little light)
8 standing broad jumps (get after it, at least 6ft per jump)

9:14:04

Cool down:
1500 row

Another Deadlift WOD

I was planning to deadlift today and was stoked to see the CrossFit mainsite's selection for today!!

I am nursing a torn callus on my left hand from some pullup madness earlier in the week, it's healing up, but I wasn't sure how long it would last.

The WOD:

Deadlift
1-10-1-20-1-30

Using about 95% of 450lbs, I used 425lbs for the singles

1 - 425lbs
10 - 315lbs
1 - 425lbs
20 - 275lbs
1 - 425lbs
30 - 225lbs

All sets unbroken! I had to tape my hand on the last set of 30, that would have ripped it up good!

Total pounds: 2090lbs (not counting the repititions)

Bear Crawl Your A** Off

I am trying to reconnect to some tougher WODs and I thought, what better way to do that than with some bear crawls!! I browsed the archive and pulled out a fine little number and headed off to the GLOBO.

I was disappointed when I got there as my comrades were MIA, I thought, dang, this is something I would like to share with them. Our programming is largely a joint effort, and typically it doesn't take much convincing as Rich and Brad are game for just about anything, unless there are extinuating circumstances (injury, major DOMS of some sort, etc).

Luckily, after my warmup, Rich pulled in and ready to roll with the WOD I had picked. Here it is:

4 minutes of:

50ft bear crawl
10 push press, 95lbs
50ft bear crawl
5 power cleans, 95lbs

Repeat for 4 rounds, rest is 1 minute between rounds.

Lordy, lordy this was one bad mother. I got through the first round, I did 2 and 3/4 cycles through. I only managed my trademark forward roll coming out the bear crawls on the first 2 rounds (expelling way too much energy for the fun reward). For the next round, I pulled in with just 2 cycles through, and the last 2 rounds were about 1 full round plus one set of presses. Dang, shoulders were on fire!! Those bear crawls are just madness after you really dig into that WOD.

Good one Dwayne, thanks much! ha.

Powered Up Cindy

Did a WOD from the CrossFit Football archives today:

AMRAP in 15 min
3 reps - power cleans 185lbs
then
3 rounds of Cindy - 5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 squats

Got through 3 full rounds, plus one more round of cleans and one round of Cindy. This has to be one of my favorite type of WODs, a combination of power, and simple gymnastic movements. When you finished the Cindy rounds, that power clean took on a whole new meaning!!

I heart CrossFit, so should you!

Sketchy Section

Mountain biking is like any other type of riding, more time in the saddle typically means better legs, better skills, and a more comfortable feel on the bike. My kids are 2 and 4, and prior to that I was getting a lot more miles in on dirt, and was riding pretty good. Now, I still get my miles in (more in fact), but they are commute miles on asphalt. Don't get me wrong, riding a bike on any surface is good with me, but in the end, I am a dirt head. I love riding trails, I love being outdoors, among the trees, rocks, creekbeds, and anything else that I might encounter while riding. So, with the limited time on dirt, it takes me a bit longer to come around, and get my head straight coming out of the winter season.

I had just 2 rides in prior to last night, one was good, one wasn't. And I was heading to the trail where my last ride was garbage. It's my favorite local trail and one of the best in Ohio and the surrounding area. The trail miles are split by a fireroad, I cleared the lake side cleanly and headed up the fireroad to drop into the upper side. The upper side is rocks, and um, rocks. So, it was time to see what's up, how am I going to be riding. I focused on relaxing, and staying loose. After a short section at the beginning, I hit the first rock garden...one foot dab and I cleared the rest!! FTW!! It was a short sketchy section, kind of tricky with a sharp left hand turn and some bigger rocks to maneuver over. Wow, what a boost that was for my confidence, it was just what I needed to take me through the rest of the ride. I had a few more foot dabs, but all in all, I was hitting the rock sections, balancing over some bigger stuff, and manuevering through like my old self!

This isn't the sketchy section, but is a pic of the trail from last fall.

WOD 6/24

For some reason, I was looking for a sumo dead high pull WOD. I really don't know why. After hitting the archive, here's what I came up with. I knew it was gonna be a marathon type effort to get through a couple of these.

For time:
75 pushups
50 sumo deadlift high pulls, 95lbs
50 ring dips
30 weighted pullups, 45lbs
25 handstand pushups

The pushups were no problem. The SDHP's I split up into 10's, with a very short rest in between (walk away from the bar, walk back). No problem with those either. No rings, so I did regular dips, those went pretty good as well. The crap hit the fan with the weighted pullups. I started with 45, scaled down to 25 for the first 20 reps and did the last ones with no weight. The handstanders were a bear at the end of the WOD. I broke into sets of 5. I basically went to total failure and stopped the clock at 29:46 after hitting the 24th rep. I took a little rest and nailed number 25.

This was a rough one.

WOD from CrossFit CLE

Today's WOD was from CrossFit CLE:

Front Squat
1-1-1-1-1

185, 225, 245, 245, 255

AMRAP in 10 min
3 - 95lb thruster
5 - pushups
7 - jumping air squats
50m sprint

I squeaked out 7 rounds.

Nice WOD.

Pine Creek Rail Trail

It's been about a year since I've been home to visit my family. And this time, we decided to take the bikes and go to the Pine Creek Rail Trail. My Mom, Dad, Brother, and his family have all been there, I have not. My Mom just speaks so highly of it, I just needed to go. Living in Cleveland for the past 13 years, I definitely miss the green rolling hills of Central PA. I guess I didn't appreciate it as much growing up there, but move away and go back, and you'll quickly see just how beautiful it is.

It was about a 45 minute drive up into Tioga County, all of which was curvy back roads, most of which I had been on before, but years ago. It had a familiar feel, but new at the same time. It was a bit overcast when we arrived, and started to drizzle a bit. We waited in our vehicles for a few minutes and then it stopped, so we got unpacked and ready to roll.

A mile or so up the trail it started to rain again, luckily we were able to take refuge under the porch at the Hotel Manor in Slate Run. We rode about 15 miles total, there were a few more stops for rain, a turtle spotting, a snake spotting, and some tom foolery here and there whenever we could. My Mom, who just loves to ride a bike, at 71, was having a blast. At one point, she looked around at the scenery and all of us, and said, "there's nothing greater than riding a bike." It was a cool moment right then. We got back to the vehicles and had a light snack picnic lunch.

My wife and kids, my Mom and Dad, my brother and his wife and my niece and nephew had a great time riding together.

To top it off, on the drive home, we stopped at the Waterville Country Store to cool ourselves off with a little ice cream. I ordered up a large chocolate and vanilla twist, and darn it if I didn't take a picture of it, but that sucker was about 10 inches tall!! Hot dang, it was good, and I did not share one bit of it!! (ok, my daughter had a couple licks).

Good times, good times.....

Seven.

Decided to take on Seven today, I missed it when it came up originally.

I was thinking positively, at least during the warm up as I knocked out 26 DU's in a row. Not a PR, but close, and darn good considering I hadn't even got close to that recently. And, I have no idea what I did in order to get this many any a row.

Let me say, this WOD is a monster. In fact, we both DNF'd. But, we did finish 5 rounds, which is no small deal. This was a full on $hitfest from the start. Pukey turned down my street and hung out on the front porch from about round 3 on until finish. Every time he knocked on the door I had to pull up and rest for a bit.

"Seven"
7 rounds
Handstand Pushups - 7 reps
Thruster, 135lbs - 7 reps
KTE's - 7 reps (I sub'd GHD since I did some KTE's yesterday)
Deadlift, 245lbs - 7 reps
Burpees - 7 reps
KB swing, 2 pood - 7 reps
Pullups - 7 reps

I pulled into the garage at 28:37, with not much left in the tank. I felt like someone had tied me to their bumper and pulled me around the block. There were sweat bombs all over the back of the GLOBO, I hope no one slipped and fell....hehehehe.

Motionless in Cleveland.

Capacity: About What I Thought

I survived my first duathlon team relay. I had some jitters as I hadn't rode the course before, only watched a video of it. The transition area was similar to a triathlon (so I am told, don't know first hand), so once Rich passed the cone, I took off. I had to run my bike up to a spot, mount up, and cross the time check. I came out and tried to managed my adrenaline and rode a pretty good pace, took the corners safely and headed towards the one uphill section. Damn. This was about a mile long incline with a short steep section for about the last quarter mile. I stood up early and often, and just turned the cranks over. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't fast, but I made it over (48/16 is definitely NOT a hill climb gear!).

I settled in a bit for the 2nd lap and took the same approach for the hill. I managed to recover pretty well, and had solid energy at the end. I had some fun with another rider as we approached the last mile. I was sitting on his wheel a bit, and attempted to get around, then he would speed up. We took a right hand turn on the last longer stretch on a busier road (it wasn't a totally closed course). There were cones setup about 3 feet out, plus a little berm giving us some room to ride, however we were dealing with lapped riders at this point as well. I was right on his wheel, going in and out of the cones depending on where other riders were, we approached the final turn and coming out of that turn I took him at that point, crossing the line 5-10 sec faster.

My time was 31.19.40. My goal was 30 min, but considering the hill was a bit bigger than I expected, I'll take it. The fastest time on the course was 27 something. That time, plus some good runs from Rich, got us a 2nd place finish in the male team realy! Ha!

I might even do it again.

Let's Test My Capacity

I do a fair amount of bike riding, and, I do a fair amount of CrossFitting. Now, I rarely time myself when I am riding, who cares how fast I get to and from work? If I feel good for a bit, I will up the tempo, if I don't feel good, I will relax. I like to keep track of my miles, but not how quickly I get those miles.

On the other hand, CrossFit (most times) is all about the clock. It's all about work capacity, performing under load, performing under duress.

Tomorrow I am going to morph the two for about 30 minutes. I'm part of a 2 man team competing in the Nordonia Hills Duathlon and Pump N' Run where I will do the bike ride portion, and my CrossFit WOD partner, Rich, will do the running. (I found out about the event from a good friend of mine who successfully added the Pump N' Run to this event for the first time this year. As of today, he's got 20 people signed up for the Pump N' Run, and 9 people signed up for the Pump N' Run with the full duathlon! Sweet. )

I have no idea how I will do, I've never done any kind of bike racing. It's only 10 miles, so what the heck, right? I don't have a road racer bike, all I have is mountain bikes, commuters, and fixed gears, so, my new Bianchi Pista gets the nod as it will be the lightest of the bunch and for this distance, I think it will allow me the best chance at a good time. The course is relatively flat, with one little bump to get over, so last night I put my 16t cog back on giving me a bigger gear to push at 48/16.

I plan to come out, get my heart up to where I think I can maintain it for about 30 min. I did a test run this past Wednesday with the gearing at 48/17, I did about 12 mile in a little over 41 min, with lots of slow downs for traffic lights and such, riding near work. And the route had a pretty solid incline on the way out, and a decent climb on the way back, neither of which I will have tomorrow.

It's the day before and I am already anxious, nervous....ack.

Squat Clean WOD

Um yeah, squat cleans. Oh how I love thee, oh lovely, lovely squat cleans.

4 rounds:
8 squat cleans, 155lbs
400m Run

As RX'd ----- 18:17

I run slow, but it's OK, punishing WOD.

I am done.

Crawling and crawling....

When it's bike commute season (which is usually about 9 1/2 months out of the year), I typically do moderate level metcon-type WODs on commute days, or, heavier 1-3 movement WODs that are more strength based. That leaves the days I don't ride for the metcons, deadlift, or leg based (squat, lunge, thruster) WODs.

That being said, today was not a bike day. So, I set my sites on doing some deadlifts. And here's what I found:

5 rounds:
7 reps - deadlift, 275lbs
14 wall balls
50 ft bear crawl

Unfortunately, I can't remember the source of this WOD, so I can't give the proper shout out.

Somewhere between my desk, and the gym, the 50ft got translated to 50 yards, and since I didn't write it down, or have access to the file on my laptop, we did 50 yards. We have a big room for bear crawls, it's about 10 yards for one length, so we knocked out 5 lengths. Let's just say, 5 lengths was tough. The deads and the wall balls were fine, but 50 yards of crawling took some effort!!

I wrapped it at 14:22. Lots of sweat was generated with this sucker...

Triple Double

It's Cleveland Bike Week, and there's lots of stuff going on this week, to coincide with National Bike to Work Week. I typically get 2-3 commutes to work a week, and was hoping to do the same this week.

The weather lined up nicely yesterday for a commute, and then I attended the Ride of Silence. This ride was to honor those who have been injured, or lost their lives in cycling related accidents. For once, there was a cycling related event taking place here on the East Side of Cleveland. We gathered at Whole Foods (less than a mile from my house), I am sure there were close to 100 riders. There was a brief ceremony prior to heading out. We rode down through several East Side suburbs and picked up a few riders here and there. It was cool to see the variety of riders. There were kids and grandparents, road bikes, hybrids, brakeless fixed gears, mountain bikes.


We continued down to University Hospitals in University Circle, and met another large group that started out in downtown Cleveland. There was some additional ceremony, and mingling with other riders.

Cyclists are a cool bunch, and at the end of the day, there was a lot of respect shown for those who were honored, and a lot of respect for others on the road.

My man Pat and I road back up past Little Italy and made our way back home. So yesterday, I completed my first triple double (all fixed gear miles). I rode to work, 11 miles each way, and did the Ride of Silence, which was 10 miles by the time I got home. I survived, legs were a little rubbery, but I made it.

One funny side note. A bunch of us stop at a stop sign just prior to getting to University Hospital, I am very close to the right curb, unclip with my left foot for a few seconds and start rolling again...but...with a bunch of others dodging and juking around me...I was heading towards the curb!!! Ack, time to invoke my ninja training and in one [somewhat] fluid motion [for a 245lb cyclist] I manage to get up over the curb, in mid-air unclip my right foot and somehow get my left leg over and I end up on the sidewalk standing up holding my bike upright on the rear tire [it really happened]. Of course, as with any of my cycling follies, falls, or endos, I scrape up my left shin. I'm telling you, my shins have bulls-eyes on them.

Valhalla

What better name for a workout than where Vikings go when they die in battle. Raise your swords up people! I think I saw Valhalla's doors today about halfway through this little gem.

How can something so simple be so devestating. I approached this WOD without much thought, you can't, otherwise it will eat you up and you won't do it. The armor was pierced going into the 3rd round, legs were heavy, breathing was elevated, the seat on the rower was moving, not sure how....

Big shout out to CrossFit New Hampshire for this one. If you haven't checked them out, they have some killer programming, if you are training on your own, or at an affiliate, give these guys a look, their programming is thorough with lots of options and even extensions for CrossFit Endurance.

"Valhalla"
With a timer set at 5 minutes, first:
Row 500m, then
AMRAP in the remaining minutes:
5 reps - shoulder to overhead
5 reps - burpees

:45 second rest between rounds, 4 attempts total

Using 135lbs, I did 2.5 rounds in each segment. For some reason, when I got to the gym I thought it was 5 attempts instead of 4 - basically since everything was based on 5's. So, Brad and I did 5 segments!

This workout kicked my butt, I am not a puker, but my body was telling me I was in the zone where I was a zone that was uncomfortable. As I went down for another burpee, I just wanted to lay there and not be back up. I just kept moving. I know the paced slowed a bit for the row, but even though I was rocked, I kept moving. Wow.

41 WOD

Found a nice little WOD to rock solo today on my 41st birthday. The reps add up to 42, so I'll take that as 41 plus one to grow on. And besides, who doesn't want an extra burpee!!!!

3 rounds for time:
7 dead hang pullups (came to complete stop)
14 deadlifts - 185lbs
21 burpees

11:58:08

You can fill in the blank: burpees _________ !!!!

Change of Pace WOD

This week has been a pretty solid week on the training front. I've ridden some miles, even on dirt, and have done some heavier metcons. I hit the archives for a WOD and was eyeballing something I picked up recently from CrossFit Santa Cruz Central [did I mention they have some killer programming? Love it.]. In any case, here it is:

Row 200m
25m walking lunge
Row 200m
25m broad jumps
Row 200m
50 jumping pull ups
Run 400m

Rest 5 min, go through again in reverse order

My first sequence came in around 9:30, I didn't have my stopwatch today, so it was an estimate from a wall clock. All my row rounds were :40 - :41 sec, which was good. The 400m, well, not so fast as I don't really run much.

I thought for sure the 2nd sequence would be faster as I cranked up the run a bit since it was first on the list going in reverse. I landed at about the same time, ending with a :38 pull on the last 200m row.

I enjoyed that WOD.

Grillin' and Bellin'

With 2 little ones (2yo and 4yo) in the house, if I want to workout, I need to maximize efficiency and multitask where I can (which I am not great at). Yesterday I was planning a kettelbell workout, but wasn't sure when I would do it. So, the kids went down for their naps around 1:00. I got a few things done that I needed to do, then set my sites on the grill to cook up some meat for the week. Since the weather was holding out, I brought a few KB's up to the patio area and decided to hit my WOD while I was grillin'.

I came up with 3 segments, and cycled through them 3 times each.

Segment 1:
1 round each arm
5 reps - 1 arm swing, 24kg
5 reps - clean, 24kg
5 reps - snatch, 24kg

Segment 2:
Alternating,
10 reps - sumo deadlift, 32kg
10 reps - sumo deadlift high pull, 32kg
(one deadlift, one sumo high pull, etc..)

Segment 3:
1 round each arm
10 reps: clean and press, 24kg

Between segments, I would check the meat on the grill, then do 10 pushups with feet on a lawn chair and hands on top of 24kg bells, going really deep.

Good stuff, love kettlebells for their portability....

Deadlifts, Clappers, Sprints

You know, most of my friends think I am a little whacky about this stuff. How can you get so fired up about some workout you just did? How can that pain be fun?

I have become more and more infatuated with the WOD's on the CrossFit Football site. Yeah, yeah, I played college football (years ago), I should like them, right??? For years and years after college, I was a bodybuilder, doing bodybuilder type training, NOT CrossFit. These workouts take me back, make me want to hit the 7 man, makes me smell the wet grass during the early morning practice at fall camp, makes me want to taste dirt, makes me want to smash someone in the mouth (in a football kinda way)!!

Today we lined up a deadlift based WOD, no name for it, but it was off the CFFB site from some time ago:

6 rounds

3 deadlift - 315lbs

5 clapping pushups

40 yard sprint

We train at a corporate GLOBO. We have access to a pretty large aerobic room, and at the time we usually do our WODs, the room is not filled with spandex clad fitness "guru's" bouncing around, yelling WOOO! and listening to John Cougar Mellancamp. It's filled with CrossFitters getting their WOD on. We usually use that room to warm up, and will also use it for bear crawls, walking lunges, jumping rope, etc. Today we used it to do the 40 yard sprints. One length of the room is about 10 yards, so we went up and back twice, making it like a suicide, touch the floor at each turn.

I was so fired up and 'in the WOD moment' that I ended up doing 7 rounds, I wanted to keep going, I don't know why, something just triggered in my head to go, go, go, hit it, hit it, hit it!!!

6 rounds: 6:06

[I took a few seconds to rest, then I realized I couldn't remember exactly how many rounds I did, so I said, **** it, I am hitting another one!!!! BRING IT.

7 rounds: 7:16

Today was a good day.

The Fantasic Cleveland Tweed Ride

I set out on Saturday for The Fantastic Cleveland Tweed Ride. I'd been following some Tweed events around the country, and in London and think it's a pretty fun thing to do. Not sure of the total number of people who attended, felt like about 40-50 and it was a great turnout. We gathered behind the Cleveland Public Libray near the Fountain of Eternal Life (behind everyone in the photo above). We did a slow ride around town for a bit, and ended up at the Happy Dog over on 58th and Detroit.

I had a great time interacting with some people I knew, and some I didn't. I also enjoyed a great ride to and from downtown with Rick Smith, the creative mind behind Yehuda Moon! Although the ride home was a soaker, and Rick needs a GPS (lol).

Here's Rick's Rivendell which took home 2nd place in the "Most Prized Steed" category.

A great time was had by all!

Week of Firsts

Well, this week I did my first back to back commutes, and my first 3 day commute week. I am pretty stoked about that, I really want to get the miles in. Commuting is much more fun with some usable legs. My 3rd ride yesterday was good, did a good bit of work out of the saddle on the way home, with a pretty good load on board (extra clothes in my bags). My legs responded pretty well.

I had some pretty fun workouts this week too, and introduced someone to a CrossFit workout! Coolness.

My Thursday WOD was heavy hang cleans.

7 rounds:
3 reps - hang cleans
6 clapping pushups

For the cleans, I did:

155,155,185,185,185,205,205

Form is very important with the hang cleans, you need good explosion and lift and good grip to maintain your hold on the bar.

All in all, a good week.

Gripper WOD

I took a couple weeks off the Ironmind Grippers as my hands were getting tore up! Last night I got back into action and it felt pretty good. I typically do some sledgehammer work on gripper night as well.

FYI - I am working on close the Ironmind #2.5.

WOD:

15 reps each hand with the T

5 reps each hand with the - #1

2 rounds:
6 attempts each hand - #2 (I actually did it a little different, set it in left hand, hit it, then set in right hand and hit it, back and forth, etc. I actually closed and clicked it for about 5 reps in my right hand)

2 rounds:
3 attempts each hand - #2.5 (same format as above)

4 negatives with each hand - #3 (force close and hold)

Sledgehammer curl:
Did a warm up set with hand gripping up about 8-10 inches from bottom, curl wrist up, tap it on my shoulder, and back down

2 sets of 6 each arm

First set I moved up the handle 2-3 inches, second set, another inch or so.

2 sets of 3 negatives each arm
Placed hand pretty far up on the handle, swung it up and held negative as slow as I could.

The Past Couple Days

I've lacked some blogs posts here the past couple days, this is largely a workout log for me, unless I have something else to talk about. In any case, here's a recap of the past few days....

Monday 4.19 - I kicked the week off with a ride to work on my fixed gear, other than a really cold ride in, the conditions on the ride home were near perfect. Very little wind, and low 50's. The WOD I did yesterday was weighted pullups:

5 rounds
Pullups, 3 reps, as much weight as possible and still get 3 reps
Pullups, 5 strict reps

I used 50lbs for the weight (note to self: should have went up...)

Tuesday 4.20 - I rode to work again!! First back to back commute days, I did ride the geared bike though, just to be safe. Today's WOD was from CrossFit CLE from yesterday, but more importantly was with a new recruit!! Welcome to the club Luke!! (he's good friends with Aaron at CrossFit CLE)

Skills:
5-5-5 Shoulder press (mostly to introduce Luke to some movements)

Little Chestnut
Kettlebell swings:
30-25-20-15-10-5, then
Wall balls
5-10-15-20-25-30

Basically, do 30 swings followed by 5 wall balls, then 25 swings followed by 10 wall balls.

Considering I rode my bike, I wasn't pushing it as I want to actually make it home after work!!

Over and out.

500m Sprints

So, after a full rest day (thanks to a one day conference down in Columbus - which allowed me to sneak over to Rogue Fitness at lunch to grab another 24kg kettlebell, FTW!), I decided to the take on the CrossFit mainsite WOD today, which was:

4 rounds
500m row
3 min rest

I'd been curious about how fast I could do a 500m, last week I did a 1:42 as part of a WOD. So, after the usual warm up, I dove right in!

1:31, 1:47, 1:46, 1:43

Ouch. I came out super hot on the first one and was well under a 1:30 pace for a bit, then just dropped off, ack. That first heat took its' toll on me. The 2nd one was brutal, and I realized I had to have some kind of strategy. I settled into a good pace with the hope of getting in a kick at the end. I never really got the kick I was hoping for, but was able to hold the pace and increase a bit to end the 4th heat with a better number than the 2nd and 3rd heat.

My legs were like jello for a while after! I wrapped up the workout with a few rounds of pullups/GHDs/back extensions.

Pretty good WOD.

Mish Mash

Today's WOD was called Mish Mash, courtesy of CrossFit Santa Cruz Central. It was mad fun! However, it was first WOD I've had to scale in a long time. I have a weakness, overhead @$%&* squats!! Dang it. Based on the spot where OHS's occurred, legs were a little rubbery, so to be safe, I scaled it....

50 double unders
40 situps
30 push jerk (did press) 95/65

200m run (did 250m row)

40 lateral jumps over a bar (used a flat bench)
30 hang power cleans 95/65
20 burpees

200m run (did 250m row)

30 lunges
20 OHS 95/65 (did about 5 reps with 95, remaining 15 with just the bar)
10 med ball clean/wall ball combo

200m run (did 250m row)

26:24:16

I was sucking wind pretty good, but it was fun. Would be more fun in a group, had to roll it solo as my WOD cronies had timing conflicts.

Core Blast

Lot's of core work in today's WOD, pulled from my archive....

5 rounds for time:
25 - kettlbell swings, 2 pood (used a 70lb DB)
25 - GHD situps
25 - back extensions
25 - knees to elbows

27:04:70

A pretty good Friday WOD.

Nasty Girls

I had a little encounter with a workout called Nasty Girls this morning. I think at some point I saw a video of this, pretty sure it was Eva T and several others. Anyway, I was in the mood for some type of 'clean' movement, and found the Nasty Girl WOD in my archive. Here's the original, some mods made below...

3 rounds for time:
50 squats
7 muscle ups
10 hang power clean, 135lbs

I don't have rings, and if I did, it's unlikely I could do a muscle up, so I typically do the 3/1 conversion using pullups and dips. Today I just did the 7 pullups and x3 on the dips, and I added 20lbs to the clean:

3 rounds for time:
50 squats
7 pullups
21 dips
10 hang power clean, 155lbs

Things started off well enough, then got to the cleans. They went OK, but I could tell it was going to be a grip blaster, which normally I say, GAME ON SUCKAS!! I got through to the tail end of the cleans on round 2 when things got dicey. After about 5 reps, I needed to add a second or two in between reps which put even more strain on my grip as I was holding it longer. I got through 9 reps and my forearms were on FIRE! I kind of hunched over and attempted to rest the bar as much as possible on the top of my quad before pulling the last clean. I straightened up and hit it....and...my hands went up in the air MINUS the bar!!! Bwahahaha, grip FAIL. The bar dropped from slightly above my waist. No one was around (train at a globo, no bumper plates). I got through the final round, but had to break up the last set of clean (boooo).

Time was 12:13:05.

Ack.

Taco Frittata

There have been a lot of recipes coming through a number of great paleo resources on Twitter, I wouldn't consider myself a great paleo resource, but thought I would join in the recipe distribution! We typically have a frittata of some sort during the week for dinner, tonight's was one of my favorites. Here's the details:

Taco Frittata
1/2 lb ground beef (I typically use 1 lb, and recently started using grass fed beef)
1/2 cup onion (or more if you like)
1/2 packaged of taco seasoning of your choice, more if you use 1 lb beef (trial and error will give you the best results to your tastes - I don't like too much taco seasoning) I prefer Penzey's Taco Seasoning - not as salty
1/4 cup water for 1/2lb beef, 1/2 for 1lb beef
10 eggs (my default for frittatas is 6 whole eggs, 4 whites)
1 cup cheddar cheese (optional - listing the full recipe here has FYI)
Salsa

Brown meat with onion in a 10in skillet. Drain. Add taco seasoning and water, simmer for 2 minutes. Beat eggs and pour over meat mixture. Cover pan and turn heat to low. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until eggs are set. Sprinkle with cheese if you are using it, top with your favorite salsa and serve it up!!

This ends up being a pretty solid frittata and re-heats well the next day.

Enjoy!

Basement WOD 3.28

Phew, longish WOD today in the basement. Here's how it went down

1200m row, then
16 renegade rows using 16kg KB
8 pushups on top of 16kg KB
16 renegade rows using 16kg KB
8 pushups on top of 16kg KB

800m row
8 rack squats, holding 2 - 16kg KB
8 dead cleans Right arm, 24kg KB
8 rack squats, holding 2 - 16kg KB
8 dead cleans Left arm, 24kg KB

600m row
8 one arm swings - Right, 24kg KB
8 two hand swings, 32kg KB
8 one arm swings - Left, 24kg KB
8 two hand swings, 32kg KB

400m row
8 one leg clean, on left leg, 16kg KB
16 figure 8 to hold, 16kg KB
8 one leg clean, on right leg, 16kg KB
16 figure 8 to hold, 16kg KB

26:39:46

It was a good one, a little bit of everything thrown in there. The one leggers at the end were hard as the legs were getting a little tired. I can't wait until it gets nicer and I can WOD outside, I have not done many snatches as I have a low ceiling...

WOD 3.25: I'm Back!!

After a couple really light days, and a complete rest day (and a 24hr fast), and confirmation that my neck issues are nothing major, I am back to regular CF WOD's today! While I was resting, I came across the CrossFit Santa Cruz Central site. At first I was drawn to their EAT THIS blog (thanks for the link Rich), but later clicked over to their main site and noticed some pretty killer programming going on! Since I do CrossFit with a couple other people on our own, we are constantly looking for killer WOD's for 'the archive.' It's mad cool to see the slight differences in the affiliates, and the different spins and twists they all put on their WODs.

I love CrossFit, I love reading about what other people are doing. I love the whole functional movement concept. I've been doing this for coming up on 2 1/2 years, wish I had found it sooner. But I did find it, and that's what counts. Thanks to whomever posted it on the discussion forums over on MTBR.com (mountain bike forum).

I digress.

Today's WOD was from 3/15 on the CFSCC:

(sub ROW for run)
800m run
then
3 rounds
10 deadlifts
7 hang power cleans
5 push press

400m run
2 rounds
10 deadlifts
7 hang power cleans
5 push press

200m run
1 round
10 deadlifts
7 hang power cleans
5 push press

Dudes = 155lbs, Lady Dudes = 100lbs

Rocked it as RX'd. 20:41:48.

800m row = 2:58
400m row = 1:28
200m row = :43

Pain in the Neck

My plan was to take a few days rest, maybe do some lower body or cardio based movements and see how that rest impacted my neck. Yesterday, I decided to go ahead and get an appointment with an MD setup in case the rest didn't do anything (which is tomorrow, I didn't think I would get in that quick) I figured I could cancel if things felt better (a little bummed I am not going to my normal Sports Med crew, they don't do neck).

From a workout standpoint, all I did yesterday was about 15 minutes of double under work, and about a 12 min spin on the stationary bike, watching my buddy Rich annhiliate himself (always fun to do). My neck was hurting pretty good after that, not sure what's up with that.

I will keep the appointment and go tomorrow.

Injuries suck! I realize that there's some risk for the occasional muscle pull, or strain, but DANG IT, I was really kicking some butt coming into the spring season. I got 2 commutes to work in last week and was stoked about my condition having been off the bike for about 2 months during winter (except for some rides at Ray's Indoor MTB Park). Some pretty rockin' workouts were thrown down over the past couple months. I don't mind the rest, but I want to do it on my terms!

Will update tomorrow when I get more information.

The Mooch Variation

Haven't done "The Mooch" in a while. Here's the original from CrossFit Football:

AMRAP in 15 min
3 reps - 225lb back squat
6 reps - pullups
9 reps - pushups

I was thinking I would just do a few untimed rounds. My neck, knee, and groin have been bothering me. My neck seems to be a result of some heavy clean and jerks last week, knee I have no idea, and groin is from some weighted overhead lunges. Knee and groin are nothing major, just some nagging "tweaks" that happened. My neck however seems a little more troublesome, I may need to visit the doc, we'll see how it responds to some rest.

Any, here's the "The Mooch" variation:

5 rounds
3 reps - 185lb front squat
6 reps - pullups
9 reps - reverse hand pushups

It was a pretty good WOD.

Fasting and WOD

So, today I decided to try a somewhat short 'intermittent fast.' I have been reading about it, and thought I would give it a go. I had dinner last night around 7:30-8:00, and haven't ate yet today (12:15). I will probably eat soon as I feel like I am getting a little hungry. My goal was to make it 16 hours, and I did. I just had water and several cups of coffee, and my normal vitamins and supplements (minus any protrein shakes). It went fine, and I think I will start doing this from time to time and evaluate.

Initially I was a little concerned about attempting an intense CrossFit WOD. But, I was feeling fine, and since it is St. Patrick's Day and my comrades were doing Murph, I had to do something intense. I don't do Murph, I don't really run much, and that sucker would take me all day even if I rowed it.

That being said, I browsed my archive and found this little gem:

"Mini Mega Josh"
4 rounds for time:
400m run (sub with 500m row)
15 GHD situps
10 deadlifts 315lbs

I figured I would do my normal warmup and see how I feel. I felt fine, and started to put some weights on the bar to deadlift. I felt time. I got 315lbs on the bar, it felt fine, no weirdness of any kind. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect, I have never fasted before. At any rate, nothing was really out of the ordinary, so, it was GAME ON Mini Mega Josh !!

All row segments were between 1:53 and 1:58
All deadlifts were done UNBROKEN.

18:59:96

Dang! I was rather surprised with my effort, rowing was very solid as were the deadlifts.

Rock on.

Triple WOD Tuesday

Today marks the official start of my bike commuting for 2010! The weather was so good I had to jump in. I didn't get as many training rides as I would normally do, but a solid winter of Crossfitting has me in pretty darn good shape, and it's not really that long, just not used to it. I don't have the legs, and nothing will give me that aside from time in the saddle. So, that's what I need to focus on now. And, I rode my fixed gear. Not sure why, but that's what I wanted to do.

I decided to go ahead and hit some weights, just nothing metcon based or super heavy. Here's what today is looking like:

Ride 11 mile, then (about 6:20AM-7:00AM)

6 rounds: (around 9:15AM)
3 reps - 135lb hang clean
5 clapping pushups
7 dips
9 knees to elbows

then,
Ride 11 miles (4:00PM-4:45PM)

Look for an evening of relaxation!

What a weekend!

My daughter Ryann turned 4 today. It was a weekend long celebration, party yesterday, and more presents today. We did it in shifts. Yesterday it was just her 4 friends that came over. Today it was the family gifts. She's super cool and had a great weekend. There was definitely too much food in the house pulling me away from Paleo. I did some sampling, it's not stuff I eat on a regular basis, so I wasn't feeling to great about it. But I wasn't going to dwell on it.

I managed to get 2 pretty good workouts in. I did some grip work yesterday, mostly open hand stuff, Ironmind Rolling Thunders, Blockbuster, and pinch hub. These things give me a really great workout. I do need to get a grip machine, I will have to work that in sometime in the next few months, if I can find a decent one.

Today, I was pretty tired but decided to do something. So here's the WOD:

2 rounds:
500m row
30 sec: hold 1 32kg KB in rack position (walk around)
right, then left
12 reps single kb squat in rack position, 24kg
right, then left
12 kb cleans
right, then left
12 kb swings, 32kg

2 rounds:
500m
20 rep, kb figure 8 to hold, 16kg
20 reps, side to side step, 16kg

Pretty busy weekend, time passed in what felt like a blur. Now, back to work..

WOD for 3.12.2010

Here was today's WOD:

2 rounds through this:
800m row
50 squats
40 pushups
30 situps
20 pullups
10 knees to elbows

I was dragging through this thing, I should've had more punch being it's Friday and all, but I didn't. 23:42.

Mental aspects of Olympic Lifts

There are a number of things that drew me to CrossFit initially, but one of them is the focus on olympic movements. As a former college athlete (football) I know the importance of these functional movements. Yeah, after college I got lazy and slipped from doing most of these movements, except squats. Now (years later) I am back at it, and it's fun. I have a few issues to work around, one of which prevents me from squatting heavy, but I can deadlift heavy and do most of the other movements.

One of the things I like most about these complex, functional movements is the mental aspect required to perform the lift, effectively and properly. You really have to learn the movement, understand it, imprint it into your brain. Even something like deadlifts, which when done properly "looks" like a pretty simple movement. Not. Every time I get up to the bar, I am thinking, "sit down, explode (not snap), shoot hips!" During the rest between sets I am picturing the form in my head, replaying it, thinking of a time I had good form. But, there's a fine line where you need to stop thinking and just do it. I mean, don't think too much! That's where repetition, practice and coaching come into play. Get up to the bar, grab hold, and nail it..hoping the technique has been planted firmly enough into your head that your body takes you through the movement based on instinct! Fascinating. Contrast that to sitting on a pec deck or leg curl machine (ack), there's very little mental acuity needed there.

So today I set out to do what I am calling a clean progression:

Hang Squat Clean
5-5-5-5-5
Power Clean
3-3-3-3-3
Power Clean and Jerk/Push Press
1-1-1-1-1

The thought was to start on the hang squat cleans and work on the pull up, and shooting the arms through. Then, add a little weight and start from the floor, squat a little if needed. Finally, ramping up to a clean and jerk. Now, I CrossFit at the corporate gym where I work. It's not the ideal environment for serious weightlifting, let alone CrossFit, but it's my only option right now. The reason I mention that is how my mental ability was tested with all the "funny business" going on all around. I have a small area near a couple flat benches where I do the oly lifts. I can usually get it done with no one around, today someone pulls up to one of the benches, very close to me. At that point I was doing the singles, with the jerk. I eventually asked her to move, and she was pretty cool about it. I really just had to create a little bubble around me, shut out the external "noise" and focus on the movement. I have much less practice time doing cleans than say, deadlifts. And, it's much more complex.

At the end of the WOD, I was truly very pleased. Here's the weights:

Hang Squat Clean (focusing more on form than pounds)
95-135-135-155-155
Power Clean
185-185-205-205-215
Clean and Jerk (jerk needs work, not enough confidence to commit to full split, used more pressing strength)
215-215-215-220-225

The cleans were coming up strong on the last round of singles, I wasn't quite as steady on the jerk. I wish I had a better facility, and one with bumper plates. It sure would be nice to just drop it!

Rock on.

Flat tires, Kettlebells, and Fenders

What a roller coaster day. It starts off with bright sunshine, I got my bike in the Jeep planning a mid morning ride (workout), all is good. I did actually get out for about 45 minutes, legs didn't feel too bad. I was thinking the new Panaracer Pasela TG's that I just got roll pretty nice. I went down to a 28c for a little better rolling tire on my fixed gear, need all the help I can get to keep those cranks turning over. All seemed good until I left for the day, flipped the back hatch of the Jeep open, front tire on the bike is flatter than flat, stone cold flat. Dang it, 2 lousy rides, and this friggin' tire is flat, that really ticks me off. These tires will be short lived if they can't take the NE OH roads in the spring...(kicking self for not getting Conti's or Schwalbes..hope this is just a fluke).

I just stared at that flat tire as I carried it into my shop (basement). I was hoping it wasn't an indication of what lies ahead (I was planning more mechanic work on my geared commuter). I am no Park Tool Certified Mechanic by any means, I can do most of the basic stuff, but lack the ingenuity when things don't go according to plan. In any event, off to hook up with the kids and see how their day went.

I threw down a pretty solid 'green eggs and ham' frittata that included, ham, leeks, and spinach, not too bad. We watched the last episode of Ax-Men and then I retired to the basement for a fender and kettlebell WOD. My plan was to attack a fender install whilst doing some heavier kettlebell movements.

Here's how the WOD went....

30 KB swings with the 16kg (two arm, single arm)
inspect front fender, review plan of attack, configure in preliminary setup
6 KB deadlift cleans, left arm, 16kg
6 KB deadlift cleans, right arm, 16kg
re-align preliminary setup, attempt to connect, bolts flying everywhere, get annoyed
6 KB deadlift cleans, left arm, 24kg
6 KB deadlift cleans, right arm, 24kg
make another run at the fender, light bulb lights up, see now what I want to do
6 KB swing cleans, left arm, 32kg
6 KB swing cleans, right arm, 32kg
align fender, view the angles, snip the excess off the bracket, prepare for final attachment
From kneeling position:
6 KB shoulder press, right arm, 32kg
6 KB shoulder press, left arm, 32kg
attach fender, miss the bolt alignment and feeling enlightened by the fabulous design of these !@#$% fenders (ie. RAGE)
6 KB swing cleans, right arm, 32kg
6 KB swing cleans, left arm, 32kg
make final tweaks to fender alignment, tighten down all bolts, review the lines, feel pretty pleased with the outcome
From kneeling position:
6 KB shoulder press, right arm, 32kg
6 KB shoulder press, left arm, 32kg

Shut the lights off, it's done.

Grip WOD; then Helen...

3.7.2010 - Grip WOD

Here's a quick recap from yesterday's grip WOD. I was able to get out for a ride on my fixed gear in the afternoon, so that pushed my grip WOD back to the evening after dinner, after the kids were asleep. Since I needed to be as quiet as possible, I did some different work with the Rolling Thunders. I have 2 heavy tool bags filled with old window weight (the counter weights that would hold the window up). I have 2 large carabiners and 2 Rolling Thunder handles. Normally I will do a farmer's walk with them, that's fun. But this time, I just did a luggage style deadlift:

5 sets (10,10,8,8,8) - luggage style deadlift (a bag on each side of my legs)

85lbs, 95lbs, 100lbs, 100lbs, 100lbs
(weights are for one bag)

4 sets of 6 reps - Ironmind Blockbuster grip - 40lbs

2 sets of 8 reps - Ironmind Pinch Hub grip - about 27lbs

3.8.2010

'Helen' was in the house today. I would typically row Helen, but since I 've been doing a little running here and there, I decided to run it.

Helen is:
3 rounds for time
400m run
1.5 pood kettlbell swing, 21 reps
pullups, 12 reps

It went fairly well, however, after my grip WOD yesterday, I was really feeling it in my forearms after the pullups. Grip is pretty much toast.

I was able to get through Helen at 13:46:24. It would probably be about a minute less if I row'd it at 500m.

Pretty solid start to the week!

Deadlift Monster

One of my best weeks of training ever I think. I was able to run, ride my bike, and row. That's in additon to the other variable madness that CrossFit provides. Over the last 5 days, I've gotten 7 workouts in that vary in movements and duration. I tend to go until I get tired, then I take a day off. I had a pretty solid week on Paleo, with one off meal Wednesday night, but pretty good otherwise. I don't feel tired right now, but will take a day off tomorrow.

That said, what better way to wrap this 5 day stretch with a deadlift monster!!! Here's the deal for today's WOD.

Deadlift 225lbs.
1,2,3....,15
You must drop the bar at the end of each round, but you also must go unbroken for each round. For example; first round, 1 rep - drop the bar, second round, 2 reps - drop the bar, and so on until round 15 when you have to do 15 reps unbroken. If you break and drop the bar before the reps are complete, you have to repeat that round.

I love this crazy stuff, AND it's deadlifts, so I was anxious to see what happens. I was pretty steady through the first 5-6 rounds. I was breathing pretty heavy but had good strength and just needed a few seconds between rounds to take a couple deep breaths. At about round 10, I started to really suck wind. I decided to start out on the bar, and pause for a split second at the top, mostly to breath. I would do that for several reps and then would start increasing the pace. Rounds 14 & 15 were pretty brutal. My hands got pretty tore up and my forearms were pretty rocked, however, not once did I feel like it was going to drop, not even close. I AM GLAD I DO GRIP TRAINING. This is a prime example of why I love to do the grip training. There's so much pain during this WOD that, having a solid grip eliminates something that I would otherwise have to worry about.

10:50 was my time. I don't know if that's good or bad. I got up on the bar when I was sure I could do the number of reps for that round, I was not about to repeat a round!

I slayed the monster, and it was good.

Bear crawls, broad jumps, and more!

Today is going to be another 2 WOD day, I need to burn some calories, and so long as I have good energy, I might as well do it. This morning's adventure was one that I threw together. I figured my buddy Rich would be faster, and he was, this is really more up his alley, but I liked it (when it was over).

3 rounds for time:
20 yard bear crawl
10 pullups
10 broad jumps (max distance on each)
20 back extensions
20 box jumps
20 floor situps
(like GHD, just laying flat on the floor, touch toes at top, keep butt and knees pressed to the floor)

I came in right at 16:00 minutes. Hot dang this was harder than I thought it would be. When focusing on max distance on the broad jump, they take some energy!

Tonights WOD:

4 rounds for time:

400m row
6 KB swing right arm, 24kg
6 KB clean right arm, 24kg
6 KB swing left arm, 24kg
6 KB clean left arm, 24kg
12 KB sumo high pull, 32kg
12 KB swings, 32kg

Was able to knock this out shortly after getting home from work. 16:46

A really great day for me, 2 pretty intense WODS, solid times, solid efforts. I rock.

Some CrossFit mainsite WODs

So, I hit the last two WODs off the CrossFit main site, good stuff. After being sick last week, I think I am finally back to near 100%. Yesterday's 'War Frank' is not really in my wheelhouse, I just am not able to knock out that many pullups, in any amount of time. We actually just did a 1 pullup/1 dip per muscle up, we did not do the appropriate 3/1 conversion - that would have been 75 pullups and 75 dips per round, or 225 total!!! Ouch. I made it through 2 rounds on my own and did 25 jumping pullups on the last round. I don't recall doing too many squats recently, so I had some pretty good DOMS this morning in my legs, haven't felt that in a while!

Today I decided to jump out of character and attempt to do some running. I have some low back issues, and when combined with all the other movements, running was just putting a beating on my back (whereas rowing does not). But, it's been feeling real good as of late, and I've been sneaking in some short sprints to finish some WODs, so I figured, what the heck. I took the WOD off the CF mainsite and added some HSPU's in front.

HSPU's
3-3-3-3-3

8 rounds
400m run
90 sec rest

I only did 6 rounds and kept the pace pretty slow. I gradually increased on the last 2 rounds. Legs felt OK, back felt OK. DOMS wasn't really a factor, only when I was done, and like right now after sitting on a conference call for 30 minutes....

OK, I'm done.

WOD 2.26.2010

Well. As I recover from the little 24hr bug, I might be feeling pretty good overall, but not recovered to fully CrossFit capable just yet. I did a little kettlbell work last night, it wasn't too bad, but I was cramping up a bit. I did a poor job hydrating when I was sick, I still wasn't fully recovered from that. I really have to stay hydrated, my body just winds to a halt when I am not.

Anyway, I browsed the archives for something that wouldn't annhiliate me, and below is what I found. While this isn't one I had done before, it looked like something I would normally get through pretty quick. I did start the timer, but knew I wouldn't be fast (it was mostly just to keep me moving).

5 rounds for time:
10 deadlifts, 225lbs
30 squats
10 ring dips (sub with 30 regular dips)

I was somewhere around 21 minutes. I pushed it a couple times, but overall, I took a bunch of extra time to rest.

All in all, being sick sucks, I hate it.

Out.

Just what the DOC ordered

Ah yes, late February in NE OH and it's in the low 40's, that means it's time to get outside. Fortunately, the kids were both actually sleeping during the nap time, so, got the KONA back together and out I went. It was uber refreshing, it's so sunny and it really feels like Spring, although I know it's not. There's usually a few days during the winter that I can get outside. It was just what I needed, a nice little 35 minute spin in the fresh air. There were a lot of people outside, a couple people riding, waving with big smiles...and lots of people running.

Man, it was good. I came back and did a few sets of kettlebells.

It was a good day.

If only eating right were easy...

I know paleo is how I want to eat right now, but dang, it's hard. It's even harder with kids in the house, there are so many snacks around to tempt. I am usually pretty good, and once I get a lock on it, I could take a bath in bagels and not eat a single one. But, as of late, I stink. I am going weekend to weekend and not making any progress. I am good during the week, when work schedule keeps me on track (not being at home). Then, I slip up on the weekend.

My approach is to eat paleo all the time, with 2 non-paleo meals falling on Wednesday nights and Saturday nights. Other items I consume here and there are chocolate and beer. I was able to make this work pretty good last year, kept my weight in check and came down a bit. This year, I can't make any progress. I am consumed with CrossFit, and even though I am doing a pretty good job right now, I could be killing it even more if I were lighter, say 20-25lbs lighter.

I have all the tools, I just need to knuckle up. Food is good. I love food. I just need to find that happy medium, to be satisfied with what I am eating, and not too much so that I can lower my weight. It's a constant 24/7/365 issue and has been for a long, long time.

Ah, well, just a few words to complain about my lack of focus right now.

WOD from 2.18 & 2.19

Yo. Yesterday called for Linda, but I just couldn't do back to back deadlift days after Wednesday's WOD. So, it was 2/3 of Linda as RX'd.

BW = 245lbs
10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1
Bench Press - bodyweight (I never flat bench unless it's floor presses, so I just did inclince bench, much easier on a nagging rotator)
Clean - 3/4 bodyweight (185lbs)

14:45

Today, I figured it was a good day for some rowing, and maybe some other bodweight movements, so here's what I came up with:

4 rounds for time:
500m row
10 broad jumps
10 burpees

I wasn't breaking any land speed records today that's for sure. It was a good Friday WOD.

21:00

All in a all, pretty solid 5 day stretch on the WOD front. Can't complain.

Ah, Deadlifts

Today was a deadlift WOD, but first, some background on a arch nemesis of mine, the double under. It's been haunting and taunting me for some time. Back in November, I had the pleasure of visiting San Francisco and trained at San Francisco Crossfit, it was my first time at an affiliate. I was able to see a lot of people bustin' out the double under, I was annoyed. Now, I am an athletic guy, and not being able to do many DU's was really ticking me off. I decided to start working on it, so every day during the warmup, I always hit some double unders. I try not to be too fanatical about it, I just make sure to attempt some DU's and usually try and see how many I can hit in a row. My record so far was 24, but today, I rocked 36 in a row!! I was in a zone, it was cool.

In the past, if DU's showed up in a WOD, I would usually substitute, but since I have started doing them basically every day, I do not substitute any longer and I can regularly hit at least 10 in a row.

That being said, I knew it was going to be a good day after hitting 36 DU's in a row. I had already picked off a WOD from the archive, originating from the crew at CrossFit Football (their programming just kicks arse).

10 rounds for time:
3 deadlifts, 315lbs
5 clapping pushups
7 GHD situps ( we have no GHD at my facility, so I typically lay flat on the floor and keep my legs and feet pressed against the floor)

9:56

I was really stoked with a sub 10 min time. I think I can get that even lower. That's one of my favorite little WOD's. Ya just can't beat the deadlift for all around movement, it's my favorite. Saw a CrossFit slogan on a discussion board somewhere that really fits for these multi-round WODs:

CrossFit: Get Some, Go Again.

WOD @ Home

Off work today, my wife is sick and needs to rest. Got through the morning madness and got my daughter off to school. Little man is taking a nap and it's WOD time!! So, off to the basement for a rowing and kettlebell WOD. Original from CrossFit Cleveland can be found here.

For time:
800m row
40 KB swings, 24kg
40 pushups

600m row
30 KB swings, 24kg
30 pushups

400m row
20 KB swings, 24KG
20 pushups

200m row
10 KB swings, 24kg
10 pushups

15:25. Never done that before, so don't know if it's a good time or not, all I know is the heart rate was up!

Refueling, checking email, and soon will pickup Ryann from school.

Out.

MetCon Monday

Phew. The last few Mondays have been Total Brutal (to rip off the title of Austrian Death Machines debut album). My comrades and I have started calling it MetCon Monday.

Today it was the WOD of the main CrossFit site. There were some adjustments. (I've been pretty happy with myself recently as I've discovered it's been a long time since I've had to scale any weights. There are some things I can't, or won't due, but for those things I regularly do, I have not needed to scale in a long time). Cool.

Anyway, here ya go...

For time:
155 squat clean, 15 reps
30 toes to bar (mostly knees to elbows)
30 box jumps
15 muscle ups (sub with 45 dips) --pullups to come later!
40lb dumbbell push press, 30 reps
30 double unders
15 135lb thrusters
30 pullups
30 burpees
300ft walking lunge with a 45lb plate overhead

My time was a whopping 30:54. I did about 20 regular pullups and did the last 10 as jumping pullups. I got through the other stuff and did about 100ft of the walking lunge and called it, tank was empty.

Just when you think you are doing pretty good, HQ pulls something out to humble you, this one did the trick. My strength remains good, but the metabolic part of my conditioning always needs work. I felt like my body could keep moving, but my lung capacity said otherwise. Ha.

Back to work...

Half and Half

Hello all, or yyyooo, as my 2 year old (Teagan) can say now, he's a riot. I had some time for a WOD today, but it happened to be when Teagan was napping, and I was the only other one in the house. So, if he actually slept, it would be all good, if not I would be ANNOYED. I figured I would do a pretty heavy grip WOD, and wrap up with some KB's if time permitted. In between sets I did some maintenance on my KONA Sutra, the geared commuter bike I ride. I got the cranks off and bottom bracket and cleaned things up, left the wheels off in preparation for some new fenders...I digress.

GRIP WOD

3-3-3-3-3
Rolling Thunder deads with 125lbs
3-3-3-3-3
Blockbuster deadlift with 40lbs
Pinch hub farmers walk with 25lbs, across the room and back

I heard little man crying a bit, came upstairs for some water and he stopped, so....back down I went.

KB WOD

2 rounds:
10 right arm deads with 32kg
5 right arm swing with 24kg
5 right arm cleans 24kg
10 left arm deads with 32kg
5 left arm swings with the 24kg
5 left arm cleans with the 24kg

2 rounds all with 16kg
20 one arm pull side step (no idea what the real name of that is...)
20 figure 8 with backwards lunge step

2 rounds all with 16kg
Single Leg, 1 arm clean
10 right leg
10 left leg

Finished just before Teagan started to do is best impersonation of "Wailing Jennings"

Peace.

GO USA, ROCK BC !!!!

The Perils of Working Out at Home...

Hey Dad! I just about jumped off the rower. As you rowers would know, ya can't hear much when you're on the rower. I was in the 3rd round of my WOD today and it happened to be about the same time my daughter Ryann (a.k.a. Boomer) was getting ready for bed. I thought my 20min-ish workout could be squeezed in before she called it a night, but she came quietly down the steps and as I am giving my rower the business, I heard, "Hey Dad!" ....Eeek!!

Working out.
[gasp]
Done in 5 min
[gasp]
Can ya wait...
[gasp]

By that time she was standing next to me. So I pulled up for a min or so and said good night, she's the cutest thing ever, so what could I do....

Earlier in the day, I had pondered a WOD and after some time, this is what I came up with. It was pretty killer actually, and took me a little longer than usual to recover (not sure what's up with that)

Load clothes in washer, then:
3 rounds for time of:
800m row
20 kb swings, 32kg
10 kb dead cleans right arm, 24kg
10 kb dead cleans left arm, 24kg
20 push ups with hands on 16kg kbs
Move clothes to dryer, start another load

21:47

20min-ish as I suspected, minus the time to stop and say good night to Boomer. It was pretty rough, I wanted to do something with an 800m row as I have been doing mostly 400m-500m and wanted something a little longer.

Adios.

Love those bear crawls....

Did the WOD off Crossfit CLE today, a good "Monday after Super Bowl party" workout. I never shy aware from a WOD with bear crawls involved, no sir. It's some fun stuff, especially when done in a globo aerobic room.

AMRAP in 4 minutes of:
50 ft bear crawl
10 push press - 95lbs
50 ft bear crawl
5 cleans - 95 lbs

4 rounds total, with 1 min rest between rounds

I think I got about 6.5 rounds done, nothing too stellar. I was pretty winded from the bear crawls, my hands kept sliding around on the floor in the aerobic room, that was pretty annoying.

2010 Super Bowl Menu

Well, since the Steelers aren't in the Super Bowl [sigh] we decided to do some menu items for each city playing. It wasn't hard coming up with something for NOLA, but it took a little more research for something from Indianapolis. I typically have 2-3 meals during the week that are not paleo, so this isn't a huge deal, and will still hold back on a good bit of stuff others will be eating.

Here it is..

Beer Selection:
Bear Republic Red Rocket
Founders Rod's Rye PA
Rogue American Ale
Mendocino Imperial IPA
TBD - friends bringing more

Appetizers:
Chicken bites wrapped in BACON
Chips
Veges

Main Dishes

Chicken Gumbo Sloppy Joes (NOLA)
Topped with cheddar cheese
Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches (Indy)
Topped with red onion, dill pickles, and yellow mustard
Coleslaw
Macaroni & Cheese or baked corn casserole (not sure what exactly, friends are bringing)

Desserts
Lime coconut cupcakes
Chocolate Caramel something or other (friends bringing)

Looking for a good game at least, probably end up pulling for the AFC.

Out.