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.

Punched in the face...

Dang. Two pretty rough days of workouts. I am running without a full rest day for about 6 days straight and it's catching up. Yesterday and today's workouts were supposed to be for time, yesterday I pulled up short and did 5 rounds and not the RX'd 7 rounds. Today, no timer involved at all, and I knew going in it would be a longish one as quantities of pullups take me FOREVER.

Here's the rundown....

2.4.2010
(from CrossFit Clevelend)

7 rounds for time:
9 - sumo deadlift high pull, 95lbs
7 - squat clean, 95lbs
5 - split jerk, 95lbs

I pulled the plug at 5 rounds with a time around 10:55. This thing kicked my butt, it looks manageable in print, but this is one bad mamajama...My buddy Rich finished a little behind me and did the 5 rounds also. Yes, we suck. Yes, we needed a large boot to the backside.

2.5.2010
(original from CrossFit Legacy)

Yesterday, I told Rich, "tomorrow, I am not doing anything that raises my heart rate.." well, I wish that were the case. The warmup was a little slower than usual, and a little more relaxed before easing into this:

500m row, then
5 rounds:
15 pullups
15 KB swings (sub'd with pushups)
15 box jumps
500m

The only time I captured was the first 500m, which I pulled in 1:43. Pretty rockin' I must say, but that would be it as far as speediness goes. I got through 3 rounds. I was about to pull the plug on yet another WOD, I was even headed towards the rower for the final 500m...then the large boot found my backside and said, HUNKER DOWN AND GET IT DONE. So, I turned back around and did the final 2 rounds. It wasn't pretty, but I did it. NOTE: We don't have a pullup bar that I can kip on (I'd have to learn it first), so all pullups have to be pretty strict, with minor leg movement to help.

Tomorrow will be a grip training day, so in reality, a rest day.

I think I am running on ketones right now, need to up my fat intake I think. I am not really sure. Maybe it's an off paleo meal that I need! Well, there is a little SuperBowl pahrtay at my place on Sunday....

L8.

The new to me rower...

Well well, I just finished breaking in the 'new to me' rower. I was very fortunate to come into a used Concept2 Model D Indoor Rower, (the bottom one on that page) the absolute best rowing machine company on the market and a device near and dear to every CrossFitter out there. I've always wanted some aerobic device in my basement, for the winter, and other times when I wanted something to maintain a certain fitness level. I have a variety of kettlebells and grip training apparatus, but this little gem is just what I've been looking for!

I don't have a lot of space, and the ability to break it down and store it in a matter of minutes is uber-convenient.

I am stoked to say the least, it's in great shape. I need to do a little service on the monitor to re-attach a USB port so I can connect it up and flash the firmware. The staff and service at Concept2 is nothing short of outstanding.

In any event. Here's what I did as the inaugural WOD:

For time (but I slipped up and didn't set my watch, argh)

All KB movements with a 1.5 pood (coulda, shoulda used the 2 pood)

5 rounds:
500m row
5 KB swings, right arm
5 KB cleans, right arm
5 KB rack position squats, right arm
5 KB swings, left arm
5 KB cleans, left arm
5 KB rack position squats, left arm

I have no clue where I finished, I was just caught up in the fact I was doing a rowing based WOD in my basement with kettlebells getting a heck of a workout.

So, embracing "the suck" as Coach would say, is only one set of stairs away....

[fade to]

[maniacal laugh]Bwahahahahahaha[/maniacal laugh]

Big Volume WOD for 2.2.2010

I don't know, for some reason I just seem to be drawn to workouts from CrossFit Football. Something about spending close to half of my life playing football maybe?? Anyway, 'Griff' from the CF mainsite wasn't doing it for me, so I scrolled the usual suspects (other affiliates) and nothing was calling me. A quick scroll through my local archive produced this little rascal. It was a no namer off the CFFB site some time ago.

21,15,9
Deadlift, 275lbs
burpees
knees to elbows

I switched my warmup around a bit and pulled out the burpees since they were in the main WOD, swapped in some broad jumps and lunges in addition to the normal jump rope segments.

As I warmed up on deadlifts and cycled through some lighter weight sets, I did some handstand holds. It's good to be inverted, ahhh.

Anyway, the bar wasn't going to move itself...321 GO.

I didn't seem to have a ton of energy, but had good strength, I rocked 16 reps straight on the first round of deads and broke down the burpess and KTEs in manageable chunks. Second round deads were busted into 5's ...coming off the bar long enough to regroup. Third round was straight through on the deads, which still caused me to split up the remaining 9 !@#$% burpees, and finished off the KTEs straight through.

14:37

Back to work....